Israeli border police questioned a 21-year-old U.S. student and blew up her laptop computer when she entered the country through Egypt.
Lily Sussman, a student at Northeastern University in Boston, was questioned Nov. 30 for two to three hours and had all of her possessions thoroughly searched, she noted on her blog.
“They had pressed every sock and scarf with a security device, ripped open soap and had me strip extra layers,” wrote Sussman. “They asked me tons of questions — where are you going? Who do you know? Do you have a boyfriend? Is he Arab, Egyptian, Palestinian? Why do you live in Egypt? Why not Israel? What do you know about the ‘conflict’ here? … They quizzed me on Judaism, which I know nothing about.”
Sussman wrote that she heard on the loudspeaker system that Israel security was going to blow up a suspicious piece of luggage. It turned out to be her bag, which she had left unattended. She did report that she was able to salvage her hard drive, and that security officials gave her an address where she could have her laptop replaced for free. — jta