I’m no stranger to political repression and censorship. I’ve lived in Germany for 5 years now, and as a Palestinian journalist concerned in pro-Palestinian advocacy, I’ve skilled repeated harassment by the hands of the German authorities.
My husband, a German citizen, and I, an American citizen, have grown accustomed to being held for hours at a time, subjected to invasive interrogations about our travels, and having our belongings completely searched with out clear justification. However we have been shocked to search out out that these techniques, designed to intimidate and deter, have now been taken up by the US to focus on Palestinians amid the continuing genocide.
I all the time knew that citizenship supplied solely restricted safety, particularly when dissent is concerned. However deep down, I nonetheless believed that freedom of speech, the proper to talk with out concern, meant one thing in my nation of beginning.
I used to be unsuitable. The harassment we endured on March 24 upon arriving within the US shattered that phantasm. Our Palestinian identification, our political work, our household ties – all of it makes us everlasting targets, not simply in Germany, however now within the US, too.
Previous to departure, whereas we have been at our gate in Frankfurt airport, 4 brokers approached me and recognized themselves as officers from the US Division of Homeland Safety (DHS). They mentioned they have been particularly on the lookout for my husband, who had simply stepped apart to purchase water and juice for our sons.
“We simply need to be certain your ESTA visa is so as,” one in all them mentioned.
They took his passport, flipping via it and photographing each single web page whereas one in all them stayed on the telephone, relaying data. They requested about our go to to Gaza in 2022, after seeing the Rafah border stamp.
“The place did you go in Gaza?” one agent requested.
“Khan Younis,” my husband replied.
“The place does your loved ones dwell now?”
“Throughout,” he mentioned. “They’re residing in tents throughout the Strip, you already know, due to the battle.”
“What did you do when you have been there?”
“Visited household,” he answered.
It was clear we have been focused. I didn’t see some other passengers present process an identical test. This meant that both DHS was actively researching passengers earlier than their departure to the US, or – much more troubling – the German authorities have been speaking instantly with DHS to flag the background and political exercise of “suspect” travellers.
Upon arrival at Newark airport in New Jersey, my husband and I have been separated and individually interrogated, every of us nonetheless holding a sleeping youngster. The boys questioning us didn’t determine themselves; I consider they have been DHS brokers, not border police.
They first requested me in regards to the function of my journey and my journey to Gaza. They needed to know who I had met in Gaza, why I had met them, and whether or not anybody I encountered was affiliated with Hamas. At one level, an officer intentionally grew to become ambiguous and as a substitute of referencing Hamas, requested if “anybody from [my] household was part of the federal government in Gaza”.
At one level, they requested whether or not I skilled violence from Israeli troopers, to which I responded: “Israeli troopers weren’t in Gaza in 2022.”
“Did anybody in your loved ones expertise violence throughout this battle?”
“Sure,” I responded. “Fifty have been killed.”
“Have been any of them Hamas supporters?” was the response I obtained.
As if political affiliation might justify the incineration of a household. As if kids, elders, moms, decreased to numbers, should first be interrogated for his or her loyalties earlier than their deaths could be acknowledged.
They knew I used to be a journalist, so that they demanded to know the final article I had written and the place it was printed. I advised them that it was a bit for Mondoweiss in regards to the abduction of Mahmoud Khalil, through which I additionally warned in regards to the risks of the Trump administration’s insurance policies. This appeared to intensify their scrutiny. They demanded my e-mail handle, my social media accounts, and jotted down my telephone quantity with out rationalization.
Then they took our telephones. After I requested what would occur if I refused, they made it clear I had no alternative. If I didn’t comply, my telephone would nonetheless be taken from me, and if my husband didn’t comply, he could be deported.
After they lastly returned our electronics, they issued a chilling warning to my husband: “You might have been right here seven instances with out a difficulty. Avoid political exercise, and all the pieces will likely be effective.”
Subsequently, I used to be suggested by authorized counsel to not attend any demonstrations, not even on my own, throughout our keep. Our actions, our phrases, and even our silences have been below watch, and something could possibly be used towards us.
What occurred to us was not random; it was intentional. It was meant to scare and intimidate us. Whether or not it’s in Germany, within the US, or elsewhere, the aim of those techniques is similar: to make us really feel small, remoted, criminalised, and afraid. They need us to doubt the price of each phrase we write, to query each protest we be part of, to swallow each fact earlier than it reaches our lips. They need us to overlook the folks we’ve got misplaced.
Fifty members of our household have been murdered within the US-backed genocide in Gaza. Fifty souls, every with their very own goals, laughter, and love, extinguished below the roar of bombs and the silence of the world. Our household’s story is not any totally different from hundreds of others – tales that vanish from headlines however dwell ceaselessly within the hearts of the survivors.
They count on us to hold this insufferable weight quietly, to bow our heads and proceed residing as if our world weren’t ripped aside. However we don’t bow.
And that’s the reason they concern us; they concern a individuals who refuse to vanish. Palestinians who dare to talk, to organise, to easily bear witness are marked as harmful.
I used to be warned that talking about our expertise on the airport would make the subsequent encounter even harsher, much more punishing. However we should bear in mind: there may be nothing this state can do to us that may examine to what’s being achieved to the folks of Gaza. Our passports are solely paper. Our telephones are solely metallic and glass. These are issues they will confiscate, issues they will break. However they can’t take away our voices, our reminiscences, and our dedication to justice.
On our method out, the officers requested my husband one final query: “What do you consider Hamas? Are they good?”
He responded: “My concern is preventing a genocide that has taken the lives and freedom of my household and my folks. The rest, I’m not keen on answering.”
That ought to be all of our concern. Nothing ought to distract us from the pressing, plain fact: a persons are being slaughtered, and our accountability is to face with them.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially replicate Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.