Can I be refused entry due to my place of birth?

The general answer is that all countries have the right to refuse entry to anyone who isn’t their citizen, for any reason. The more interesting and applicable answer is that, in practice, Israel is very unlikely to deny you entry just because of where you were born. Since Canadian citizens don’t need a visa to enter Israel, you’ll get off the plane and go through Immigration. When you do, the immigration officer might ask you why you want to visit Israel, what you intend to do, and where you intend to go, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

I am from Lebanon, you could visit Israel using a Canadian or a Lebanese passort, Israel will let you in. Many priests and nuns visit Israel each year. In fact, our Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al‑Rahi will go to Israel to welcome the pope. But there’s a catch.

You cannot come back to Lebanon, well technically you could, but you will be called a spy and executed 🙂 But hey many Lebanese are now living in Israel.

In fact there’s a Lebanese basketball player, he was born in Australia he played in Israel and now he’s playing in Lebanon, he didn’t know about the Lebanese-Israeli relationship.

The issue of travel between the two countries presents a minefield of diplomatic restrictions. Tourists who arrive to the Lebanese borders with a passport bearing an Israeli passport are not allowed entry into the country and Lebanese citizens who move to Israel can be prosecuted for high treason. Lebanese citizens are not permitted to visit Israel, nor are Israelis allowed to cross the border to the north.

Exceptions to the web of restrictions are for Maronite clergy, who are permitted to travel as part of their function within the Church.

You cannot enter Lebanon with a passport bearing an Israeli stamp even expired.

You cannot enter Lebanon with a passport showing that you entered Israel from Jordan or Egypt or showing that you left Israel to Leabnon via Jordan or Egypt. You have to have two passports.

If you visit Israel using your Canadian passport, you’ll be fine, many Lebanese living in Canada have done that. But if you come back to Lebanon don’t brag about it, be quiet 🙂

About your friend, yes he won’t be allowed to come to Lebanon, unless he’s a member of the Jews Rabbis and he has a permission from Hezbollah 🙂 There were a lot of Jews in Lebanon before 1975, now you still can find few, but they hide their identity.

Answering Steve

Being charged for treason only applies if Blackbird57 actually is one (or at least, if Lebanon considers him one)?

This is hard to answer, but from my own experience, anyone who has been in Israel, anyone who contacted Israelis by any means, is a candidate for being charged for high treason (or spying or whatever). Anyone who raise suspicions might have troubles. By law you are absolutely forbidden to make any sort of contact with Israel.

But let me tell you something, if you are a celebrity, if you are a politician, if you have power and money, you may be untouchable, we know many politicians who are now free though they have worked with the Israelis 🙂

If he doesn’t have dual citizenship then it would also be useful to know whether it’s an offense in Lebanon for a Canadian citizen who has entered Israel to later enter Lebanon.

Yes, Lebanon’s visa requirements forbid entry to anyone with an Israeli stamp on their passport. But he can ask the Israeli not to stamp his passport as it was mentioned in the comments below my answer.

However if you are a celebrity, well it’s a different story 🙂 Many celebrities do concerts in Israel before coming to Lebanon and they are welcomed. The only celebrity that was not welcomed as far as I know is Lara Fabien because she sang for Israel on their national day or something and she showed great support for the Israeli nation.

Many American professional basketball players have played in Israel before playing in Lebanon, we even gave the Lebanese nationality to one of them so he can play in our national team. That decision was not welcomed at all, but well… politics 🙂

This is a more general answer, as I don’t have any knowledge of what is the protocol for Lebanon born citizens of non enemy countries is.

Palestinian born citizens of other countries, and even people whose parents are Palestinian citizens (but they are not) will have trouble entering Israel. As depicted in this story, as well as on the site of the U.S counsel general in Jerusalem:

Palestinian-Americans Must Enter Through the Allenby Border Crossing. The Government of Israel does not currently permit U.S. citizens with Palestinian nationality (or even, in some cases, the claim to it) to enter Israel via Ben Gurion International Airport. Many travelers have been sent back to the U.S. upon arrival. Others have been allowed to enter Israel but told they cannot depart Israel via Ben Gurion without special permission, which is rarely granted. Some families have been separated as a result, and other travelers have forfeited expensive airline tickets. If you believe that you may be affected by this rule, confirm with the Israeli Embassy in Washington before departure that you will be able to enter and depart through Ben Gurion. You may prefer to alter your travel plans to enter via the Allenby-King Hussein border crossing.

While this touches on the issue of Palestinian-Americans, similar issues may be encountered by Palestinians who are citizens of other countries as well.

In any case, you should check your status with the local Israeli embassy if you have any reason to believe you may have troubles entering Israel.

You have the right to ask for a Canadian passport that does not show your place of birth. This implies that having it in your passport may cause problems in some cases. The disclaimers on that page further suggest that not having it in your passport may cause problems, too.

To quote from their info page:

You may request that your place of birth does not appear in the passport. However, if you chose to do so, note that:

• Place of birth is mandatory for entry to some countries. You should contact the consulate or embassy of every country you plan to visit to ensure that you will be allowed entry if your passport does not indicate your place of birth.
• You may have difficulty obtaining a visa.
• You may experience delays at border crossings.

Wikipedia also claims:

The People’s Republic of China will not issue visas to Canadian passport holders whose place of birth is inscribed as being Hong Kong HKG, Macau MAC or (city name) TWN. Accordingly, passports issued to Canadians born in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan now only list the place of birth, without an accompanying three-letter country code, unless upon request.

… and …

Canadian citizens born in Jerusalem have their birthplace identified only by the city’s name, with no national designation, due to the unresolved legal status of Jerusalem.

So yes, in some cases it may matter, but nothing so simple as “born in Lebanon? Denied!”