If you think that the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks is limited to the United States….Think Again!
Just so you know- 9/11 was condemned by many Muslims and it wasn’t even organized by the international Muslim community. However, the people who organized the attacks will most probably not pay for what they did but of course the moderate Muslims will suffer and pay for it.
I’m a young African Muslim belonging to a “terrorist-supporting” country (at least it is portrayed this way!). I was raised in a liberal and tolerant household and taught to respect other religions and cultures. I lived in many countries and I attended many international schools. Being a third culture kid, I love getting to know about new cultures and I love travelling! Sadly, in a post 9-11 world travelling is not as fun and comfortable as before. I ‘m not generalizing here…I should be more specific- travelling while “Muslim” or “Arab” is very discomforting now! In my case, not only Muslim but also Sudanese.Keep in mind that Sudan is one of the world’s least favorite countries, Bin Laden lived in my country for a short time and if I want to travel to America, I have to go through “special procedures” along with my fellow Iranians, North Koreans, Cubans and Syrians. Goodies!
Visas:-
My friends brother ( a 14 year old Sudanese boy who attends a prestigious American school here in Cairo) was denied a visa to Belgium a week ago. Ironically, his 29 classmates were given visas so he was the only person not allowed to go on this “school trip”.
I applied for an American visa a month ago. Please keep in mind that I’m going with 5 other Egyptian classmates and two American professors. My fellow classmates got their visas 2 weeks before me because my passport was sent to Washington for “Special procedures”. Of course, being a sophomore at university with a diplomat father..I’m definitely a danger to the American society!Anyways, I received my visa three weeks later only to o find out that my visa only lasted 3 months ( keep in mind: my friends visas lasts 5 years!)Additionally, I paid extra because of my “Special visa procedures”.
I’m not going to be surprised if I was taken to a special “interrogation room” at JFK! Everything is possible now.
Airports:-
Turkey’s Airport (2004)- please keep in mind that I wasn’t travelling to Turkey (because I was denied a visa to Turkey of course!) but I stopped there on my way to Bulgaria. Anyways when we stood in lines ready to board the plane, I was surprised to find two lines. First line: Americans and Europeans Second line: Yes…THE REST OF THE WORLD!
I have to quote a fellow Sudanese blogger here who said that after 9/11 “airports are like big bedrooms”. Everybody is getting naked! Belts..shoes etc…. Not to mention the liquids confiscated!This is what I recall from Turkey’s airport. ..Not to mention the toilet I used many times during my 12 hours stay there ( I couldn’t leave the airport for some reason…go figure!)
All Eyes on the Muslim World
After 9/11, the Muslim world became very interesting. Middle-Eastern studies is a very popular major in America now. Not to mention the large numbers of western study-abroad students coming to the Muslim world for a semester or even a year( most of them are Americans). Many universities started offering Arabic language courses and learning Arabic will definitely land you a great job with the Department of State (I was told so!).I find it fascinating how the west is suddenly interested in the lives behind the veils, mosques, the political structure of Syria and life in post-revolutionary Iran.I was part of a web-conferencing program called Soliya last year. We met with four students from different universities in the United States and discussed the core problems between the United States and the Arab/Muslim world and other current issues such as the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and the Iraq war. This is just another way of opening dialogue between two very different parts of the worlds.
More about my American visa problems and frustrations.
I started writing this post after I received my passport because I was frustrated and angry. I considered cancelling my trip because 1- I thought I was discriminated against because of something not in my hands 2- I don’t deserve this treatment after all, I paid a lot for this trip (yes Africans don’t like wasting their money:) ) and I think I deserve it because I’m interested in the topic we are going to study and I’m not going to let the sour American-Sudanese relations stop me from going to graduate school there(America is home to amazing schools after all!)
However, I would like to add that if this trip was a “holiday”, I would’ve cancelled it.
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It was likely the American neo-cons who did 911, yet they have the power to make travel and everything else horrific – punish other people for their sins.
I wouldn’t come to the States if I were from somewhere else, though, its clear that some many other parts of the globe suffer because of policies that this government forces down people’s throats. It makes the States far more inviting that it would be if other countries were allowed to develop in their own way.
For the longest while I travelled on my Jamaican passport. I would get hassled and sent to secondary all the time when I visited the U.S. or returned to Canada from visiting my family in Jamaica. I could see the disappointment in the customs/immigration officials eyes when they checked my name and found that I didn’t have a criminal record (then they would ask me if I had ever been arrested) or when they searched my luggage and found “books” and not “drugs” along with my clothes! Although they did question me on some of the titles I was reading..lol!
I decided to travel on a European Community passport when I went on my pilgrimmage to West Africa in 1997, but that even caused issues when I was returning home to Canada. I was sent to secondary on all my stopovers because the officials were sure my passport was a forgery. They couldn’t get their head around a Black man travelling to Canada, who was a Canadian citizen, but was born in England, grew up in Jamaica but travelling on a European Community passport!
My wife advised me to get a Canadian passport to avoid unnecessary hassles and questioning when we travelled to Miami last year for our honeymoon. We were going on a western Caribbean cruise and she didn’t want us to be delayed due to U.S. paranoia. She was right…. we got no hassles at all.
BTW… I now have 3 passports: Jamaican, E.C. and Canadian. Depending on how I feel that day, when someone asks me my nationality, I pick one of the three…lol!
You are soo lucky. You have options. I don’t:(
My dad travels with his united nations passport so its pretty easy for him but with my green passport, travelling is exhausting.
I didn’t face any difficulties going to the far-east but I was totally singled out by the US embassy.
“when they searched my luggage and found “books” and not “drugs” along with my clothes!”
lol
Do you get stereotyped because you are Jamaican?
I imagine the questions you are asked (are you a rastafarian? etc..)
Jamaicans always give me this feeling that being Jamaican is the coolest thing ever!
“You are soo lucky. You have options.”
Regardless of my “options”, I do get stereotyped when I travel, first in general becasue I’m Black and specifically because I’m of Jamaican heritage, which the officials only know if I travel on my Jamaican passport.
Yeah… us Jamaicans are the cool thing ever! [;o)
In a post 9/11 world, you are guilty until you provide an impossible mass of evidence that proves way beyond reasonable doubt and into ridiculous extent that you are innocent.
There was a time that travelling while black was the worst thing that could happen to you. I empathise with your situation. I do recognise the indignities that one is apt to be subjected as an Arab/Muslim as one travels these days.