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240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

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240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

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Old Jan 6, 2009, 12:37 pm
  #1  
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240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090106...s_090106002219

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.
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Old Jan 6, 2009, 1:05 pm
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According to the article, the t-shirt translated to, "we shall not be silent." My guess is no one there read Arabic, so the t-shirt could have said, "My Brother went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy t-shirt," and he still would have had to cover it.

In middle school I wore a t-shirt that Screw Reagan! The principal made me cover it. Of course, it was in English. If it had been in Arabic, I probably would have gotten away with it.

I guess more are even more ignorant now.
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Old Jan 6, 2009, 1:40 pm
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Originally Posted by cparekh
According to the article, the t-shirt translated to, "we shall not be silent." My guess is no one there read Arabic, so the t-shirt could have said, "My Brother went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy t-shirt," and he still would have had to cover it.
The logo on the shirt was printed in both Arabic and English.
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Old Jan 6, 2009, 1:41 pm
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I already posted this in the main thread on this topic:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...es-tsa-b6.html

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Old Jan 6, 2009, 2:04 pm
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What?

Where was the ACLU when we were trying to where Mr. Zoggs Sex Wax T-shirts to school in the 70's? But then those shirts were not written in Arabic.
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Old Jan 6, 2009, 3:34 pm
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$2.4 million would have been better.
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Old Jan 6, 2009, 5:11 pm
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Oh good, does this mean I can wear my shirt that says:
"You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body...but you will never imprison my mind"
written in Arabic and I won't get hassled? (Oh, and because TSA doesn't profile based on looks - I'm pale, blond & blue)
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