[WCUSP] Fw: [jvp-philadelphia] the story behind the "We Will Not Be Silent" t-shirts

[Libby and Mort Frank]

My husband and I ordered the shirt -- I am pleased and sometimes even scared
to wear it.  But I do. Members of the Middle East Campaign asked for the
link to order the shirts.  It is below in the text.

Libby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elliott batTzedek" <battzedek at msn.com>
To: <jvp-philadelphia at lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 3:51 PM
Subject: [jvp-philadelphia] the story behind the "We Will Not Be Silent"
t-shirts Marlene had at this week's


> Hey JVP folks and other friends -- at a meeting this week, Marlene had
> wonderful t-shirts for sale with "We will not be silent" printed in Arabic
> and English.  Here's the scoop on the Arab-American man who was detained
and
> forced to change his shirt before boarding a plane.
>
> To order a shirt, or find out more about the group making these, Artists
> Against the War, go to: http://thecriticalvoice.org/order/
>
> Background on the quote not in the story -- the slogan is from pamphlets
by
> The White Rose, the  anti-Nazi group of German students that was violently
> silenced.
>
> Elliott
>
>     Raed Jarrar's Story - An outrageous incident at JFK. Go to Democracy
Now
> to hear more
>
>     To order a shirt click here
>
>     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.
>
>
>     If you want to call Jet Blue and ask about their regulations against
> Arabic script, you can use the following numbers:
>     * If calling within the U.S., Bahamas or Puerto Rico: 1-800-JETBLUE
> (538-2583)
>     * If calling from the Dominican Republic: 1-200-9898
>     * If calling from outside the U.S. or Dominican Republic:
> 001-801-365-2525
>     * Customers who are deaf or heard of hearing (TTY/TDD): 1-800-336-553
>
>     Raed Jarrar's blog Raed in the middle
>
>
>