It is only a t-shirt, or is it?
Posted by Nathan in Uncategorized, tags: America, Arabic, Travel, Work
A known anti-war advocate was waiting to get on his flight at JFK wearing a t-shirt saying, in Arabic, “We will not be silent.” It shows the craziness, ignorance, and the great lengths our government is taking to make our skies safe. But, in fairness, it seems like the TSA just yawned at him, while the drama was caused by Jet Blue at the behest of fellow travelers.
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.”
I can speak to this, slightly, as I have been questioned about my Hebrew books by people sitting near me on busses, in the airport, and at work. I politely explain that it is Hebrew and there is no fear of me blowing something up. I am always amazed at how uneducated people are.
Can you feel the upward swing towards the Thermidorian Reaction? I cannot! I view this as still the beginning; our jingoistic tendencies are only starting to ramp up and they are, as predicted, making it impossible to be taken seriously abroad.
When rednecks and Republicans alike barked “What do we care what other countries think of us?” over the past 5 or 6 years I wondered what the denouement would be. Perhaps we are tasting the first bit of it? 3$/gal gas.
No matter how much I/we might distrust and dislike Arabs, we have to keep to the beliefs that founded this nation: people are equal, or as equal as we can make them, and the government is meant to be mistrusted (and should be).
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