In the wake of the predictable faux outrage over Israel banning members of various anti-Israel groups from entering, it is fun to look at a list of people banned from entering the UK on Wikipedia.
Celebrities like Martha Stewart, Mike Tyson, Busta Rhymes, Shyne, Chris Brown and Dwayne “Dog” Chapman.
While they are banned because of criminal convictions, others are banned simply because of their opinions.
Like Moshe Feiglin, who is not anti-Muslim in the least.
Or writers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who are indeed critics of Islam – but they are no threat to incite violence in the UK or anywhere else.
Or Edward Snowden, who similarly does not seem to be a threat no matter if you agree with his actions or not.
It is an interesting list, because it shows how much latitude the UK’s Home Office uses in its (often secret) decisions to ban people from entering the country, often only because they are controversial.
But no one is accusing the UK of not being “democratic” because of the list of people they ban, and the probably much longer list that we don’t know about.
Every country has the right to decide who can visit or not. And every country does.
But only Israel is reviled as “anti-democratic”(as J-Street says) for denying entry to those who are actively working to destroy it.
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