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Comment by davidf18 | Hacker News Reader

I'm an American who has been to Israel countless times and unless you've been there you can't imagine the security situation. At the last moment I was saved from a terrorist attack http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_BMW_attack when I went into a corner store to buy a candy bar hearing gunshots with girls running into the store before I could make my purchase. I have eaten at several locations that were later bombed by terrorists.

I have been in Israel where terrorist bombs have blown up buses or the open market just a mile or so from where I was.

A major difference between America and Israel: In America they search your bags on the way out of a store. In Israel they search your bags on the way in.

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Still no justification to require overly invasive security measures such as requiring access to personal communication etc.

Also completely useless for anything than purely 'selecting' who you let in since I am going to assume a terrorist wouldn't exactly use terrorist185@hotmail.com and then hand the email over when asked.

Exactly and Israel is not the only country that faces terrorism. India does as well, and as an Indian - I would out-rightly reject any such measures.

> Still no justification to require overly invasive security measures such as requiring access to personal communication etc

Israel is full of overly invasive security measures. The alternative is probably just to bar access to the country altogether, or at least bar it to people of certain backgrounds.

I wouldn't second guess Israeli security measures...unlike TSA, these are highly trained people who undoubtedly have military training since with few exceptions (Arab or Orthodox Jewish) not only men but women are drafted for military service.

If you don't like the security measures then don't go there.

And Arabs can volunteer to join the army, even though they are not drafted, and some do.

> If you don't like the security measures then don't go there.

But what happens if you are Palestinian like the people in these stories and as a politically aware Palestinian you become active in pro-Palestinian activism because you care about the rights and freedoms of your people? Those are the people that Israeli is targeting if you read these articles.

OK, but would you have been saved by a check of someone's e-mail accounts? Surely a terrorist trying to fly into Israel is going to set up fluffypuppies@gmail.com as a front account to provide.

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