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Apr 27, 03
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Racially Profiled @ YVZ
i thought some of you might find this interesting and its my latest entry on the Pound news blog, i sincerely hope it makes some you think ;)
--------------------------------------------------- This occurred to me on April 25th, returning to Vancouver from Halifax. I have a strong criminology background from both sides of the law and I'm positive my assessment of this occurrence is accurate. I see this as signs of more influence on Canada from U.S. administration policies and its continued usage of middle eastern society and Islam as a scapegoat. The story really begins on my trip back to Halifax at the beginning of January. I am seated next to a black man on a tango flight. Nothing strange about that. I dont know him. He doesnt know me. 4 months later on April 25th, we are seated together now on a different airline (Jetsgo) and seated next to each other, again. We both recognize each other, and although we never talked on the previous flight, we begin talking now. I learn that his name is Ahmad and of somalian descent and grew up in Egypt. I ask him if he is muslim and he is, and as am I, this furthers our talking on the flight. When we arrive at YVZ, we both decide to check out Terminal 2 and see the stores, etc., just to kill time before our next flight at 8pm. We have a quick dinner first and make conversation with a cowboy on his way home to Calgary, that gets seated next to us. Now, while we are outside Terminal 3 waiting for the shuttle bus, a woman in her late forties approaches and asks us if we are going to terminal 2. We say we are and then she asks us where we are travelling to. Nothing is suspicious about that, it just seems that she is another lonely traveller looking for conversation....although why she would ask to big young men of middle eastern descent for chit-chat, is beyond me. She then asks us where we are headed, both of us reply that we are flying home to vancouver. "Oh, you must be on the Jetsgo flight at 7:55pm then?" "Yes we are, so I guess you are too?" "No, i'm headed to Calgary on Tango." (Note that this is the same flight that the cowboy is also on) To some i'm sure that doesnt seem strange at all...but that sets off some questions in my mind. Why does this woman know flight information details other then her own? She knows our airline and the flight time, yet she is going to a different city and different airline, and different terminal. At this point, I begin to observe her mannerisms, demeanour and facial expressions more intently. She then goes on to ask us more direct questions. "So, whats the weather like in Vancouver?" "Well we are actually headed back there right now from Halifax...so I dont know how it is right now." "What do you guys do?" Now...this may seem like an average conversation starter, except for the fact that I am wearing a shirt that clearly states "Property of Dalhousie University", and Ahmad is wearing a hoodie emblazoned with "Saint Mary's University". "Uh, we are university students." as we point to our clothes. Ahmad finally asks "So what do you do? What kind of business are you in" "I'm in Toronto on business and i'm flying to Calgary now." (Note how this is the same flight as the cowboy) This was a visibly bland reply and it put Ahmad off since she didnt really tell us anything we already didnt know. She goes on. "Why are you going to terminal 2?" "We are just looking around, killing time." "You won't be able to go into the actual terminal, you know. There's a lot of security and checks..." she trails off observing me with the same intent look that i am watching her with. "We know about that." Ahmad is the only one talking, i'm just smiling politely and listening. Ahmad gives it another go "So what type of work do you do?" "Well i'm working in Toronto this past week and now i'm going to Calgary, then I'll be in winnipeg, then back to Toronto." She again, doesn't give a direct reply, but gives us destinations, its visibly put Ahmad off since its a perfectly legitimate question...people ask it all the time. The shuttle bus finally arrives and this ends our exchange with the woman. Just as I am about to tell her that I know what she is doing and ask her who she works for, RCMP or Customs. I believe her to be a customs security agent, since I really hope the RCMP wouldn't display this kind of incompetence when trying to question someone secretly about their intentions and be so blatantly obvious about it. We have just been racially profiled and question at Toronto International Airport. We are two young men, with muslim names, one is black, one is brown. Our parents are from countries in the middle east (Egypt and the disputed territory of Kashmir). We have been labeled based on our appearance and names and now questioned to determine our intent. Except for one thing...we are both Canadian citizens. I was born here and consider myself a canadian first. Our own government's agents have singled us out as people that are to be suspected of terrorism, simply because of the colour of our skin and our names. I know wonder if the cowboy from Calgary on the "same flight" as this incompetent agent, wasn't a more skilled investigator trying to determine if we were a threat. He now in retrospect also asked us quite direct questions, regarding our destination and origin. I also wonder that the strange coincidence of us being seated together twice, on two different airlines is not a coincidence. When I travel to the U.S. I frequently am racially profiled and questioned. I'm used to it when I go to the states. I have spent many hours in their "waiting rooms" asked numerous questions, hounded by their border guards and have only been denied entry once because I didnt have INS authorization to dj there. However, every time i have gone to states prior to 9/11 i was always singled out, and held and detained. After 9/11 I have not attempted to cross ever again since I believe that the amount of resistance I will recieve far outweighs, buying some clothes at outlet stores, and picking up some new records. Racial profiling is one of the only weapons that the US has against terrorism by muslim extremist groups and I dont begrudge them its usage. What bothers me is that it is now being practiced in my country of birth against me. With the rising numbers of muslims being deported and held illegally without trial or proper procedure in the U.S., I now wonder if a time will come when I could be deported from my home since I am muslim. Even pakistani-americans are being held and questioned despite Pakistan's efforts to locate and capture Taliban cells and aid in the capture of Osama Bin Laden. What has this done for the Pakistani people? Nothing. American attitude towards Pakistan and treatment of all other muslim people shows a regime intent on using one of the world's largest and fastest growing religions as an enemy to fund its war machine and oil interests and extract revenge on an entire global community for the actions of one small group of terrorist factions. At first I just wanted to make people aware that this has now begun in Canada and is being practiced under our nose. I thought it was a rather funny incident, actually. But as I wrote and continued my thoughts, I realize that this could be the start of something that will profoundly effect my life and the lives of other muslims that call Canada their home. Last edited by Akeel; Apr 27, 03 at 12:15 PM. 
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Apr 27, 03
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That was really disturbing...As Canadians, we pride ourselves on having a multi-cultural society, and also on the fact that we don't stoop to the same levels as the Americans. I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to you. I guess this is what we get for our pride in our country and its policies.
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Apr 27, 03
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that is definatly not right. But that is the way our society fuctions. Two highschool students walk into a corner store with their backpacks on.....what does the clerk as "please leave your bags at the door." Its not right, but it's reality... I was on a flight to toronto in december, in the waiting area at YVR at gate 30, was a Arab Looking man. My mom turns to me and says "maybe he is a terrorist, what if we are hijacked?" I gave her no reply. But thats life.
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Apr 27, 03
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thats life though. everyone knows that.
it was the same for me over in the middle east. i was leaving lebanon, going back into israel, i'm not jewish or isreali (i had stamps from about 5 other middle east countries in my passport), and they detained me, and questioned me for hours. i was strip searched and re-questioned, then i was able to carry on my way. cause i had no visible reason for being there, i was profiled and detained. and i'm just your average white boy, i didn't have any machine guns or anything with me. that was 4 years ago. its nothing new, if you are different, they will find out why and everything in between. deal with it, its not gonna change.
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Apr 27, 03
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And I wont accept it, if we all just lie down and let things like this happen, it will only be a matter of time before everyone's freedoms are restricted. Theres that famous quote from WWII, i dont remember the exact words, but everyone knows it. When they came for the jews, i didnt say anything because i wasnt a jew. etc... When they came for me, there was no one left to say anything. yes badly butchered but i beleive it gets the point across. Sure teenagers are singled out, but its not only them, whenever i go to the uni bookstore they make you leave your bags at the front. Ultimately the point I am trying to make is that we create the society we live in. We can either try and make changes, or sit back and watch our asses grow. I'm doin the first one.
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Apr 27, 03
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Probably for the best though since we most likely would have been taken in for questioning, which would have made us miss our flight and just piss me off even more.
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Apr 27, 03
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^^ I didn't think it was that long, then I looked back and I was wrong! heh..
Anyways, that is just wrong. I really do not like that, I never thought canada would stoop as low as to do that. I know the americans do it, and fine, if that's how they want to play. But I just never thought they'd do that here..
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Apr 27, 03
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^^ yea i was gonna ask if you were a writer
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Apr 27, 03
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good luck with that, you have some talent :y:
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Apr 28, 03
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Apr 28, 03
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ya but i don't see it changing in our lifetime or anyones for that matter.
in our parents time, it was different races that had to deal with it, now its what it is now. soon it will change to something else, and so on. its life man. a person is smart, people are dumb. nothing we can do about that.
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Apr 28, 03
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wicka-wicka-pow-pow-wicka-wicka-pow-pow!
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Apr 28, 03
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*loves being able to say that* rawr. and relating to the post ;), i definitely think that taking a stand and doing something about issues like this is important. like you said, if we ALL sit here and accept that this is the way our world is, then it will only continue to get worse. our society has evolved over time creating more equality, freedom, rights etc. for us, but only because of people standing up for their beliefs. i'm not saying that if we all did this, it would magically turn our world into some sort of utopia...but in the end, it WOULD make a difference. i think that by saying that this is just the way things are, we are taking for granted those people in the past who have shaped our society into what it is today...not saying it's great, but many things have significantly improved. Last edited by Erica; Apr 28, 03 at 02:21 PM.
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Apr 28, 03
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