An African Correspondent

I've noticed over the years that this site has attracted a fairly diverse readership.  By this I mean that Jews of pretty much every stripe feel comfortable stopping by, and many non-Jews from around the world visit treppenwitz to catch a glimpse (however subjective) of life in Israel.

A common thread that seems to bind my readership together is a shared love for Israel and the desire to visit the country personally.  For some, visits to Israel are an annual (or more frequent) ritual.  For others a visit to Israel is a pilgrimage to be undertaken once in a decade.  And for still others it is a once-in-a-lifetime dream to visit 'the holy land'.

Several years ago I noticed from my sitemeter that I was getting a daily 'hit' (site visit) from a reader in Kenya.  At first I assumed it was probably an expat Israeli living there who was longing for a taste of home. But then I started getting thoughtful comments on my posts from a young non-Jewish African man who seemed to be remarkably well informed about Israeli history and culture... and I realized that this must be my faithful Kenyan reader.

Over the years I've enjoyed reading this young man's comments and have delighted in seeing his 'take' on current events here in Israel.  And after a while, his comments were joined by occasional emails and the sharing back and forth of essays and news clips we each thought the other might find interesting.

But despite the ongoing correspondence, this young man remained an anomaly... and the reason for his love of Israel remained a complete mystery.    I knew nothing about his religious beliefs or his political leanings (other than that he supported - unconditionally - Israel's right to self-defense).

As time went on, his detailed references to local geography and his use of Israeli slang piqued my curiosity and I asked him how many times he had been to Israel.  I was shocked by his response.  Apparently he had been reading about Israel since he was a child and had sustained a dream of visiting since grade school.  But he had never been to Israel.

After almost three years of reading this young man's topical comments and thought-provoking emails I learned that he had applied for a tourist visa to visit Israel.

His plan was rather straightforward:  He wanted to take a week or two vacation from his job as an IT manager, buy a plane ticket to Israel and simply do the tourist bit.  The majority of you reading this are probably nodding approvingly, wondering what could stand in the way of something so common and straightforward... something many of us have done dozens of times in the past.

Well, what few people from the industrialized west ever stop to consider is the ease with which they can get permission to visit a foreign country if they so desire.  Many citizens of western countries don't even require visas to visit Israel as a tourist, and most of those that are required to get visas consider it a mere formality.

But what if your life's dream was to visit Israel... but you lived in the third world?  What then?

As a young adult, my African correspondent's frequent contacts with the Israeli Embassy/Consular staff for information had been politely but firmly rebuffed.  This young man had made numerous inquiries about visiting Israel... volunteering on various programs... and even looked into serving in the IDF.  But despite his enthusiasm, his requests were politely, and routinely, declined. 

You see, Israel, like most industrialized countries, is very cautious about letting residents of the third world come to visit because of the fear that they might overstay their tourist visas and become illegal residents.

Having been frustrated by the Israeli bureaucracy on many occasions, I couldn't imagine there was much advice I could offer my African correspondent... except to be politely persistent.

As weeks turned to months and the target date for his Israeli vacation grew near, I occasionally asked how his request for a visa was going, but the news was always the same.

Finally, less than a week before his scheduled vacation he sent me a frustrated email with the subject line:  "They obviously don't want me there", and the opening line, "Hi David,  Tomorrow marks the last day I try to ever travel to Israel... "

While I couldn't fault the Israeli foreign ministry for exercising caution with granting entry to residents of developing countries, I knew this guy!  Even though we'd never met or spoken on the phone, I knew more about this young man than I knew about most of my neighbors! 

I wrote back asking him to email me his passport info, proof of medical insurance and the name / contact info of the officer he'd been dealing with at the Israeli Consulate in Nairobi.  I figured maybe it would help if they knew he had a contact in Israel who could vouch for his character.

After he'd sent back the information I'd asked for, I dashed off a quick email to the Consular staff worker explaining how I knew this young man and expressing my certainty that he wanted to come for an innocent tourist visit... not to stay as an illegal worker or refugee.

Within an hour I received a phone call from the Consular officer in Nairobi.  She was all business and reminded me a lot of those serious young men and women you encounter when getting on line at the El Al counter in the airport.  She asked me about a dozen questions about how long I'd known my African correspondent and what I really knew about him.  She asked me where he worked, what he did for a living, where he lived... and as I answered each question I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I have plenty of local friends for whom I probably couldn't give as thorough an accounting.

When the interrogation session was nearly over she had just one more question for me... a question that took everything out of the realm of the theoretical:

She asked me if I would be willing to sign an official document declaring that I was personally inviting this young man to Israel and that I would be legally responsible for him during his entire visit... including making sure he returned to his home country before his visa expired.

Up until that point we'd been chatting cordially and near the end, we even joked a bit about the weather here and there.  But hearing this last question kind of wiped the smile off my face.  You see, there is a big difference between being an anonymous big shot, telling a stranger to take the word of another stranger, and being asked to put pen to paper and make things very up-close-and-personal... and legal.

After a moment of silence on the phone I told her to email me the form and that I'd look at it.  But before I hung up I asked her how important this form would be in the visa process for my friend.  Her answer cut right to the point:  "If you sign the form I will issue him a tourist visa.  If you don't, I won't."

Within seconds the form landed in my email in-box and I printed it out so I could read it more carefully.  I even showed it to a friend who is an attorney to ask some 'what if...' questions.  But the bottom line was that I was being asked to take legal responsibility for someone who I knew only theoretically.

To be continued tomorrow...

[but in the mean time, I'm curious what you would do in my place]