"After his passport was stamped exiting Turkey, Mr Kees was stopped on the
Syrian side by border guards.

He endured two hours of questioning about his travel plans.

'They didn't like the look of me – they were asking me about my occupation
and where I was going', he said.

'I mentioned Israel and my taxi driver threw down my bags and left'.

Syrian authorities are reluctant to grant travellers entry if they have
previously visited or are intending to travel to Israel.

Mr Kees was sent back to the Turkish side of the border.

He said a Turkish border guard then failed to stamp his passport upon
re-entry, making him an illegal immigrant. He was arrested three days
later as he tried to fly out to Jordan and was locked up in an Istanbul
detention centre.

He ate just two meals over the next four days and drank dirty water.

'The cells were about 8m by 4m and the lights were always on', he said.

'There was a bin, benches to sleep on – that was it – it was pretty
scary'.

After three days cut off from contact with family and Australian
authorities, Mr Kees was able to borrow a mobile phone from an Iranian
inmate".
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25807253-5014090,00.html

"B J Foster" <bjfoster at (no spam) yahoo.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:h45bi2$4rq$1 at (no spam) bjf.motzarella.org...
"After his passport was stamped exiting Turkey, Mr Kees was stopped on
the Syrian side by border guards.

He endured two hours of questioning about his travel plans.

'They didn't like the look of me – they were asking me about my
occupation and where I was going', he said.

'I mentioned Israel and my taxi driver threw down my bags and left'.

Syrian authorities are reluctant to grant travellers entry if they
have previously visited or are intending to travel to Israel.

Mr Kees was sent back to the Turkish side of the border.

He said a Turkish border guard then failed to stamp his passport upon
re-entry, making him an illegal immigrant. He was arrested three days
later as he tried to fly out to Jordan and was locked up in an
Istanbul detention centre.

He ate just two meals over the next four days and drank dirty water.

'The cells were about 8m by 4m and the lights were always on', he said.

'There was a bin, benches to sleep on – that was it – it was pretty
scary'.

After three days cut off from contact with family and Australian
authorities, Mr Kees was able to borrow a mobile phone from an Iranian
inmate".
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25807253-5014090,00.html


You used to be able to get two identical passports (at least in the UK)
if you were planning to visit Israel and other countries in the ME, as
several countries would refuse entry to somebody who has ever visited
Israel (as shown in their passport). You would use one passport for
Israel, another for all other countries.

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that
refuse entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel
was (is?) the only country in the world subject to this harassment.

Peter Webb wrote:

"B J Foster" <bjfoster at (no spam) yahoo.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:h45bi2$4rq$1 at (no spam) bjf.motzarella.org...
"After his passport was stamped exiting Turkey, Mr Kees was stopped on
the Syrian side by border guards.

He endured two hours of questioning about his travel plans.

'They didn't like the look of me – they were asking me about my
occupation and where I was going', he said.

'I mentioned Israel and my taxi driver threw down my bags and left'.

Syrian authorities are reluctant to grant travellers entry if they have
previously visited or are intending to travel to Israel.

Mr Kees was sent back to the Turkish side of the border.

He said a Turkish border guard then failed to stamp his passport upon
re-entry, making him an illegal immigrant. He was arrested three days
later as he tried to fly out to Jordan and was locked up in an Istanbul
detention centre.

He ate just two meals over the next four days and drank dirty water.

'The cells were about 8m by 4m and the lights were always on', he said.

'There was a bin, benches to sleep on – that was it – it was pretty
scary'.

After three days cut off from contact with family and Australian
authorities, Mr Kees was able to borrow a mobile phone from an Iranian
inmate".
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25807253-5014090,00.html


You used to be able to get two identical passports (at least in the UK)
if you were planning to visit Israel and other countries in the ME, as
several countries would refuse entry to somebody who has ever visited
Israel (as shown in their passport). You would use one passport for
Israel, another for all other countries.

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that
refuse entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel
was (is?) the only country in the world subject to this harassment.


I was planning to visit Israel sometime in the next couple of years and
maybe Turkey in the same trip.

After reading this, I'll give Turkey a miss. Israel is safer. Of course,
Syria is completely out of the question.

I have friends who fled from Egypt. I know someone else who escaped with
his life from Lebanon. Read about Aussies jailed in Kuwait on trumped up
charges. And Saudi Arabia is out of the question.

I always thought that travel and sport broadened the mind. I guess not.

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that refuse
entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel was (is?)
the only country in the world subject to this harassment.

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that
refuse entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel
was (is?) the only country in the world subject to this harassment.

At one time you could not visit Turkey from Greece without problems. They
would confiscate your return air-ticket
so you had to buy a single ticket home at a higher rate.

In message <GoL9m.47674$m%4.17655 at (no spam) newsfe25.ams2> "Buddenbrooks"
knightstemplar at (no spam) budweiser.com> was claimed to have wrote:

At one time you could not visit Turkey from Greece without problems.
They
would confiscate your return air-ticket
so you had to buy a single ticket home at a higher rate.

I've lived most of my life in the eTicket world, but even prior to that,
didn't airlines replace lost/stolen tickets in some fashion?

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:40:26 +1000, "Peter Webb"
webbfamily at (no spam) DIESPAMDIEoptusnet.com.au> wrote:

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that
refuse
entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel was
(is?)
the only country in the world subject to this harassment.


Try entering the USA with a passport bearing a Cuban entry or exit
stamp. Which is why the Cubans no longer stamp US passports and will
not stamp yours if requested not to.
http://www.cubatourism.ca/usa-cuba/travel-cuba-cuban-visa-problems-usa/

But I would not like to be the person silly enough to mention a visit
to Cuba while chatting to the man at the immigration counter as they
attempt to enter the USA. Especially if they happen to be American.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html#entry_requirements

As far as I know, these countries are the only ones in the world that refuse
entry purely because you have visited another country, and Israel was (is?)
the only country in the world subject to this harassment.

Don't see why not if the visit was legal.

When I was going to Greece it was a different world of air traffic, Cheap
air tickets could only be sold as part of a package with accommodation. The
air ticket would come with an accommodation voucher and a warning that the
accommodation was supplied to comply with Greek law and was below a standard
that the traveler would find acceptable.

Don't see why not if the visit was legal.

It'd be an unusual visit to a country that didn't involve spending
*any* money.