CNN's Ben Wederman is stuck at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza because his bullet proof jacket has suspicious particles on it. That is the only reason that the reporter has been given.
Wederman had to give over his cell phone number after initially refusing. Security has been asking about his connections in Gaza and than has left him alone in the passport control area for an hour.
This isn't a first for a reporter crossing between the two areas. Erez is known for it's detaining of reporters. They are strip searched and interrogated, held for hours on end. It's not an unwise move though on the part of the Israeli security that monitors this checkpoint. With the many suicide bombers out there they have to be careful.
Still for reporters that are held there for hours it can be extremely frustrating. Wederman had grabbed a flack jacket before leaving his office at the CNN bureau in Jerusalem Wednesday. He was on route to cover a story about the American International School.
A year ago Wederman had been working on a story along with camera man Adil Bradlow about a workshop where militants made rockets that would later fly into Israel. The room that the two were in reeked of the chemicals that had fallen to the floor. When they passed through the Israeli control centre they were passed without issue.
That was a year ago. Today Wederman is blogging his day on Hala's blog. He has not been strip searched. At least not at the time of this entry.
