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Israeli Border Police Shoot US Student's Laptop
zerothink writes "American student Lily Sussman, 21, upon entry into Israel from Taba (Egypt, Sinai) caught Israeli border police in grumpy mood — after two hours of questions and searching through her belongings they decided to put three bullets through her laptop. Explanation? 'I'm sorry but we had to blow up your laptop.' Haaretz also covered the story." All three bullets missed the hard disk.
Soooo... they nerdraged her puter?
Seems a little odd they would attack her puter. Feels more like they were little babies because they didnt agree with her on some subjects so they hurt the only thing they could. School playground antics from grown ups, awesome.
So they had to shoot down her laptop. With three bullets. Missing her hard drive. That really makes sense now.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
What.all my client case notes and testimony, writing, pictures, music and applications. Years of work. NO!!!! What?? Are you insane?? What were you thinking? THAT’S ALL MY WORK!?
What? There are a million and one things that could happen to a nice shiny laptop while travelling, if your data is that important it's pretty stupid not to backup, especially before travelling.
Of course. Everyone knows that terrorists will do everything they can to draw attention to themselves while setting up a plot.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Selfdeclared? There WAS resolution of UN which allowed its creation. Most countries recognize Israel, even if they dont recognise Jerusalem as its capital. ... or all other states of world?
How about "selfdeclared" state of US? Or "selfdeclared" state of Syria? Or "selfdeclared" state of Spain? Or Iran
armed thugs stop the travellers on a regular basis, and demand all sorts of things from them, at gun point. like removing clothing, penetration of clothing (tap search inside pants), stealing items like water bottles and knifes, or destroying property as here. in worst cases they can even enslave you (called arrest and inprisonment now, or rendition)
this is not much different from the middle ages, where bandits would stop travellers, and demand all sorts of things from them at the threat of physical violence. at least, at that time one could prepare and fight back.
Security at its finest!
I'll play! When was the last time someone managed to bomb or hijack a plane originating out of Israel? Now how about the US? UK? India? Germany? France? Spin the globe. Pick a random country.
Bonus trivia question: How many aircrafts have been hijacked originating from an Israeli airport in the entire history of Israel?
Half of those are covered by her living in Egypt, half of them by her being a journalist. Either of those in isolation or combination strike you as a bomb threat?
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
She had the following on herself -hand drawn map of downtown Jerusalem
Geography students in Israel better start wearing kevlar soon.
-Arabic stickers on laptop -
If you're one of the 530 million people speaking Arabic, here's some news - knowing a language could be a crime.
"Fuck Star of David" pic on phone
I'm not one for nasty language, but I won't go popping bullets in things I don't like, Mr Columbine.
-passport stamps from Arab countries -
What's wrong with visiting an arab country? or do you believe in enclosing a race to their own land and prevent them from outside contact? Similar logic to that of a certain country, I must say.
various Arab publications
That sounds plain xenophobic. Education is not synonymous to English or Hebrew.
-photos condemning Israeli military action in Gaza
You should start getting trigger-happy with the U.N., Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a dozen other human rights monitoring agenices and governemtns, because they condemned military action in Gaza. I should not have to leave my opinion at the border when entering a country, if my opinion is not causing any harm to anyone.
You have to be pretty goddamn stupid to fly into a fanatical military state like Israel from a Muslim country with a laptop covered in Arabic stickers. What's the next leg of her journey? From Israel to Iran wearing a star of David and demanding a kosher meal?
Nothing worthwhile ever happens before noon
Admittedly, it does not sound as if shooting the laptop (and the display, of all things) was necessary, or even helpful. Having said that, the Israeli procedure seem to be:
Contrast and compare that with the US customs, which says:
Even on sheer "friendliness", I'm not sure which I prefer.
Shachar
The reason they're shooting it is to *try* to make it go off.
Typically this would be put in a bomb pit somewhere nearby. From reading the comments this is fairly common practice there. This one nailed it pretty well:
"I know many Jewish Israeli people who had their bag shot just because they left it unwatched for a couple of minutes. Yes, this is the unfortunate reality that Israelis live in, where Palestinian terrorist would do anything (such as put bombs cowardly hidden in laptops) to intentionally hurt innocent civilians. These are precaution measures intended to prevent loss of innocent lives (yes, sometimes at the cost of a cherished laptop because of a possibly careless border officer)."
And she entered with her nice little laptop 'puter with the star of David on it and some stickers about how Allah was a faggot and the Iranian president a ninny. I wonder what would have happened? I wonder when Americans are going to wise up to the fact that in some countries they don't have the sense of humor about criticism that we do here. That it can be dangerous to travel abroad with a smug sense of superiority and invulnerability.
"I know many Jewish Israeli people who had their bag shot just because they left it unwatched for a couple of minutes. Yes, this is the unfortunate reality that Israelis live in"
Not to belittle their situation, but anyone who's travelled much at all on public transport in London will be aware that they must not leave their belongings unattended "or they may be removed and possibly destroyed by the security services".
I'm not aware that it's happened to anyone I know, but the threat is there. Of course, we lived with a couple of decades of terrorist attacks ourselves long before Terrorism was the new bogeyman.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
You quite obviously have the luxury of living in a place where completely random things suddenly exploding isn't a regular occurrence. The border agents in Israel do not have that luxury.
When Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and all the other local terrorist groups stop stuffing bombs into everything they possibly can in order to blow up buses and nightclubs full of civilians, Israeli border patrol agents can stop testing suspected bomb containers by shooting them as a matter of policy. Until then, if it were my life and the lives of my friends and neighbors on the line, I'd be plugging holes in anything being carried across the border that I thought could even possibly contain a bomb if I had even the slightest thought that something wasn't right.
This snooty little cunt knew exactly what she was doing and she went there with every intention of stirring up trouble. What she didn't count on was the fact that - unlike where she's from - the government in Israel takes all potential threats seriously because they've been taught to do so by decades of cleverly hidden bombs blowing up their citizens at random. And the reason they questioned her for two hours is because they've learned from vast amounts of experience what to ask and when to figure out what someone's really up to.
She was packed to the brim with anti-Israel crap and had maps and directions to a public bus station and a hostel in the heart of Israel. She couldn't have looked more like a foreigner coming to do harm if she'd written "TERRORIST" on her forehead in red lipstick. So they decided her laptop could be a bomb and destroyed it the simplest way they could; by shooting it. And after all that? They gave her the info so she could be compensated for the damage done to her property. That's right; they're paying for the damage because it turns out she wasn't a terrorist carrying a bomb; just a snooty cunt carrying a big chip on her shoulder and a lot of attitude.
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
Arabic is one of Israel's two official languages. Why is it stupid to have Arabic stickers on your laptop? Because you're an ignoramus, would be my guess.
He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
Whether the Israeli military used white phosphorous when targeting civilians (the evidence suggests they were using it the way everyone else does, as flares at night to light up targets so the wrong building/person isn't shot) is irrelevant. As is the question of whether an errant bomb/missile hit a school in a war zone (mistakes happen and collateral damage is tragic, but it's not like it's done on purpose). The question is, have the Israelis have lived with random bombings in civilian areas long enough to justify extreme security measures with regards to unattended bags and suspicious cases crossing the border? I think the answer to that question is "Yes".
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Israel was proclaimed an idependent state by Israel May 14th 1948.
The United States was proclaimed an independent state by the United States on July 4, 1776. Does that mean we don't exist, either?
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
I defy her, you or anyone to start mouthing off at an Egyptian or Iranian airport and see where you end up. It won't be in a queue filling out paperwork.
That's good. Israel should use that as a tourist tag line "Israel: we're at least as rational as Egypt and Iran". Makes me want to visit.
Look, just because another government is more oppressive doesn't make their actions any less ridiculous.
> Of course, we lived with a couple of decades of terrorist
> attacks ourselves long before Terrorism was the new bogeyman.
The UK only *thinks* they have terrorism problems. (The US too, for that matter.)
Spend a few months living in Israel, and you'll find out how it really is.
I'm not saying shooting the laptop was necessarily justified or the right thing to do. I don't know enough of the details of the situation to say that. But I will say that there are some security measures that Israel absolutely *has* to take, that would be viewed as unacceptably harsh in places with relatively low levels of terrorist violence. Israel really has very little choice in the matter. They're basically living in a war zone, all the time.
Did I mention that the entire middle-east is officially not on my "places to be sure to visit" list? Call me a wuss if you want, but I prefer to live in an area where the word "terrorist" generally calls to mind news stories from several years ago and several hours' drive away. Small-town USA is good. Our town doesn't make the news much, and we *like* it that way.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Your attitude would directly increase the chances of more people being blown up in bus bombings.
And the attitude that any person who dislikes Israel should be treated like a criminal and denied basic rights does far more damage than any misguided kid's political views.
There isn't much difference between Israelis complaining about Palestinian violence and early pioneers complaining about Native American violence. If you take someone's land and property with force, they will probably do whatever they can to retaliate. If you don't want them to use terrorist tactics, have the US give the same amount of weapons to Palestine as it does to Israel. I'm sure the two state solution would suddenly be vastly more appealing to the hardliners who still want to steal Palestinian land under the guise of security.
First - My work place was on the 3rd floor overlooking a main post office. I remember a case where someone left his groceries when he picked up his mail from his mailbox. About 20m later, we saw the guy sprinting back a few blocks down the street. However, the bomb disposal people were at ground level... and their robot shot his bag before he could get close enough for them to see him. Veggies everywhere. So no, this isn't picking up on someone in particular. Leave a bag unattended in a sensitive public place, and this may happen to you - regardless of who and what you are.
Second - I am sure this girl had a most unpleasant time. She is overlooking the fact that she wasn't a suspect as such. If you were a terrorist trying to smuggle a bomb into a high security area, a good way would be to plant it on some young, sympathetic, naive, idealistic western girl who is "obviously" not a terrorist - a profile this girl fit to a T. To rule this out you need to ask a lot of invasive, personal, seemingly irrelevant questions. If this sounds far fetched to you, read about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezar_Hindawi who planted a bomb in his pregnant Irish fiance's bag. I am certain she went through a most unpleasant time as well. I am also certain she appreciated keeping her and her baby's lives. I am also certain all the other passengers on her flight appreciated continuing living, too. And the crew. And all their families. And friends.
The bottom line is that security in Israel is different from the USA. Instead of inflicting ineffective, mindless, low-level nuisance on everyone, it focuses on people who may (knowingly or unknowingly) pose a risk and gives them a thoroughly unpleasant, but effective, screening. This method works. And for most people, Israeli security is a much more pleasant experience than going through USA security. Of course, for the few who end up getting the 3rd degree, it is much worse.