NEW YORK (AP) - An Arab human rights activist was prevented from boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport while wearing a T-shirt that read "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic.
Raed Jarrar was at the gate to board a JetBlue Airways flight to Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 12, when four officials from the airline or a U.S. government agency stopped him and told him he could not board with the shirt on, he said Wednesday.
One official told him: "Going to an airport with a T-shirt in Arabic script is like going to a bank and wearing a T-shirt that says: 'I'm a robber,"' he said.
Jenny Dervin, a JetBlue spokeswoman, acknowledged the dispute and said the airline was investigating. She noted the incident came two days after British authorities announced they had foiled a plot to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic.
Though rules banning liquids and gels in carry-on baggage went into effect at U.S. airports, Dervin said there are no specific rules governing clothing.
Jarrar, who directs the Iraq project for Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization, said he refused a suggestion from the officials that he turn his shirt inside out. In the end, officials gave Jarrar another shirt to wear over his and he put it on rather than miss his flight.
Jarrar said he was forced to give up his seat near the front of the plane and was issued a new boarding pass for a seat in the rear.
It was unclear whether it was officials from JetBlue, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration or the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, who told Jarrar to remove his shirt, Dervin said.
Officials for the TSA and Port Authority said the agencies were investigating.
Jarrar, 28, is half-Iraqi and half-Palestinian and moved to the United States last year from Jordan, where he was studying. The slogan "We will not be silent" has been adopted by opponents of the war in Iraq.
T-Shirts Threat to Aviation Safety!!!
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
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nimbostratus
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T-Shirts Threat to Aviation Safety!!!
It just gets worse and worse....
Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes!
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask and he will tell the truth." -- Oscar Wilde
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask and he will tell the truth." -- Oscar Wilde
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bizjet_mania
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Driving Rain
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http://www.historyplace.com/pointsofvie ... -rose1.htm
We Will Not Be Silent was the slogan adopted by the White Rose Society in the 1940's to protest the Nazi regime. Most were young university students who were tried in kangaroo courts by the Nazi's and executed by guillotine within hour of their convictions.
The man in the story above is an Iranian and he wore this slogan also printed in english on the shirt to protest the totalitarian regime of the Ayatollahs in his country.
A big stupid misunderstanding if you ask me.
We Will Not Be Silent was the slogan adopted by the White Rose Society in the 1940's to protest the Nazi regime. Most were young university students who were tried in kangaroo courts by the Nazi's and executed by guillotine within hour of their convictions.
The man in the story above is an Iranian and he wore this slogan also printed in english on the shirt to protest the totalitarian regime of the Ayatollahs in his country.
A big stupid misunderstanding if you ask me.
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bizjet_mania
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Driving Rain
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Yes, agreed lets become just like them.CAL wrote:or just dissapear....
no different than if you were a white american and tried to board an aircraft in from Saudi to Jordon wearing and american flag t-shirt..
Arabic T-shirt sparks airport row
A demonstrator wears a similar T-shirt at a New York protest in July
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.
I have an Idea, lets turn airport security over to the passengers
http://www.thekidfrombrooklyn.com/video ... deoid=1183
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.
Wingtip,
Im sure you can already assume my personal feelings on this, and please be aware that I am not trying to spark anyone’s anger and hatred on here (I think there’s enough of that in the world already). But I was wondering what your thought on constitutions is? Do you feel that we SHOULD have laws to protect free speech or should we NOT have laws to protect free speech. Or is it (in your mind) only ok to have free speech just so long as its along the party line? Or do you feel that it is only acceptable up to a point, and society must draw its own line as to where one may be free to speak up or not?
Im sure you can already assume my personal feelings on this, and please be aware that I am not trying to spark anyone’s anger and hatred on here (I think there’s enough of that in the world already). But I was wondering what your thought on constitutions is? Do you feel that we SHOULD have laws to protect free speech or should we NOT have laws to protect free speech. Or is it (in your mind) only ok to have free speech just so long as its along the party line? Or do you feel that it is only acceptable up to a point, and society must draw its own line as to where one may be free to speak up or not?
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Driving Rain
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I know what you mean Hedley. I would have been forced to remove her from the cabin and then restrained in the jump seat for the remainder of the flight.Hedley wrote:T-shirt's can be quite a problem. Just the other day, I had a woman try to get on my airplane wearing a wet t-shirt. Here's a photo:
It was very distracting. I had to ask her to take the t-shirt off.
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bob sacamano
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yeah but doesn't the US say it has democracy? values? free speech? yada yada yada...CAL wrote:or just dissapear....
no different than if you were a white american and tried to board an aircraft in from Saudi to Jordon wearing and american flag t-shirt..
I see now we're comparing states to saudi
funny shit
p.s. t-shirts are a threat, but the hundreds if not thousands of muslim rampies at major hubs roaming around isn't (many of them are escort required! yet roam around freely) ... I'm glad that airport security is becoming more efficient
Walker, While you and I are from the same neighborhood, we are from two very different worlds. For this reason and this reason only, I am not going to play your games and become involved in an extemporaneous dialogue with you on this or any topic. Go ahead and impress yourself with self-aggrandizing thoughts of being the moral and righteous left wing, voice of Avcanada.Walker wrote:Wingtip,
Im sure you can already assume my personal feelings on this, and please be aware that I am not trying to spark anyone’s anger and hatred on here (I think there’s enough of that in the world already). But I was wondering what your thought on constitutions is? Do you feel that we SHOULD have laws to protect free speech or should we NOT have laws to protect free speech. Or is it (in your mind) only ok to have free speech just so long as its along the party line? Or do you feel that it is only acceptable up to a point, and society must draw its own line as to where one may be free to speak up or not?
Capice?
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Cat Driver
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WTF is with it with you idiots on this forum.
The whole fuc.in world has been turned into a paranoid nut house by the terrorists.
Anyone travelling by air in todays super over reactive security clampdown who tries to make a statement by bringing attention to him self like this guy deliberately did deserves to be kicked the fu.ck off the airport at the very least.
The whole fuc.in world has been turned into a paranoid nut house by the terrorists.
Anyone travelling by air in todays super over reactive security clampdown who tries to make a statement by bringing attention to him self like this guy deliberately did deserves to be kicked the fu.ck off the airport at the very least.
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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sky's the limit
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It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people on this site are. Are you guys for real? Please give you heads a good hard shake before you post such crap...
If I were detained for a T-shirt, which of course I wouldn't be as a white male... there'd be the biggest most public lawsuit you can think of. Of course if I were OBL, I'd be sitting in my cave in Pakistan laughing my ass off at all you fools who buy into this garbage.... You guys keep proving day in and day that he's won.
Boo!
STL
If I were detained for a T-shirt, which of course I wouldn't be as a white male... there'd be the biggest most public lawsuit you can think of. Of course if I were OBL, I'd be sitting in my cave in Pakistan laughing my ass off at all you fools who buy into this garbage.... You guys keep proving day in and day that he's won.
Boo!
STL
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BlueSkies12
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goldeneagle
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In both the US and Canada, wearing a t-shirt with a peace slogan on it is not a crime. The allowable detention for the offence under law is no detention at all. To remove it and reseat him at the back of the plane is grounds for a discrimination lawsuit.wingtip wrote: I would have detained his sorry ass for as long as the law allows. If he repeated it, I would detain him again.
Scream all you like Mthr fkr but you aint boarding an airplane!
It's the dumb ass knee jerk reactions like yours that end us up in an environment where it's not even permitted to carry toothpaste on board an airplane anymore. The propoganda works, the sheep are scared of thier own shadow, and clamoring for 'sombody to protect them'. I used to give john q. average some credit for being rather more intelligent than most thought, but seeing how he falls for this terrorist propoganda, john q is actually as dumb as the stereotype makes him out to be. The only real question folks need ask themselves these days, are they part of the herd, or are you really capable of independant thought ?
If you are truely capable of independant thought, then just ask yourself, how many bombs have you seen made out of a tube of toothpaste ? Is it even possible? Are you gullible enough to actually believe it's possible ? It seems the majority of the population is, probably a combination of lethargy and a lack of education....
Frankly, I dont really care tho, this security bs is going to run the whole industry back into bankruptcy yet again. When that happens, there's going to be a boatload more whining about more pay cuts etc. When it happens, just remember, it's dumb-ass attitudes like yours that brought it on....
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sprucemonkey
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