Tourists crossing the Israeli border into Jordan are not being allowed to bring Jewish ritual items, such as prayer shawls or phylacteries, or souvenirs bearing Jewish symbols with them, a tourism official claimed last week.
The Globes business website reports that on June 19, head of the Incoming Tour Operators Association Yossi Fattal contacted the directors general at the foreign and tourism ministries and reported a "grave phenomenon" in which tourists who travel from Israel to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge crossing are reportedly being told by Jordanian border patrol personnel to relinquish items featuring Jewish symbols and Jewish religious objects.
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Fattal said that Jordan was arguing that the decision not to allow "Jewish items" into the country stemmed from security concerns, and blasted the decision as "unreasonable" and "counter to common sense."
Fattal explained that many of the tourists had purchased souvenirs during their sojourn in Israel and were angry and disappointed at being told they were not allowed to bring them into Jordan. Fattal said the issue was creating a PR problem for Israeli tourism operators, who were being blamed for not warning the visitors that they would not be allowed to bring their items into Jordan, and for vendors, who could potentially see souvenir sales drop off as a result of the Jordanian ban.
In his letter, Fattal pressed Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi and Foreign Ministry Director-General Yuval Rotem to reach out to their Jordanian counterparts and clarify whether the Jordanian border personnel were acting on official instructions.
"If this is the case, similar measures should be considered for tourists crossing into Israel from Jordan," Fattal argued.
