Pregnant al-Jazeera Scribe Rips 'Humiliating' Strip Search

Refuses to remove bra after she strips down to slip
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2011 5:58 AM CST
Updated Jan 13, 2011 7:02 AM CST
Pregnant al-Jazeera Scribe Rips 'Humiliating' Strip Search
Palestinian Al-Jazeera newswoman Najwan Simri Diab charges that reporters were singled out because they were Arab.   (YouTube)

A furious pregnant Arab journalist invited to an Israeli foreign press conference is slamming aggressive security guards who made her strip down to her slip, then demanded she take off her bra. The Foreign Press Association is filing a complaint over the incident. "While we appreciate the need for security, it is not remotely acceptable to invite people for cocktails at a five-star hotel and then make them undress at the door," the FPA said in a statement. Najwan Simri Diab, a 31-year-old Palestinian al-Jazeera producer, was one of several Arab reporters who said they were humiliated by a security search that singled them out among hundreds of journalists.

After she was told to strip down, Simri Diab was "groped" by a female guard, who then ordered her to remove her bra, reports the Independent. The guard also insisted on using a metal detector, even though Simri Diab explained her condition. When she refused to remove her bra and demanded to leave, she was forced to wait for her clothes in her slip for some time. "I have no problem with security, but I felt this was done not to check me, but rather because I am an Arab," said the newswoman.
(More security searches stories.)

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