Thanks Lama for sharing this. It's important to remember that the easiness with which great part of the Western world travels is not allowed to many other people.
Thanks for acknowledging the difference Guiseppe, I really hope thar changes and people here can travel easily and get to see the world as well without having to go through these processes that prevent a lot of them from traveling. I am amongst the privileged in my country to be able to travel. Also, you are always welcome to Palestine where I will introduce you to some Palestinian versions of Pizza.
Thank you Lana for sharing your experiences - I feel speechless. I wish you all the success in your commission and travel writing career, and very much look forward to reading your words 🥰
Thank you, Lama, for this article and for raising this important issue. I can relate to this deeply. I'm from Ukraine and a trip to the nearest neighboring country can become an exhausting 1-2 day trip.
For people from occupied territories, traveling to Europe involves navigating the Russian mandatory filtering process, where arrests can happen easily. I live in the western part of Ukraine, a region that is conditionally safe and close to the Polish border. However, I prefer to cross into Hungary or Romania, which are farther away. The queues at the Polish border can be incredibly long—if you’re traveling by bus, you could be stuck for up to 10 hours, even when only a few buses are waiting. The situation with trains is slightly better.
Additionally, our imports are sometimes blocked by Polish farmers, causing humanitarian aid and essential products to get stuck at the border. Sadly, there have been cases where truck drivers have died while waiting at the border, without access to proper medical help.
Thanks for sharing your experience at the Ukrainian borders when exiting to Europe. I am really saddened to know that arrests can take place and follows the Mandatory of Russia, which leaves Ukrainians vulnerable when crossing the borders.
Having imported stalled really should be banned by the international law and community and no country should be able to this even under law. I really hope things change for the better.
Thank you, Lama, for this article, now I could imagine how hard is travelling for Palestinian people.
I am originally from Crimea, in 2014 Russia come to our land and firm that time we are suffering from sanctions. Travelling is also very hard.
If I would travel from Crimea to Ukraine from 2014 to 2022, which was possible actually, I’d have similar procedures but without taking permission to go out.
And usually you should go walking with all your bags around 2 km, because not everyone has possibility to go by car. Bus didn’t go through borders.
So usually it could take also around 1 day or less just cross it, but depends if borders were crowded.
It was very exhausting but at least there was possibility to go to Ukraine.
After 2022 I believe it’s not possible, there is no border because of war.
For now if I want to go to Crimea - I shall land in Russia and go by bus or train around 12-24 hours because there is no airport working in Crimea.
To reach Ukraine in general I believe possible nowadays by land from Poland or Moldova etc no airport working in Ukraine
Thank you Dinara for sharing your experience with the border experience in Ukraine and Crimea, when wars and occupation take place, the border bureaucracy increases. I cannot imagine people having to walk 2km with their luggage and children to pass the borders if they do not have a car. Let us hope for better days and that international law begins protecting civilians and borders during times of occupation and war.
Wow Lama. I've lived in Dubai for 25 years surrounded by a wonderful Palestinian community, so I thought I was aware of their travel and passport challenges. However, I hadn't appreciated all the obstacles you have so carefully articulated. Thank you for enlightening us. I wish you all the best with your travel writing, and an end to this genocide. x
Thank you, it is great to hear that Palestinian communities in the diaspora are also sharing their experiences and stories with their friends there. We usually see what we go through when traveling as normal because we have never lived an alternative, but when we learn that other people do not travel in the same way, we become aware that our ‘normal’ is abnormal. Also great work you are doing, and nice to see you are also highlighting Palestinian chefs and restaurants.
This is the reason I haven't traveled to se my family in Ramallah since 1996. When entering from Jordan we are searched and the youth are segregated from their parents and are asked all kinds of degrading questions about their luggage. Like what did you pack and what did you pack ...ect. Not to mention how traumatized I am still from the strip searches that we were subject too as kids and the undressing of children and their parents. I remember when my mom was pregnant with my youngest brother and they made her strip in front of us to check her belly, I was only 6 at the time. Hopefully this system will end soon , and we will be treated with the respect we deserve as Palestinians visiting our own land .
Wow, what a traumatizing experience at such a young age. The process of reentry is definitely much more worse than when we are leaving and they do not care what we have in our luggage that is shipped straight to the Jordan borders. The searches when we come back in have not changed at all unfortunately but instead of the strip searches for women they make us use the body scanners but of course pregnant ladies should not go through it and those machines are same as strip searches where they can basically see everything. I do not know how these machines are legal. I wonder how many others they have traumatized from visiting and coming to Palestine. I will definitely be writing about the process of entering to share it with the world.
I travel mostly in the Middle East, and currently live in Sinai, Egypt. I love reading about other people's experiences, hoping to learn something new. Your narration was informative and beautifully written, however it seemed to contain almost no self-reflection or counterbalance. In the last couple of decades, we have all seen airports, borders, and checkpoints become more difficult to navigate due to Islamic terrorism. In 2015 I missed my flight from Cairo to India when an airport security official believed I had something dangerous hidden in my backpack. Just three days later, a Russian tourist plane left Sharm el-Sheikh and exploded, most likely due to a bomb that Islamic State militants had somehow managed to plant in the luggage hold, and all 224 passengers and crew on board died. I have some sympathy for your lack of so-called "passport privilege", but we are all victims of the 'inconveniences' (or worse) that jihadist terrorism has created across the world. It's good to remember that actions have consequences.
Thanks Lama for sharing this. It's important to remember that the easiness with which great part of the Western world travels is not allowed to many other people.
Thanks for acknowledging the difference Guiseppe, I really hope thar changes and people here can travel easily and get to see the world as well without having to go through these processes that prevent a lot of them from traveling. I am amongst the privileged in my country to be able to travel. Also, you are always welcome to Palestine where I will introduce you to some Palestinian versions of Pizza.
Thank you Lana for sharing your experiences - I feel speechless. I wish you all the success in your commission and travel writing career, and very much look forward to reading your words 🥰
Thank you for wishes Yvette your encouragement really means a lot! I definitely won’t stop writing.
You are so brave. Im very happy that I met you once in real. Your Story show us many realities that some people have experienced.
Hope this world will be getting better.
Thank you Assetou, I hope so too. Also, hopefully, it will get easier to obtain visas and I can visit you one day!
Thank you, Lama, for this article and for raising this important issue. I can relate to this deeply. I'm from Ukraine and a trip to the nearest neighboring country can become an exhausting 1-2 day trip.
For people from occupied territories, traveling to Europe involves navigating the Russian mandatory filtering process, where arrests can happen easily. I live in the western part of Ukraine, a region that is conditionally safe and close to the Polish border. However, I prefer to cross into Hungary or Romania, which are farther away. The queues at the Polish border can be incredibly long—if you’re traveling by bus, you could be stuck for up to 10 hours, even when only a few buses are waiting. The situation with trains is slightly better.
Additionally, our imports are sometimes blocked by Polish farmers, causing humanitarian aid and essential products to get stuck at the border. Sadly, there have been cases where truck drivers have died while waiting at the border, without access to proper medical help.
Thanks for sharing your experience at the Ukrainian borders when exiting to Europe. I am really saddened to know that arrests can take place and follows the Mandatory of Russia, which leaves Ukrainians vulnerable when crossing the borders.
Having imported stalled really should be banned by the international law and community and no country should be able to this even under law. I really hope things change for the better.
Thank you, Lama, for this article, now I could imagine how hard is travelling for Palestinian people.
I am originally from Crimea, in 2014 Russia come to our land and firm that time we are suffering from sanctions. Travelling is also very hard.
If I would travel from Crimea to Ukraine from 2014 to 2022, which was possible actually, I’d have similar procedures but without taking permission to go out.
And usually you should go walking with all your bags around 2 km, because not everyone has possibility to go by car. Bus didn’t go through borders.
So usually it could take also around 1 day or less just cross it, but depends if borders were crowded.
It was very exhausting but at least there was possibility to go to Ukraine.
After 2022 I believe it’s not possible, there is no border because of war.
For now if I want to go to Crimea - I shall land in Russia and go by bus or train around 12-24 hours because there is no airport working in Crimea.
To reach Ukraine in general I believe possible nowadays by land from Poland or Moldova etc no airport working in Ukraine
Thank you Dinara for sharing your experience with the border experience in Ukraine and Crimea, when wars and occupation take place, the border bureaucracy increases. I cannot imagine people having to walk 2km with their luggage and children to pass the borders if they do not have a car. Let us hope for better days and that international law begins protecting civilians and borders during times of occupation and war.
Wow Lama. I've lived in Dubai for 25 years surrounded by a wonderful Palestinian community, so I thought I was aware of their travel and passport challenges. However, I hadn't appreciated all the obstacles you have so carefully articulated. Thank you for enlightening us. I wish you all the best with your travel writing, and an end to this genocide. x
Thank you, it is great to hear that Palestinian communities in the diaspora are also sharing their experiences and stories with their friends there. We usually see what we go through when traveling as normal because we have never lived an alternative, but when we learn that other people do not travel in the same way, we become aware that our ‘normal’ is abnormal. Also great work you are doing, and nice to see you are also highlighting Palestinian chefs and restaurants.
Very well written and saddening for all your troubles I hope things improve for you
Thanks Ajmal I appreciate it.
This is the reason I haven't traveled to se my family in Ramallah since 1996. When entering from Jordan we are searched and the youth are segregated from their parents and are asked all kinds of degrading questions about their luggage. Like what did you pack and what did you pack ...ect. Not to mention how traumatized I am still from the strip searches that we were subject too as kids and the undressing of children and their parents. I remember when my mom was pregnant with my youngest brother and they made her strip in front of us to check her belly, I was only 6 at the time. Hopefully this system will end soon , and we will be treated with the respect we deserve as Palestinians visiting our own land .
Wow, what a traumatizing experience at such a young age. The process of reentry is definitely much more worse than when we are leaving and they do not care what we have in our luggage that is shipped straight to the Jordan borders. The searches when we come back in have not changed at all unfortunately but instead of the strip searches for women they make us use the body scanners but of course pregnant ladies should not go through it and those machines are same as strip searches where they can basically see everything. I do not know how these machines are legal. I wonder how many others they have traumatized from visiting and coming to Palestine. I will definitely be writing about the process of entering to share it with the world.
I travel mostly in the Middle East, and currently live in Sinai, Egypt. I love reading about other people's experiences, hoping to learn something new. Your narration was informative and beautifully written, however it seemed to contain almost no self-reflection or counterbalance. In the last couple of decades, we have all seen airports, borders, and checkpoints become more difficult to navigate due to Islamic terrorism. In 2015 I missed my flight from Cairo to India when an airport security official believed I had something dangerous hidden in my backpack. Just three days later, a Russian tourist plane left Sharm el-Sheikh and exploded, most likely due to a bomb that Islamic State militants had somehow managed to plant in the luggage hold, and all 224 passengers and crew on board died. I have some sympathy for your lack of so-called "passport privilege", but we are all victims of the 'inconveniences' (or worse) that jihadist terrorism has created across the world. It's good to remember that actions have consequences.