British “Muslim” promoted good treatment by “Israeli” airport authorities

At a time when Palestinian lives are being erased from public discourse as easily as they are erased on the ground, a British “Muslim‘s” glowing account of her treatment at Ben-Gurion Airport has been elevated by “Israeli” media as evidence of fairness, tolerance, and humane conduct. In reality, her anecdote functions as hasbara - propaganda - at the precise moment when the world should be confronting “Israel’s” long and well-documented record of abuse, humiliation, and violence against Palestinians and pro-Palestinian travellers.

The Jerusalem Post article celebrating her experience focuses on coffee, food, and politeness at the airport - a narrative that collapses the moment even the slightest historical or moral context is applied. (jpost.com)

Selective Stories in an Apartheid System

For Palestinians, travel is not a lifestyle experience - it is a battlefield.

Human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented for years that “Israel” operates a system of racialised movement control, where Palestinians are denied freedom of movement through arbitrary bans, interrogations, and detention, while Jewish “Israelis” and selected foreign visitors move freely. Amnesty International has formally concluded that this system meets the legal definition of apartheid, a crime against humanity. (amnesty.org)

Palestinians attempting to travel through Ben-Gurion Airport, Allenby Bridge, or other crossings report prolonged interrogations, confiscation of phones, threats, sexual humiliation, and sudden deportation - often without explanation. Students have missed university terms, patients have died waiting for permits, and journalists have been banned indefinitely from travel for refusing to collaborate with “Israeli” intelligence. (un.org)

Against this backdrop, the elevation of a single “Muslim’s” uneventful airport experience is not accidental - it is strategic.

Abuse at Borders and in Detention Is Systemic

The reality faced by Palestinians - and many Muslims and pro-Palestinian travellers - is far removed from the sanitised portrayal promoted in “Israeli” media.

• Palestinian detainees and travellers have reported strip searches, verbal abuse, prolonged isolation, denial of food, and filthy detention conditions, including infestations and lack of medical care.
• Investigations into “Israeli” detention facilities, including Sde Teiman, have revealed systematic torture, sexual violence, and degrading treatment, confirmed by testimonies, leaked medical reports, and international observers. (aljazeera.com)
• Journalists and activists are frequently detained, threatened, or deported for their political views, particularly if they express solidarity with Palestine. (euromedmonitor.org)

This is not misconduct by rogue officers. It is policy.

First-Hand Testimony: My Own Experience in Israeli Detention (2011)

The reality of “Israeli” border and detention practices is not abstract to me. I experienced it directly.

In 2011, I was detained by “Israeli” authorities and held in a detention centre. During this short time, I was not given any food. I was interrogated, asked for my email address, my phone number, the passwords to my social media accounts, I was then placed in a cell that was infested with cockroaches, sharing the space with another detainee who spoke no English, leaving me isolated and unable to communicate.

I was strip searched, treated with clear hostility, and ultimately escorted out of the country under armed guard. This was all after they had concluded I was no threat.

This was not the treatment of a criminal. This was the treatment of a Muslim traveller deemed undesirable - humiliated, dehumanised, and expelled. I didn’t understand institutional racism until this point. I was told by a British police officer upon my arrival in London, “we see this every day… They’re the most racist country we have to deal with. It’s because your name is Mohammed.” My experience mirrors countless others documented by human rights organisations and survivors, many of whom have described “Israeli“ detention facilities as deliberately degrading environments designed to intimidate and punish.

These practices were happening years before the current escalation, proving that they are not reactive security measures but part of a long-standing system of control and collective punishment.

Paid Praise and Manufactured Consent

It is also critical to understand the media ecosystem in which such “influencer” narratives are amplified.

Israel has openly funded and coordinated influencer campaigns aimed at improving its international image. Investigations and filings under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act show that “Israeli” ministries have worked with PR firms to pay social media creators to publish favourable content about “Israel” - particularly on TikTok and Instagram. (responsiblestatecraft.org)

These campaigns are designed to:

• Humanise “Israeli” institutions
• Downplay or ignore Palestinian suffering
• Create doubt and “balance” where none exists

Whether the “Muslim” in question was paid, incentivised, or simply willing to participate, her content served this exact function - laundering an apartheid system through lifestyle optics.

A Moral Failure at a Critical Moment

For Muslims and supporters of Palestinian liberation, this is not about gatekeeping or purity tests. It is about moral clarity.

At a time when:

• Gaza is under siege
• Palestinians are being starved, displaced, and killed
• Journalists are being silenced
• Detainees are being tortured

…to offer praise to “Israeli” authorities for basic decency shown to a select individual is not neutrality - it is complicity.

The Palestinian cause does not need curated anecdotes about airport snacks. It needs truth, accountability, and solidarity grounded in the lived experiences of those crushed by occupation.

Conclusion: Truth Over Comfort

“Israel’s” oppression does not disappear because one social media user had a smooth airport experience - just as apartheid South Africa was not humane because some visitors were treated politely.

The real story is written in detention cells, at checkpoints, in denied permits, and in the testimonies of those humiliated, deported, and silenced - including my own.

Anything that distracts from that truth, intentionally or otherwise, lets the oppressor off the hook.