After leaving Petra I head south to the board to come back
to Israel. So I am going to back track a little but here but it is need to
understand the rest of the story. When you come in to Israel the customs agents don’t stamp
your passport. This is because of the issues that Israel has with other
countries around the world. There are some places, which will not allow you to
enter as an America because you have a stamp from Israel. So when I cam back
from my friends wedding in early December I was given a paper card to keep with
me. When I first got this card I noticed that it said I was only allowed in for
30 days. So I went back to the customs agents and said I am sorry but this card
is wrong. I am allowed to stay until August. Can you please give me a different
card? She look again at my passport and Visa then said not to worry about it you
have a visa its not a problem. So off I went back to the Kibbutz and now we are back to board from Jordan.
My two friends that I went with made fun of me for being so
crazy about the card I got at the airport. They would say why do you keep that
card? Its so dump just throw it away and its not important! At the Israeli
boarder I handed them my passport and they took out this stupid little card and
scanned every thing. After about 15 minutes of scanning and rescanning
everything I asked the women: Is everything ok? She said I am sorry for the
delay but we need you to wait over on the bench and we will get to you. I kept
thinking of shit I am fucked!!! I have pissed off the Israeli for going to Jordan,
or if I have to be interrogated again for two hours I might put a shotgun to my
head!!!! I am So SO glad I made Arab friends at this point. So after two minutes a man came and got me. He started by asking about
my trip to Jordan then about why I was in Israel. Then he brings up the issue of…..
The mother-fucking card!!!!! He said you know that you were only permitted to
be in Israel for 30 days? I said no that is wrong you can see my visa right
there I am able to be here for a year. Then he went on to explain that the visa
allowed me to stay in Israel for the year but customs only is allowed to let me enter for 30 days. I was supposed to go and receive a permit to stay in Israel
for the year. I was pissed at this point!!!! I went on saying I asked when I
enter and they said I was fine and not to worry (hints the story above). So
then came the never ending question: Why are you coming back to Israel, How
long had you been here, How long do you plan to stay, where are you staying,
what are you doing, did anyone from Jordan ask you to bring anything into
Israel? And on and on and on we went. When it final stopped he said that he
could only allow for me to enter Israel for 30 days and that in those 30 days I
need to go and receive my permit. Off I went from the boarder and head back to
my home in Abu Ghosh.
When I got home I had my friend call the department to apply
for a permit to stay and this was the being of the end!!! After about a week
she received a call asking about what I need my permit for and all of the
above question. After some time about three weeks they explained they didn’t
feel that I had a good reason for staying in Israel and that I had spent so
much time living there undocumted that I need to leave at the end of my 30 day
permit or risk the penalty. So if you were counting they told my this three
weeks into my four weeks allowed time so I went from not planning to leave
Israel in the immediate future to Holy Fucking Shit I Have to Leave In a
WEEK!!!!!! So the end of my time in Israel had started to come and was only going to be a weeklong!!!
After this experience I would not say I was worried but very
excited to say that I have lived some were undocumented for almost six
months!!!
So you're coming home...like...NOW?!
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