Thursday, October 28, 2010

Yarmulkes, tefillin not allowed in Jordan

I looked unsuccessfully for the Ynet version, but here is the version from JTA:
Israelis have been asked to leave their yarmulkes at the border when entering Jordan, an Israeli news site reported.

An Israeli businessman told Ynet that his yarmulkes were taken and put in a safe upon his entry into Jordan, with a Jordanian policeman telling him that it was for his own good.

Tefillin and other religious articles also are not allowed into the country.

Yossi Levy, the director of communications at Israel's Foreign Ministry, told Ynet that there were "disagreements with our Jordanian counterparts in regards to Jewish religious objects" entering the country.

"We receive a growing number of complaints by Israeli visitors who report of religious items being confiscated at the border crossing 'for security reasons,'" Levy told Ynet. "[t]hey explain this by the need to protect visitors carrying 'obvious Israeli identification means.'"
This is either a story about Jordanian government religious discrimination or a story about how hostile the atmosphere of the country is to Jews. Maybe both.

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