For me, it is a sad story. Some people in this great country, under the name of security, are departing from everything it is founded for. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5297822.stm An architect of Iraqi descent has said he was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words "We will not be silent" before boarding a flight at New York. Raed Jarrar said security officials warned him his clothing was offensive after he checked in for a JetBlue flight to California on 12 August. Mr Jarrar said he was shocked such an action could be taken in the US. US transport officials are conducting an inquiry after a complaint from the US Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. JetBlue said it was also investigating the incident but a spokeswoman said: "We're not clear exactly what happened." 'Authoritarian regimes' Mr Jarrar's black cotton T-shirt bore the slogan in both Arabic and English. He said he had cleared security at John F Kennedy airport for a flight back to his home in California when he was approached by two men who wanted to check his ID and boarding pass. Mr Jarrar said he was told a number of passengers had complained about his T-shirt - apparently concerned at what the Arabic phrase meant - and asked him to remove it. He refused, arguing that the slogan was not offensive and citing his constitutional rights to free expression. Mr Jarrar later told a New York radio station: "I grew up and spent all my life living under authoritarian regimes and I know that these things happen. "But I'm shocked that they happened to me here, in the US." After a difficult exchange with airline staff, Mr Jarrar was persuaded to wear another T-shirt bought for him at the airport shop. "We Will Not Be Silent" is a slogan adopted by opponents of the war in Iraq and other conflicts in the Middle East. It is said to derive from the White Rose dissident group which opposed Nazi rule in Germany. More detailed self-description Raed Jarrar's Story - An outrageous incident at JFK. Go to Democracy Now to hear more To order a shirt write us: wewillnotbesilent@gmail.com 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@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.
Disgusting. How about some moron on the plane just ask him what the hell the Arabic said? What year is this? Goodness...
This is exactly why fear mongering by the likes of the Bush administration is so intrinsically evil. Keeping us in a state of constant fear, leads to this kind of crap.
The guy is lucky. They didn't force him off the plane. By wearing such T-shirt, didn't he try to make a statement publically in the airport and on the airplane?
Come on now, he should have known better. It doesn't make it right, but even before 9/11 it was common knowledge that they don't **** around at the airport.
(I don't mean to offend you, but I feel this needs to be said.) Your attitude is what I'd call anti-American. We have a constitutional right to free speech. Not English speech.. speech. Even if it's in Arabic. I know you said that you don't think it is right. Fine. Then stand up for the guy. He had no weapons and no evil intentions. He had a t-shirt and ethnic background that made him stand out. His t-shirt expressed a political view. Taking that away from him is a violation of his free speech. I believe his constitutional rights have been violated. And that's because people were scared of some Arabic letters? Weak. Un-American. We're the home of the brave, but don't even know what that means. "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." -Abe Lincoln. It's not easy to stand up for what you believe is right, but I'd hate to see this country become authoritarian because we're scared. There is nothing to fear, but fear itself. The reason to fear, fear is because you can be controlled when you are scared. A fearless person can stand up for his/her rights. A person in the state of fear is helpless. The truth is, we'll all die one day. From this day until that one, do you want to live in a free world or one where you are told what to wear and what to say? There is no reason to fear terrorists. There is no reason to fear our government. Neither can take our freedom if we stand our ground. Americans are great because they stand their ground. This guy is new to America, but he should have stood his ground at the airport. He did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with wearing a t-shirt with Arabic on it and there is nothing wrong with saying, "I'm a free man and I believe in the constitution that gives me this freedom." That's what our version of freedom gives us. Our constitution is something we've all agreed to respect. That's what makes us free. Not some agent who secretly watches you and determines what is right and wrong for our nation. Do you get my drift? The FBI, NSA, Department of Homeland Security and all the little versions of these, don't make the rules. They are supposed to guard the rules and help those who are being violated. My grandfathers fought for freedom in World War II. They didn't come home and tell others how to live. They came home to tell others that it was okay to live and that no world power would conquer us. They fought people with tanks, bombs and guns. Our agents are fighting people with t-shirts? Weak. Un-American. If the government officials think this guy was a potential terrorist, then they should have put an anti-terrorism agent in the seat next to him. A t-shirt doesn't cause terrorism and taking it off of him does nothing but violate his rights. He doesn't draw superman-like strength from it. He's not starting a riot on a plane. He just believes that the reasons for being in Iraq have not been revealed by our current government. And he has a t-shirt that publicly states this. Our constitution gives him that right. The constitution applies to airplanes too, doesn't it? For the most part, agents do what they are supposed to. This time, they didn't. To say that this guy should have known better? I know what you mean. But, he did know better, yet, he didn't follow through. He has every right to wear that t-shirt whereever he wants because of the Bill of Rights. What he doesn't have, is the right to take freedom from others. He did no such thing. The man should have been protected by the government officials from the complainers. Not the other way around.
Sure, the nation is in a paranoid, individual freedoms are eroding, muslims are bearing the the brunt because they are "like' the terrorist.... so why be stupid and just invite trouble? Sure , the T-shirt is legal, even admirable, and his treatmet was "unjust' but it wasn't unforseeable. I'm not outraged. I'd guess the the guy wore the T-shirt knowing exactly what would happen and did it to make a political statement. That is a perfectly reasonable action. You can march in front of the White House with a sign, chain yourself to a tree, or stand up in front of tanks if you want to but you know you're going to get hasseled, that's sort of the point of civil disobedience.
I don't think the guy wearing the T-Shirt wanted to be thrown off the plan. I DO think he is meant to rub some body the wrong way, especially those that are ignorant of the plight of middle easterners in this counrty due to recent current events. It's a political statement, and aparently, it's ok to be sensored now. What if in the future I create and wear a shirt that says "I think Bush/Clinton f--- this country up (keeping it bi-partisan)" and some one finds it offensive"? Wear (pun intended) does it stop?
The War On February 26, 1993, eight months prior to the Mogadishu attack, al-Qaeda terrorists had struck the World Trade Center for the first time. Their truck bomb made a crater six stories deep, killed six people and injured more than a thousand. The planners’ intention had been to cause one tower to topple the other and kill tens of thousands of innocent people. It was not only the first major terrorist act ever to take place on U.S. soil, but—in the judgment of a definitive account of the event—"the most ambitious terrorist attack ever attempted, anywhere, ever." Six Palestinian and Egyptian conspirators responsible for the attack were tried in civil courts and got life sentences like common criminals, but its mastermind escaped. He was identified as Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, an Iraqi Intelligence agent. This was a clear indication to authorities that the atrocity was no mere criminal event, and that it involved more than individual terrorists; it involved hostile terrorist states. Yet, once again, the Clinton Administration’s response was to absorb the injury and accept defeat. The president did not even visit the bomb crater or tend to the victims. Instead, America’s commander-in-chief warned against "over-reaction." ...We all know that stopping "over-reaction" has kept us safe!**cough**9/11*cough** http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15021
Agreed, you hunt down Al- Queda and you assasinate any and all of it's members. BUT, you do not go into a soveriegn country and make it a battlefield and a breeding ground for more terrorists. There is NO MILITARY SOLUTION.....it has to be a covert hit squad..... DD
I am going to suggest you stop going to frontpagemag, since their articles are either unsupported by facts, or in this case just plain wrong. That attack happened just 35 days after Clinton took office. He did not just accept defeat. He found those responsible, arrested them, tried them, and imprisoned them. Go to the prison cell where they are trapped today, and ask those responsible if Clinton just accepted defeat. The people at frontpagemag either don't know anything, or don't care about the truth. Meanwhile let's look at who was responsible for 9/11. Was OBL ever apprehended? Was he tried, was he convicted, was he imprisoned, has Bush ever held OBL accountable, and made him face responsibility for his actions? The answer is no. If I had to choose between a President that catches those responsible for terrorism, and punishes them, or one that gets sidetracked on starting wars in a one area of the middle east where terrorists who attacked the U.S. aren't, then I will choose the one who gets the job done, and puts away the responsible terrorists every time. I can't believe anyone would disagree. Furthermore I can't believe you posting anything support of stopping anyone from wearing a t-shirt. You don't put action to your words about supporting freedom and individual rights.
There have been millions of people who have given their life over time so that we can have the liberty and freedom we have now. I think it is sad we are willing to give it up (freedom and liberty) just so we can be more safe.
Here's some reading for you from some new websites: http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/bin_laden_ties.html http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/25/feature3.shtml http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/saudi.html http://www.bushwatch.com/bushmoney.htm
