10 Oct, 2014
Why banning Arab authors from US is censorship – Al Jazeera English
On September 30, Jordanian poet and novelist Amjad Nasser was scheduled to give the inaugural address at the Gallatin Global Writers series.
Nasser is a major Arab poet, whose “A Song and Three Questions” was chosen by The Guardian as one of the 50 greatest love poems of the past 50 years and whose debut novel, “Land of No Rain”, was acclaimed by Ahdaf Souief and Elias Khoury, among others.
Nasser is also a law-abiding British citizen who does not need a visa to take the short flight from London to New York City. Yet Nasser was still prepared. According to Gallatin series organisers, the author “was carrying his books and an official letter of invitation from NYU” when he arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
But as he got ready to board his British Airways flight, an attendant at the gate handed Nasser the phone. Someone from the US’ homeland security department wanted to talk to him.
Read the rest: Why banning Arab authors from US is censorship – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.
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