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 ways, designed to intimidate and deter, have now been taken up by the USA to focus on Palestinians amid the continuing genocide.
I at all times knew that citizenship provided solely restricted safety, particularly when dissent is concerned. However deep down, I nonetheless believed that freedom of speech, the precise to talk with out concern, meant one thing in my nation of beginning.
I used to be mistaken. The harassment we endured on March 24 upon arriving within the US shattered that phantasm. Our Palestinian id, 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 stated they have been particularly searching for my husband, who had simply stepped apart to purchase water and juice for our sons.
“We simply need to be certain that your ESTA visa is so as,” one among them stated.
They took his passport, flipping via it and photographing each single web page whereas one among 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 stated. “They’re residing in tents throughout the Strip, you realize, due to the conflict.”
“What did you do when you have been there?”
“Visited household,” he answered.
It was clear we have been focused. I didn’t see another passengers present process an identical examine. 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 straight 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 imagine they have been DHS brokers, not border police.
They first requested me concerning the objective 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 turned ambiguous and as an alternative 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 conflict?”
“Sure,” I responded. “Fifty have been killed.”
“Have been any of them Hamas supporters?” was the response I obtained.
As if political affiliation may justify the incineration of a household. As if youngsters, elders, moms, lowered 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 revealed. I informed them that it was a chunk for Mondoweiss concerning the abduction of Mahmoud Khalil, during which I additionally warned concerning the risks of the Trump administration’s insurance policies. This appeared to intensify their scrutiny. They demanded my e-mail tackle, my social media accounts, and jotted down my telephone quantity with out clarification.
Then they took our telephones. Once 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.
Once they lastly returned our electronics, they issued a chilling warning to my husband: “You’ve been right here seven instances with out a difficulty. Steer clear of political exercise, and every part will probably be nice.”
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 beneath watch, and something may very well 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 objective of those ways is similar: to make us really feel small, remoted, criminalised, and afraid. They need us to doubt the value 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 individuals we’ve misplaced.
Fifty members of our household have been murdered within the US-backed genocide in Gaza. Fifty souls, every with their very own desires, laughter, and love, extinguished beneath the roar of bombs and the silence of the world. Our household’s story is not any completely different from 1000’s of others – tales that vanish from headlines however dwell eternally 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 keep in mind: there’s nothing this state can do to us that may evaluate to what’s being executed to the individuals of Gaza. Our passports are solely paper. Our telephones are solely metallic and glass. These are issues they’ll confiscate, issues they’ll break. However they can not take away our voices, our recollections, 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 individuals. Anything, I’m not thinking about answering.”
That must be all of our concern. Nothing ought to distract us from the pressing, plain fact: a persons are being slaughtered, and our duty is to face with them.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.