Airports and Chaos

In a recent post, I blogged about being at Ben Gurion airport waiting to come home to Detroit. Well, I'm home. It was a crazy ride to get here, but we're here.

On the ride back to Detroit, Craig and I faced discrimination and out right rudeness. Oddly enough, it wasn't by our airline. When we got to Jordan, the guys at the Cafe tried to scam us. Then we went through security and were treated like criminals due to out Israeli passports. (Mind you, I have an additional passport - an American one...) The woman who patted me down for weapons and the like had NO idea what she was looking for and roughed me up. The two Muslim women that went before me were lightly patted down. I was violated.

The plane ride was fair, the food on Royal Jordanian Airlines was actually good! American airliners can learn from them. Then we got to Canada. Half the plane was let off to their final destination. We were told to stay on the plane. Then told to get off the plane. Every single person who got off that flight (including us and some other white folk) were treated and looked at like terrorists. With an hour and a half to spare in Montreal, we weren't allowed to leave the holding cell...eh, I mean room. A woman nearby looked as if she was going to pass out and asked where to get water. A man working at the airport pointed to some drinking fountains. When she asked where she could retrieve a bottle of water, he balked and told her to sit down.

I handed her my unopened bottle of water from the flight. (I'm Israeli, according to the media, I'm not supposed to be nice to a Muslim person but she was thirsty and I had water to give. An Israeli treated a Muslim woman nicer than a Canadian. Go, write that in the media. It's not uncommon.)

Craig and I were treated well by the staff of Royal Jordanian Airlines - as opposed to the Canadians or Jordanians that dealt with us earlier. Canadians need to learn that not every Middle Easterner is going to hijack a plane or cause utter destruction ... especially not on a flight that serves Halal food. The Jordanians need to learn that Israel has been at peace with Jordan for a long time. Get over it.

Now we're home and I woke up at 4am EST (think 10am Israel time) - jet lag is a b*tch. I miss our dog more than anything (he really is our first born) and I feel lucky to be living between the US and Israel. I couldn't have found two better countries to call home.