Marcy Newman – Entry Denied…
By Mary Rizzo • Mar 19th, 2010 at 14:23 • Category: Biography, Israel, Mary's Choice, Newswire, Palestine, Zionism
WRITTEN BY MARCY NEWMAN Yesterday (18 March 2010) after I finished teaching at 2 PM I headed for Palestine to spend the weekend and my birthday with friends in Palestine. I arrived on the occupied side of the bridge at 4:55 PM. I used to live in Palestine, most recently last year when I taught at An Najah National University in Nablus, but I had not been back since July when I left.
I arrived at the bridge, went through the routinized luggage and security screenings and headed for the passport window. The woman in the occupying army at the window asked me questions when it was my turn. She asked me what I was planning to do in "Israel," a word and question that makes my blood boil given that I was clearly trying to enter Palestine. Although I have spent extended periods of time living in Palestine since the summer of 2005, this is the first time I did not say that I was doing research as my reason for entering. This question normally got all sorts of questions, too, but at least it did not implicate my friends, something I had been unwilling to do before now. When I first went to Palestine in 2005 I used names of colonists, because I would much rather to have them questioned, but since 2006 when I adopted a policy of anti-normalization I refuse to speak to or normalize with a single colonist other than the occupying soldiers I am forced to deal with at the border and at checkpoints. I had arranged beforehand with my friend to say that I would be staying with him since he lives in Jerusalem and I wanted to make sure that I did not get one of those new stamps that said I can only enter the West Bank (my real plan was to stay in Doha, but I did not want to give additional names of friends). I was also asked how long I would be staying, and even though I had only planned to come for the weekend, I said I was not sure because I wanted to avoid getting one of the increasingly frequent stamps that is only for one week. I was worried that it would have implications for longer visits in the future. In the past I have always been given the three-month visa at the bridge (I've never entered the airport in occupied Lydd). But there have been occasions in the past when I wanted to come just for a wedding, just for the weekend when I was still given a three-month visa.
The occupying female soldier gave me a piece of paper to fill out and told me to wait. I'm used to the waiting part, but not this paper. It's new. It asked for basic information such as the address where you live, your employer, phone numbers and email address, as well as who you will be staying with and their contact information. I filled it out and waited. After about an hour one of the occupying private security contractors came over and asked for my paper and told me to wait. But first he wanted to know about my other passport. He read the back page and noted the two-year expiration on my passport and said he knew I had another one. I said that I don't have it with me. He said, well maybe we'll check your luggage to see if it is there. I said it isn't and I don't have another passport (which, of course, is not true). I said if you need to see that passport in order for me to enter then you need to send me home now. Finally, he said that he did not need to see it in order for me to enter. There were at least a dozen people ahead of me. So I waited. After another two hours (around 7 PM) he returned to ask me questions. He wanted to know more about my friend. He wanted to know his age, what he did for a living, where he worked, where he lived exactly, how I know him, etc. I told him you have his phone number and you may call him and ask him yourself, but I don't see how this is any of your business (he never did call my friend). I replied only that he is my age and that he lives in the Old City in Al Quds. Then he asked me questions about how long I was staying for and where I would go. I said that I didn't have any definite plans. He didn't like that answer and so I said, okay I'm staying for one week. Is that a better answer? He didn't like that answer either and said I had to sit down again.
I waited with others, mostly Palestinians with American or Jordanian passports, although there was a young, white American couple studying Arabic in Amman who had already been held since 2 PM. Eventually all of these people were allowed in after a good 7 hours of waiting each. The occupying private security contractor returned and asked me the same questions a couple more times. Then he said I would have to have an interrogation with someone from the "Israeli" Ministry of Interior and a body search (which they never got around to). This was also nothing new. Usually I do get questioned and have to wait anywhere between 5-7 hours. But I've never gone at night before. Usually their questions are also mostly about my research and sometimes about things they seem to find on Google about me.
By 10 PM or so there were only about five people still waiting, all Palestinians with huwiyyas. They decided at this point that they would check my suitcase and purse. They told me to sit down, but I told them no I wanted to watch them go through my clothes, toiletries, and books. They said I can take my money out of my purse before they go through that. I had two change purses, one with Jordanian cards and money, the other with my Arab Bank ATM card and money from the occupying entity. They said I could not take the change purses, but that I could only take the cash. They wanted to take all of my cards–ID cards, credit cards, everything–into another room away from my field of vision. I told them no. I've been through this process numerous times before and never have they tried to do this. Eventually they said I could keep my ATM cards, but that my huwwiya, driver's license, and bank account cards (detailing my account information) would have to go into the other room. I said no. They also wanted to take my SIM cards for my Jawal and Zain (Jordanian) phones into the other room as well. I said no. I don't trust thieves with my personal papers. They had my passport; that was enough. There were about 12 occupation private security contractors and police around me looking through my things at this time. They were asking questions about my religion because somehow the Arabic-English dictionary in my purse is a clue about my religion. They were, as always, very curious about the books in my bag and examined them with a fine-tooth-comb, including my Bedford Anthology of World Literature, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and Edward Said's The Question of Palestine. They were also going over my student attendance sheets (which are in Arabic) and my syllabi, which were in my bag.
Eventually they let me pack up my suitcase and told me to go back and wait. At this point there were three of us left. Two brothers from Ramallah and me. They were allowed to leave at around 5 minutes to midnight when the bridge closes. I was made to wait until about 1 AM. I asked for my passport several times as I still didn't know what they were going to do, but they told me that I'd get it when they decided I'd get it. After midnight, after all the floors had been washed and the terminal was empty, all the occupying soldiers and private contractors stood around laughing and doing nothing. But still no passport. I was alone for at least an hour. Eventually I heard one of them speaking in Arabic to the jordanian mukhabarat on his walkie-talkie and I knew then that they were calling for a bus and that somewhere there had been two other men also waiting to be deported. I got on the bus and returned to Jordan. I was told by one of the occupying police that I "should never bother to try returning to Israel again."
The story above is, of course, ordinary. This happens regularly to activists invested in liberating Palestine. It happens even more frequently to Palestinians trying to enter their own country. Perhaps I was denied entry because I refused to talk about my friend or would not submit to their search in full. I know that there is a game at the bridge. That one is supposed to be polite, sometimes laugh or smile. I don't know how to do that with murderers and thieves and I don't know that I want to learn how to do that. The anger that I feel when I see that flag symbolic only of a history of massacres and massive land theft at the border makes me irate. Perhaps it would have enabled me to see my friends. But it is also not clear that this is not related to my work with ISM in the past (including a day in jail for protesting in Bil'in) or my work with the BDS movement that they saw online, although they did not question me about that yesterday. In any case, if I never have to hear their language or see their flag again it will not be too soon. Although I don't think it has hit me yet what this means, on some level it is an honor to be denied entry because of my failure to submit to the rules of the colonist.
Marcy Newman is a literature professor at Amman Ahliyya University and an Organizing Committee member with the US Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel (usacbi.org).
Mary Rizzo is an art restorer, translator and writer living in Italy. Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective. Her personal blog is Peacepalestine.
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(obviously, the post is by Marcy Newman… it's the glitch in the system of this segment of the site).
Reading this brought out a lot of emotions. I admire the steadfastness of this woman. Her determination to not be stepped on. Her level-headedness when being treated like a criminal just for wanting to go to Palestine. It is very inspiring. But I also am feeling a lot of sadness for her. She loves that place and has so many friends there, that being denied entry is a very dramatic and negative thing. I also admire the way she could have made it easy on herself and maybe avoided all of this, or maybe not… but the point is, they recognise a Palestinian… and Marcy is a Palestinian.
[...] Continued here: Palestine Think Tank » Biography Israel Mary's Choice Newswire … [...]
Let me say I admire your willingness to both go through this and post your experience.
That said, I wonder if deliberate evasion/partial truth was the best idea. Having spendt a lot of time doing security type questioning, at the end of the day I rely on gut feel and if I think someone is not telling the entire truth, I am not willing to risk others lives. Granted, you had no ill intent but in a way, that doesn't matter.
I also understand not allowing access to personal documents other than "normal" identification. That was clearly meant to antagonize/terrorize. There is nothing a real security check needs from a bank card. Its an old trick to make unreasonable demands to get the person saying no. They will normally get so angry they will say no to a real request and then you have a reason to reject for cause.
I recommend you file a formal complaint with the US Department of State. The above account is more than adequate but I recommend removing "non-diplomatic" wording. I understand your principles, but keep your eye on the prize – change. It may not actually change anything but if US citizens are being arbitrarily denied entry, DoS needs to know. Again, having worked with passport issues, the counselor general normally takes these complaints seriously and if there are enough complaints, a Démarche will be issued. If the mistreatment continues it can result in restrictions on that nations citizens entering the US. I know the first reaction will probably that because of the country in question, no action will be taken. I cant guarantee action will be taken but I have seen the process work in the past. There are many ways outside of official policy that things can be changed. Maybe a copy of the formal complain happens to be on the desk the next time the other government official brings a request for an expedited visa. A simple "Absolutely, we will process your request as soon as I am done responding to Washington about this silly complaint from a US Citizen…." can go a long way when the very important person accidently let their visa expire. Or maybe a very low level official is sent to a formal function because the senior folks are all "tied up" responding to complaints from US citizens.
I hope you can get this reversed. No human should be treated this way, let alone a US Citizen.
[...] Source [...]
Wow. What a sob story. With that kind of suspicious attitude, ANY country in the world would have denied her entry. She sounds like an instigator, someone perfect for the job as an ISM "peace-nik". Maybe you, Mary (and Marcy) should direct your anger at "liberating" so-called "Palestine" from the hands of its own crooked leaders such as was Arafat and the current bozo-the-clown Abbas. What a shame these anti-Israel foreigners find it worth their time to exploit and provoke the "Palestinian" population. They were offered peace many times. They rejected. What more to say. Good riddance, Marcy. And stay out!
(Interesting to see if this is published. Generally, the anti-Israel side heavily censors any contrasting opinions)
[...] DENIED ENTRY BY ZIO-NAZI'S NOVANEWS "I arrived at the bridge, went through the routinized luggage and security screenings and headed for the passport window. The woman in the occupying army at the window asked me questions when it was my turn. She asked me what I was planning to do in "Israel," a word and question that makes my blood boil given that I was clearly trying to enter Palestine. Although I have spent extended periods of time living in Palestine since the summer of 2005, this is the first time I did not say that I was doing research as my reason for entering. This question normally got all sorts of questions, too, but at least it did not implicate my friends, something I had been unwilling to do before now. When I first went to Palestine in 2005 I used names of colonists, because I would much rather to have them questioned, but since 2006 when I adopted a policy of anti-normalization I refuse to speak to or normalize with a single colonist other than the occupying soldiers I am forced to deal with at the border and at checkpoints. I had arranged beforehand with my friend to say that I would be staying with him since he lives in Jerusalem and I wanted to make sure that I did not get one of those new stamps that said I can only enter the West Bank (my real plan was to stay in Doha, but I did not want to give additional names of friends). I was also asked how long I would be staying, and even though I had only planned to come for the weekend, I said I was not sure because I wanted to avoid getting one of the increasingly frequent stamps that is only for one week. I was worried that it would have implications for longer visits in the future. In the past I have always been given the three-month visa at the bridge (I've never entered the airport in occupied Lydd). But there have been occasions in the past when I wanted to come just for a wedding, just for the weekend when I was still given a three-month visa." [...]
Thanks, Marcy.
I had a long wait (11 hours) at the bridge the last time I went in and felt the same feelings on leaving that I never wanted to see those people again – I also hate the sight of the flag at the bridge.
Regarding lying: I was advised by people at the NGO where I worked to tell a story (untrue) that I was a tourist which I did; and I did get in. But it occurred to me later that by lying (which I hated doing) I was letting them win. And I decided that for me, I would not compromise myself by lying to them again.
To "Beautiful Haifa", kudos in packing so much vitriol and ignorance into such a compact post: well done! There's nothing more ludicrous than some denizen of your dismal Sparta by the sea railing against a citizen of the very country (mine) that bankrolls and underwrites your apartheid state. I have no doubt that you will be completely comfortable in your increasingly marginal and anti-democratic ethnocracy.
This is fine. But perhaps we should learn how to resist. Submission can also be a form of resistance. You submit at the border, give them what they want, in order to be able to achieve more for the cause once you are inside and working on your different projects. Instead, you have satisfied your own personal feelings but what have you done for the cause? Palestine could have benefited so much more from your wonderful and valuable work inside. Here, I am only assuming what you assumed in the article, that they denied you because you did not entertain their questions. Of course, it is also possible that they would have denied you after you submitted and on the basis of your online record.
Ugly Mind from Beautiful Haifa wrote: " With that kind of suspicious attitude, ANY country in the world would have denied her entry"
You might think this excuses stopping Internationals from visiting Palestinian friends, but there isn't really any other westernised country where you have to resort to subterfuge in order to visit friends from a particualr ethnic group.
Ugly Mind went on to claim that " They were offered peace many times. They rejected."
Absolutely untrue and proven to be so. Peace means Justice, a concept that is 100% incompatible with Zionism.
It always surprises me how determined Israelis are to bite the propaganda pill in such an internet oriented society. In Apartheid South Africa many of us could see that Apartheid was wrong despite strict censorship.
Occupation date of Beautiful Haifa (The Palestinian city, not the zionazi hasbarist who posted here):
April 23rd, 1948
I have read Marcy's blog before. She discontinued it because she did not have much of an audience. I was fascinated by her hatred and her weird take on events. She gave me the creeps with her writing. A fanatic who could kill with gusto her ideological enemies. SOme peace activist. .
Can't believe she is a professor. A little girl really. Occupied this and occupied that. What kind of writing is that for a so called professor? Even Mary is not that fanatical. It is all about her and her radical credentials. Most Palestinians are not even that rejectionist. Marcy est plus royaliste que le roi. I am glad one less ISM trouble maker has been denied entry.
Ruth " I am glad one less ISM trouble maker has been denied entry'
I'm sure you prefer it when Palestinians are oppressed out of the sight of others Rurh.
Remind us how many 'ISM troblemakers' have been convicted of crimes in the 'only democracy' in the Middle East's Courts.
Is it more or less than the number of ISMers who have been shot by Israeli soldiers?
It always surprises me how determined Israelis are to bite the propaganda pill in such an internet oriented society. In Apartheid South Africa many of us could see that Apartheid was wrong despite strict censorship.
In Apartheid South Africa many of us could see that Apartheid was wrong despite strict censorship.
Blablabla….. Looks who is talking about propaganda!!!
You were probably not even born during Apartheid. Just another semantic sound bite to make yourself
knowledgeable. You have no clue.
Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
I was born 3 decades before Apartheid ended. And before I was 10 I knew that what was happening was not justifiable.
You think that everyone who supports the Palestinians must be a child or something Ruth?
It always surprises me how determined Israelis are to bite the propaganda pill in such an internet oriented society. In Apartheid South Africa many of us could see that Apartheid was wrong despite strict censorship.
Whatever! I am not an Israeli. You have chosen a side and you are engaged in propaganda whether you like it or not. You can say Apartheid until you are blue in the face, it does not make it so. All I know is that I attended Haifa University once upon a time and the place had 400 Arab students at least. They ate at the same cafeteria and shared the same bathrooms and classrooms.
Hey Ruth,
I totally agree with you. The anti-Israel brigades love to label the state as Apartheid, when in reality by definition Israel is anything but. One of their most popular claims is that only Israeli Jews are allowed to use restricted roads in the West Bank, when in reality Israeli Arabs (who are 20% of the population of Israeli proper) are allowed to use the same roads. That is, anyone with an Israeli ID is allowed, unlike in South Africa where your ID was simply worn on your skin. People like Ray "Ignorant Redneck" Hicks love to beat their chest from across the pond and come to their false conclusions when most of them will never actually talk to an actual Israeli nor open their ears to the opposing arguments, much less visit the region and experience both the West Bank and Israel proper.
Also, Ruth, you are totally right about the Arabs in the universities in Israel. Because they are not forced to do army service, they are free to study in the universities at age 18, receive scholarships and benefits from Israel, and in addition in some universities…. are you listening to this Ray, tell me if this is an apartheid policy… are required to have a slightly less GPA (grade point average) than their Jewish colleagues to be accepted to certain engineering departments in order to meet an "affirmative action" quota. A quota such as the one many states in Ray's home country of the USA refuse to implement to the black people they oppressed, lynched, and enslaved; black people who did not even attack Ray's ancestors just because he was white… unlike the Arab armies attacking Israel just because of its Jewish residents.
Try to claim apartheid now Ray Hicks. Moron.