I carried documentation (see below), including an invitation letter related to my participation in an Arabic language exchange program during the summer. When I presented this information to the Israeli border officials, I was moved to another area of the facility and directed to speak with a representative from the Israeli Ministry of Interior by phone.
A Kindness Diversion
The agent on the other end of the line claimed I needed to coordinate my entrance into the Gaza Strip through the Canadian consulate (since I traveled with my Canadian passport). The Israeli agent stated that I should contact Daisy Rumman from the Representative Office of Canada in Ramallah to help coordinate my entrance. 
I began to challenge this point and found myself distracted by rapport-building strategies. The agent focused on a shared connection to Canada. He claimed to have recently made aliyah (Jewish immigration) from Montreal. After going back-and-forth with the agent for nearly an hour, there was no way I was getting into the Gaza Strip. I had no choice but to make the trip back to Ramla.
In retrospect, the entire process felt like subtle manipulation designed to deny foreign nationals from entering the Gaza Strip. Days later, I would find no mention of a Daisy Rumman at the Canadian Representative Office of Canada confirming what I had suspected: that I had been duped. The Israeli Ministry of Interior had given me the runaround. It was my first setback, and it was disappointing. I knew entering Gaza would be difficult, but I thought my paperwork and coordination efforts with the Palestinians would’ve been enough for the Israeli border security. I was sorely mistaken.
