06/08/2010
Professor Donna Shalala, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's secretary of health, arrived in the occupied territories in order to fight academic boycott against Israel. Yet, she was held at Ben-Gurion Airport just because she has Arab last name.
Shalala, who served as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years under Clinton and is currently the president of the University of Miami, was held for two-and-a-half hours at Ben Gurion Airport during which she underwent a humiliating security debriefing because of her Arab last name – all this despite the fact that her hosts notified the airport ahead of time that she is a VIP, Israeli daily Ynet reported.
The fact that Shalala arrived in Israel as part of an official delegation of the heads of universities fighting against the academic boycott against the Zionist entity also seemed not to help her.
Shalala, 69, was born in the US to Lebanese immigrant parents. She is considered a true friend of the Israeli enemy and has visited the occupied territories many times in the past.
When Shalala arrived at the airport, she was not recognized as a VIP and was even afforded what she says to be "special" treatment because of her Arab last name. She says she was held for two-and-a-half hours during which she was asked invasive and humiliating personal questions. Despite the delay, she managed to board the flight to the US. Officials who spoke with her said she was deeply offended by the treatment she received.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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