Testimony of `Abud Badawi, resident of Kafr Qasem

I have been married for fifteen years and have three children. I am the deputy manager of the main warehouse of a company that markets ceramic goods and pipes. I fly abroad twice a year on average.

In April 2003, I traveled to Turkey on a vacation with my wife and children, together with two other Arab families. One of the families is from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the father of the family, a Palestinian from the Nablus area, held a visa since he did not have a passport. We flew with a Turkish airline, not an Israeli one.

When we reached the external entrance gate to the airport, the questioning process began. They made us stop by the road while the other cars passed unhindered. The guards may have been “suspicious” because of our dress or appearance. They asked us to identify ourselves and show our identity cards, and they told us to get out of the car for questioning. They held us there for about twenty minutes before we even reached the terminal.

When we arrived at the entrance gate to the terminal building, several officials were standing there. They stopped us and asked us to identify ourselves. Then we entered the terminal building and headed for the questioning and search area. While we were waiting in line, they put blue stickers on our baggage. I saw three different colors on the other passengers’ baggage, including blue. Every time I have traveled by air, I have been given blue stickers.

When our turn came, the security guards examined our documents and spent a particularly long time on the young Palestinian man. Then they took us all into two special rooms to be searched – one room for the men and one for the women. One of the security guards suddenly turned to me and said, “Go on then, join your group.” I was very offended by his tone of voice and the way he spoke to me. The other passengers around us began to ask, “What’s going on? Why are they detaining these Arabs?”

When we went into the room, they began to question us. “Where are you from? Where are you going? Is this your wife and son? What is your job?” and all kinds of other “routine” questions, as they call them, as well as other, provocative questions. They said that if we had any complaints we should speak to the manager.

During the questioning, they opened our suitcases and began to inspect the contents. They deliberately tipped all the clothes out and searched everything in the suitcases, even the most personal items.

Then it was time for the physical search. They told me to take my shoes off and took them off to be inspected. Then they took me to a corner of the room and shut it off with a curtain. They told me to take off all my clothes, apart from my underpants, and they even looked into my underpants. I was very angry and disgusted by their attitude. I told them that I would not remain silent about their behavior and would publish it in the press and file complaints with the relevant bodies. They coolly responded that this was a routine inspection.

After we left the inspection room, we continued toward the duty free and waited for the flight. An official approached us and told us that we could not walk around or talk to anyone until we boarded the flight. I could not remain silent any more and asked to speak to her superior. We argued and shouted. I shouted at them that such humiliating and offensive treatment is racist.

The interrogation lasted almost three and a half hours, including the time at the external gate, and was extremely humiliating. I never imagined that I would be forced to undergo a strip search.