Entry denied
Editorial
Haaretz, 14 December 2002
For the last two years, 10,000 people have been denied entry to Israel after arriving at the threshold of the country. One out of three of those refused entry was also sent to the lockup at Ben-Gurion International Airport, where their liberty was denied and they were treated in a hostile, humiliating manner. Among those whose dignity was thus trammeled are members of parliaments, doctors, rabbis, civil rights activists, journalists and athletes.
A report in this weekend's magazine, "Entry denied" by Sara Leibovich-Dar, shows that this harsh and arbitrary policy has been in effect for the past two years, implemented by the border control police and the Airports Authority. According to Interior Minister Eli Yishai, foreigners are not wanted in Israel unless they prove otherwise. Danny Seaman, head of the Government Press Office, takes the same approach with foreign correspondents. It's difficult to believe he's doing so without the approval of his direct superior, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
An outrageous reality emerges from the statements made by people who were interviewed for the article: Athletes who play for Israeli teams go through humiliating experiences whenever they come into the country if their work permits have not been appropriately extended. Foreign correspondents get a hostile reception from the GPO, face deliberately set-up obstacles when seeking work permits, and undergo intolerable interrogations at the airport. Political observers, human rights activists and lawyers go through a selection process, sometimes involving separating Jews from non-Jews - and many are sent away. The famous Romanian panpipe performer, Gheorghe Zamfir, his wife and an entourage of six people arrived in Israel for a planned series of concerts, and were rudely received at the airport before being sent back to where they came from, as if they were trying to enter the country illegally.
Nobody disputes the fact that a country has the right be careful about who it allows into its borders. That's how Israel has behaved since it was established, but never with such a hostile and rude attitude toward foreign guests. Police at the borders are meant to prevent terrorists, criminals, illegal aliens and those unlawfully seeking jobs from entering the country, but lately those police systematically harass innocent visitors - and, of course, anyone who wants to get a first-hand impression of what is happening in the territories.
Israel's character is going through enormous changes. From an open, tolerant society in recent years, it has been turning into a closed, hostile and defensive society. Such walls, experience shows, will only make things worse. The self-imposed isolation will turn out to be a double-edged sword. The brutality used by politicians and the bureaucracy toward outsiders will eventually be turned on Israeli citizens. The scorn displayed by these people for the rules of the game in the free and open world will yet betray them. And the doors they close to the world will eventually slam in their own faces.
The State of Israel, which seeks freedom of movement and access for its citizens, must respect the rights of citizens from foreign countries who want to visit the country.
