Israel preparing for the "flightilla"

Note: This post is from 2011.

From Israel Hayom:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino toured Ben Gurion International Airport Wednesday morning as part of preparations for the expected arrival of a pro-Palestinian aerial flotilla on Friday.

Following its intensive, and largely successful efforts to stop a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists from breaking the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel is now actively working to thwart a provocative aerial flotilla - or "flightilla" - of hundreds of activists from across Europe who plan to land at Ben Gurion International airport on Friday.

"Every country has the right to prevent the entry of provocateurs and trouble-makers into its territory," Netanyahu said Wednesday, adding, "That is how all countries behave and that is how Israel will act. We must prevent the disruption of normal life for Israeli citizens."

Police believe the activists plan to disrupt the airport's operations. Army Radio reported Wednesday that ensuring normal functioning of the airport will be the primary objective of security forces deployed there on Friday.

"Any hooligans who attempt to break the law and disrupt public order will not be allowed to enter Israel, and will be returned to their countries of origin," Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said on Tuesday.

At a ceremony in Nazareth marking the division of the police's Northern District into two new districts, Aharonovich, who has been placed in charge of dealing with the "flightilla" said, "I have ordered the Chief of Police to prepare to foil any illegal activity. My message [to the activists] is sharp and clear: know that your plan will not succeed, and that you would do well to avoid coming to Israel. We would be happy to host you as tourists, so that you can get to know the wonderful landscapes and people of Israel, but not as hooligans and not as law-breakers."

The government is preparing to prevent pro-Palestinian activists from boarding planes headed to Israel as part of the "flightilla." According to information attained by Israel Hayom, Israeli authorities possess lists with the names of activists planning to fly into the country, and have requested foreign airlines not to allow these passengers to board, since they are not in possession of entry visas.

Those activists who manage to deceive the airlines and are identified upon their arrival in Israel will be arrested and taken to detention facilities at the airport and in Israeli jails, and expulsion procedures against them will be initiated. Activists suspected of harboring intentions to create provocations will be loaded back onto their flights and deported.

A senior police commander said Tuesday that activists are expected on flights from Germany, Belgium and France. "We have no intention of giving them the pleasure of arriving here and driving us crazy," he told Israel Hayom.

Hundreds of police, uniformed and undercover, will be deployed throughout Ben Gurion International Airport to foil the planned "flightilla." Minister Aharonovitch summed up by saying that Ben Gurion Airport would "continue to function normally, and anyone found disturbing the peace will be dealt with accordingly."

The flytidiots have already started. From Ha'aretz:

Israeli police have deported five pro-Palestinian activists in the past two days. The activists were sent back to their home countries, France and Belgium.

Between 600 and 1,200 activists are expected to arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday night and Friday, on flights from Moscow and New York.

Israeli far-left group "Anarchists Against the Wall" has a Facebook page for their members to greet the anti-Israel activists at the airport.

An email correspondent called up EasyJet and asked them their policies if someone is not allowed into a country:

If you're denied entry to Israel (or any other country) you must either book a new single fare ticket home or if you're holding a return you can change the date subject to their normal re-booking fees and the payment of any fare difference between the flight you hold and the next flight that you are obliged to travel home on.

Short answer: get denied entry by a country and you have to pay a full fare flight home.

The anti-Israel activists who think that they are getting bargain fares from Europe better be packing extra cash for their immediate trips back!