Post #4138421

2026-07-27 11:50 UTC

Twice I have needed to speak with the security agent's boss because of stickers that I have on my laptop. Once it was a sticker that said "From Gaza to Sderot (an Israeli city near Gaza), children want to live" (it rhymes in Hebrew). Another time it was a sticker that said "There is no democracy with occupation". It's humiliating and degrading in a way that is extremely difficult to articulate, and instead of becoming desensitized to it, I find anger building in me more and more each time I go through the airport. One time I made the mistake of mouthing off to the supervisor ("Is it illegal to have a political opinion in Israel? I'm just trying to figure out why I'm deemed a threat."). (That was a mistake, but I still managed to escape without an arrest or something.) I know others who have had their phones confiscated - taken to another room to do God knows what kind of analysis. - These are not necessarily activists or political people, by the way. 3/n

Replies (1)

@pjw@social.coop 2026-07-27 11:59

Today, things seemed to be going well. The initial interrogation was light. I spoke enough Hebrew to, I guess, show that I'm an adopted member of the 'in-group'. The secondary screening started well also. The security agent was treating me like a human, was not asking me weird and personal questions, and it seemed like I was going to get through unscathed. The metal detector didn't go off. The body scan thing didn't seem to react any differently from any other time. The "shoe scan" machine clearly said "OK" in bright green letters. Suddenly I was told to follow someone. First we went to another room, where I had to take my shoes off (the shoes that had just been given the 'Ok'). Alright, whatever - you have to do that in the US as standard practice anyway. Then I was told to follow two men behind a curtain. The man began to firmly rub down my chest and stomach, piece by piece. Then my back. Then I was told to spread my legs so that he could do the same to my legs. 4/n

Open ##4138458