Racial profiling is something the U.S. struggles with daily. It’s consistently in the news; people of different races are being profiled, questioned and even killed because of an association made by others. What about outside of the U.S.? That’s not something most hear about.
The past two weeks, I spent my time in Israel experiencing the culture, country and even racial profiling. As an American, I could have ignored it, but as an Arab, I couldn’t.
Starting right off the bat, my dad warned my sister and I that we were going to be profiled and possibly interrogated. He told us that we were going to be pulled to the side, that we were going to be asked questions. He said that the questions would be invasive, personal and that they expected certain answers and if you answered wrong, you would be further questioned and you were to explain yourself thoroughly.
When in Madrid, our first stop out of the U.S., this questioning happened. Earlier, when running around trying to find our gate, we met an Arab woman. She was traveling to Israel as well. We ended up talking quickly, going through security together, and became friends with her.
Shortly after, when we found our gate, my sister and I were pulled aside from our aunt. We were asked, by an airport worker the following questions:
“Where are you from?”
“What do you do for a living?”
“Why did you choose that major?”
“What is your relation to the people that you are traveling with?”
“Who packed your bag?”
“Were you given any presents before you came?”
“Do you have any sharp objects in your bag that you know of?”
“Where will you be staying?”
“Who will you be staying with?”
“How long are you going to be in Israel?”
When asked where my bag was when packed, I answered my room. When asked where in my room it was I said next to my bed; all replies my father had instructed me to say, as they would create less of a hassle for me. As an American, I was shocked that I was asked these questions, but as an Arab, I knew it was to be expected.
People who know me know that I mean no harm to anyone. They know that I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt anyone, so when questioned by the servicemen, I consistently asked the question, “why would this man ask me these questions?” The answer: because of my ethnicity and my race.
Shortly after the questioning, my sister, aunt and I were taken to the basement of the airport. We were guided to an office space, and were forced to watch Israeli airport servicemen and women tear apart our luggage, invading our privacy, looking for something that we knew they wouldn’t find. They chose not to trust us. The same Arab woman that we had met earlier and befriended was there, along with other Arabs that we saw on our flight coming in.
After an hour and a half of searching, they found nothing. When arriving in Tel Aviv later that day, we encountered the same experience with Israeli intel. Questions were asked, answers were given, and again, they found nothing against us.
The experience that I had in Madrid and in Tel Aviv is one that Muslims/Arabs around the world encounter daily. According to the Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs at Brown University, “Muslims, including American citizens, can often face intensive questioning by officials as they attempt to re-enter the country. After 9/11, it’s been found that racial profiling against Arabs has gone up. The statistics and observations beg for an answer to the question of why.”
I want to know why, too.
