Donna Shalala, VIP. That's Very Ikhrasable Person.

Posted by Ikhras at 10:59 am
Aug 062010

One of the best things about being an Ikhras blogger is that there is never shortage of fresh material to write about. On a daily basis we hear stories about Arabs and Muslims trying hard to “prove” themselves within the establishment only to be reminded that the carrot they pursue is perpetually elusive.

Today’s example is Donna Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years during the Clinton administration. Zionist publication Yedioth Ahronot reports today that Shalala, described as a “VIP”, was “humiliated” at Ben Gurion Airport on her way to collaborate with Zionist universities. She was interrogated and disrespected because she has an Arab last name. It must have been a shock for Shalala, who confidently flew in having defended the Zionist entity’s interests, as Ynet notes that 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 Jewish State also seemed not to help her.”

Shalala had made a cozy spot for herself in the House (see the Ikhras mission statement for definition of House Arab). She occupied several leadership posts in academia and was favored by both Democrats and Republicans.

She was the first Arab-American cabinet member, during the Clinton administration, and George W. Bush had awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

Indeed, her 20-page resume listing over three dozen honorary degrees and other distinguished awards makes her career the standard House Arab’s dream.

While Ynet thought Shalala is a Very Important Person, her political background suggests she’s more of a Very Ikhrasable Person (1). This career would have been impossible had Shalala spent her time working for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

She actually worked against liberation. She was granted honorary degrees by two “Israeli” universities, Technion University in 1994 and the University of Haifa in 1998. A member of the (Zionist) Jerusalem Foundation from 1982 to 1992, she advocated against boycott of “Israel.” The Jerusalem Foundation displays the full text of a statement she published in the Jerusalem Post less than a month before her humiliation at Ben Gurion. She wrote:

“I joined the presidents of the major American universities to denounce the boycott of Israeli academics. I sent a personal letter to the presidents of universities here, as did the other presidents, promising there would be no boycott in the United States and that Israeli scholars would always be welcome in the US,” said Shalala, a third generation descendant of Lebanese Maronite immigrants, who was the first Arab American to serve in a cabinet position and also the first to serve as a president of a major American university.

Her connection to the Zionist entity goes as far back to the 1960s. The Jerusalem Post article continues:

Shalala, who first came to Israel as a backpacker in the 1960s and also taught English at UNRWA camps in Lebanon, said she felt it was important to bring as many non-Jews as possible to visit Israel in order to “hear Israelis talk about their dreams and what they are trying to achieve as well as to meet Arabs.”

In spite of Shalala’s appalling anti-Arab, pro-Zionist stance, some House Arabs remained unfazed. Her high rank within the establishment trumped justice. As can be expected from House Arabs, who spend their lives chasing after the empire’s acceptance, the New Jersey chapter of the ADC bragged about her Arab lineage. ADC National hosted her as a speaker at its 1996 and 2000 conventions.

The treatment Shalala received at Ben Gurion is even more humiliating than the way Helen Thomas and Octavia Nasr’s careers ended.

Thomas urged decolonization of Palestine and Nasr praised cleric Fadhlallah. While both later apologized for appearing to side with oppressed people, they could at least say their ordeals resulted from frustration with Zionism. Shalala can’t even claim that. She humiliated herself long before Ben Gurion’s officials got around to it.

This goes to show that no matter how “respectable” Arabs become, no matter how many distinguished posts they assume or honorary degrees they receive or how hard they try to appeal to their colonizers, the slavemaster sees no significant difference between the House Arab and the Field Arab. It is unfortunate that a clearly intelligent Arab woman dedicated her talents towards defending the Zionist entity, which continues to displace and dispossess Palestinians, and working for eight years for an imperialist administration that served the usurping entity and sanctioned Iraq.

This episode is similar to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr’s treatment at the hands of white police officers while he was trying to enter his own house (no pun intended). While the Zionist treatment of Shalala, based on her Arabic last name, was racist and despicable, perhaps she now understands the humiliation Palestinians endure everyday under military occupation as they are subjected to checkpoints established on their own land by foreign colonizers.

(1) Ikh-ras-a-ble: adj. Arab or Muslim person who needs to ikhras (shut up) for collaborating with US empire and Zionism. See Ikhras mission statement for more: http://ikhras.com/?page_id=2


UPDATE
While Shalala had initially declined to comment, as per the Ynet article, after she pulled herself together she finally spoke:

“While I was inconvenienced, Israel’s security and the security of travelers is far more important. I have been going in and out of Israel for many years and expect to visit again.”

Shalala calls racist humiliation an ”inconvenience” and continues to defend Israel’s actions. As Malcolm X would say, the House Arab loves the slavemaster more than the slavemaster loves itself. Our earlier analogy comparing Shalala’s ordeal to that of Henry Louis Gates Jr’s was too generous towards Shalala, as Gates actually had the decency to express outrage when he was racially profiled.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian