How some Americans are treated in Israeli airports.

1. Not sure why this is on HN.<p>2. I am not shocked that this happened to two US Citizens of Arab descent - they fit a certain profile and were PNGed at the border. I am sorry for their experience and would demand more professionalism from the security agents at the border. At the same time, any country can declare a non citizen a persona non grata. If there was a plane leaving in 2 hours it's safe to assume they would have been on that one.<p>3. Quoting the USG: " Israeli authorities might consider as Palestinian anyone who has a Palestinian identification number, was born in the West Bank or Gaza, or was born in the United States but has parents or grandparents who were born or lived in the West Bank or Gaza. Any such U.S. citizen might be required by the Government of Israel to travel to Israel using a PA passport. Without the PA passport, such U.S. citizens might be barred from entering or exiting Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza, or they may face serious delays at the ports of entry." <a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1064.html" rel="nofollow">http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1064.html</a><p>4. Folks, encrypt your laptops at border crossings and forget the password. This goes for the US as well. The 4th Amendment does not apply at US borders, and most countries don't even have the niceties of the Bill of Rights.<p>5. The US is just a little nicer:<a href="http://nomadlaw.com/2010/04/i-am-detained-by-feds-for-not-answering-questions/" rel="nofollow">http://nomadlaw.com/2010/04/i-am-detained-by-feds-for-not-an...</a>

I'm an Israeli and If their story is indeed true it makes me feel really ashamed. A lot of people here do not approve of this racial screening in our air ports. In response to a growing threat from arab countries and organizations like Hizbullah, the country becomes more and more fascist and paranoid, and it is becoming unbearable. Quite frankly, I would have immigrated to the US if I could..

I was born and raised in the US, so of course this seems upsetting and offensive to read.<p>BUT, as humiliating and degrading as the treatment of these girls may sound to western ears, you have to pull back and see that there is a larger picture and that these conditions were created in a context of constant threat of serious violence from all sides.<p>This is NOTHING like an employer asking you to log into your FB account. This is about a country preventing the murder of its citizens. Forcing you to expose all your potential secrets sends a pretty strong deterrent message to anyone who would try. Being extremely invasive at the airports and doing serious screening and interrogation is how Israel remains a relatively safe place to live for its citizens and guests.<p>As the woman from the embassy pointed out, there are a lot of things wrong with a lot of systems. At least this one was kind enough to allow a phone call and to quickly arrange safe passage home.

I don't think this can be said enough and judging from this story people don't seem to get it yet but let's give it another whirl: National rights and customs do not transfer with an individual.

Why is this on HN?