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JERUSALEM – When Sandra Tamari arrived at Israel's international airport, shereceived an unusual request: A security agent pushed a computerscreen in front of her, connected to Gmail and told her to "login." The agent, suspecting Tamari was involved in pro-Palestinianactivism, wanted to inspect her private email account forincriminating evidence. The 42-year-old American of Palestiniandescent refused and was swiftly expelled from the country. Tamari's experience is not unique. In a cyber-age twist on Israel'svaunted history of airport security, the country has begun to forceincoming travelers deemed suspicious to open personal emailaccounts for inspection, visitors say. Targeting mainly Muslims or Arabs, the practice appears to be aimedat rooting out visitors who have histories of pro-Palestinianactivism, and in recent weeks, has led to the expulsion of at leastthree American women. It remains unclear how widespread the practice is. However, asked about Tamari's claims, the Shin Bet security agencyconfirmed she had been interrogated and said its agents acted inaccordance with the law. Israel has a long history of using ethnic profiling, calling it anecessary evil resulting from its bitter experience with terroristattacks. Arab travelers and anyone else seen as a risk are oftensubjected to intense questioning and invasive inspections,including strip searches. The security procedures appear to be getting stricter: Recentsearches of journalists at official events have been invasiveenough to create a series of mini-uproars and walkouts — asituation that has dovetailed with increasing concerns that thegovernment is trying to stifle dissent. Diana Butto, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authorityand a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, said thepolicy of email checks, once used sporadically, appears to havebecome more widespread over the past year. Butto said she has led three tour groups to the region over thepast year, and in each case, at least one member of the group wasasked to open their email. She said Muslims, Arabs and Indians weretypically targeted, and in most cases, were denied entry. Butto said agents typically want to see people's itineraries,articles they have written or Facebook status updates. "The problem is there's no way to honestly say you're coming tovisit the West Bank without falling into some type of securitytrap," she said. "Either you lie and risk being caught in a lie, oryou tell the truth ... and it's not clear whether you'll be allowedin." Tamari, who is from St. Louis, said she arrived in Israel on May 21to participate in an interfaith conference. She described herselfas a Quaker peace activist and acknowledged taking part incampaigns calling for boycotts and divestment from Israel. Given her activism, Tamari said she expected some security delays.But she was caught off guard by the order to open her emailaccount. She said the agents discovered her address while riflingthrough her personal papers. "That's when they turned their (computer) screens around to me andsaid, 'Log in," she said. When she refused, an interrogator said,"'Well you must be a terrorist. You are hiding something.'" Tamari said she was searched, placed in a holding cell and flownback to the U.S. the following day. "The idea that somebody my age,a Quaker, on a peace delegation with folks from the U.S., would bedenied entry — that never crossed my mind," she said. Najwa Doughman, a 25-year-old Palestinian American from New YorkCity, said she underwent a similar experience when she arrived fora one-week vacation on May 26. A female interrogator ordered Doughman to open her Gmail account,threatening she would be deported if she didn't. "She typed in gmail.com and she turned the keyboard toward me andsaid, 'Log in. Log in now,'" Doughman recounted. "I asked, 'Is thislegal?' She said, 'Log in.'" She said the agent searched for keywords like "West Bank" and"Palestine" and made fun of a chat in which Doughman talked ofreading graffiti on Israel's West Bank separation barrier. "After she read a bunch of stuff, humiliating and mocking me, Isaid, 'I think you've read enough,'" Doughman said, adding thatagents jotted down names and emails of her friends as theyinspected her chat history. Doughman's traveling companion, Sasha Al-Sarabi, said agents pulledher aside and checked out her Facebook page. Both women said they were approached because of their Arab familynames, and were repeatedly asked about the nature of their visit,and whether they planned to go to the West Bank and participate inanti-Israel demonstrations. While acknowledging she belonged to Palestinian activist groupswhen she was in college, Doughman said she insisted the one-weekvisit was purely for a vacation. "The interrogator asked me, 'Do you feel more Arab or moreAmerican? ... Surely you must feel more Arab," Doughman said. "Itold her I was born in the U.S. and studied there, but she didn'tlike my answer." After hours of questioning, both women were told they would not beallowed in. They said they were subjected to strip searches, placedin a detention center and sent back to the U.S. the following day.Doughman said they weren't allowed to call the U.S. Embassy. American Embassy spokesman Kurt Hoyer said the embassy does notcomment on specific cases. But he said the embassy is "usually"contacted whenever an American citizen is not allowed to enterIsrael, or any other country. The embassy typically remains in contact with local authoritiesthroughout the process until a decision on entry is made. He said the U.S. stresses to all governments "to treat Americanpassport holders as Americans, regardless of their ethnic origin... At the same time, any sovereign nation has the right to decidewho to let in, and not to let in." Israel has become increasingly strict following a series of run-inswith international activists in recent years, highlighted by adeadly clash two years ago between Israeli naval commandos and aflotilla trying to break Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.Both sides accused the other of provoking the violence in whichnine Turkish activists were killed. Since then, Israel has prevented international activists fromarriving on similar flotillas as well as a pair of "fly-ins" bypro-Palestinian activists. Israeli officials acknowledge they usedsocial media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter, to identifyactivists ahead of time and prevent them from boarding flights toIsrael. Emanuel Gross, a law professor at Haifa University, said such apractice would seem to be illegal in Israel. "In Israel, you need a search warrant to go into somebody'scomputer," he said. "I'm skeptical that the security guards asked ajudge first for a warrant and I'm skeptical that a judge would giveit.". I am an expert from customsiliconeparts.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Silicone Rubber Keypad , China Silicone Rubber Seals, Medical Grade Silicone Rubber,and more.
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