Why I’ve got a
major case of the giggle gut today,I couldn’t say for sure. I’m a firm believer that when all else fails one should
just resort to laughter, except in nasty customs or border control situations. The guys behind these operations were
paid to lose their sense of humor a long time ago, probably when they were still at a diaper-wetting age. But after
reading little how-to in the Washington Post’s Coming
and Going column on getting over Middle Eastern countries who won’t allow entry after seeing your stamp from
Israel, my mind couldn’t help contemplating what might happen if you goof this one up. I can just imagine some clumsy
individual fumbling through their backpack. "Oops, wrong passport. Let me get the one without the Israel
stamp."
An easy fix to getting into some strict Middle Eastern countries who feel as if Israel
shouldn’t exist as suggested by the Wash Post is getting a second passport. A simple explanation of why you need it
should land you one without any problem. Make sure you visit the National Passport Information Center for the rules
on the second and temporary passport. Since the piece at the Post was so short I decided to look for some real-life
answers and facts and found Joi Ito’s site. Joi had some concerns of his own back in 2004 and wrote a small post to put
his feelers out there. The blurb generated 31 useful comments and
individual experiences on how to pull the sheep’s wool over entry official’s eyes. Israel? Where’s that?