In
November 2009, Adalah filed a claim for damages to the Tel Aviv
Magistrates' Court on behalf of Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian against
the Airports Authority and the State of Israel. The lawsuit followed
the
humiliating and demeaning treatment that she received at Ben Gurion Airport
while on her way to attend a high-level academic conference in Tunis
three years ago. In the lawsuit, Adalah Attorney Alaa Mahajna detailed
the offensive treatment to which Dr. Shalhoub-Kevorkian was subjected
from the moment that she arrived at the airport to the moment she had
to cancel her trip after being prevented from taking her laptop
computer on the flight to the conference.
Dr.
Shalhoub-Kevorkian is the Director of the Gender Studies Program
Director at Mada al-Carmel and a researcher and lecturer in Criminology
at the Faculty of Law and School of Social Work at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. She has an international reputation in her
field and is invited to teach and lecture each year at numerous
universities around the world.
Adalah emphasized in the
lawsuit that her claim describes what is, too often, a regular
occurrence for any Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel travelling from
the country. "Travelling abroad has become a nightmare for Arab
citizens of Israel because of the humiliating and racist treatment they
receive. Discrimination between Arabs and Jews stems from the national
belonging of Arab citizens, which is illegal".
Adalah argued
that the humiliating conduct of the security staff towards Dr.
Shalhoub-Kevorkian constitutes a serious breach of her right to
dignity. Further, the fact that she alone was picked out from among the
other passengers and subjected to a demeaning inspection and was
prevented from taking her laptop computer is a violation of her right
to equality. All of these acts breach her constitutional rights as
protected by law and previous Supreme Court rulings.