Dream Hampton: Having grown up in America, where the publicity of the state of Israel is “democratic,” and this plural society, I wasn’t prepared for the white supremacy. I wasn’t prepared for the highly-stratified, Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews at the bottom of that. So the race thing — because the Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Ethiopian thing becomes a racial thing. Of course while we were there, the Sudanese and Eritrean refugees began staging huge strikes and marches in Tel Aviv. And we weren’t in Tel Aviv but that was happening when we were in the country. Going and leaving, I mean we were prepared for it, we knew that we weren’t going to be treated like Palestinians, which is the worst thing you can be treated like, but we were told about the 1-6 [sticker codes], 1 being the sticker that they put on your passport if you’re clearly wearing a yarmulke, you just walk through the airport like it’s LAX. And 6 being what every Palestinian apparently gets on their passport. Where you have to have a cavity inspection. All my Palestinian friends, those who live in America, were born in America, and those who live in Palestine, told me they’ve never made it through the airport in less than three hours, and that’s with a light questioning. We had fives. And that could have only been because we are Black. I’m going to assume that we’re not important enough to be on the [Israeli army’s] radar. So I don’t think that I’m so important that they were looking for us to leave the country. I think that we got what probably every person of color gets, which is they suspect you of being an ally to other oppressed people, and they’re right. More here.