Welcome to the State of Israel!

[Bethlehem, West Bank] It was almost the usual Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport arrival into the country experience today -- questioning, X-raying, searching, more questioning, chemical-substance-locating, ID-checking, back-room-articles-of-clothing-removal, metal-detectoring, etc. But today was slightly different. Today after I indicated that I would be returning to my apartment in the West Bank (or Judea and Samaria), I was presented a crisp white paper which offered:

Welcome to the State of Israel

Information on entry into territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority

1. We would like to bring to your attention, that entry into the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority, in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria (Area A), is forbidden without the attainment of prior written authorization.

2. Entry into the aforementioned territories, without prior authorization, may result in legal measures being taken against you, including deportation and refusal of future re-entry into the State of Israel.

(The writing was red on the sheet.) The note went on to mention the proper procedures for entering Gaza as well. Well, that was a mighty fine welcome.

But I'm not sure I understand this -- if I enter an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority (where my apartment sits), I need to get permission from the Israeli government? What if it is fine with the Palestinians who supposedly control the area, but it is not OK with the Israelis? Shouldn't the Palestinians have some say in who stays in the areas theoretically under their control? But of course I know that they don't have this privilege. Israel controls all borders. Otherwise too many people would visit Palestine and either 1) be shocked when they see what's going on or 2) go a step further and contribute to anti-oppression, nonviolent peace actions. Horrors! The fragile state will fall from this threat! In recent months, dangerous visitors like school choirs, musicians, humanitarian aid workers, and doctors have all been turned back by Israel. Good job! Way to go! That's taking security (and good-will) seriously. You don't want to have too many doctors or musicians visiting. (However, to my knowledge, there hasn't been a single instance of a visiting school choir member suicide bomber. But I'm not ruling it out. If we could have seen the faces of the kids turned away, we might have noticed an evil look in their eyes -- or was that just disappointment?)

All this Israeli legalese is just too darn complicated for me and my little pea brain anyway. I never know which law is in effect. I've heard all sorts of laws being quoted by Israeli attorneys -- Ottoman laws, British Mandate laws, and Israeli laws. I'm pretty sure that by being in Bethlehem, I must be breaking some sort of law -- I guess the "threat to the security of the state" is the one used most often against folks living in the West Bank and Gaza. But I'm not really in that category. I'm not much of a threat. I just eat falafel with friends, teach boring computer classes, and try to tell you about what's going on in my little neck of the woods. Welcome!