Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have a purpose in life. Its easy to focus on such trivial problems like my overwhelming classwork and long clinic hours. But when it hits you, it hits you hard. It's hard to understand just why horrible things happen to people even though deep down I know how temporary this life is. It's hard to fathom the atrocities against innocent individuals with the motive being simple: Pure evil. We see terrorism manifested everyday by people from those in charge of the Guanatanamo Bay prison , to those responsbile for the bombings of innocent civilians worldwide, to those that carry horrific massacres of innocent students My prayers and heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families of the Virginia tech massacre and to all the victims of terrorism, oppression and injustice.
May you rest in peace.
Verily inna liAllahi wa Inna ilayhi la rajeoun. (To Allah (SWT) we belong and to Him shall be our return).
Ma
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
German Citizen gets detained, abused, and deported at Las Vegas Airport
When Majed Shehadeh arrived at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on December 28, he was looking forward to celebrating the joyous holidays with his family; but his dream of a happy reunion was quickly shattered when he was detained, humiliated, and deported back to Germany without seeing his family.
Shehadeh, 62, a German citizen of Syrian descent whose wife and three children are U.S Citizens was interrogated for eight hours upon his arrival and then taken to the North Las Vegas Detention Center without a chance to contact his family or seek legal counsel. Shehadeh was reportedly also prevented from taking his prescribed heart medication for over 22 hours and denied proper bathroom privileges.
Shehadeh came to the United States to visit his daughter in Bakersfield, CA and celebrate her passing the California Bar Exam and her one-year wedding anniversary. According to his wife, Shehadeh had come to the States on numerous occasions during the past thirty years without any problems.
Las Vegas Senior Special Agent of Investigation, Peter Lazaro did not return InFocus’s request for a comment.
“My father is a loving affectionate law abiding man who doesn’t have so much as a parking ticket. No one has given us any explanation as to why this has happened,” said Shehadeh’s daughter, Majida 29 in an interview with InFocus.
Majida also said that Shehadeh is being made to sleep on a cold concrete floor in a freezing cell without a blanket or sweatshirt, “They are putting his life in jeopardy by denying him his medication for hours and then placing him in horrid conditions despite his weak immune system and ailing health.” She added, “I feel disappointed that the principles of civil liberties and institutional accountability of this country have so eroded.”
Shehadeh’s wife Joanne told InFocus, “I feel like I am living in a police state with absolutely no rights and no way to get any answers. The America that I knew, the image I was raised with is shattered.” Joanne also expressed her apprehension about visiting the United States again, “ My biggest hope was to move back to my homeland, but I no longer feel safe in it. I am petrified that what happened to my husband can also happen to my sons or me in the future.”
Shehadeh’s case is the most recent of a series of cases involving mistreatment and abuse by airport officials towards Muslims. In April of 2006, Safana Jawad, a Muslim woman and Spanish citizen who came to the United States to visit her sixteen year old son in Florida was interrogated for six hours, strip searched and deported without seeing her family. Ironically, the Department of Homeland Security issued an apology to Jawad the same week that the incident with Shehadeh took place.
More recently in July, a Pakistani man was detained and interrogated at LAX airport and then deported back to his country without the chance to contact his family or seek legal counsel. His wife, a U.S citizen who arrived with him was told to leave the airport and was given no information about his whereabouts or the reason for his detention.
What’s happening at these airports is appalling and goes against our American values and constitution,” said CAIR Civil Rights Coordinator Affad Shaikh. The message these incidents send to the Muslim community is that no matter how much we try to become a part of the American fabric by cooperating and working with federal agencies, we are still considered second-class citizens.”
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