Post #4138423

2026-07-27 11:41 UTC

Today I was subjected to my first strip search (not fully nude, but underwear). Ben Gurion airport in Israel, as with many things in Israel, is (in)famously a high security area in a state dedicated to the most sophisticated practices of security theater that I've ever known. Ironically, in the context of the airport, Jewish Israelis are not aware of the security apparatus working there. They flash their passports and are waved to a security zone like any you would find in the EU. After some initial interrogation (why are you here? Who do you know here? Do you have any Iranian friends? Arab friends?), most foreigners are sent to a line with smoked windows, along with largely Palestinian women and families. [I do not know, and I fear I do not want to know, the experience/line of young Palestinian men unaccompanied by children.] Both the initial interrogation and the secondary security screening vary a lot from experience to experience. 1/n

Replies (1)

@pjw@social.coop 2026-07-27 11:45

I have traveled out of Ben Gurion probably 30 times at this point - so my report here is anecdotal, but with quite a bit of anecdata behind it. If you are lucky, the initial interrogation can be relatively normal - 'did you pack your own bags?' etc. If you are unlucky, you end up answering all sorts of questions about people you know from random places - as I used to live in Jerusalem, I was often asked 'do you know anyone on the *other* side of the city?' i.e. East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of Jerusalem. Where did you meet these people? What's the most recent time you spoke to them? Let me look at your Whatsapp. etc. Similarly with the secondary screening. If you are lucky, they wave a wand over a bunch of your stuff, make sure there is no 'bomb juice' (or whatever it is those things scan for) and let you go. If you are unlucky, they take everything out of your luggage and begin interrogating you about various items - where did you get them? why are you taking it? etc. 2/n

Open ##4138422