Date of attempted entry @ Eillat: 06.09.2007 Date of attempted entry @ KHB: 30.11.2007

Description of those you are traveling with (age, relationship, citizenship):

I travelled alone.

Description for what happened:

My case is maybe slightly unusual, as I have no Palestinian origin whatsoever! My parents and their parents are completely German. I even have some Jewish blood, which is not uncommon among Germans. Here’s what happened:
In September 2007 I tried to enter Israel at the Eillat/Aqaba border crossing in order to cross over into Egypt faster than by ferry. I was denied entry after over over 10 very tedious hours at the border. They searched every cm3 of my bag, made me undress to my pants and got someone in especially to interview me. Finally I was sent back without being given a reason. I was very shocked by this because I am determined to live and work in Israel/Palestine in the future and because there is nothing in my past or present that poses any kind of threat to the State of Israel. Well, I did travel to Syria, Iran and Yemen and had to tell the guy the truth about that. I also studied Arabic. They simply confiscated my Syrian SIM card which i happened to carry with me (stupid!).
I have since tried to find out the reason for my rejection (apart from the fact that they apparently thought me a fundamentalist convert to Islam), so far without success. I visited the Israeli embassy in Amman (where I was living at the time) and spoke to the Consul and some of his staff. They were astonished by the stamp and double red line in my passport (because I was German), but unable to help me. They did however encourage me to find out, because I �have a right to know why�, as the Consul said.
The German Embassy in Tel Aviv will not interfere in this matter, at least not for a single person and said my only hope was to contact the Israeli Ministry of Interior through the embassy in Amman. This did not work out. A second attempt to enter at King Hussein Bridge with a new passport was unsuccessful, too, though much shorter.
After returning to Germany, I wrote another detailed letter to the Israeli ambassador here and one of his staff replied kindly after researching my case with the authorities in Israel, noting that I was simply denied access “without reason”. He said I should try again, but get permission from them beforehand.
So there’s some hope I will get in. Hope this adds something to your campaign,
Regards, Anselm


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