Editor's note: These are two different emails from Sherkhan combined into one post. I asked him if I could post his account, but take out any harsh language and just give his experience. He asked that I leave everything in, but to explain that he does not mean to offend anyone.
I just came back from Jerusalem... oh man it was awesome. What a wonderful city!
It took 10 hours (literally) for me to get across the border-- the fucking Israeli security were anxious about me being Muslim and why I traveled to Pakistan ect.-- My mom and brother had to wait the whole time why they questioned me. Seriously, Israel is a racist apartheid state like no other. The security were polite, but that doesn't help the fact that you are treated like a prisoner the whole time-- and this is once you've passed the border and walking around the country.
Driving through the West Bank was something else. I saw Jericho--- a prison camp in the desert ringed by the Israeli military. This region is so fucked up. At least the good thing about the surrounding wars was that all the holy places were tourist free.
The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosques were bad ass. The Western Wall was really cool too, I got to go up and touch it. I prayed right next to a 3500 year old column from Solomon's temple. You definitely gotta go there sometime and see it for yourself.
I felt legitimately discriminated against because I was Muslim. A person with the same American passport as me was let through because they were Jewish and I was held back and questioned because I am Muslim. And I'm not even Palestinian. Those guys actually have to live in the shit prison camps and don't have any rights while I opine about how rough my 2 day stay was... it just makes me sad.
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