Raed Jarrar’s Story - An outrageous incident at JFK
Well, OK, one can never been too careful these days when waiting to board an airplane, eh? Generally, terrorists are tough to spot, but when you see one that’s wearing the Official T-Shirt of Terror…well, what’s a good, God=fearing American to do but stand up for God and Country? You see, Raed Jarrar’s mistake was thinking that a t-shirt is just a t-shirt. Au contraire, mon ami…. In today’s paranoid, hyper-vigilant, “the terrorists are everywhere” world, one just cannot be too careful. That’s why Jarrar was targeted for the singular crime of “Wearing a t-shirt with Arabic script while swarthy”. Too many of the thoroughly terrified American sheeple think this is a crime that ought to be punishable by death.
What amazes me is that in this country, where freedom of speech and expression is still (on paper) a constitutionally-guaranteed right, the mere act of wearing a shirt bearing Arabic script is seen as threatening act. As if a terrorist is going to try to get onto a plane wearing an official al-Qaeda t-shirt. WTF? Have we completely lost our sense of decency? Not to mention any remaining shred of common sense….
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.
The t-shirt was purchased IN THIS COUNTRY. It’s not desgined to identify the wearer as a member of al-Qaeda; it symbolizes a campaign by those upset with events taking place in the Middle East and the efforts in this country to turn Muslims into second-class citizens. Jarrar was really only a threat to himself. What he obviously needs to learn is that that expressing an opinion is a basic American right….just as long as it the correct opinion.
As far as the people who complained about his shirt are concerned, they can go f—k themselves. If I can’t get ahold of one of these t-shirts, I’m wearing my “Worst President EVER” t-shirt when I fly to New York in October. Anyone who doesn’t like it can go suck on a 9-iron for all I care. What Jarrar had to go through is absolutely inexcusable. It had NOTHING to do with airline security, and EVERYTHING to do with silencing dissent and pandering to the ignorance and fear of the ignorant masses. How demanding that a passenger change or turn his t-shirt inside-out is going to make airline passengers safer is beyond me. Then again, when we allow fear and prejudice free reign, this is the sort of aggressive ignorance that rears its ugly head.
Until and unless everyday Americans stand up and demand an end to this silliness, we will continue to be assaulted by stories of rights being trampled because of what an American looks like, is wearing, or even what they’re reading. I’m tempted to sit down in a departure lounge someday with a copy of The Anarchist’s Cookbook. No, I don’t plan on blowing anything up, but ideas and information are NOT the enemy here. Until the American sheeple demand a return to common sense, nothing will change. This means, of course, that nothing will change.
Land of the free, home of the…ah, fuhgeddaboudit….
WE DESERVE BETTER….
