Passengers arriving in Amsterdam on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv reported being sent through additional baggage inspections as the Netherlands began enforcing a ban on goods originating in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The restrictions extend beyond commercial imports to souvenirs, gifts and other items carried by individual travelers.
Dutch outlet NieuwRechts reported that passenger and opinion writer Sivan Behr described everyone arriving from Israel on her flight being directed through screening, including travelers who had entered the “Nothing to Declare” lane. According to her account, an officer said such inspections were routinely conducted on intercontinental flights, an explanation she questioned based on previous journeys. The account concerns a particular flight and does not establish that every passenger on every flight from Israel is being searched.
If i were on a similar flight from Israel, I would travel with tefilin, kippot and mezzuzot and challenge the high and mighty Dutch to confiscate these religious articles and arrest me. I might even throw in some dates for good luck.
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