# Police shoot U.S. student's laptop upon entry to Israel **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458 "2009-12-16T05:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/41 "2009-12-16T20:06:13Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > You say they use a remote controlled robot to shoot the item. If it’s a Jewish robot, is it programmed to kvetch? ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/42 "2009-12-16T20:07:30Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > If it’s a Jewish robot, is it programmed to kvetch? No, no no… That’s what the Polish Jew taught his **dog** to do…! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/43 "2009-12-16T20:12:27Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > During the IRA bombing campaign in London in the 1970s, my great-aunt had a bag of cabbages blown up for similar reasons. Good thing it wasn’t a bag of sauerkraut, or the stench would have made it necessary to evacuate the entire terminal. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/44 "2009-12-16T21:44:42Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > This is just too bizarre to even take seriously. I mean, what possible reason could anybody ever have to shoot a laptop? [Sam Elliot] It had it comin’. [/Sam Elliot] ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/45 "2009-12-16T22:12:06Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > [Sam Elliot] > > It had it comin’. > > [/Sam Elliot] [Eastwood]We _all_ have it coming, kid. [/Eastwood] ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/46 "2009-12-16T22:12:25Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > The narration is in Hebrew, and it’s more about why the road wasn’t opened back earlier than it was… but you can see a good demonstration of the robot in action. I think I have that luggage. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/47 "2009-12-16T22:41:33Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Do you have a cite for this? Because it doesn’t make any sense to me either. You say they use a remote controlled robot to shoot the item. I presume you mean at close range, since if it blows up it’s a “significant amount of money down the drain.” But if you have to do that, why not just have robot put the object down, and get far away, and have a human rifleman shoot it? I’m no Annie Oakley, but I could hit a laptop from 200 yds with no difficulty, especially if I get multiple shots and it’s not shooting back. A real rifleman should have no difficulty. Apparently they also use lasers and something called a “pigstick” which basically shoots an explosive propelled jet of water. The objective is to blow the shit out of the electronics, not detonate the explosive. A rifle bullet would not do enough damage across as wide an area as a shotgun blast or high speed jet of water. Robots can’t pick up a whole lot and the device may be booby trapped, unstable or otherwise unsafe to move. And the device may not be in a spot where it is practical to blast away at it with a rifle from 200 yards (like inside an airport or on a city street). ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/48 "2009-12-16T23:33:53Z")
Wait. Have we established that she’s a “protest tourist”? Good thing she wasn’t a scientist with tons of irreplaceable data on that Mac, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/49 "2009-12-16T23:39:20Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Good thing she wasn’t a scientist with tons of irreplaceable data on that Mac, I guess. Not sure I’d trust a scientist’s data if they weren’t thorough enough to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/50 "2009-12-17T00:10:15Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > This is just too bizarre to even take seriously. I mean, what possible reason could anybody ever have to shoot a laptop? . . . Was it just being uncooperative? Was it made an example of for the other laptops in holding (‘See what happened to your friend over there?’)? [Life imitates Dilbert.](http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2009-12-15/) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/51 "2009-12-17T02:37:40Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Kvp3cQ8Gc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Kvp3cQ8Gc) > > The narration is in Hebrew, and it’s more about why the road wasn’t opened back earlier than it was… but you can see a good demonstration of the robot in action. I can’t watch videos on this computer. Does the robot use a shotgun, which is likely to put a projectile through any part of the computer/bomb, or does it use a 9mm, which only destroys what in its path and its environs and, per the photo of the dead laptop, can’t even penetrate the shell of a cheesy modern laptop? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/52 "2009-12-17T02:48:55Z")
The video brings up the point, did they shoot the laptop or shoot the luggage that contained the laptop? If they believed there may have been explosives in the luggage it makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/53 "2009-12-17T03:38:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The video brings up the point, did they shoot the laptop or shoot the luggage that contained the laptop? If they believed there may have been explosives in the luggage it makes more sense. Not really. You don’t shoot a bomb with a firearm if you don’t know what type of bomb it is. Further, you don’t shoot a bomb with a firearm. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/54 "2009-12-17T03:51:29Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Further, you don’t shoot a bomb with a firearm. Well, they _thought_ they did. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/55 "2009-12-17T04:48:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Israelis don’t like Macs. That’s because that’s what the alien mothership uses. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/56 "2009-12-17T05:16:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > _I shot the laptop > But I did not shoot the desk PC_ … Macbook Pro always hated me For what, I don’t know: Everytime I boot up EyeTV, It crash into hard lock freeze – Yeah **bomb box** is all I see And so: … ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/57 "2009-12-17T08:33:55Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Was it just being uncooperative? Was it made an example of for the other laptops in holding (‘See what happened to your friend over there?’)? “Ohhh, big man doesn’t want to talk, huh? Well, you better start singing before I tear out your Pentium processor with my bare hands…I’ve done it before, don’t think I wont do it again. Oh yeah, I’m gonna enjoy kicking the living chips out of you, buddy.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/58 "2009-12-17T09:16:54Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Not really. You don’t shoot a bomb with a firearm if you don’t know what type of bomb it is. For example, what if it had been a gas bomb? Shooting a pressurized container of poison doesn’t strike me as a clever thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/59 "2009-12-17T11:22:33Z")
I thought Israel was supposed to be on the ball for things like this. Seems like such a dumb thing to do, you’d expect to hear this out of Sri Lanka or one of the sillier-sounding African countries. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458/60 "2009-12-17T13:00:37Z")
Good to see that members of the “Israeli Authorities can do no wrong in any situation ever” brigade are on the case here. I was worried for a second. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-shoot-u-s-students-laptop-upon-entry-to-israel/521458.md?page=4)