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Let Arabs tell the truth
By Bradley Burston

Case Number One:

Architect and political analyst Raed Jarrar lives in America. A year ago, he was in New York's Kennedy Airport getting ready to board a plane back to his home in Oakland, California, when a federal Transportation Security Administration official told him he would not be allowed on the airliner unless he removed his shirt.

You may be thinking: bomb belt. But Jarrar had already passed two pre-boarding security inspections with no problem. The issue was not what was underneath his t-shirt, but what was on it.

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In white letters on black, his shirt read "We will not be silent." The real issue, it developed, was that the words were written in Arabic as well as English.

According to a federal civil rights discrimination lawsuit filed this month by the American Civil Liberties Union, the TSA official, identified only as Inspector Harris, told Jarrar that it is impermissible to wear an Arabic shirt to an airport, equating it to a "person wearing a t-shirt at a bank stating, 'I am a robber.'"

Told that he would have to take off or cover up the shirt because other passengers were uncomfortable with its message, and worried that he might miss his flight or even be arrested, Jarrar, who works for the American Friends Service Committee, accepted the JetBlue airline crew's self-styled compromise offer of a free covering shirt and a seat reassignment from the front of the plane to the very rear.

Case Number Two:

Debbie Almontaser was to have been principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, New York City's new Arabic-language public school when it opened its doors in Brooklyn next month. But a series of articles in the New York Post earlier this month drew a tenuous link between Almontaser and an organization which was, in the Post's words, "hawking T- shirts that glorify Palestinian terror"

"The inflammatory tees boldly declare "Intifada NYC" - apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple."
Almontaser's response was measured. "The word [intifada] basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic," she said, in remarks quoted by the Post.

"I understand it is developing a negative connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't believe the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.

"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society . . . and shaking off oppression."
Almontaser was right. So was Jarrar. They were telling the truth. It was their truth, to be sure, but the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was written ? and placed before all 26 other amendments ? specifically to protect each individual's personal truth.

There is some irony in the circumstance that the First Amendment defense of free speech often fairs poorest in the court of public opinion.

New York Sun columnist Daniel Pipes, who has strongly backed efforts to fire Almontaser and shut the school's doors before they ever open, called her remarks on the t-shirts' message "a gratuitous apology for suicide terrorism."

The Anti-Defamation League also weighed in against the shirts. ADL spokesman Oren Segal called them "a reflection of a movement that increasingly lauds violence against Israelis instead of rejecting it. That is disturbing."

After an onslaught of criticism, Almontader issued a public apology. "The word 'intifada' is completely inappropriate as a T-shirt slogan," she said. "I regret suggesting otherwise. By minimizing the word's historical associations, I implied that I condone violence and threats of violence. That view is anathema to me."

To which Assemblyman Dov Hikind, an unapologetic far-right settlement advocate, was unmoved. "It is an absolute outrage that she doesn't know what intifada is all about," he said. This is not about shaking off - this is about carnage represented by blowing up pizza stores in Israel, blowing up buses."

"This woman should not be principal of any school," added Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. "This shirt should read, 'I promote terror and hate on a daily basis, and all I got for it is this lousy T-shirt.' "

In the end, Almontader bowed to the pressure, writing in her letter of resignation that she made the decision for the benefit of her students and teachers so that they could have "the full opportunity to flourish without these unwarranted attacks."

My heart goes out to Raed Jarrar and Debbie Almontaser and the multitude of Arabs and Muslims in America who on a routine basis are profiled, humiliated, stifled, and shunned, their universe of belief and language and identity written off as a culture of death, an agent of world jihad, their legitimate and honest efforts at self-expression buried in an avalanche of intentional misreading and misrepresentation.

Under the circumstances, it is plain to see why Jarrar and Almontaser might be tempted to opt for silence over the exercise of their rights to free speech. It is plain, and it is tragic as well.


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Recent blogs:
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  1.   America in 2007= Germany in 1938 12:01  |  Khalid 24/08/07
  2.   Some apartheid between your examples please BB 12:02  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 24/08/07
  3.   IN THE PROCESS OF SEL-DESTRUCTION 12:03  |  indrajaya 24/08/07
  4.   What made the US a Great Democracy 12:17  |  Bandar Michaels 24/08/07
  5.   Noy quite, Bradley 12:31  |  Michael Steiner 24/08/07
  6.   Margie in Tel-Aviv 12:38  |  El_Justiciero 24/08/07
  7.   # 4, BANDAR MICHAEL 12:54  |  indrajaya 24/08/07
  8.   Is Bradley insane? Why is he apoligizing for `intifada, NYC` 13:17  |  John Ryan 24/08/07
  9.   Tragic? 13:53  |  S 24/08/07
  10.   Burston is Right 13:59  |  Walid 24/08/07
  11.   the evil of islam 14:03  |  kazgnik 24/08/07
  12.   THE WORD `PROTEST` DOESN`T INCLUDE `SUICIDE BOMB`-`INTIFADA` DOES 14:07  |  Reut Coss 24/08/07
  13.   American has never been a great country 14:17  |  Khalid 24/08/07
  14.   `intifada` 14:35  |  by gum 24/08/07
  15.   The First is Disgustng,The Second Understandable 14:38  |  Ronnie Wolman 24/08/07
  16.   El Justiciero: bad taste and poor judgement 14:45  |  Alicia 24/08/07
  17.   To No.8 - You Don`t Know What Islam is 14:50  |  Darwish 24/08/07
  18.   Why don`t Muslims denounce terrorism clearly? 15:04  |  ScotGuy 24/08/07
  19.   Thank you Mr. Burston 15:07  |  Mom of Arab children 24/08/07
  20.   Oh no! Walid is wrong again 15:07  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 24/08/07
  21.   Oh no! Walid is wrong again 15:08  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 24/08/07
  22.   Reut Coss 15:08  |  Walid 24/08/07
  23.   MORE INTERESTED IN RIGHTS THAN RESPONSIBILITIES 15:08  |  Ian 24/08/07
  24.   INTIFADA T-SHIRTS?? 15:09  |  JON FEIGENBAUM 24/08/07
  25.   OBVIOUSLY a word that sets off an "alarm" to Americans 15:18  |  JON FEIGENBAUM 24/08/07
  26.   Walid 15:21  |  Anna 24/08/07
  27.   Censorship will be unapologetic 15:23  |  Mark Bernadiner 24/08/07
  28.   Let`s hire principals with "I hate Islam" t-shirts 15:27  |  McQueen 24/08/07
  29.   13 ASSIMILATE like other peoples do 15:28  |  JON FEIGENBAUM 24/08/07
  30.   We should wear "Naqba Now" t-shirts 15:28  |  Dani 24/08/07
  31.   Democracy as a perpetual state 15:31  |  Tess 24/08/07
  32.   INTIFADA IS `COOL` 15:34  |  FOX 24/08/07
  33.   Life is cruel 15:40  |  Deborah 24/08/07
  34.   What a crock, Bradley 15:52  |  MarkC 24/08/07
  35.   #13 ScotGuy and Muslims 15:55  |  hala 24/08/07
  36.   BRADLEY IS HALF RIGHT AND HALF WRONG 16:00  |  Brant 24/08/07
  37.   Walid #21 Ya Abul Banot to Reut Coss 16:13  |  GABE1 24/08/07
  38.   Khalid # 13 16:21  |  Lynn 24/08/07
  39.   Muslims Have No Obligation for Truth to Infidels 16:23  |  Jane 24/08/07
  40.   We named it "intifada" not you 16:38  |  Omar 24/08/07
  41.   Intifaddeh ... 16:38  |  Ibrahim 24/08/07
  42.   America IS a Judao/Christian country that IS a demoicracy 16:40  |  JON FEIGENBAUM 24/08/07
  43.   Ronnie 16:40  |  ODP 24/08/07
  44.   Bradley and First Amendment Rights 16:44  |  Lynn 24/08/07
  45.   Walid 16:44  |  danite 24/08/07
  46.   Omar: Intifada Meanings and Concepts 16:47  |  Ronnie Wolman 24/08/07
  47.   # 22 Walid 16:48  |  Lynn 24/08/07
  48.   FOX #32 16:50  |  Danite 24/08/07
  49.   Khalid, Bandar #s 1 and 4 16:56  |  Polybios 24/08/07
  50.   Arabs Don`t Know From Truth 16:57  |  Chaim Gorenstein 24/08/07
  51.   Khalid 16:57  |  Lynn 24/08/07
  52.   Equating Disapproval Of a Teashirt with Mass Murder Is A Sick Jok 16:58  |  dyinglikeflies 24/08/07
  53.   Omar of Ramallah 17:02  |  Lynn 24/08/07
  54.   for comparison.... 17:03  |  Omar 24/08/07
  55.   Gabe 17:03  |  Walid 24/08/07
  56.   Jane, on her HATE ramage again.. 17:06  |  Ibrahim 24/08/07
  57.   Lack Of Communication 17:07  |  Yosemite 24/08/07
  58.   Margie, you are wrong 17:09  |  Ibrahim 24/08/07
  59.   Omar- 40 17:15  |  Tess 24/08/07
  60.   Those are typical cases of prompters and 17:19  |  TOMY 24/08/07
  61.   First ammendment is not a suicide ammendment 17:25  |  TOMY 24/08/07
  62.   Let Arabs tell the truth 17:27  |  Avi 24/08/07
  63.   Intifada "shaking off"? 17:44  |  Walter 24/08/07
  64.   Walid Ya Abul Banot #55 17:47  |  GABE1 24/08/07
  65.   Let`s wear t-shirts with `Palestinian Buchenwald` 17:47  |  Paul Henzen 24/08/07
  66.   Ibrahim this is what the world understands by Intifada: 17:51  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 24/08/07
  67.   Interesting Walid, that you slam the reaction to the Intifada NYC 17:57  |  Jacob Blues 24/08/07
  68.   Lynn 18:02  |  Walid 24/08/07
  69.   KHALID #13 18:05  |  JOJO 24/08/07
  70.   ODP: Plural Thinkers 18:08  |  Ronnie Wolman 24/08/07
  71.   Lynn and logic 18:10  |  Omar 24/08/07
  72.   Intifada and the N word 18:16  |  Edifice 24/08/07
  73.   Words: The signifier and the signified 18:31  |  Tosefta 24/08/07
  74.   Omar # 40 Connotations 18:40  |  Jeff Northridge 24/08/07
  75.   Excellent column 18:40  |  W 24/08/07
  76.   We named "Zionism" not you Omar 18:41  |  peter 24/08/07
  77.   Mom of Arab children No 19 18:43  |  Palestinian Brit 24/08/07
  78.   Omar # 71 18:53  |  Lynn 24/08/07