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Subscribe to RSSLibyan-American businessman Jamal Tarhuni, who lives in Oregon, and his family talk about waiting a month for him to come home after he was turned away from his return flight from Libya and questioned by the FBI.
Jamal Tarhuni is now home, but the questions surrounding his unexplained month-long exile in North Africa remain unanswered.
Tarhuni, a 55-year-old Libyan-American businessman, was reunited with his wife and four children in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday, ending an ordeal in which he was barred by the U.S. from flying home and questioned at length by the FBI.
It is unclear why the agency waylaid Tarhuni, and it is unclear whether he faces more scrutiny. He and his attorney presume he is on the U.S. government’s “no-fly” list — meaning he would be barred from boarding any domestic or international flight that enters U.S. airspace. The FBI and State Department have refused comment on his case, citing privacy and security, and both agencies consistently decline to confirm or deny whether specific names are on the list.
The ordeal faced by Tarhuni and his fellow Oregonian Libyan-American, Mustafa Elogbi, 60, who remains stuck in Tunisia for another week at least, is more common for U.S. citizens than it seems — particularly for those who are Muslim or of Arab descent, said Gadeir Abbas, an attorney with the Council on American Islamic Relations who has been involved in Tarhuni’s case and many other apparent “no-fly” cases.
Previous coverage from msnbc.com
- American aid worker: US bars my return
- What gives? Another American caught in no-fly limbo
- No-fly Americans split up to fly home
- Bittersweet homecoming for Libyan-American caught in no-fly limbo
“There is a constant stream of despicable tales,” said Abbas. “It’s more common that we hear from people and they don’t want to go public. When your own government tells you you’re too dangerous to fly, there’s a palpable fear of retaliation. And it’s really an expectation that people on the no-fly list have that something more onerous is coming down the road.”
Tarhuni decided when he was stuck in Tunis that he would publicly challenge the FBI actions — which he believes were unconstitutional and unjustifiable. He said Tuesday that he intends to continue to seek publicity and generate discussion of the “no fly” issue.
There are two ongoing legal cases that challenge the government's authority to use the no-fly list, said Abbas.
"These (cases) are going to take years, and in the meantime, these are human tragedies," he added.
In the accompanying video, shot on Tuesday at their home in Tigard, Ore., just outside Portland, Tarhuni, his wife, Nariman Samed, and daughter Lina discuss the personal impact the incident had on the family, their uncertainty about the future and how they intend to move forward.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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So apparently, the FBI now feels justified in questioning American citizens about their religious beliefs? I wonder if they do that with Christians. "Just which sect of Christianity do you belong to? Which sort of Christianity do you practice? Where do you go to church? Are you one of those "pro-life radical fundamentalists?" Have you ever associated with one? Gee, maybe you're about to blow up an abortion clinic -- better put you on a list (which we dare not share with anyone else because you might change your name) that keeps you from flying.
Yeah. Welcome to the new "safe" America.
There needs to be an entire investigation of the FBI.
It is shameful what they did to these American citizens.
.
I think Ben Franklin summed it up well and something I've been saying since all this "increased security" started post 9/11. "Those who are willing to give up their freedom for a little security deserve neither freedom nor security". That may not be an exact quote but, I think it gets the message across loud and clear. We will never have complete security from anything, anywhere...it's just the nature of life; to give up our freedoms for some false sense of security is simply stupid.
Poster at #2.0 has a point, however unpopular or lacking political correctness. The comparison of pro-life fundamentalists to Islamic extremists is on point only to a degree. The difference being that there are a lot more people in this world who wish to destroy the entire Western way of life than there are hardcore violent Christian pro-lifers who target a small, specific group. The scale is totally different.
Their abilities to reach out to us were proven last May in the failed Times Square bombing. We're dealing with a sophisticated enemy that the general populace seem to gravely underestimate. They will continue to probe our security in all manners. I mean, we've already gone and shot all the dumb terrorists.
I understand the "no-fly list" however, like any Government-run program, administration and oversight is abysmal, resulting in issues such as the above article and those linked to it. It's a mess.
Fly or No-Fly list, nothing matters when it comes down to an immigration officers, homeland security department or TSA. It is quite ironic how low they can make a person feel upon their return to US even if you had been abroad for few days. They ask you same senseless questions as if you are visiting US and have never lived here. The best tool to waste someone's time and challenge their patience is marking them with random check. Word of advice for all the dept above, it does not serve any purpose whatsoever, so please stop marking people with different codes or random checks especially when those are tied to someone's skin color. It is sick and disgusting way of humiliating someone decent and with clean background. Stop harassing Americans or non-Americans at points of entry/exit in US and abroad.
"We're dealing with a sophisticated enemy that the general populace seem to gravely underestimate. They will continue to probe our security in all manners."
We all saw that one loony-toon with a brainwashed teenager, an old car, and a rifle can terrorize an entire stretch of the east coast. If there are so many "sophisticated" terrorists, then there would be many, many more terrorist attacks. They don't have to "probe our security" to know that one can purchase a weapon relatively easy and used it against unprotected people. I don't buy this at all.
There haven't been any terrorist groups responsible for thousands of deaths on American soil that are associated with Christianity. Poor example, N.M. Make a little sense next time why don't you?
I don't agree with the way this man was treated with the no-fly list fiasco. I just had to reply because I think you're an idiot. Have a nice day.
Wow by your lovely attitude I can tell what kind of Christian you are. Don't try to defend a religion by defiling it with your hypocrisy.
You have no right to judge me at all, so put a sock in it. I wasn't defending anything. I was countering a poor example with a valid statement of correlation. You've no right to judge me. An idiot is an idiot and you clearly resemble one as well.
FreqnLoDown,
So you forgot about the Salem Witch Trials? That was Christians killing innocent
Americans.
Freqn, maybe but Christianity does have the highest pedophile to normalcy rate out of any Western religion. At the moment I am not sure which is worse:
Mass murdering radical Imams or tiny bopping priests.
one side kills lot's of people and the others emotionally and mentally scar their prey for life.
I would call the KKK a terrorist group. They call themselves Christian. Just as most I know who follow the teachings of Jesus would not consider them Christian, most Muslims I know consider al Queda to be un-Muslim.
thom,
even if it happened 300 years ago it did happen so it is very relevant. People, Christians defending their religion, treat Christianity as if it was always happy thoughts, love everything, etc. They have conveniently chosen to completely forget and disregard that the Old Testament was every bit as vitriolic as the Koran is.
The only thing that separates Christianity from Islam in modern times is the New Testament, only because it was rewritten. Christianity's past is just as blood stained as Islam is: Salem Witch trials, the Crusades (which translates to the word Jihad btw), persecution of early critical thinkers that decried religious ideologies as false (that the world was not flat and that geocentrism was false). True the last two there was not as much blood shed, but blood is blood and Christianity is not unstained.
To ignore something that happened in the past only because it happened under a different set of "rules" is subjective histrionics.
I was also just making a point. Religions are neither good nor evil. It is the people within the religions that are. Remember that old GOP favorite that guns do not kill people? Well it partially goes for Religion. However unlike guns religion comes with it's own philosophical and emotional baggage that is translated through scripture to its followers. So while religion does not directly kill people it does kill them indirectly.
Remove the religious issues from the Middle East and solve the sociological issues and there would be peace between Israel and most ME countries. Islam is the way it is from centuries of manipulation by radical imams. Much in the same way that the West Burrough Baptist Church is a radical sect of Christianity so are these radical Imams. Except to be analogous over half of the Churches in the US would have to subscribe to the WBC's ideology and force their ideology on their communities even if those communities did not agree with them.
Understanding that analogy will help you to see how the repressed and oppressed moderates have become even radical by regular standards from centuries of theological rule, being told what they must believe if they want to continue living or not be thrown into jails. No one in America can truly understand what the average Arab citizen has gone through for the past few centuries unless they have actually been over there and lived with them, baring hearing about it from someone who has obviously.
There is no religion around today that is perfect, that does not have it's horrors, dark sides, and mistakes. Not holding Christianity to the same standards as Islam makes it a double standard, even if the problems are completely different they are still problems. Pedophilia is less worse then murder but it is not forgivable either.
There's a continous history of attacks by the KKK and other white racists throughout American history. Entire Black American towns have been wiped out, hundreds of lynchings, stores and homes burned to the ground, and then many other racist attacks carried by individuals every so often.
They all amount to indicate a lack of tolerance on the part of many white American Christians. Then there's the lying that went on to excuse the invasion of Iraq followed by Abu Ghraib and the delusional Evangelists who want Israel to wipe out the Palestinians.
Lately, many white southerners want to once again ask Blacks and the poor "How high is high?" to help them determine if someone has the right to vote.
So, yeah, not much difference between radical Muslims and radical Christians.
FreqnLoDown, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
They are both from oregon, theyre both libyan, both american, both over 55, both want to fly home, both are muslim, both are men, i see a pattern here. maybe a conspiracy. unanswered questions. what airline were they flying on, did they eat the free airline peanuts? did they get offered airline peanuts? hmm so many unanswered questions.
We don't need terrorists to take our freedom from us, we can depend on our elected officials to take care of that.
so you put a name like mustafa on the no fly list. must be 1000 people with the same name. god forbid they put a john smith on the list, could you imagine?
I would like to apologize to you, your friend that was left behind and your family. As a fellow American I am appalled that this is allowed to go on with little to no recourse.
Folks, plenty of people of people saw this sort of thing coming with the USA "Patriot" Act; it gives the government virtually unlimited power to do whatever it wants, including completely ignoring the Fourth Amendment, once they have identified someone, including American citizens, as a "suspected" terrorist. Our elected representatives overwhelmingly voted for this travesty of justice (only seven voted against the original bill and they are IMHO heroes) and the last two Presidents of the United States have gone along. We were so worried about the terrorists winning and all along it's our own fear and paranoia that have been our worst enemies. Shameful.
The Totalitarian States of America has been born
Bureaucratic bull@!$%# and arrogance!!! It is one thing to detain a person but to not give a valid reason is completely unjust. I "hope" in the end the FBI will come forward with what issues they had with this gentlement but I will not hold my breath waiting.
I didn't know the Timothy McVeigh was a Muslim. What about the Unibomber or me?
In addition to treating this man in such a horrible fashion, it was a stupid move.
If you think he's really a terrorist the smartest thing to do is allow him to move about freely and monitor him. I'm glad he is keeping this in the public eye and pushing for answers. We seem to be in more danger from our own government than we are from terrorists.
In fact, until our government shows a zealous effort to police the southern border and stop the flow of illegals coming across it, I refuse to believe its cry of "Beware of terrorists!" as nothing more than an excuse to keep Homeland Security and the Patriot Act in place to wield the hammer of power and restraint against American citizens.
How is that hope and change for ya obummer lovers?
Where is the ACLU? THIS is the kind of thing they should be working on.
I am sure if comercial air travel was around in world war 2, I am sure german-americans flying from germany or other occupied territorys would have been investigated more strigently then british-americans.
Great book titled December 1941; it details events in the US before and after the attack on Pearl Harbor - many of them similar to events after 9/11. Japanese (including Japanese Americans) were not allowed to fly on US airlines after December 7th.
Sorry, no sympathy here. After 9-11, I really don't care what the government does to prevent another one. We have a thing called the melting pot in this country and in times like this, just suck it up and move on. And just in case you don't like it, leave and go back where you came from. Bin Laden hated the west so much and wanted to kill us all so bad he told his own children to come here and enjoy the freedoms. So if you just came here, are first, second generations, or if you're no generation and not even arab, suck it up, or get the hell out. A lot of very good people died on 9-11 and many more of our military have died to protect Americans and others from another attack, or bombing.
So. in your world giving up our freedoms equals protecting our freedoms? Just exactly how does that work?
There was a reason these men were delayed in their return to the U.S. and it was not "random". There will be no public explanation as to "why", because knowing the "why" is one of the tools used to ferret out terrorists, and in turn protecting the citizens of the U.S. And dont bother blaming "religion" for the prejudice and atrocity humans perpetrate on one another. For people to hate and oppress, any excuse will do.
Thanks to Kari Huus and MSNBC for covering this story.
I have been working on these matters for some time, and in reply to one poster who questions where the ACLU is on this case, I can state that so far the ACLU has been admirably cooperative. I can also state that these issues will pursued vigorously.
Tom Nelson, aka Zigzagtom