Johannesburg - A South African activist who says he was deported from an Israeli airport has detailed how he was detained twice, strip-searched and questioned by authorities for about 26 hours.
Itani Rasalanavho told The Star on Monday that earlier this month he landed in Tel Aviv in Israel to attend a programme organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC).
As he was standing in the passport queue he was pulled aside by authorities and taken to a room where he waited for up to about three hours with others from Africa, Arab nationals and those from Eastern Europe.
Eventually he was taken to another room where he was questioned about the reason for his visit, how long he planned on staying in the country and if he had been there before.
“I told them I was there for a church programme and didn't mention anything about my humanitarian work but it looks like they checked my social media accounts and asked me questions about my involvement in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign,” he said.
Rasalanavho, who was the event organiser for the campaign between 2013 and 2014, has been vocal about it on both Twitter and Facebook.
He told The Star that one of his Twitter posts he was questioned about was when he wrote that he “would die for Palestinians”.
Following intensive questioning by officials, he was then taken to a detention centre in the airport and strip-searched.
His luggage was taken to a separate room and searched.
Several hours later, he was transported back to the airport and again put in the same room, where he spent several more hours.
“After a while I was taken by the same car to another detention centre outside the airport,” Rasalanavho said.
He explained that due to officials speaking predominantly Hebrew, he did not always know what was going on and was often given no answer when he questioned authorities.
Eventually the South African was put on a flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and then another to OR Tambo International Airport in Joburg.
This was because his original trip from Joburg had been via Addis Ababa.
Israeli officials had handed his passport to South African officials and he could not get it back until he landed in Joburg.
After he landed in Addis Ababa, he spent the night sleeping in the airport as he could not get a flight back to Joburg until the next day.
Michael Freeman, the deputy Israeli ambassador in South Africa, was not immediately able to comment.