Waleed Aly said he had been left shaken by the experience.
Waleed Aly said he had been left shaken by the experience.
Waleed Aly has opened up about his "horrific" experience being searched and detained while leaving Israel.
Aly, who rarely speaks about his personal life, recalled the unsettling experience after The Project aired a segment on the number of strip-searches performed by NSW police, which more than doubled in the years2016-2017.
The trend has sparked an inquiry from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, with claims children as young as 11 have been strip-searched.
After interviewing activist Rachel Evans about her traumatic time being strip-searched, Aly said he too could relate to the experience.
"I've only experienced it once, and it wasn't here it was overseas," he said. "I was trying to leave Israel and as I was I leaving they just picked me out and just took me aside and it just went for hours basically."
Aly, who didn't specify when the ordeal occurred, explained that while the search didn't go to the same extent experienced by Ms Evans, he still had to "undo my jeans and all sorts of stuff".
Rachel (about being strip searched) "They didn't give us any justification... there was no charge, there was no explanation as to why" #TheProjectTVpic.twitter.com/yrJy5rp2Ir
Waleed: (about being strip searched) “The thing about it is – you don’t know where it’s going to end and they explain nothing… the power imbalance is horrific… I’ve never left a situation more shaken or angry” #TheProjectTVpic.twitter.com/Yby0HS3Y33
"The thing about it is you don't know where it's going to end and they explain nothing … you're just in this situation, you don't know why, the power imbalance is horrific and you have no idea where it is going," he continued.
"I've never left a situation more shaken or angry then that particular thing. We don't need more of that."
One of the most powerless experiences of my life was being searched at LAX because my hip replacement set off detector. Very public. Very physically intrusive. To protest was to risk being refused entry to USA.
