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Raed Jarrar: back from the mideast, told to change shirt at US airport
I just came back from a short trip to Jordan and Syria. The trip to Syria was so fast, but I managed to visit some Lebanese refugee camps. I am so impressed by the Syrian people's generosity in receiving Lebanese refugees. The Syrian government didn't even have to send food or supplies to the refugees because of the overwhelming grassroots support. When I was in the school/refugee camp, many neighbors were walking in with food and clothes. Neighbors donated mattresses, TVs, satellites, money, and other aid.
The other thing you can't miss in Jordan and Syria is people's anger against the US. On more than occasion, I got shouted at because I live in the US. The most interesting incident was during a visit to a Lebanese refugee camp. I was called by two young Lebanese people, and they asked me whether me and the rest of the delegation visiting their shelter where coming from the US. I said yes. They said: "you better get the hell out of here unless you want us to make a scene". I tried to explain that we are the "good" Americans who are against the war, so they said go back home and change your government. "you can't come here visit us in a shelter that we were sent to because of your tax money and your bombs, and expect us to be nice to you". So me and the other Americans got the hell out of there.
....
The next day, I went to JFK in the morning to catch my Jet Blue plane to California. I reached Terminal 6 at around 7:15 am, issued a boarding pass, and checked all my bags in, and then walked to the security checkpoint. For the first time in my life, I was taken to a secondary search . My shoes were searched, and I was asked for my boarding pass and ID. After passing the security, I walked to check where gate 16 was, then I went to get something to eat. I got some cheese and grapes with some orange juice and I went back to Gate 16 and sat down in the boarding area enjoying my breakfast and some sunshine.
At around 8:30, two men approached me while I was checking my phone. One of them asked me if I had a minute and he showed me his badge, I said: "sure". We walked some few steps and stood in front of the boarding counter where I found out that they were accompanied by another person, a woman from Jet Blue.
One of the two men who approached me first, Inspector Harris, asked for my id card and boarding pass. I gave him my boarding pass and driver's license. He said "people are feeling offended because of your t-shirt". I looked at my t-shirt: I was wearing my shirt which states in both Arabic and English "we will not be silent". You can take a look at it in this picture taken during our Jordan meetings with Iraqi MPs. I said "I am very sorry if I offended anyone, I didnt know that this t-shirt will be offensive". He asked me if I had any other T-shirts to put on, and I told him that I had checked in all of my bags and I asked him "why do you want me to take off my t-shirt? Isn't it my constitutional right to express myself in this way?" The second man in a greenish suit interfered and said "people here in the US don't understand these things about constitutional rights". So I answered him "I live in the US, and I understand it is my right to wear this t-shirt".
Then I once again asked the three of them : "How come you are asking me to change my t-shirt? Isn't this my constitutional right to wear it? I am ready to change it if you tell me why I should. Do you have an order against Arabic t-shirts? Is there such a law against Arabic script?" so inspector Harris answered "you can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads "I am a robber" and going to a bank". I said "but the message on my t-shirt is not offensive, it just says "we will not be silent". I got this t-shirt from Washington DC. There are more than a 1000 t-shirts printed with the same slogan, you can google them or email them at wewillnotbesilent [at] gmail.com . It is printed in many other languages: Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, English, etc." Inspector Harris said: "We cant make sure that your t-shirt means we will not be silent, we don't have a translator. Maybe it means something else". I said: "But as you can see, the statement is in both Arabic and English". He said "maybe it is not the same message". So based on the fact that Jet Blue doesn't have a translator, anything in Arabic is suspicious because maybe it'll mean something bad!
Meanwhile, a third man walked in our direction. He stood with us without introducing himself, and he looked at inspector Harris's notes and asks him: "is that his information?", inspector Harris answered "yes". The third man, Mr. Harmon, asks inspector Harris : "can I copy this information?", and inspector Harris says "yes, sure".
inspector Harris said: "You don't have to take of your t-shirt, just put it on inside-out". I refused to put on my shirt inside-out. So the woman interfered and said "let's reach a compromise. I will buy you a new t-shirt and you can put it on on top of this one". I said "I want to keep this t-shirt on". Both inspector Harris and Mr. Harmon said "No, we can't let you get on that airplane with your t-shirt". I said "I am ready to put on another t-shirt if you tell me what is the law that requires such a thing. I want to talk to your supervisor". Inspector Harris said "You don't have to talk to anyone. Many people called and complained about your t-shirt. Jetblue customers were calling before you reached the checkpoint, and costumers called when you were waiting here in the boarding area".
it was then that I realized that my t-shirt was the reason why I had been taken to the secondary checking.
I asked the four people again to let me talk to any supervisor, and they refused.
The Jet Blue woman was asking me again to end this problem by just putting on a new t-shirt, and I felt threatened by Mr. Harmon's remarks as in "Let's end this the nice way". Taking in consideration what happens to other Arabs and Muslims in US airports, and realizing that I will miss my flight unless I covered the Arabic script on my t-shirt as I was told by the four agents, I asked the Jet Blue woman to buy me a t-shirt and I said "I don't want to miss my flight."
She asked, what kind of t-shirts do you like. Should I get you an "I heart new york t-shirt?". So Mr. Harmon said "No, we shouldn't ask him to go from one extreme to another". I asked mr. harmon why does he assume I hate new york if I had some Arabic script on my t-shirt, but he didn't answer.
The woman went away for 3 minutes, and she came back with a gray t-shirt reading "new york". I put the t-shirt on and removed the price tag. I told the four people who were involved in the conversation: "I feel very sad that my personal freedom was taken away like this. I grew up under authoritarian governments in the Middle East, and one of the reasons I chose to move to the US was that I don't want an officer to make me change my t-shirt. I will pursue this incident today through a Constitutional rights organization, and I am sure we will meet soon". Everyone said okay and left, and I went back to my seat.
At 8:50 I was called again by a fourth young man, standing with the same jetblue woman. He asked for my boarding pass, so I gave it to him, and stood in front of the boarding counter. I asked the woman: "is everything okay?", she responded: "Yes, sure. We just have to change your seat". I said: "but I want this seat, that's why I chose it online 4 weeks ago", the fourth man said " there is a lady with a toddler sitting there. We need the seat."
Then they re-issued me a small boarding pass for seat 24a, instead of seat 3a. They said that I can go to the airplane now. I was the first person who entered the airplane, and I was really annoyed about being assigned this seat in the back of the airplane too. It smelled like the bathrooms, which is why I had originally chosen a seat which would be far from that area.
It sucks to be an Arab/Muslim living in the US these days. When you go to the middle east, you are a US tax-payer destroying people's houses with your money, and when you come back to the US, you are a suspected terrorist and plane hijacker.
Read More
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2006/08/back-from-mideast.html
....
The next day, I went to JFK in the morning to catch my Jet Blue plane to California. I reached Terminal 6 at around 7:15 am, issued a boarding pass, and checked all my bags in, and then walked to the security checkpoint. For the first time in my life, I was taken to a secondary search . My shoes were searched, and I was asked for my boarding pass and ID. After passing the security, I walked to check where gate 16 was, then I went to get something to eat. I got some cheese and grapes with some orange juice and I went back to Gate 16 and sat down in the boarding area enjoying my breakfast and some sunshine.
At around 8:30, two men approached me while I was checking my phone. One of them asked me if I had a minute and he showed me his badge, I said: "sure". We walked some few steps and stood in front of the boarding counter where I found out that they were accompanied by another person, a woman from Jet Blue.
One of the two men who approached me first, Inspector Harris, asked for my id card and boarding pass. I gave him my boarding pass and driver's license. He said "people are feeling offended because of your t-shirt". I looked at my t-shirt: I was wearing my shirt which states in both Arabic and English "we will not be silent". You can take a look at it in this picture taken during our Jordan meetings with Iraqi MPs. I said "I am very sorry if I offended anyone, I didnt know that this t-shirt will be offensive". He asked me if I had any other T-shirts to put on, and I told him that I had checked in all of my bags and I asked him "why do you want me to take off my t-shirt? Isn't it my constitutional right to express myself in this way?" The second man in a greenish suit interfered and said "people here in the US don't understand these things about constitutional rights". So I answered him "I live in the US, and I understand it is my right to wear this t-shirt".
Then I once again asked the three of them : "How come you are asking me to change my t-shirt? Isn't this my constitutional right to wear it? I am ready to change it if you tell me why I should. Do you have an order against Arabic t-shirts? Is there such a law against Arabic script?" so inspector Harris answered "you can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads "I am a robber" and going to a bank". I said "but the message on my t-shirt is not offensive, it just says "we will not be silent". I got this t-shirt from Washington DC. There are more than a 1000 t-shirts printed with the same slogan, you can google them or email them at wewillnotbesilent [at] gmail.com . It is printed in many other languages: Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, English, etc." Inspector Harris said: "We cant make sure that your t-shirt means we will not be silent, we don't have a translator. Maybe it means something else". I said: "But as you can see, the statement is in both Arabic and English". He said "maybe it is not the same message". So based on the fact that Jet Blue doesn't have a translator, anything in Arabic is suspicious because maybe it'll mean something bad!
Meanwhile, a third man walked in our direction. He stood with us without introducing himself, and he looked at inspector Harris's notes and asks him: "is that his information?", inspector Harris answered "yes". The third man, Mr. Harmon, asks inspector Harris : "can I copy this information?", and inspector Harris says "yes, sure".
inspector Harris said: "You don't have to take of your t-shirt, just put it on inside-out". I refused to put on my shirt inside-out. So the woman interfered and said "let's reach a compromise. I will buy you a new t-shirt and you can put it on on top of this one". I said "I want to keep this t-shirt on". Both inspector Harris and Mr. Harmon said "No, we can't let you get on that airplane with your t-shirt". I said "I am ready to put on another t-shirt if you tell me what is the law that requires such a thing. I want to talk to your supervisor". Inspector Harris said "You don't have to talk to anyone. Many people called and complained about your t-shirt. Jetblue customers were calling before you reached the checkpoint, and costumers called when you were waiting here in the boarding area".
it was then that I realized that my t-shirt was the reason why I had been taken to the secondary checking.
I asked the four people again to let me talk to any supervisor, and they refused.
The Jet Blue woman was asking me again to end this problem by just putting on a new t-shirt, and I felt threatened by Mr. Harmon's remarks as in "Let's end this the nice way". Taking in consideration what happens to other Arabs and Muslims in US airports, and realizing that I will miss my flight unless I covered the Arabic script on my t-shirt as I was told by the four agents, I asked the Jet Blue woman to buy me a t-shirt and I said "I don't want to miss my flight."
She asked, what kind of t-shirts do you like. Should I get you an "I heart new york t-shirt?". So Mr. Harmon said "No, we shouldn't ask him to go from one extreme to another". I asked mr. harmon why does he assume I hate new york if I had some Arabic script on my t-shirt, but he didn't answer.
The woman went away for 3 minutes, and she came back with a gray t-shirt reading "new york". I put the t-shirt on and removed the price tag. I told the four people who were involved in the conversation: "I feel very sad that my personal freedom was taken away like this. I grew up under authoritarian governments in the Middle East, and one of the reasons I chose to move to the US was that I don't want an officer to make me change my t-shirt. I will pursue this incident today through a Constitutional rights organization, and I am sure we will meet soon". Everyone said okay and left, and I went back to my seat.
At 8:50 I was called again by a fourth young man, standing with the same jetblue woman. He asked for my boarding pass, so I gave it to him, and stood in front of the boarding counter. I asked the woman: "is everything okay?", she responded: "Yes, sure. We just have to change your seat". I said: "but I want this seat, that's why I chose it online 4 weeks ago", the fourth man said " there is a lady with a toddler sitting there. We need the seat."
Then they re-issued me a small boarding pass for seat 24a, instead of seat 3a. They said that I can go to the airplane now. I was the first person who entered the airplane, and I was really annoyed about being assigned this seat in the back of the airplane too. It smelled like the bathrooms, which is why I had originally chosen a seat which would be far from that area.
It sucks to be an Arab/Muslim living in the US these days. When you go to the middle east, you are a US tax-payer destroying people's houses with your money, and when you come back to the US, you are a suspected terrorist and plane hijacker.
Read More
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2006/08/back-from-mideast.html
Add Your Comments
Comments
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I'm so incredibly sorry you have to live with this zenophobic nonsense. I don't understand who these people are and how they came to be so dominant in my country.
My friend was taken off a JB plane for talking about his research on terrorism. He made an issue of being pulled off. The airport police gave him a lot of grief, and at some point, banned him from the airport. This guy is an American citizen, and of South Asian descent. He doesn't even have the Indian accent -- he sounds like a "black" or "urban" American person. Think about that one.
Next up, they're going to go after American born people of Mexican descent for looking too much like, well, Mexicans.
Next up, they're going to go after American born people of Mexican descent for looking too much like, well, Mexicans.
I read about this on the BBC website two days ago. (Article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5297822.stm on 09/01/2006.)
I responded by sending informing jetBlue that I was shocked at their violation of US constitutional law and would boycott them unless they publicly admitted wrongdoing for their actions, and I included a link to the BBC article. If you would like to do the same, simply go to http://www.jetblue.com, click on "speak up," then click on "problems." You will get a form to submit comments.
If many people send comments to jetBlue in response to the news articles it increases the effectiveness of such news articles to let the airlines know people are actually paying attention to what is and is not authoritarian behavior.
I am completely dismayed to be seeing these acts subjugation of our freedom of expression in the US, especially against people of Arab American descent.
~Lacy MacAuley
Students Against War, San Francisco State University
I responded by sending informing jetBlue that I was shocked at their violation of US constitutional law and would boycott them unless they publicly admitted wrongdoing for their actions, and I included a link to the BBC article. If you would like to do the same, simply go to http://www.jetblue.com, click on "speak up," then click on "problems." You will get a form to submit comments.
If many people send comments to jetBlue in response to the news articles it increases the effectiveness of such news articles to let the airlines know people are actually paying attention to what is and is not authoritarian behavior.
I am completely dismayed to be seeing these acts subjugation of our freedom of expression in the US, especially against people of Arab American descent.
~Lacy MacAuley
Students Against War, San Francisco State University
Several days ago after this incident I posted a message supporting JetBlue's right to require Mr. Jarrar to change his T-shirt. I no longer see it. Do the editors only allow viewpoints supportive of their own bias to be "published" in this comments section? That is their right, but it is unusual for an Internet comment section. Or do all comments get deleted automatically after a few days?
As to the substance of this matter: Constitutional scholars agree that a private airline has the right to require passengers not to wear T-shirts, badges, etc... that are offensive or that threaten or that create anxiety in other passengers. The First Amendment pertains to government action, not to the action of a private airline.
Mr. Jarrar's T-shirt clearly did frighten some other passengers. "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT" in both English and Arabic script might refer merely to speech, or it might refer to a lounder more destructive noise. This kind of jargon is commonly used by terrorists to justify their suicide bombings and other acts of violence.
Airlines have required passengers to remove items containing messages such as "I am a Terrorist" (a button), "Meet the F$*kers" (fully spelled with a photo of Administration members on a T-shirt) and even an "anti-terrorist" card featuring a photo of Osama bin Ladin (worn around the neck -- this happened in my case). Even where no immediate threat was posed. Mr. Jarrar was treated no differently than these other individuals who wore such items and were required to either remove them or not fly.
JetBlue's primariy responsibiltiy is to assure a flight with minimum passenger anxiety. Undoubtedly Mr. Jarrar knew that his shirt would provoke a fearful reaction on the part of other passengers during the height of the UK airline terrorist bomb scare. He chose to wear the shirt, and chose to go to the Media afterward (as was most likely his plan all along, to garner attention for his cause). He showed no concern for the effect the shirt would have on other passengers during this nervous time. I have zero sympathy for him.
As to the substance of this matter: Constitutional scholars agree that a private airline has the right to require passengers not to wear T-shirts, badges, etc... that are offensive or that threaten or that create anxiety in other passengers. The First Amendment pertains to government action, not to the action of a private airline.
Mr. Jarrar's T-shirt clearly did frighten some other passengers. "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT" in both English and Arabic script might refer merely to speech, or it might refer to a lounder more destructive noise. This kind of jargon is commonly used by terrorists to justify their suicide bombings and other acts of violence.
Airlines have required passengers to remove items containing messages such as "I am a Terrorist" (a button), "Meet the F$*kers" (fully spelled with a photo of Administration members on a T-shirt) and even an "anti-terrorist" card featuring a photo of Osama bin Ladin (worn around the neck -- this happened in my case). Even where no immediate threat was posed. Mr. Jarrar was treated no differently than these other individuals who wore such items and were required to either remove them or not fly.
JetBlue's primariy responsibiltiy is to assure a flight with minimum passenger anxiety. Undoubtedly Mr. Jarrar knew that his shirt would provoke a fearful reaction on the part of other passengers during the height of the UK airline terrorist bomb scare. He chose to wear the shirt, and chose to go to the Media afterward (as was most likely his plan all along, to garner attention for his cause). He showed no concern for the effect the shirt would have on other passengers during this nervous time. I have zero sympathy for him.
I'd have more sympathy for him if this wasn't so completely obviously an intentional provocation.
"I'd have more sympathy for him if this wasn't so completely obviously an intentional provocation."
I have a lot of political or perverted shirts that I don't wear in certain places- if I'm going to work, or to a job interview, I'm not going to wear an Earth First! shirt. If I'm going to babysit (or most places) I'm not going to wear a shirt that has an image of people engaging in sexual acts.
But I think that a t-shirt that advocates speaking out is NEEDED. "We will not be silent" doesn't advocate bombing or any aggressive act, and it doesn't advocate for a passive response, just letting injustice roll over you- instead, it advocates a recognition and speaking out against something that's wrong. The use of the word "we" implies that there are many of "us," and that can give courage to others who might not want to be the only one to speak out. If we can't wear a peace t-shirt to the airport (with a jacket over it or without), then can someone expect that comments that oppose free speech will not be deleted or hidden on a pro-peace, pro-free speech website?
I have a lot of political or perverted shirts that I don't wear in certain places- if I'm going to work, or to a job interview, I'm not going to wear an Earth First! shirt. If I'm going to babysit (or most places) I'm not going to wear a shirt that has an image of people engaging in sexual acts.
But I think that a t-shirt that advocates speaking out is NEEDED. "We will not be silent" doesn't advocate bombing or any aggressive act, and it doesn't advocate for a passive response, just letting injustice roll over you- instead, it advocates a recognition and speaking out against something that's wrong. The use of the word "we" implies that there are many of "us," and that can give courage to others who might not want to be the only one to speak out. If we can't wear a peace t-shirt to the airport (with a jacket over it or without), then can someone expect that comments that oppose free speech will not be deleted or hidden on a pro-peace, pro-free speech website?
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