A South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) official has claimed that Israeli security strip-searched him at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park.
Samwu first vice-president Xolile Nxu claimed he was detained and interrogated about three weeks ago on his departure for the second annual conference on Popular Non-Violent Resistance in the West Bank village of Bil’in in occupied Palestine.
”I was taken to a small room and subjected to a long and abusive interview, during which I was forced to take off my belt and my pants,” he said on Thursday.
He further alleged that Israeli security escorted him directly to the aircraft a minute before take-off after covering his luggage and hand-luggage with red stamps.
However, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said it knew nothing of the incident. No security police from foreign countries had offices at OR Tambo, said Acsa spokesperson Notemba Noruwana.
She said the airport’s security officials were looking into Nxu’s claims.
The Israeli embassy could not be reached for comment.
In a statement, Samwu voiced concern at Israeli security’s apparent free reign at the airport and said it had been under the impression that ”South Africa is a sovereign state and that our citizens are not accountable to the Israeli secret police”.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has condemned his treatment, said it shared Samwu’s alarm.
It would be taking up the matter with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the airports authority to check whether this behaviour was condoned and what action the South African government would take to protect its citizens from such abuse, said spokesperson Patrick Craven.
”There is absolutely no justification for the Israel government to have its own offices, secret police and power to bypass customs at our airports,” he said.
Nxu has also claimed that he was interrogated, for two hours, on his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
He was then taken to a West Bank checkpoint that he had to cross before being taken to his accommodation at Bil’in.
Nxu was at the conference, attended by 400 people, to speak on South African resistance to apartheid, and hold discussions with Palestinians on the need for a one-state solution to the occupation.
On leaving, he was again detained and interrogated at Ben Gurion Airport — for eight hours, he claimed.
”Israeli security also threatened him physically in a failed bid to extract the names of the Palestinian conference organisers from him,” said Samwu.
Nxu has questioned why he was ”the only one at that airport who had to go through this”. — Sapa