Israel has been stopping Americans from entering the country in recent months until they undergo political questioning, a practice that came to light in an ABC News report on Thursday.
After American journalist Peter Beinart told how he was detained and interrogated at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv after arriving in Israel last Sunday at least four other Americans have said the same thing.
Beinart detailed the experience in an op-ed published in the Jewish newspaper Forward, explaining how he was grilled by security officials about his political stance and involvement.
He said security officials were curious about his previous participation in a protest against the lack of basic rights of Palestinians, which was held in Hebron. He said when he insisted he would not be participating in any further protests, he was let go.
Beinart has been a target even in the U.S. for his outspoken criticism of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank.
In 2012, he was one of 52 writers invited to speak at a Jewish book festival in Atlanta, which attracts about 10,000 people each year. Bowing to pressure from some local Jews offend by Beinart's views, festival organizers canceled his scheduled appearance, according to The Associated Press.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office responded to Beinart's detention in a press release, saying it was an “administrative mistake,” ABC News noted, but that didn’t stop the journalist from going online to air his views.
“Benjamin Netanyahu has half-apologized for my detention yesterday at Ben Gurion airport,” Beinart said in a Twitter post. “I'll accept when he apologizes to all the Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans who every day endure far worse.”
Beinart’s tweet brought others forth to speak about similar experiences.
Reza Aslan, a scholar, author and TV host, said he was detained and questioned while attempting to enter Israel from Jordan for his fourth time in the last 10 years.
Aslan was travelling with his family at the time and in a series of tweets he explained how officials interrogated him about his political and journalistic affiliations.
The Israel Security Agency said Aslan had been detained because his “behavior raised suspicions,” but he was released because these “suspicions were dispelled,” ABC News said.
Katherine Franke, a Columbia University professor who co-heads a delegation of American civil rights activists, was denied entry into Israel after she was detained at the Ben Gurion airport upon her arrival in May, ABC News noted.
The executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights based in New York, Vincent Warren, was also denied entry to Israel last May while Simone Zimmerman, an American activist who opposes Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories was detained and questioned before being allowed into Israel.
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