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Man Hassled By Jet Blue Over Arabic T-Shirt Wins $240K!
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 6, 2009
Modified Jan 6, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 6, 2009
Modified Jan 6, 2009
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The T-shirt worn by Jet Blue passenger Raed Jarrar at JFK back in August 2006 sported the slogan of famous anti-Nazi group The White Rose, but the phrase "We Will Not Be Silent" was also written in Arabic, and that freaked everybody out. Well, not everybody, but one TSA official at JFK that day did inform Jarrar that his choice of T-shirt was akin to "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, 'I'm a robber.'" They made him put on another shirt before being allowed on the plane, and then seated him all the way in the back. Well, now it's payback time for Jarrar; according to the ACLU, the TSA and JetBlue agreed to settle his lawsuit for $240,000. In a statement, he says he hopes officials "will think twice before practicing illegal discrimination."
Tagged
airport
Arabic
JFK
lawsuit
Raed Jarrar
suing
t-shirt
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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