Cast of ‘Shahs of Sunset’ Questioned at Ben-Gurion Airport at Start of Group Israel Trip
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Cast members of the hit reality television series “Shahs of Sunset” were detained and questioned at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport during Sunday night’s episode of the Bravo show.
Upon arriving in Israel after their 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, Mike Shouhed, Reza Farahan, Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, Shervin Roohparvar and Destiney Rose were taken to the airport’s detention center. Shouhed is Jewish, while Farahan is half-Jewish and the rest of the cast members are Muslim.
Fellow co-stars Mercedes “MJ” Javid and Asa Soltan Rahmati went through airport security with no issues and waited for their friends at baggage claim. The latter said, “I was so sure I would get detained,” and explained she believed she and Javid were not held back by security because they were “friendly” and “patient,” according to the UK’s Daily Mail. She also noted that Shouhed was “so offended [he got detained]…and he’s looking at me like I’m supposed to get detained.”
“Her name is very Muslim,” Shouhed said about Rahmati, “and they didn’t stop her, which is very interesting to me.”
After Rose was free to go, Roohparvar soon followed and told Shouhed, “Thank your people for letting me in.” Shouhed was let through afterward and said the reason he was detained was because of the people he was traveling with. He asked, “How the f–k is the only real Jew in this group being detained? You see my passport. I’ve been here a lot.”
Gharachedaghi and Farahan were the last two permitted to enter Israel after being questioned for several hours, the Daily Mail reported. Following the tiresome detainment, Farahan said, “It feels like I’ve been wandering in the desert for four-f–king thousand years. Get me a drink!”
As The Algemeiner previously reported, the proposed trip to Israel caused tension among the show’s cast members.