Israeli airport security officers made an African American member of the New York-based Alvin Ailey dance troupe perform steps for them before letting him enter the country, the group said on Tuesday.
The group said airport officials had provided no explanation about the treatment of Abdur-Rahim Jackson, who has a Muslim father but is engaged to a fellow dancer who is Jewish with a large family in Israel.
Jackson was pulled aside from the rest of the troupe on arrival at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport and taken to a room where he was questioned by the security officers, said a spokesperson for the group.
”They asked him who he was and what he does and also about his name. He showed them the group’s programme with his picture and said he was a dancer,” the spokesperson said.
”The officers then told him, ‘If you are a dancer, then dance’, so he showed them some dance moves.”
The spokesperson said Jackson was no stranger to this kind of behaviour because he had been asked to do the same during a visit to the Dominican Republic.
Jackson had no problem with the questioning but was ”deeply saddened” by the demand for him dance, said the spokesperson.
No immediate comment was available from Israeli officials. The Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper said the Israel Airports Authority had no record of such an incident.
The Alvin Ailey troupe kicked off its 50th anniversary international tour with sold out performances in Israel. – Reuters