Hi all,
Thank you all for your replies so far. Some excellent points are being made and I appreciate the criticism. From the postings (here and on the Middle East branch) up till now the general reaction tends to be that some Israeli travellers are treated differently, but that this is mainly due to bad experiences with a specific stereotyped subgroup.
Deebee made a valid comment that some tourists may already feel threatened before a situation arises, and may thereby escalate the issue. A negative spiral of behavior and interaction certainly seems to lie beneath these incidents.
RichTX1 mentions that similar situations happen with tourists from other countries as well (eg. Mexico and Canadian-French). I agree with this, but still, it does not seem to be on the same scale as the interactions with Israeli tourists. Could you perhaps give any specific examples? For example, a poll from Expedia ( poll) indicates that the British are considered the 'worst' tourists. But I have not heard stories of British travelers being denied access or refused a room because of their nationality. Is this simply because I did not visit the countries where this happens? I welcome any counterexamples.
thanks again,
Ingeborg