A group of Israelis traveling to Jordan were denied entry into the country on Tuesday for having packed tefillins, a religious item used during prayer.
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The forty Israelis – insurance agents who planned to vacation in Jordan for two weeks – arrived in Eilat, where security checked their luggage on the Jordanian border. After discovering teffilin boxes in the luggage of seven travelers, the personnel said they could not be brought across the border, citing security procedures.
"As soon as they checked the bags they started to take the tefillins out and immediately asked for our passports," one of the travelers said. "They took us to a room where they explained to us that religious symbols were not allowed, they said it was 'for our security,' even though we told them that teffilin is donned indoors, it's not like we were walking around in public wearing religious symbols.
"We were there for an hour and a half and got no answers, so we returned to Israel."
Another traveler lamented, "I would like to know what would happen if the situation was the opposite – if a Muslim or Christian was denied entry into Israel, it would have turned into a huge scandal … Why are we not treated respectfully by Jordan?"
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was aware of the incident.
Jordanian authorities ask observant Israelis not to wear religious symbols, such as a tallit or kippah, in public. It has happened before that Israelis were prevented from bringing such items across the border, it said.
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