jarrar jetblue
Iraqi-American earns an easy $240,000
Raed Jarrar's ingenious plan in 2006: wear an inoffensive t-shirt with Arabic lettering to the gate for your JetBlue flight, thus scaring one or more passengers, then refuse on principle to change shirts, thus miss your flight and sue JetBlue and two TSA people for profiling you. Finally, settle the case for $240k. (Bonus: The Arabic lettering, reading "We Will Not Be Silent," was also printed in English [but if the other passengers don't read Arabic, they don't know that the Arabic phrase is the same as the English phrase].) Washington Post
Raed Jarrar's ingenious plan in 2006: wear an inoffensive t-shirt with Arabic lettering to the gate for your JetBlue flight, thus scaring one or more passengers, then refuse on principle to change shirts, thus miss your flight and sue JetBlue and two TSA people for profiling you. Finally, settle the case for $240k. (Bonus: The Arabic lettering, reading "We Will Not Be Silent," was also printed in English [but if the other passengers don't read Arabic, they don't know that the Arabic phrase is the same as the English phrase].) Washington Post
Comments
FOS, sorry, things are'a changin'!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/07/09 at 12:24 PM
Why on earth would that scare you? Some people are so ridiculous.
Posted by AGFH on 01/07/09 at 12:54 PM
I agree AGFH. Now, if he had some big, big red candles and an alarm clock strapped to his chest....
Posted by Madd Maxx on 01/07/09 at 12:58 PM
He did it 5 years after 9-11 and he was NOT a terrorist. Should he be forever banned from wearing that shirt? Sure, it was tacky at best, but he does have the legal right to wear it. It contained no profanity, no nudity, no saying to incite violence. It was simply a statement. What if a Japanese person had worn the same shirt only in Japanese? Should he have been thrown off the plane? Japan DID bomb Pearl Harbor. At some point we have to stop being so touchy about everything.
Posted by AGFH on 01/07/09 at 04:14 PM
Here, here Big Gary.
Posted by Madd Maxx on 01/07/09 at 04:52 PM
No, you're not an ass, Patty. The guy should have thought about what he was doing when he wore that shirt to the airport. Does he have the right to wear it? Sure. Does he have the right not to be eyed with concern when he wears it? Nope. People feel how they feel.
Personally, I wish the TSA would stop hassling old ladies. My 70 year old mom gets pulled aside for the patdown everytime she flies, while young men who "fit the profile" of terrorists (yes, I know, it's based on stereotypes) walk right on through because the TSA doesn't want to be seen as profiling. While it is very unlikely that any of those young men were terrorists, it is much LESS likely that an old lady is a terrorist. If SOMEONE has to be inconvenienced for the safety of others, shouldn't it be someone who is more likely to be a danger? My ex-boyfriend is from Indonesia, and he actually has former friends who are now members in extremist groups extolling the virtues of jihad. When he gets pulled out of line for an extra search, he is never perturbed, because he doesn't want to be on a plane that blows up either.
Personally, I wish the TSA would stop hassling old ladies. My 70 year old mom gets pulled aside for the patdown everytime she flies, while young men who "fit the profile" of terrorists (yes, I know, it's based on stereotypes) walk right on through because the TSA doesn't want to be seen as profiling. While it is very unlikely that any of those young men were terrorists, it is much LESS likely that an old lady is a terrorist. If SOMEONE has to be inconvenienced for the safety of others, shouldn't it be someone who is more likely to be a danger? My ex-boyfriend is from Indonesia, and he actually has former friends who are now members in extremist groups extolling the virtues of jihad. When he gets pulled out of line for an extra search, he is never perturbed, because he doesn't want to be on a plane that blows up either.
Posted by BikerPuppy on 01/07/09 at 05:11 PM
I'm sorry feelings were ruffled here, but imo there are good points on both sides. I don't feel that there's any additional safety for airlines and their passengers because, let's face it: How many people do you know who are truly earnest about doing a good job at their work? Add to that the lack of common sense of many, many people, combined with a bit of "I got the power! HAHAHA!" When I've traveled with stopovers, the rules have been always different at each stop. Get to keep the hand lotion here, gotta lose it there. It's just a game, in my opinion, to give the illusion of safety. If someone wants to blow up a plane, confiscating my mouthwash isn't going to stop it. When I was changing planes in Phoenix, an Iranian couple was in front of me. The TSA looked at us in line, said "You didn't see this," and called security. Pfft. I'm not crazy that the guy wore the t-shirt, because I think it WAS a setup for a lawsuit, but ONTH, we gotta cool down on our paranoia. I'd rather be free and insecure, than corralled and "safe." And I HATE that our freedoms are being taken away in the NAME of freedom. That being said, Patty, I hear ya. It's obscene that someone would use such a tragedy for personal gain.
Posted by lostinthevalleygirl on 01/07/09 at 06:14 PM
A true terrorist would never advertise the fact on a shirt before he ever got on the plane.
Posted by AGFH on 01/08/09 at 05:12 AM
The phrase "We will not be silent" is from the Nazi resistance group called The White Rose. The T-shirts are a statement of one's opposition to fascism and the illegal invasion of Iraq. For more information: http://thecriticalvoice.org/order
Posted by Brent in trepid on 01/08/09 at 09:24 AM
And for more information about Nazi opposition group The White Rose, read this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose
The full phrase is, "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!" It was written on a flier that eventually led to the capture and execution of the group's members.
The full phrase is, "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!" It was written on a flier that eventually led to the capture and execution of the group's members.
Posted by Brent in trepid on 01/08/09 at 09:27 AM
Boy, this one really got under people's skin!!!
Posted by Madd Maxx on 01/08/09 at 01:01 PM
Derailment in progress.
Posted by Brent in trepid on 01/09/09 at 11:23 AM
SpyOne: We won't even get into how many times I have gotten full size scissors on a plane because they were with my needlework and not seen as a threat by the scanners/agents.
Posted by AGFH on 01/09/09 at 08:27 PM
"personal defense weapon" - about six inches long, metal, blunt point... Hey, I have something very similar, and it's personal, but I never thought of it as a defense weapon!
Posted by lostinthevalleygirl on 01/10/09 at 08:53 AM
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