Raed Jarrar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raed Jarrar (Arabic: رائد جرار) is an Iraqi architect, blogger, and activist resident in the United States. He is currently the Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee. [1]
Jarrar was raised in Baghdad, and is half Iraqi and half Palestinian[2]. He holds a degree in architecture from the University of Jordan. While attending university he met the fellow architecture student later known as Salam Pax. [3]
Jarrar first gained prominence as the person referenced in the title of the blog "Where is Raed?", written and maintained by Salam Pax, to which Jarrar himself made infrequent posts. This blog received widespread media coverage during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and afterwards. [3]
Jarrar also founded Emaar, an NGO that carried out humanitarian work in southern Iraq.[4]
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[edit] JetBlue incident
Jarrar later gained attention after an incident on August 12, 2006 at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Raed had attempted to board a JetBlue flight from New York City to Oakland, California while wearing a black T-shirt with the text "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic. The shirts were produced by The Critical Voice, an anti-war group; the text was inspired by the German phrase Wir schweigen nicht ("We will not be silent"), the slogan of the White Rose, the subversive German antifascist movement. [5] As Jarrar himself related:
- So I went to the airport in the morning, and I was prevented to go to my airplane by four officers, because I was wearing this t-shirt that says "We Will Not Be Silent" in both Arabic and English. And I was told by one of the officials that wearing a t-shirt with Arabic script in an airport now is like going to a bank with a t-shirt that reads, "I am a robber." [6]
After a lengthy exchange with airport staff, Jarrar was persuaded to wear another T-shirt bought for him by JetBlue staff from an airport gift shop. [5] [7]
On August 13, 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against JetBlue alleging illegal discrimination against Jarrar. [1] [7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "ACLU Sues Jet Blue & TSA for Barring Man Wearing Arabic T-Shirt", Democracy Now!, August 13, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ oacspeakers
- ^ a b "Salam's story", The Guardian, May 30, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
- ^ Raed Jarrar profile. Inquest Iraq. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
- ^ a b "Arabic T-shirt sparks airport row", BBC News, 30 August 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ "We Will Not Be Silent: Movement Grows to Challenge Racial Profiling at Airports", Democracy Now!, September 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
- ^ a b Lenkowitz, Eric. "JETSUE: Arab T-shirt 'bias' rap", New York Post, August 10, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Raed in the Middle, Raed Jarrar's blog
- Raed's Iraq Speakers Bureau Page, Bio and relevant publications from the American Friends Service Committee
- Where is Raed?, blog by Salam Pax
- The Critical Voice, organizers of the "We Will Not Be Silent" campaign and distributors of the T-shirts
- Video: Raed Jarrar - Nationalism and Sectarianism Under the US Iraq Occupation (September 27, 2007)
