Transcription
I just got banned from Israel upon arrival and deported back to America for anti-Semitic or anti-Israel content. I flew out of New Jersey on an LL flight to Tel Aviv on a plane with basically all Jews and had plenty of pleasant conversations and positive interactions on my way there. Believe it or not, a lot of Jews were excited for me to visit their country.
"Where are we headed, boys?"
"Head to, baby."
"Are they going to let me in?"
"Yes, sir."
But of course, I was being tracked the entire time and photos of me circulated in Jewish WhatsApp groups as I was asleep in the middle seat of the back of the plane. 12 hours in the middle seat later, I land in Israel and my passport scan says to go find an agent. I'm then brought to the back office where my interrogation begins. I tell him I'm here to enjoy the beaches of Tel Aviv, see some holy sites, and maybe do some street interviews asking some of the world's oldest questions.
"Right." He then asks if I'm here to provoke Jews, if I'm hiding anything, if I'm anti-Semitic.
"I tell him, 'No, obviously.'"
The agent then goes like, "You can just be honest. This is Israel." As if I said, "Yeah, I'm anti-Semitic. That would somehow go over well upon arriving to Israel." But I tell him, "No, I'm not. I don't hate anyone and I don't."
He proceeds to watch my videos about the Hassidic Jewish communities in upstate New York and New Jersey where I examine how they use welfare to afford seven to 10 kids. I try to explain the nature of the videos and he eventually tells me to go sit down while they deliberate my fate. About 30 minutes later, he tells me to come back in the room and states that he's spoken to his higher-ups and that I've been denied entry into Israel due to anti-Semitic or anti-Israel content.
I'm then handed a paper that I have to sign, which falsely claims that I've attempted to illegally immigrate to Israel, which is obviously [ __ ] and I assume was done to prevent me from re-entering Israel for as long as legally possible, despite him telling me the real reason was due to anti-Semitic content. In fact, I check Twitter and see that Israel's Minister of Diaspora and Combating Anti-Semitism is retweeting an Israeli news article that claims Tyler Ola, the Jew-hating YouTuber, is expelled from Israeli border on the orders of the Israeli minister. The [ __ ] he then quotes, "I'm proud to have denied entry to Israel today to an unfortunate YouTuber who is using the harassment of Jews as a way to get clout on social media. Furthermore, let this be a lesson to all Jew haters and supporters of BDS, whatever that means."
Now, for a second, imagine if me criticizing welfare use in black communities in America somehow got me banned from countries in Africa, or the welfare users in Appalachia somehow got me banned from Europe. This exception only seems to exist when it's regarding Jews. So, I tell the agent, "Man, it's a shame I can't visit the biggest democracy in the Middle East." And he goes, "Well, maybe you can visit Afghanistan."
They confiscate my passport, take me to a brief holding room with a bunch of Filipinos, and then tell me I have a flight out at midnight, which is like 8 hours later. Now, it's clear to me at this point that the unspoken strategy is they want the accusations of anti-Semitism they hurl at people like me to eventually become true to then justify their very accusations. But the problem is there is no hatred in my heart, only a resolve to see things as they are.
So try to answer this. Why am I, as an American, not allowed to question my fellow Americans who happen to be Jewish and how our collective tax dollars are being spent in America? And why, if my videos happen to involve Jewish people, am I now labeled a Jew-hating anti-Semite, while our greatest ally, Israel, that is the single largest recipient of American foreign aid in our history, then deports me while their government officials publicly paint a target on my back while I'm still in their country?
Adjusting for inflation, US aid to Israel from 1951 to 2022 totaled $317 billion, making it the largest recipient of American foreign aid since World War II. But fun fact, we don't even have a formal mutual defense treaty with Israel. Yes, our greatest ally is not even technically our ally. For perspective, the US has formal mutual defense treaties with all 32 NATO members, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand. And these treaties legally obligate the US to come to their defense if attacked and vice versa. The obligation is a two-way street, but not with Israel.
In summary, we've given Israel over $300 billion in cumulative aid. We vote UN resolutions to shield them from international law all the time. We provide them with the most advanced weapons on Earth. And American troops die in conflicts to uphold Israeli interests. All without a formal obligation for Israel to defend the US. No treaty, no legitimate alliance, no defense commitment. So they'll take our money. They'll let our soldiers die to eliminate existential threats to Israel. But I'm the second coming of Hitler if I get on a plane to visit the country that's the largest recipient of foreign aid that my tax dollars go towards. I get deported and called a Jew hater by Israeli officials for what? Looking for the truth? Is that illegal in Israel? The biggest democracy in the Middle East.
I've refrained from exploring this topic to the degree in which it deserves because I wanted to first report on important topics. Boots on the ground in Israel before I was inevitably banned. But now there's nothing to lose. I'm effectively perma-banned from entering. I think it's time we examine how a small country of about 10 million people seemingly exert more control of American foreign policy than any other country on Earth.