Israeli Officer Assaults American Citizen at Border: The Case of Aisha Elmasri

Washington, D.C. | www.mpac.org | October 11, 2022 — Aisha Jasmine Elmasri is a south-central Los Angeles middle school principal who planned on visiting Jerusalem for a spiritual pilgrimage on her 30th birthday. Aisha states that her sole reason for travel to Jerusalem was for the opportunity “to pray at al-Aqsa mosque, a place that unites all Abrahamic faiths.”

Hearing about the ill treatment that Muslim and Arab Americans receive at the Israeli passport checkpoint, Aisha took all precautions beforehand to ensure that she would be able to safely travel to Jerusalem. It did not suffice.

Upon seeing Aisha's American passport, Aisha was welcomed to Ben Gurion Airport by the Israeli passport control, but the moment that the officer opened up and read her name, everything changed: “Where was your father born?”. She was then detained for 14 hours. Her belongings were seized, and her phone was searched by Israeli authorities without warrant. Furthermore Aisha was given nothing to eat during the over 10 hours she was in their custody.

After the interrogation, Aisha was deemed a risk for Israel, denied entry, and was told that she was going to be moved to an off-site detention center. It was at this point that Aisha decided that she wouldn't comply with being removed from the airport and called her family in the United States, speaking loudly in English, so others at the airport could hear her call for distress. Aisha stated that it was at this moment that an Israeli officer slapped her across the face, while 15 other Israeli officers tackled her to the ground to detain her. Aisha did not resist arrest and had her hands up. Despite this fact, the officers used excessive force, leaving her visibly bruised and traumatized as she boarded the plane leaving Israel.

Aisha’s story isn’t unique. There are hundreds of reports of Americans of Muslim or Arab background being abused at both air and sea ports of entry in Israel, regardless of whether they are Muslim or not. The American government’s continued failure to address the discriminatory Israeli entry-exit policies is akin to condoning these bigoted policies, and constitutes a failure on behalf of the United States. Protecting American citizens’ rights should not be a compromise between our government and any other nation, including Israel. With the nearly $4 billion dollars of American tax money given to Israel in this year alone, the United States government has the ability to dictate how Israel should address all of its troubling policies, including their entry-exit policies, their ill-treatment of the Palestinians, and Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian territories through Israeli settlers.

Earlier today, MPAC sent an open letter to the U.S. Department of State to reject Israel’s request to join our Visa Waiver Program. MPAC also calls on the State Department to ensure that Israel ceases to discriminate against and violate the human rights of Americans visiting Israel — a privilege that the United States grants to Israelis at American border crossings. MPAC will partner with other civil society organizations, like the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), that have filed complaints against Israel’s treatments of American citizens at their border and support their call for our government to stand up for our citizens.

We will await the Department of State's response to our statement and will continue advocating to ensure that the religious freedoms and human rights of all Americans are respected when traveling abroad. 

We urge those who have experienced discrimination while traveling to Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories to record their experience in ADC’s centralized database. The data collected will be used to urge our government to take action.