Jordan deports Israeli shutterbug over espionage concerns

Eddie Gerald's mission to photograph popular tourism sites for new book nearly got him thrown in jail

Aviel Magnezi|Published: 04.06.12 , 10:43

Israeli photojournalist Eddie Gerald and his colleague, Chen Peled, were detained by Jordan's security forces after crossing the border, questioned under caution and deported, Ynet learned Friday.

Gerald and Peled, who were commissioned by a United States-based publisher to work on a tourist guide to Jordan, entered the country through the Jordan River border crossing, using their Israeli passports.

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Their photography equipment aroused the suspicions of Jordanian security forces' and according to Gerald, "The troops took one look at the equipment and our destinations list and hauled us in for questioning."

The two were questioned by Border Police before being turned over to the Mukhabarat – Jordan's General Intelligence Bureau – for further interrogation.

"They questioned us, separately, for hours. They kept asking about the equipment and the maps, and why we needed to take pictures of airports, hotels and transportation routes," he said.

"I tried explaining that it was all for a tourist guide, but nothing helped."

Gerald noted that while the Border Police officers were suspicious yet courteous, the Mukhabarat officers were "very aggressive. They treated us like espionage suspects. They didn’t understand why a photojournalist would be doing a tourism book and all but implied we were there as spies."

The two's permits – issued by Amman's own Tourism Ministry – did little to convince the Mukhabarat officers that their visit was legitimate.

"The fact that I was carrying my Israeli passport was a problem. In my previous visit I had the same equipment and a foreign passport and everything was fine," he said.

His request to speak to his Jordanian contacts was denied.

According to Gerald, after six hours of interrogation, they were deported: "The Border Police eventually came and told us that we are being deported but they wouldn't give us any authorization to that effect. We were escorted onto a bus and arrived at the border late at night."

The Israeli photographer added that "I travel to friendly Arab countries often and have never experiences anything like this. It's a shame because Jordan is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen."