Although mercifully rare, it never fails: the pleasure of visiting the Israeli consulate in Boston: first you get to stand outside the door in the hallway, and wait you turn to enter to pass security. There are no chairs, and if the line is long - too bad. Lean against the wall. Inside, I was asked for the reason of my visit in English: no time wasted on common pleasantries like hello or a smile. I presented a document written in Hebrew and my American passport ( I do not have an Israeli one) I was told to surrender my iPhone and iPad before being let in. But what do you know? Subsequent visitors with Israeli passports got to enter the inner sanctum with their electronics! On my way out, I asked the security guy in perfect Hebrew, what determined his decision to let someone in with or without their smartphones. Could it possibly be that I had an American passport instead of an Israeli one? He stared at me, obviously surprised at my perfect Hebrew ( he never asked). And of course did not answer but gave me a dismissive, arrogant stare. Of course it was a stupid question on my part: it is rather obvious that by virtue of carrying an American passport (despite also carrying a Hebrew document) I am the potential enemy who is going to use her smartphone or iPad to detonate a bomb once inside. My apologies.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 16:23:21 +0000
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