Adalah Submits Tort Lawsuit for Damages on behalf of Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian against the Israel Airports Authority for Humiliating and Degrading Treatment

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.