Raed Jarrar
Encyclopedia
Raed Jarrar is an Iraq
-born architect, blogger, and political advocate resident in the U.S. Capital Washington, DC.
Jarrar was born in Iraq
, and raised in Jordan
, Saudi Arabia
and Iraq
. He is half Iraqi
and half Palestinian
. He holds a degree in architecture
from the University of Baghdad
, and a Master's Degree in Architectural Engineering, specialized in post-war reconstruction, from the University of Jordan
.
While attending the University of Baghdad, he met the fellow architecture student later known as Salam Pax
.
Jarrar first gained prominence as the person referenced in the title of the blog "Where is Raed?", written and maintained by Salam Pax
, to which Jarrar himself made infrequent posts. This blog received widespread media coverage during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
and afterwards.
Jarrar, along with his family, compiled their blogs into The Iraq War Blog, An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation, which was published in June of 2008. The book explores, through their words, how their lives were affected as terrorist activities, as well as the American military and coalition allies response, devastated the city. They persevered through night attacks and daytime missile strikes that oftentimes wreaked destruction to their home by blowing doors off hinges and breaking windows. The Jarrar family, while chronicling their daily lives amid the destruction, also provides descriptive analysis of the political climate that resulted from the American occupation of the country.
After the fall of Baghdad in 2003, Jarrar worked as the country director of CIVIC Worldwide, the only door-to-door civilian casualties survey in Iraq since 2003. He also founded Emaar, an NGO that carried out humanitarian and reconstruction work in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
Jarrar later gained attention after an incident on August 12, 2006 at John F. Kennedy International Airport
.
Raed had attempted to board a JetBlue flight from New York City
to Oakland, California
while wearing a black T-shirt with the text "We will not be silent" in English
and Arabic
. The shirts were produced by The Critical Voice, an anti-war group; the text was inspired by the German
phrase Wir schweigen nicht ("We will not be silent"), the slogan of the White Rose
, the "subversive" German antifascist anti-nazi organization. As Jarrar himself related:
After a lengthy exchange with airport staff, Jarrar was persuaded to cover his t-shirt with another T-shirt bought for him by JetBlue staff from an airport gift shop.
On August 13, 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union
filed a lawsuit against JetBlue alleging illegal discrimination against Jarrar. In January 2009 JetBlue paid Jarrar $240,000 to settle the case.
Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, an expert in Constitutional law
at the American Civil Liberties Union
who followed the trial, noted:
"neither the TSA officials involved nor JetBlue could identify a single passenger who had supposedly been 'concerned' by Mr. Jarrar's t-shirt. Nor had they inquired whether the nature of any purported 'concern' was based on a legitimate reason or an illegitimate racial bias, perhaps grounded in the stereotyping of Mr. Jarrar as a "terrorist" simply because he is Arab and wore a shirt with Arabic script."
Jarrar testified before the U.S. Congress in two hearings, and helped invite three Iraqi Parliamentary delegations that testified before the U.S. congress in 2007 and 2008.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
-born architect, blogger, and political advocate resident in the U.S. Capital Washington, DC.
Jarrar was born in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and raised in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. He is half Iraqi
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
and half Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
. He holds a degree in architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
from the University of Baghdad
University of Baghdad
The University of Baghdad is the largest university in Iraq and the second largest Arab university following the University of Cairo.- Nomenclature :Both University of Baghdad and Baghdad University are used interchangeably....
, and a Master's Degree in Architectural Engineering, specialized in post-war reconstruction, from the University of Jordan
University of Jordan
The University of Jordan , is a government-supported University located in Amman, Jordan...
.
While attending the University of Baghdad, he met the fellow architecture student later known as Salam Pax
Salam Pax
Salam Pax is the pseudonym of Salam Abdulmunem , aka Salam al-Janabi , under which he became the "most famous blogger in the world" during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Along with a massive readership, his site "Where is Raed?" received notable media attention. The pseudonym consists of the...
.
Jarrar first gained prominence as the person referenced in the title of the blog "Where is Raed?", written and maintained by Salam Pax
Salam Pax
Salam Pax is the pseudonym of Salam Abdulmunem , aka Salam al-Janabi , under which he became the "most famous blogger in the world" during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Along with a massive readership, his site "Where is Raed?" received notable media attention. The pseudonym consists of the...
, to which Jarrar himself made infrequent posts. This blog received widespread media coverage during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and afterwards.
Jarrar, along with his family, compiled their blogs into The Iraq War Blog, An Iraqi Family's Inside View of the First Year of the Occupation, which was published in June of 2008. The book explores, through their words, how their lives were affected as terrorist activities, as well as the American military and coalition allies response, devastated the city. They persevered through night attacks and daytime missile strikes that oftentimes wreaked destruction to their home by blowing doors off hinges and breaking windows. The Jarrar family, while chronicling their daily lives amid the destruction, also provides descriptive analysis of the political climate that resulted from the American occupation of the country.
After the fall of Baghdad in 2003, Jarrar worked as the country director of CIVIC Worldwide, the only door-to-door civilian casualties survey in Iraq since 2003. He also founded Emaar, an NGO that carried out humanitarian and reconstruction work in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
JetBlue incident
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
.
Raed had attempted to board a JetBlue flight from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
while wearing a black T-shirt with the text "We will not be silent" in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. The shirts were produced by The Critical Voice, an anti-war group; the text was inspired by the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
phrase Wir schweigen nicht ("We will not be silent"), the slogan of the White Rose
White Rose
The White Rose was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor...
, the "subversive" German antifascist anti-nazi organization. As Jarrar himself related:
- "So I went to the airport in the morning, and I was prevented to go to my airplane by four officers, because I was wearing this t-shirt that says 'We Will Not Be Silent' in both Arabic and English. And I was told by one of the officials that wearing a t-shirt with Arabic scriptArabic alphabetThe Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
in an airport now is like going to a bank with a t-shirt that reads, 'I am a robber'."
After a lengthy exchange with airport staff, Jarrar was persuaded to cover his t-shirt with another T-shirt bought for him by JetBlue staff from an airport gift shop.
On August 13, 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
filed a lawsuit against JetBlue alleging illegal discrimination against Jarrar. In January 2009 JetBlue paid Jarrar $240,000 to settle the case.
Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, an expert in Constitutional law
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
at the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
who followed the trial, noted:
"neither the TSA officials involved nor JetBlue could identify a single passenger who had supposedly been 'concerned' by Mr. Jarrar's t-shirt. Nor had they inquired whether the nature of any purported 'concern' was based on a legitimate reason or an illegitimate racial bias, perhaps grounded in the stereotyping of Mr. Jarrar as a "terrorist" simply because he is Arab and wore a shirt with Arabic script."
Political work
Raed Jarrar translated the new Iraqi Oil Law that was proposed by the Bush Administration. He also translated multiple copies of the U.S.-Iraqi Security Agreement signed between the two nations in 2008.Jarrar testified before the U.S. Congress in two hearings, and helped invite three Iraqi Parliamentary delegations that testified before the U.S. congress in 2007 and 2008.
See also
- Marla RuzickaMarla RuzickaMarla Ruzicka was an activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts....
External links
- Raed in the Middle, Raed Jarrar's blog
- Where is Raed?, blog by Salam Pax
- The Critical Voice, organizers of the "We Will Not Be Silent" campaign and distributors of the T-shirts
- Video: Raed Jarrar - Nationalism and Sectarianism Under the US Iraq Occupation (September 27, 2007)
- Iraq Under Occupation: Raed Jarrar decodes the misinformation - let video play past introduction to see speech