Supreme Court Justice Salem Jubran, Rania's father
Photo: Meir Azoulay
Foreign Ministry Arab cadet humiliated at airport
Rania Jubran, first Israeli Arab Foreign Ministry cadet and daughter of Supreme Court Justice Salem Jubran, treated as 'high security risk' by security guards at Ben Gurion Airport
A Foreign Ministry cadet and the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Salem Jubran, Rania, was recently subjected to humiliating security inspections at the Ben Gurion and Barcelona Airports.
Jubran, 26, the first Israeli Arab ever to complete a Foreign Ministry cadet training course, was asked by security personnel at the airports to prove that her Ministry employee documents were authentic and that her father was indeed a Supreme Court justice.
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Several days ago, Jubran sent an angry letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and on Wednesday Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin announced that the inspection procedures at airports will soon change.
Two weeks ago, Jubran arrived at Ben Gurion on her way to a vacation in Barcelona. The security guard at the airport ordered her to open her suitcase and tagged it with a yellow label indicating it was considered a high security risk.
"At this point," Jubran described in her letter to the prime minister, "I asked to sort the matter out with the shift manager. Following my request, two shift managers appeared. I presented to them my Foreign Ministry employee certificate, but they ignored it and began repeating the questions I had already been asked before."
"The inspection was carried out in a rude and disrespectful manner towards me personally, as an Israeli citizen, and more so as a Foreign Ministry employee," she added.
Only after Jubran contacted the Foreign Ministry's representative at the airport was she allowed to board her flight.
'As if I was a fraud'
On her way back to Israel from Barcelona, Jubran was forced to undergo a similar experience. Her luggage was again labeled with a special "security risk" tag, a procedure reserved for most Israeli Arabs.Jubran tried presenting the documents attesting that she was a Foreign Ministry cadet and the daughter of Justice Jubran, but this raised even more suspicion.
"The security guard started questioning me about the Foreign Ministry employee card and the Foreign Ministry's location, as if I was a fraud," she described.
When she was about to board the flight, Jubran was again told that she would not be allowed to get on the plane, and the matter was resolved only after she was found to be telling the truth.
Itamar Eichner contributed to the report
