I think it would be interesting to be a tourist to Israel, such a small place with so much to see. Sort of, though I hesitate to spend money there and who knows my cc posting and attendance at one or two rallies protesting the various slaughters in the Gaza invasions might be enough to flag me . My wife does not want to go for as a relatively dark skinned Latina as she is afraid of the Israelis. Maybe her fear is justified. .http://www.colorlines.com/articles/traveling-while-black-i-was-racially-profiled-and-locked-israel Traveling While Black: I Was Racially Profiled and Locked Up in Israel Detroit activist and writer Kristian Davis Bailey was en route to a West Bank conference to talk about Black and Palestinian solidarity when Israeli police accused him of drug smuggling. Here, he reflects on the trauma of his arrest and insists that it's nothing compared to what Palestinians face.
I looked at the website glynch used and it is full of pro-Islam and anti-Israel propaganda. Contrary to the actual daily events where the "religion of peace" Islam is used as motivation to murder people (just today, a Russian Muslim woman decapitated a 4-year old child she was babysitting and ran around with the severed head in Moscow, screaming Allahu Akbar), it takes actual effort to seek out a piece like the one glynch found, to smear Israel. In contrast to glynch, I have been to Israel, as well as to several Arab countries in the region, and Israel is easily BY FAR the most liberal and non-racist society in that region. By far.
I've traveled all over Israel as well and like ATW believe it's the most tolerant country in the region by far. glynch, alternatively you and the wife could travel to Raqqa in Syria - just tell them that you're sympathetic to their plight and are there to help! I'm sure they'll appreciate your warm concerns and embrace you.
Glynch, really you should relax on this one. I'm dark skinned and I've been to Israel and frankly I felt much safer there than most cities here. As long as your trip itinerary doesnt involve full time protesting and civil disobedience, there is nothing to worry about. Also avoid the settlements, those people are nuts. Plus you and your wife are American. No one will think twice about you or your wife. Also since you're not Israeli, feel free to go hang out in the Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem or the West Bank. Bring your passport when going to the West Bank so when you take the bus back from Ramallah, the IDF will know that you are a foreigner. Be respectful and you'll be fine. And I say this as someone who was repeatedly mistaken for a Palestinian while I was there. I solo traveled to Ramallah and Hebron and joined a small tour group to Bethlehem to see all of the Christian historical sites. I actually found aimlessly walking through both West Bank cities and Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem on the Sabbath. The city shuts down entirely on the Sabbath so you can just meander in the middle of the road. In short, you have nothing to worry about. Just be respectful of everyone. Hopefully I'll go back and do another visit. I really only scratched the surface of things to see. Also couchsurfing is huge in Israel. I met some great people through that. I'd really recommend using it to meet up with some locals.
Thanks for the reply, but I have tried and my wife is genuinely afraid. One of the reasons we would like to go is we know lots of Jewish people we go out to dinner with etc. who always talk it up, but a couple of them, including one couple who is Israeli/American are from our perspective not to be trusted on this matter as they think all the trouble there as being due to fanatical Palestinians oppressing the peaceful eternal victims. We keep all discussion of Israel on very safely circumscribed with them.
Your wife is "genuinely" afraid? Then you better not travel anywhere. In fact don't leave your house. Israel has been known to come down hard on "relatively dark skinned Latinas". While she is at it, make sure she doesn't travel to Europe or Canada or Mexico, or the whole Middle East. Most of Asia is probably a no-go too. Hey, I bet she would be safe in Venezuela.... that violent crime rate isn't an issue at all.
I'm sorry but this is sounding like flat out paranoia. Their crime rates are way better than American crime rates. Even the Palestinian areas in the West Bank are safer than most US cities. The country is absolutely safe. I went all over without a single issue. And I was backpacking by myself. Plus, and I cant state this enough, you're American tourists. If there's any nationality that is fine, its Americans. Like I said, I took taxis between cities in the West Bank and went in and out of Palestinian areas. Your American passport will make any issues disappear. Once the IDF saw that I was American at any checkpoint, they gladly let me pass with no issues.
A very very good friend of mine spent the last 3 years living in Jerusalem (the most religious city in Israel) and he absolutely loved living there. He's a south-Texas born and raised Latino. By the way, Tel Aviv is an extremely tolerant, liberal city. I've personally seen 2 girls kissing on the street in the middle of the day - You'd be very surprised at how modern Israel is.
I almost forgot - When I first arrived in Israel, the lady we spent the first few days around was a black lady from Atlanta who had been living in Israel for several years. In her opinion, Israel was a great place to live and she had no plans on leaving. I'm sure if there were serious race issues, she'd be more interested in moving back to the states.
Now with wife and kids, I keep feeling like the navigable world keeps getting smaller out of concern for their safety. I don't know if it's because my responsibilities got larger, I got older, or the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I think I'm still willing to do Israel. Not worried so much for being targeted as minorities or foreigners, but a little concerned about being caught up in a wider conflagration.
A couple of the most socially liberal cities in the region? Sure. Why would that be a surprise? These are cities filled with Europeans and European immigrants, they're not poor, mostly come from parents who went to European college. Tel Aviv is more liberal than a lot of America in that sense. The least racist? Absolutely not. Don't be silly. Racism is rampant in the Middle East, and Israel is at least as racist if not more racist. It certainly doesn't help that many immigrants came/come from racially undiverse parts of Europe. It's changing, but unfortunately the conservative portion of Israeli society is growing in size faster than any other subset of the population. Was the person in the OP article arrested because of their race? I don't think so. It's a common occurrence with people supporting Palestinian causes whether they are white, black, Jewish, American, Israeli, whatever. It's just how a corrupt government works which is again not uncommon in the Middle East.
Jewish people come to my country all the time, absolutely nothing happens to them. They come to work, for business, they come for tourism. Some of them are even Israelis but they travel with another passport since many Israelis are dual nationals. As far as Jews go, they can travel to any Arab country without any problem whatsoever. I don't know of any country that doesn't allow people in based on them being Jews, and if there were I'd bet it's the few common culprits. FYI there are practicing Jews and synagogues in a dozen Arab countries, as well as Iran. They just can't travel with an Israeli passport and that's a legal issue because their Israeli passport is invalid since the country is not recognized as one. Except Egypt and Jordan, they can and do travel to those countries for tourism. It's not an open, great place for Jews but let's not get carried away now.
Mathloom - even an Israeli stamp in the passport is a major problem in many Arab nations. Don't try to play us for fools.
