12-08-16 THE SPACESHIP in Jerusalem, Friday, August 17 and Public Access to Jerusalem

a) b) 

Visa page of a visitor to Jerusalem:  a) The standard 3-month tourist visa of a guest in the State of Israel was crossed out by hand, and instead "one week" was inscribed.  In constrast with other stamps from other nations in the same passport, the State of Israel stamps show neither the ID number, nor the hand-signature of the Immigration Officer.   No explanation was provided for the shortening of the visa term. b) Corpus Separatum Jerusalem passport visitor's stamp.

The party tomorrow, Friday, August 17, on the roof of Jaffa 44 (Jerusalem Hostel), Kikar Zion, is moving on schedule.

One guest, an Austrian student and yoga instructor arrived on August 11, 2012, and was issued upon arrival the usual 3 months visa. However, then he was asked to go for another interview, and when he mentioned that he knew me and that he came for the party, the 3 month visa was crossed by hand, and 1 week visa was issued instead. Attached are the relevant pages of the passport (passport number was redacted).

During the interviews, the guest held a return ticket for August 28.

I went with the guest to the Interior Ministry of the State of Israel in Jerusalem. They said that they had no access to the data of Ben Guion Airport Border Control, and could not tell the reason why the visa term was drastically shortened. However, they could schedule a meeting and extend the visa after review.

The guest also visited here in the previous two summers, both times he got 3 months visas, and left after about 3 weeks with no problem at all.

I tried to convince the guest to stay for the additional interview in the Ministry of Justice and return home as scheduled, on August 28. However, he decided to leave before the end of the 1-week visa, describing the whole experience with Israeli authorities as "a bad joke".

It should be particularly noted that his destination was Jerusalem, where the State of Israel prides itself on freedom of access to all, and which by International Law is Corpus Separatum, not under the sovereignty of any nation.