Below are two posts from Blogger Michael Arrington on his website http://uncrunched.com/.
It tells you everything you need to know about the people who run and work for the Department of Homeland Security. They are stupid, arrogant, bullying, lying, dangerous thugs.
YESTERDAY’S INITIAL POST:
I live a fairly simple life and that didn’t change much after I sold TechCrunch in 2010. I didn’t buy a new house or even a new car. The one thing I did splurge on was a boat.
Nothing too fancy or large. I live near Seattle and there’s a big boating culture up here. I found a small company that builds boats specifically for this area called Coastal Craft. I ordered it in 2011 and planned on writing about the experience after it was delivered.
I named her Buddy. It has state of the art electronics and a fairly new highly efficient propulsion system that the TechCrunch audience would be interested in.
Today was the day that Buddy was going to be delivered. That didn’t happen, because the Department of Homeland Security seized the boat.
Buddy has to clear customs, part of the DHS, since she was built in Canada.
My job was to show up and sign forms and then leave with Buddy (WA sales tax and registration fees come a week later).
DHS takes documents supplied by the builder and creates a government form that includes basic information about the boat, including the price.
The primary form, prepared by the government, had an error. The price was copied from the invoice, but DHS changed the currency from Canadian to U.S. dollars.
It has language at the bottom with serious sounding statements that the information is true and correct, and a signature block.
I pointed out the error and suggested that we simply change the currency from US $ to CAD $ so that is was correct. Or instead, amend the amount so that it was correct in U.S. dollars.
I thought this was important because I was signing it and swearing that the information, and specifically the price, was correct.
The DHS agent didn’t care about the error and told me to sign the form anyway. “It’s just paperwork, it doesn’t matter,” she said. I declined.
She called another agent and said simply “He won’t sign the form.” I asked to speak to that agent to give them a more complete picture of the situation. She wouldn’t allow that.
Then she seized the boat. As in, demanded that we get off the boat, demanded the keys and took physical control of it.
What struck me the most about the situation is how excited she got about seizing the boat. Like she was just itching for something like this to happen. This was a very happy day for her.
So now I have to hire a lawyer to try to figure all this out. And I will figure it out, eventually.
My point in writing this isn’t to whine. Like I said, this will get worked out one way or another.
No, it’s to highlight how screwed up our government bureaucracy has become.
A person with a gun and a government badge asked me to swear in writing that a lie was true today. And when I didn’t do what she wanted she simply took my boat and asked me to leave.
What would you have done? Maybe most people would have just signed the form. The U.S. and CA dollars are almost the same value right now (although they weren’t when I made most of the payments on the boat), so what’s the bother?
Well, to me it’s the principle involved, being told to sign and swear to something false, or else.
And it would have been SO FUCKING EASY to just correct the form so that I wasn’t swearing to something that was false.
As usual, I took the “or else” option. And the bastards stole my boat.
I’ll probably get droned now, too.
TODAY’S UPDATE:
Update to yesterday’s post. A day after Buddy was seized by DHS I now have my boat in my possession and at my slip.
This all happened while I was still trying to sort out a lawyer and had nothing to do with anything I did. Coastal Craft, the builder, took extraordinary steps (and expense) to get possession of Buddy from DHS.
I sat down to write this quick update just to let everyone know that things worked out.
But when I logged in to WordPress I saw a really curious comment from someone claiming to work for DHS in the same office that I dealt with. And the comment includes enough specific information that I’m inclined to believe him.
Okay all, the rest of the story(I was there). 1. The amount on both invoice and CBP form were in U.S dollars correctly completed on the form. 2. Just because someone has $$$ and posts something first on the web, doesn’t make them true. 3. The officer in question did not act gleefully, in fact SHE called back to the office and vessel manufacturer several times to verify the stated value. 4. The officer in question vilified by this rich individual now has to endure all the grief posted here and elsewhere by Mr rich guy and explain why she followed the LEGAL document value and wouldn’t cow to his brow beating. 5. Coastal Craft ended up paying for a broker to perform what should have been a personal importation and guess what The value on that entry was EXACTLY the same as on the CBP presented form. 6. Mr. Rich guy will probably post everywhere now that HE was right due to the fact that he has his boat and did not sign anything, but the fact is that the company took the high moral ground and due to ALL the false posting by Arrington, they paid for the paperwork to be processed. 7. We are all at the mercy of individuals who feel (right or wrong) that they can put out whatever they feel and get hundreds of all of you all worked up about the big bad government, fact is the is/was correct and all of us had to jump thru hoops due to arrington’s posts and written falsehoods. 8. I am proud to work with this office/officer and all of you should be ashamed for vilifying her/DHS without knowing the facts. 9. Most working folds have bosses and we are no exception sadly we had to answer many questions for correctly performing our sworn duties due to all the bad press put out by someone who feels entitled or above the public servant. Shame on you.
Just a few questions.
1. You state you work for DHS, correct? And you work in the office I had to deal with?
2. You say you were there. Are you claiming you were actually at the boat when this happened? Or do you just mean you were “there” in general (back at the office)? Because you were most definitely not on the boat (where everything happened) at any time I was there.
3. If you do, you really feel “vilified” when the net result was your office seized private property? I mean, hey, you got my boat. That had to be some consolation.
4. Is it appropriate for you to post private information about Coastal Craft? I won’t ask about my information since I started the debate and hey, I’m just a fucking schmuck citizen. But them? Do you see this as an abuse of your position?
5. You say “all of us had to jump thru hoops due to arrington’s posts and written falsehoods” – what hoops were jumped through exactly?
6. You say “she followed the LEGAL document value.” You realize she was holding an invoice in CA$ in one hand and the DHS document in US$ in the other, and seemed to have no understanding that they were two different currencies, right?
7. Did she tell you how she wouldn’t face me or look me in the eye or let me speak? Did she tell you how she wouldn’t let me speak with her superior to explain things? It was just “sign this or we’re done. Actually, we’re just done. Give me the keys.”
You have to realize how angry I had to be to write this. First, I don’t like talking about my personal business. Second, I had to take a lot of negative feedback from people over this, too. And third, for fuck’s sake, you are the Department of Homeland Security. What happens to me the next time I got through TSA at the airport, or try to cross the border into Canada? Do you think I may perhaps be on a “list” and have some difficulties? Do you understand that I am so upset about how the government is treating its citizens that I was willing to accept that I’ll now be subject to further abuse?
I’m terribly sorry that I upset you and your office over all this. But all I did was post what happened on my personal blog. I have the right to do that under the Constitution. That thing you’ve sworn to uphold and protect.
And one other thing I missed the first time. You say “The amount on both invoice and CBP form were in U.S dollars correctly completed on the form. 2.”, suggesting that the form your office created was identical to invoice. This is just another outright lie. The invoice was in CA$.
For you, the government, to outright lie like this, and engage in a personal attack, and discuss private information, is disgusting.
That follow up comment really addresses the whole crazy in his comment. He’s saying there was no problem at all with the paperwork. So why wouldn’t I sign? And why would it be necessary for her to apparently call all these people to verify the value?
And another thing he doesn’t mention is this whole broker business. The reason Coastal Craft had to hire a broker (which is something like $10,000) was because DHS told them they had to do it to get the boat out of seizure. That’s what Coastal Craft told me today, and that’s what officer Marr told me yesterday on the phone.
I can’t wait until the next time I have to cross a border or go through TSA at the airport.
Zarathustra says:
Rich guy is right. I checked out Coastal Craft’s website. They have a used 2009 40 footer (their smallest model) listed at $799,000
Hot debate. What do you think?
3 
8
26th February 2013 at 5:18 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@Zara, I swear you are a freaking commie/socialist with a hatred mixed with envy at anybody that might have a smidgeon more than you, or may have done better in life, without any idea that such success or wealth just might come with a lot of blood, sweat or tears.
What the fuck does the price of the boat, or the financial status of the individual buying it, have to do with the callous and completely NAZI behaviour of the DHS agent in this instance? Or with the self-serving internet response?
Are the wealthy in this country no longer entitled to due process or their private property solely because they are wealth???
You have totally drunk the Kool-aid of your Lord and Saviour (Master) Barack Obama whose doctrine is that success and wealth is something to be attacked – and destroyed or confiscated, if at all possible.
You are right along side the Marxists/Bolsheviks/Nazis, yes/French revolutionaries/Occupoopers/radical Islamists. Oh, and of the DHS/TSA/NDAA, yada yada.
All these groups share a hatred of the rich and successful, and work tirelessly to destroy them. All these groups share a rigid ideology that repudiates the concepts of personal liberty, economic freedom, limited government and individual freedom.
You, my friend, are on the WRONG SIDE.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
24 
3
26th February 2013 at 6:04 pm
Eddie says:
He got a $25M payday when he sold his company to AOL. He can afford a nice boat.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
11 
0
26th February 2013 at 6:04 pm
Zarathustra says:
HZK, why the vitriol? After all the years both of us have been on this site you should know better. I did not pass judgment but merely was curious, as the former owner of a 30′ Chris Craft. I thought I knew all the boat manufacturers out here but had never heard of Coastal Craft so I was curious. Very nice woodwork.
Hot debate. What do you think?
4 
9
26th February 2013 at 6:08 pm
llpoh says:
Z – what is your fucking point? Is it a sin to be rich? ou comment on the guy being rich, but not a peep about his rights being infringed.
Unbelievable.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
1
26th February 2013 at 6:34 pm
llpoh says:
Sorry – didn’t realize Hope had already tore you a new one for the same stuff. Maybe Z meant nothing by it, but it sure seemed like it.
Hope – Z is generally on the wrong side. He is a one trick pony, and it is an old trick at that.
Like or Dislike:
5 
1
26th February 2013 at 6:37 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@Z: Don’t go all into that “what, moi?” mode now.
I usually give your comments a pass because while I totally disagree with you on your 100% support for the Palestinians and 100% antipathy towards Israel, that is your opinion, no matter how misguided IMHO, and it is your right to express it – and defend it.
HOWEVER, you seem to be completely unable to recognize true EVIL, especially if it is being practiced by a group that you support; worse, you give it a pass if evil is being perpetuated against a group you don’t like.
THAT is what puts you on the WRONG side. If you don’t understand that, well, my original comment stands.
Hot debate. What do you think?
8 
6
26th February 2013 at 6:59 pm
llpoh says:
I feel better now. All is right with the world. Hope has kicked Z’s ass. The gloom has lifted and the sun shines once again.
Like or Dislike:
4 
2
26th February 2013 at 7:09 pm
llpoh says:
And then WordPress goes and fucks everything up.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
1
26th February 2013 at 7:10 pm
Zarathustra says:
Oh I understand true evil only too well, HZK. I have recently seen it in the picture of an IDF solder pointing his high powered rifle at the back of the head of an unarmed Palestinian child, who is simply sitting down, doing nothing.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
11 
6
26th February 2013 at 7:13 pm
Ron says:
Yes lots of people who enjoy being able to control others get jobs like DHS.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 7:22 pm
llpoh says:
Z has no idea about true evil. True evil would be pulling the trigger. And that happens often enough. Likke the suicide bombers that kill kids, and the rockets that kill women and children. Guess those aren’t evil in his book.
“Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries,[1][2] as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.[3] According to research done by the Social work department at the Sapir Academic college, an estimated 15,000[4] people from Sderot suffer from PTSD and an estimated 1,000 are undergoing treatment.”
“Missiles, rockets and mortars have killed 64 people within Israel as of November 21, 2012.[108][109] Most of those killed were civilians, including children.[16] The first casualties from the rocket fire were a 4-year-old boy and his grandfather, who were killed in 2004.[110] Other victims include two small children, aged 2 and 4, who were killed while playing in the street later that same year,[110] and a teenage girl, Ayala-Haya (Ella) Abukasis, who was struck and killed while shielding her younger brother.["
"
A suicide bombing outside a crowded discothèque on Friday night, 1 June 2001 killed 21 teenagers and injured 132.[51] The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility.[52]
In 2001, a Palestinian sniper opened fire on the Avraham Avino settlement in Hebron from the Palestinian-controlled Abu Sneineh neighborhood. Ten month-old Shalhevet Pass was shot in the head and killed while sitting in her stroller; her father was wounded.[53] Israeli leaders said that the sniper deliberately aimed for the baby.[53][54][55]
The Sbarro restaurant massacre in August 2001 killed 15 Israelis, among them 7 children and a pregnant woman.[56][57][58]
The Yeshivat Beit Yisrael massacre on 2 March 2002, targeting a group of women and children next to a synagogue, resulted in the deaths of seven children and four adults.[52][59][60][61] Eight of the dead came from the same family.[62]
The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in 2003 claimed the lives of four children, including a two-month old baby. Oren Almog, 10, lost his eyesight and five members of his family.[63][64][65][66]
The 2004 Murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters, in which Palestinian militants killed Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant along with her four daughters: Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7) and Merav (2). After shooting at the vehicle in which Hatuel was driving with her daughters, witnesses said the militants approached the vehicle and shot the occupants repeatedly at close range. An alliance of Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack.[67][68][69][70][71][72][73]
In 2008, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed 8 teenagers at the Mercaz HaRav Kook high school in Jerusalem, and wounded 11. A 2009 poll found that 84 percent of Palestinians supported the attack. Support was 91 percent in the Gaza Strip compared to 79 percent in the West Bank.[74]
In September 2011, 25-year-old Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan were killed when Palestinians threw rocks at their car, causing it to overturn on a highway near Kiryat Arba. The Shin Bet said that it arrested two Palestinians who admitted to throwing the rock that killed the Palmers.[75][76]
On 9 July 2012, a Gaza sniper fired on Israeli cars near Yad Mordechai on Israel’s side of the Gaza border, shattering the back windscreen of one of the cars and leaving broken glass on the car seat of a 7 month old baby. The Israel Defense Forces stated that 10 bullets were fired at the car in total”
Z is so full of shit and hatred he doesn’t even know what evil is.
Hot debate. What do you think?
6 
12
26th February 2013 at 7:37 pm
Zarathustra says:
Llpoh, certainly no Indians fired on white settlers that were moving in on their territory.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
11 
3
26th February 2013 at 7:43 pm
AWD says:
DHS, Obama’s civilian police brownshirts
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
7 
1
26th February 2013 at 7:44 pm
AWD says:
Jeezus, every night with the Jews and the Palestinians.
It’s really getting old
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
13 
1
26th February 2013 at 7:46 pm
Zarathustra says:
Visit the only democracy in the middle east soon!
“Do you feel more Arab or more American?’: Two women’s story of being detained and interrogated at Ben Gurion
by Najwa Doughman and Sasha Al-Sarabi on June 2, 2012 295
19068Facebook
1794Twitter
9StumbleUpon
560Reddit
83Google
Ben Gurion Airport
I am an American citizen. I went to American schools my entire life, graduated from an American university and work as an architect in New York City. Why was this happening to me? It all started with a simple question. “What is your father’s name?”
“Bassam.”
“Okay, please wait a few moments in the waiting room over there.”
Little did I know that my father’s Arab name would make me guilty until proven innocent. A “few moments” would turn into a 14-hour nightmare at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Sasha Al-Sarabi and Najwa Doughman
I was hoping they wouldn’t separate me from my friend Sasha, whom I was traveling with. We had been warned about possible interrogations and security checks but were reassured that since we were both young, female professionals from New York City with American passports, it wouldn’t be a problem to enter Israel. It was going be my third visit and Sasha’s first.
Sasha was called in to be interrogated by a bleach-blonde pregnant woman and was led into a small office to the left of our waiting room. Twenty minutes passed until Sasha came out, walking quickly back to her seat.
She attempted to reassure me. “It’s going to be fine. They just want to see if we’re lying about anything.” But she was obviously flustered.
Now it was my turn.
“Najwa, come.”
- – -
“Do you feel more Arab or more American?” she asked. I had answered the ten previous questions very calmly, but with this question I looked back at the security official confused and irritated. She couldn’t have been much older than me—her business attire and stern facial expressions did not mask her youth.
“I don’t know, I feel both. Why? Does this affect my ability to get in?”
She ignored my question. “Surely you must feel a little more Arab, you’ve lived in many Middle Eastern countries.”
I did not see the correlation. I have never felt the need to choose. “Yes I have but I also lived in the US for the past seven years, and was born there, so I feel both.” My response did nothing to convince her.
“Hm. Will you go to Al-Aqsa?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Will you go to Jewish sites as well?”
“Yes, why not? We want to see everything.”
“But you have been here two times already. Why are you coming now for the third time? You can go to Venezuela, to Mexico, to Canada. It is much closer to New York, and much less expensive!”
I realized the conversation was going nowhere. “Right, but I wanted to come back here again. Don’t you have tourists who come back more than once?”
“I’m asking the questions here,” she replied disgruntled.
“Okay, we are going to do something very interesting now!” Her face transformed from a harsh stare to a slight smirk. She proceeded to type “www.gmail.com” on her computer and then turned the keyboard toward me. “Log in,” she demanded.
“What? Really?” I was shocked.
“Log in.”
I typed in my username and password in complete disbelief. She began her invasive search: “Israel,” “Palestine,” “West Bank,” “International Solidarity Movement.”
Looking back, I realize I shouldn’t have logged in. I should have known that nothing I did at this point would change my circumstances, and that this was an invasion of my privacy. Yet all the questions, the feeling that I had to defend myself for simply wanting to enter the country, and the unwavering eye contact of the security officers left me feeling like I had no choice. I was worried I would let Sasha down if I refused and that it would be the reason for both of our denials into the country.
She sifted through my inbox, reading every single email with those keywords. She read sentences out loud to her colleague, sarcastically reenacting and mocking old Google Chat conversations between Sasha and me about our future trip to Jerusalem. I squirmed in my seat.
The Israeli authorities have a notorious reputation for denying entry to Palestinians of all citizenships, and I had received all sorts of advice, solicited and unsolicited, on how to cope with the problem. The security officer opened an email from a friend living in Jerusalem who had advised me to remove myself from internet searches. “They are heavy on googling names at the airport recently,” he had written. “See if you can remove yourselves, not crucial but helpful.”
The security guard found this especially hilarious. With a laugh, she called her blonde colleague over and reread the sentence mockingly. “You can tell your friend, not only do we google you, we read your emails, too!”
I was beyond uncomfortable, uncertain of how else they would try to humiliate me. “Okay, I think you’ve read enough,” I said. “Is what you’re doing even legal? Can you please log out now?”
The guard became even more defensive. “You could ask me to log out, but you know what that would mean, right? Tell me to log out,” she dared me.
I was speechless. I felt completely helpless, furious, and exhausted; I was now entering my fourth hour of interrogation.
After reading several more emails, they wrote down every contact name, email, and phone number they could find. Finally, the interrogator said, “Okay you can go.” But before I could even feel the slightest sense of relief she added, “Good luck getting into Israel.”
Three more hours passed. A large bald man eventually approached us holding our passports. “Come with me,” he ordered. We walked straight across the hall to another waiting room, in front of two small offices.
“As of right now, you have been denied from entering Israel.” Despite the looming feeling I had after walking out of the interrogation room that my hours in this country were numbered, the words still stung with disappointment, frustration, and anger.
Sasha had had it. “Okay, I want a lawyer,” she said. “And I want to call the American embassy, now.”
The guard was not fazed by her requests. “Yes, yes, call whoever you want, after you do procedure.” He turned his back and walked away.
We peered into the office. A stout woman in uniform, about fifty years old, was taking pictures and fingerprints of a man sitting in front of her. Sasha was called in next. The woman told Sasha to sit in front of the camera.
“Wait, before you take my picture, can you tell me why we have to do this?” Sasha asked.
“This is procedure. This is how we do things in Israel,” the woman responded, looked back to her camera.
“You’re treating me like a criminal! I don’t want you to take my picture,” Sasha said. “We’ve already been denied. Why are you doing this?”
“You will take a picture and then wait in a facility until your flight.”
Sasha was persistent. “What facility? Our flight is in nine days! Why were we denied? We need to call the embassy now!”
“You will call after you take your picture. I don’t know why you were denied. My job is just to do procedure. When I go to America, the same happens to me. I get denied from America,” claimed the woman.
“No,” replied Sasha, “No, you don’t.”
After our pictures were taken, we officially felt like criminals. It didn’t help that two new female guards were now assigned to watch us at all times. The most humiliating thing was each guard couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. Everywhere we went, they were right behind us. Even when Sasha went to the restroom, the security guard went with her. After about 30 minutes, six more security guards surrounded us to walk us to another room across the airport. It was as if all the shepherds had come to herd two small sheep.
We had not committed any crime. Our only sin was being born to Arab parents. It was then that we realized what a sheltered life we had lived. We had always read about racial profiling and heard accounts from family members and friends in college. We always sympathized and were infuriated by it, but never had we felt it first hand.
Sasha and I paced back and forth with anxiety while we were made to wait in the hallway. At one point I turned my head and noticed the female guards pointing at our attire and admiring Sasha’s pants. It hit me then, for the first time, that these guards were actually young girls, interested in fashion and trends, like we were. Under different circumstances, could we have actually been friends?
They led us into the next room, which was painted white and had an intimidating, large “Explosive Detection” machine. The guards proceeded to open our luggage. They picked through every single piece of clothing and every tube of makeup. They inspected my laptop and Sasha’s iPad, wiped each item with a cloth, and ran them through the machine. They x-rayed and scanned everything—twice.
After they had gone through every one of our belongings, they proceeded to the body search. I was taken to the back of the room with one male and two female security officers. The room was smaller and closed off with a curtain. The older woman seemed to be training the younger one. She would murmur directions in Hebrew as the younger officer patted me in different places. The man stood right outside the half-open curtain. They scanned my body with a metal detector, and it beeped at the button on my jeans. “Take off your pants,” said the older officer immediately.
I lost my last nerve. “NO,” I responded. “We’ve already been denied. You searched everything. Why do I need to take my pants off after you’ve denied me? I will not take my pants off.”
“This is how we do things in Israel,” the woman snapped back. “You have to take them off.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then someone will make you.” They all walked out of the room.
I began crying and shaking as my mind went through a million different nightmares. Were they going to get more people to hold me down? What the hell is going to happen to us? I wanted to see Sasha and not be alone for a minute longer, but was too afraid of the consequences of leaving the room.
The guards returned a few minutes later with shorts taken from my luggage. “Fine,” they said. “Wear these.”
I struggled into them with tears streaming down my face. I stood ashamed and mortified as she patted me down all over again. I had never felt so humiliated, so degraded, and so violated.
Once my “security search” was over, I changed back into my jeans and returned to the white room. It was Sasha’s turn to be searched.
When this was over, two men from immigration services approached us holding our passports.
“Now you will be taken to a facility.”
“A facility? You mean a jail? Are we arrested? How long are we going to be there?”
“This is not jail. It’s a facility. This is where everybody goes that is denied entry from the State of Israel.”
They took all of our luggage and our phones and drove us about five minutes away from the airport to a gated, white building. All of the windows had double bars on them, and none of the doors had doorknobs. We walked through the dark halls and passed by open rooms filled with bunk beds.
“You can call your parents from my phone, not yours. Leave your phones here. But if it is an international call, use yours. Your flight back is at 8 am tomorrow morning.”
We called our parents, and he took us to our room on the second floor. Inside were ten bunk beds, four sleeping women, a sink, a bathroom, and a shower.
We both stared at the beds for a minute before lying down. The mattresses looked like they were made of duct tape, the room smelled of urine, and there was a grey, furry sheet on each bed. We folded my sweater in half to use as a pillow, and lay in the three-foot-wide bed together, looking up at the bottom of the bunk above us. “FREE PALESTINE, I Shall Return—Maryam 2006” and “21 Gaza Peace Activists detained” were scribbled on the wood. Reading those sentences over and over gave me an odd sense of peace, and we drifted into a restless sleep.
At about 5 am, the guard came to wake the Spanish woman in the bed beside ours. “Wash your face,” he told her. She sprung up, splashed water on her face, and waited for him to come back and unlock the door. We sat up anxiously in the bed waiting for our turn to leave.
At 6:15, a guard came and told us that the US embassy was phoning for us. My parents had called them from Virginia after our two-minute conversation to inform them of what was happening. Sasha answered the phone. “Oh, thank God, we’ve been trying to get in touch with you! This is Sasha. We’ve been through a lot the past few hours.”
“As I told your friend’s parents yesterday, there is really nothing we can do. I’m just glad that you’re going to be able to get on the next flight.” the woman said dispassionately.
“This is ridiculous. They went through my friend’s email. Is that legal?”
“Well, they can do whatever they want. There is nothing we can do. They are their own country, and they make their own rules.”
“If only you could see the conditions we are in. I just wish you could come and smell the room.”
“Oh, I’m really sorry, but at least you’ll be getting on the next flight,” her voice was annoyingly monotonous.
“I can’t believe we are funding this system. I understand the special relationship between America and Israel, but there is clearly something wrong with the way we are being treated”.
“Well, there’s a lot of things wrong with a lot of systems.” She clearly wasn’t going to help us.
“You are right. We should all just sit here and be complacent like you. Well, thanks for your call.” And Sasha hung up.
We had been desperately waiting for this call, and the amount of frustration we felt after receiving it was overwhelming. We had demanded over and over to be able to talk to the American embassy, hoping that being American would give us some sort of protection or a little sense of security. There is no difference between every citizen in America, we thought naively. Surely the US Embassy would rescue us and demand that we be treated like human beings. Surely they would reprimand the Israelis for their appalling practices and demand that they act like the democracy they claim to be.
If we were two American citizens in a Syrian or Iranian “facility,” would the American embassy’s reaction be the same? Would Obama himself not have made a statement by now, demanding our release? If we were Americans of Polish or Chinese descent, would we have been treated this way? American citizens are usually given a three-month visa upon arrival. Why were we an exception? There are a lot of things wrong with a lot of systems, but when we are funding one with billions of our tax dollars, this means that we are supporting it.
An hour later, which seemed like an eternity, the guard showed up. It was now 7:30 am, which was only thirty minutes before our flight. This turned out to be no problem, as we were driven straight to the steps of the airplane. Our passports were given to the captain of the Air France flight. When we arrived in France, three policemen waited for us at the door of the plane, took our passports from the captain, and led us down the stairs of the airplane straight into their police car.
“Does this happen often?” Sasha asked.
“Every day,” replied the officer.
From Mondoweiss.com
Hot debate. What do you think?
9 
7
26th February 2013 at 7:48 pm
llpoh says:
Not their territory. Israel’s territory. Given it by mandate, and the rest the won and took from aggressors. Tough titty for the Palestinians. Could have had much of it back, but Arafat refused. Stupid is as stupid does.
Hot debate. What do you think?
9 
10
26th February 2013 at 7:57 pm
Kill Bill says:
These people running about calling one another evil, while killing one another, arent evil. Just misguided humans doing what they percieve to be righteous.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
26th February 2013 at 8:01 pm
AWD says:
Sooner or later, the eventual outcome in the middle east:
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
8 
1
26th February 2013 at 8:19 pm
michaelj007 says:
damn… he should’ve bought a boat MADE IN CHINA
Like or Dislike:
4 
0
26th February 2013 at 9:48 pm
Makati1 says:
This is one reason you should get out of the US now while you still can. I live in Asia and when I come back to the States, I feel like I am entering a maximum security prison. In fact, I have to jump through more hoops to enter the US than I did when I actually visited a maximum security prison to bid on a job.
I am a 14th generation North American of European decent. (1734) I am clean shaven, 68, and obviously of Germanic decent. I have never been arrested. Was in the US military 11 years, officer, with an honorable discharge. Yet, I get grilled by some young punk, who speaks like he just got off the boat from some 3rd world country, who is holding my passport and looking at a computer screen that seems to have the answers to the very questions he is asking. All intrusive and annoying. Like, who do you work for? Retired? Who DID you work for? ************. Why were you in **********? (A US ally) I have lived there for 5 years and this was my obvious 5th trip back to the States as he could see by the stamps on my passport. Etc. Intelligence is NOT required to be a government employee, especially in the DHS.
When my parents are gone, I doubt I will ever return to the US. I have nothing here to return for. My family still believes the government BS and thinks I am some kind of freak for wanting to live in a 3rd world country.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
5 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:50 pm
Nonanonymous says:
You guys stay up too late at night for me. Who gives a rip about some rich guy who got his boat seized at the border because of a paper work snafu?
It happens ALL THE TIME, and in fact, only demonstrates no one is above the federal government, NO ONE, and it will either be there downfall, or ours.
I commend Arrington for standing on principle, but, this only proves he isn’t any better than anyone else, he doesn’t pay the officer’s salary, and they don’t work for him, although that’s what he’s acting like, even if he’s right.
Everyone involved needs to get over it. The form wasn’t correct, who’s fault is that? He didn’t sign it, and they kept the boat. My question is, why couldn’t Arrington correct the form? People correct things all the time. There may be some needed revisions to procedure, but in the big scheme of things, this is small potatoes, and only shows an arrogant prick getting bullied by another arrogant prick.
I’m finding a hard time sympathizing, and have to agree with Zara on this one. LLPOH, you’re entitled to your opinion, but there is nothing that makes you an expert of ME affairs. You support Israel, why? For ME energy? That’s why we’re there, nothing more, nothing less. Oh, yeah, that and to kick some Islam butt. So, let’s see, we want their oil, so no one else can have it, right?
That just about sums up geo politics for you in one easy sentence. The fact that David slew Goliath twenty four centuries ago settles it. The Jews own Israel and Jerusalem, it’s an historical fact. That and God gave it to them, so if anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with him. I, for one, am satisfied and couldn’t care less about anyone else’s opinion.
Like or Dislike:
3 
2
26th February 2013 at 7:11 am
Pusnutz says:
Who shit on nonanon flakes. If nobody cares what he thinks why did he post?
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
26th February 2013 at 10:28 am
TPC says:
We should pull out of the Middle East, lock stock and barrel.
Israel doesn’t need our protection, nor should we offer it.
On Topic:
I’ve seen TSA and LEO show extreme glee when exerting their control over another human being, no matter how asinine their request was.
Amerika indeed.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
5 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:23 am
Dru says:
I thought I read that DHS is NOT sworn to defend the constitution.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:28 am
TPC says:
@Nonanon-”Everyone involved needs to get over it. The form wasn’t correct, who’s fault is that? He didn’t sign it, and they kept the boat. My question is, why couldn’t Arrington correct the form? ”
You either didn’t read the article, or are too stupid to understand the words that your eyes looked over.
”
I pointed out the error and suggested that we simply change the currency from US $ to CAD $ so that is was correct. Or instead, amend the amount so that it was correct in U.S. dollars.
I thought this was important because I was signing it and swearing that the information, and specifically the price, was correct.
The DHS agent didn’t care about the error and told me to sign the form anyway. “It’s just paperwork, it doesn’t matter,” she said. I declined.”
He TRIED to fix the paperwork, but they didn’t instead choosing to force him to try and say that a falsehood was reality.
Its nice to see our government utilizing doublethink so gleefully. It lets me know whats going to happen next.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:28 am
Nonanonymous says:
TPC, correct about leo and tsa, all of it blatantly violates the 4th amendment. What is anyone to do except stand up to them? No need to get mad about if you’re not willing to do anything about it, or want to have it both ways.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:32 am
Kill Bill says:
The US Supreme Court heard argument Tuesday in a case testing whether government officials can routinely collect a person’s DNA at the time he or she is arrested and then use that DNA sample to try to link the individual to unsolved crimes.
~~~~
Book it. The supreme court will uphold this 4th amendment infraction giving the TSA the right to take your DNA w/o consent following the same rational as before….”You have no expectation of privacy in the public sphere”
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:37 am
Ron says:
Once you leave the USA,your rights are not the same. I considered sailing around the world and after reading so many stories about people getting reamed by various country’s i decided i would rather stay here. I’m not into being abused by people so i have avoided flying since 2001.
I wanted to move to the Philippines or south America for awhile but people seem to be into kidnapping family members like its a normal thing. If you think it sucks where you live in the USA,id almost bet you live east of the Mississippi.Theres a big difference the further west you go in terms of what the cops are like and having more personal freedom.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
26th February 2013 at 12:41 pm
TPC says:
@Ron “Theres a big difference the further west you go in terms of what the cops are like and having more personal freedom.”
Sure, at a local level.
This weekend I went to a local play with my wife and in-laws. As we are leaving, I start to J-walk across an empty street only to have a cop pull out of the alley and stop right in front of me.
Now I’m thinking “Oh shit, just what I need a fucking citation” when the window rolls down and a buddy from highschool has his ugly mug revealed in its awful glory. He flips me off and says I’m still fat. I tell him his goatee still makes him look queer.
That was the end of the encounter. Such interactions are not uncommon in small-town America, but when you get Federal agents (any agency) involved you can expect to see a very different knee jerk reaction.
After all, isn’t that how you wage war on a populace? By carting them off to a different part of the Empire to fight against people they DONT know?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
26th February 2013 at 1:53 pm
Nonanonymous says:
TPC, I understand full well he tried, my question is, again, why didn’t he?
He did the right thing, so he should also quit whining like a spoiled brat, and get over it. It’s no big deal, even if only because it happened to him. It happens to everyone. I understand that doesn’t make it right, but it isn’t wrong only because it happened to him.
It’s a bureaucracy, so if that’s what he wants to fix, he should put his money where his mouth is, and start lobbying for effective government and begin countering people like Bloomberg and global elite. I suspect, as long as he gets his yacht, the rest of us can go to hell.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
26th February 2013 at 6:45 am
Breaking: MO Dept. of Revenue Subpoenaed On Backdoor Gun Registration With FEMA and DHS | Prepper Podcast Radio Network says:
[...] Dhs Is a Dangerous, Bullying, Lying Organization [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
26th February 2013 at 11:01 am