Slashdot Mirror
Israel Airport Security Allowed To Read Tourists' Email
wiredmikey writes "Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion airport are legally allowed to demand access to tourists' email accounts and deny them entry if they refuse, the country's top legal official said on Wednesday. Details of the policy were laid out by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in a written response to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the group said in a statement. 'In a response dated April 24, 2013, the attorney general's office confirmed this practice,' ACRI said, quoting sections of the document which said it was only done in exceptional cases where 'relevant suspicious signs' were evident and only done with the tourist's 'consent'. 'Allowing security agents to take such invasive measures at their own discretion and on the basis of such flimsy "consent" is not befitting of a democracy,' commented Lila Margalit from ACRI."
Israel has every right to require you show just cause why they should let you in. Just like the US has that same right.
You have no right to enter a country of which you are not a citizen, and they can deny you entry for any reason, and require whatever they want of you as a condition of entry.
That's just the way it is. Don't like it? Don't go to Israel.
This is why I do all my confidential corporate communication via Twitter and Slashdot postings.
It might also be a good reason not to visit a country. Of course, if all countries keep heading towards police states like they seem to be currently, it won't really matter where you go. Goodbye privacy, "papers please".
... or, you could be a racist douche-bag. The possibilities are endless.
Citation needed. What other counties demand access to tourists' e-mail? And outrage against Israel's human rights crimes is not "anti-semitic" or "outrage against Jews". Anyone with a lick of sense is tired of Israel playing the victim card.
Damning with faint praise, there. And if you're Jewish, that's like a white person in 1965 talking about how safe he felt in Alabama, Bloody Sunday be damned.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
This is a stupid policy because anyone intent on doing harm will just set up a dummy account full of fluffy happy mail to show to airport security. Basically the only outcome of this policy is to deny entry to people who are not a threat.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
I traveled through Ben Gurion airport in 2011 and I have to say, I found the security there a lot less invasive and arbitrary than security at US airports. They didn't make me take off my shoes or walk through a body scanner. And they didn't confiscate my bottle of water.
What they did do was actually spend time talking to me and watching me. I think the security there is really security, not security theatre.
As for demanding to read your email, that's probably crossing the line. I likely would have refused. But really, it's no worse than the US which can confiscate your laptop at the airport and go through all your files.
See The U.S. Government Wanted to Know: Am I Jewish"
"This is the conversation I recall having with Chris Kain at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv by telephone:"
CK: Hello. I got your number from ___. You are being questioned by the Israeli authorities, I understand.
ST: They are threatening to deny me entry and to deport me.
CK: Are you Jewish?
ST: No
CK: Have you been in contact with the Israeli government or military in the past?
ST: No
CK: Have you been here before?
ST: Yes, several times. I am a Palestinian with family in the West Bank.
CK: Oh, you have family in the West Bank. Then there is nothing I can do to help you. In fact, if I interceded on your behalf, it will hurt your case with the Israelis.
ST: I don't understand. You are saying you can't speak with them. You have no influence. They are demanding to access my gmail account.
CK: If they have your gmail address, they can get in without your password.
ST: What do you mean? How?
CK: They're good!
ST: This is crazy. You mean you know about these requests to access emails and you have no problem with it.
CK: It is in our travel warning. They won't harm you. You will be sent home on the next flight out.I hope I have been of good service to you.
ST: Frankly, you have done nothing for me.
CK: Well at least you can say I did it kindly.
I use Thunderbird to POP my mail down to my local desktop at home. The server copy is *not* retained. Furthermore, I don't even know my ISP mail and Gmail passwords off hand - they're stored in my local mail client, which, as I mentioned, is a desktop at home.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I'm Jewish but I'm still trying to process your response... maybe Slashdot can help me.
Unfortunately, bigots like you...
The parent did a good job differentiating condemnation of Jews and the state of Israel's actions. There is a massive difference between the two. Even then, let's say that there wasn't a difference. In the United States, we value the freedom of speech which includes the freedom to offend. We critique and criticize Christians and Muslims all the time. Is any of that Christianphobia and Islamophobia? Sure. Is it all Christianphobia and Islamophobia? No. We also criticize our own government. Does that make us America Haters? No. Criticism and critiques come with nuance. Jumping to the extreme shows a fragile nature.
...have done everything they can to allow Muslims into Israel...
Last I checked, plenty of Muslims have lived in that area. The expulsion of non-Jews from Israel either through constant terrorism or other forms of force is well documented. Denying Palestinians (Muslims and Christians alike) the right to return to their homes is a policy that hawks and right-wing fanatics in Israel's government (and Slashdot commentators) gets them slobbering at the mouth in glee. It doesn't make it right. Your comment is starting to become offensive at this point.
...so [Muslims] can commit terrorist attacks against innocent civilians.
Do you believe Muslims alone commit terrorist attacks against innocent civilians? Or do you believe that all Muslims commit terrorist attacks against innocent civilians? The reality is Israelis, and by extension Jews, commit plenty of terrorist attacks against Palestinians and Muslims. The fact that it is sanctioned by the government by people in soldiers doesn't make it just. Also, the fact that settlers commit terrorist attacks against Palestinians and Muslims while kicking them out of their land doesn't make it just. Your comment has crossed the line to offensive at this point.
And as for the moronic comparison to 1965 Alabama, no. There is no comparison there. Give it up.
The parallels are appropriate. Right-wing/militant Israelis and their sympathizers would love nothing more than to claim offense at the comparisons to the pre-civil rights era of the United States and Apartheid South Africa but there is no better description. Don't shut down honest discussion on this topic but using accusations of "antisemitism" or "bigotry."
Whine all you want, but more than happy to help these guys. They have:
* A legitimate reason for increased security. They're under far more serious security threats (and frequency) than the US and Europe.
* A better security record (% of attacks foiled) using far less money
* Real security at airports and malls, unlike the security theater going on elsewhere in the world.
Trust me, if they ever get to the point of asking for your email they have flagged multiple levels of suspicious behavior. I have been traveling there for years and their security is *far* less intrusive than the US and Europe. Personally I wish them all the best. They're the only country in the entire world that is actually winning against Islamic terrorism. That's most than most countries can say.
Did you notice how Google seems incapable of providing any sort of encryption feature? I can't even digitally sign gmail. Secure communication with their servers has been there from the beginning, yet somehow Google doesn't have the technical prowess to incorporate a bit of GPG? If you think Google just finds it too hard to offer public key encryption with their email, I've got a bridge in Alaska you might want to invest in. Someone from the government has spooked them into keeping everything in plain text.
Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
Time to register iloveisrael@gmail.com....
I have about a dozen email accounts.
False. Your recall of history is factually incorrect - which makes your assertion about the UK ridiculous.
The League of Nations in 1922 declared an intention to create the states of Palestine and Transjordan. Palestine was a Jewish region of the Ottoman Empire and 'Palestinians' meant Jewish dhimmis in the Palestine region. Arabs were simply 'Arabs'. Palestine was to get all the land west of the Jordan River and Transjordan the land to the East. Then the British decides to split the Palestine region into a Jewish part and an Arab part. The Jews living in the region had been living there continuously for 3000 years (although Jews were temporarily excluded from Jerusalem in 70 AD and in the 3rd Century, but remained in the surrounding areas). In the late 18th Century the 'zionist' movement got going and the Jews that were already in the region were joined by Jews from other parts of the World. These Jews bought swampy land near the coast that the Arabs didn't want. The Jews set to work clearing the swamps and started importing Arabs from other parts of the Arab world (most of whom arrived *after* the Jews, and in 1967 took the name 'Palestinians' for political reasons I'll explain later).
World War II came along and many Jews fled to Palestine if they could. The British kept many of them out (where they were murdered in millions by the National Socialists). Meanwhile the Mufti of Jerusalem, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Amin_al-Husayni headed to Hitler and suggested the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem (reminding Hitler that if the Jews were exteminated no one would remember them, citing how the Armenians were mostly forgotten by the Turkish genocidal jihad against Armenians in 1915). The Mufti also proceeded to the Balkans to raise a pair of Bosnian and SS Divisions that killed tens of thousands of Yugoslavian Jews. The Mufti was not a nice man.
After World War II ended many surviving Jews were convinced that Europe would always be anti-Semitic and left for Palestine (which is true, we see a rise again today; one cannot be racist but it is perfectly acceptable in polite society, politics and academia these days to demonize all Israelis without considering individuals - if you are doing this you are in fact a racist; please stop being racist).
The Jews conducted terrorism against the British and the British decided to leave Palestine (it was also in an anti-colonial mindset and divesting itself of all colonies as well at that time, eg India etc). In 1948 the UN offered states for Jews and Arabs in Palestine. The Jews accepted and Israel was formed. The Arabs rejected the UN plan and attacked with the armies of many neighbouring Arab states as part of the Arab League (and driven by several things; the lust for land and conquest and the intention to commit genocide of Jews as commanded in the Qur'an and hadiths). The Arab Legion told the Arabs in Palestine to move out of the area so that the genocide would be easier. These Arabs are the refugees that no Arab host country wants to integrate. The Jews also had to flee Judea, Samaria in the face of the Arab League armies and were expelled from Arab countries (eg. Egypt). The Jewish refugees were accepted as full citizens by Israel. The Arabs who remained in Israel were accepted as full citizens, and were given Members of the Knesset (eg. similar to Congressmen/Senators in the Israeli political system). There are about 1 million Arab Israelis (who fight for Israel, because they see themselves as citizens of *their* country) and have 3 Members of Knesset. After a year of fighting the Israelis won and their State survived.
After 1948 the Jordanians annexed Judea and Samaria and renamed it "The West Bank" [of the Jordan] to deflect any Jewish historical claim on it. The Egyptians occupied Gaza. The Arabs in Gaza did not call themselves "Palestinian" (a term used for Jews before 1948) but instead called themselves "Egyptian". The Arabs in the West Bank did
the only part i would disagree with is the "Palestine was a Jewish region of the Ottoman Empire and 'Palestinians' meant Jewish dhimmis in the Palestine region". The Jews in Palestine at the time were only about 16% of the population. The rest were arabs.
Because terrorists are way too dumb to sign up for more than one email account.
No worries. Just one more tiny point, the land wasn't "UK". It was a Mandate granted by the League of Nations for the UK to administer (not own). I know I'm picking hairs here, but given the nature of the subject it pays to be a little pedantic with regards to the history.
What idiot would think that the Jews only got there after 1948?
Dude, you would be surprised. It is a common refrain of some Islamic supremacists that the Jews have no right to the land because they all came from Europe to displace Arabs at the end of WWII. That's why they mistakenly call for all Israelis to go back to Europe. Since even Western readers are also often confused I thought I'd better make the history explicit, and some folks might learn something. Much of the political problems are due to intentional or unintentional re-writing of history. I didn't mean to suggest you didn't know this. I just saw that some could misconstrue your original post as being that the Israelis only arrived at the end of WWII because the UK put them there - and displaced Arabs in some fit of colonialism. Since that meme is common, but not true, I thought I'd post just so no-one gets confused. I did not mean to raise your hackles.
Oh, so terrorism was a good thing back then?
The terrorists won, so they became freedom fighers. That is how it always works. It's like the ANC in South Africa.
If Germany hadn't lost WW2, the French Resistance would have been remembered as a bunch of deluded terrorists.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it