First-Hand Reports Palestine and Israel

American Comedian Strip Searched at Israeli Airport

By Emily
August 6, 2006
For more information: www.maysoon.com

I want to tell you the story of what happened to my friend Maysoon Zayid when she left Ben Gurion Airport a few days ago to fly back to NYC.

She called me when she landed in NYC and said "Emily you won't believe what happened to me at Ben Gurion Airport... I should note that Maysoon has cerebral palsy and went through this whole process in a wheelchair at Ben Gurion airport.

Maysoon began "Emily I was strip-searched. They took everything. They left me naked in the room and when they returned with my clothes they had taken my maxipad."

What?

"Yes and then I told them I need one and they said they didn't have any."

She proceeded to tell them she had more in her hand carry-on. They wouldn't let her touch her stuff for "security reasons".

Nor would they give her one maxi-pad from her bag. They would not let her travel with her carry-on luggage on the plane.

My friend Maysoon was made to bleed for hours in the airport all over herself in a wheelchair.

As if that wasn't enough. She was also not allowed to touch her medication(also in her hand carry-on). She has cerebral palsy and needs to take special medicine or else she will throw up on the flight.

Several hours later she finally boarded Continental Airlines. The stewardess looked at her in disgust when she entered the plane.

Maysoon looked up at her and said "They took my maxi-pad."

The stewardess' ramaged through their belongings and managed to produce a pair of shorts etc for her to wear.

She threw up 7 times on the flight as she was not allowed to take her medicine.

Are there words for such horror and brutality?

The policy of treating Palestinians in the most dispicable manner at border crossings has been in place for years in an effort to brutalize people to such an extreme that they will not return.

I remember it all.

Every crossing from Jordan when I was a kid in the 70's, and later through Ben Gurion in the 80's. I will not forget.

I will never forget what they did to Maysoon.

Maysoon who is a comedian, an actress and an activist.
She herself is writing down this story in greater detail when she is able to.

See her website: http://www.maysoon.com/

Here is a link for a recent border crossing story written by a European-American.A European-American, not a Palestinian-American, can visit Palestine.