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The Daily News reports that a dancer in the Alvin Ailey dance company was forced to dance "to convince Israeli airport security he was no Islamic terrorist." Abdur-Rhaim Jackson's first name aroused attention, and he explained that his father "converted to Islam and gave me this name." He also showed them a brochure with his photographs in it, prompting them to ask him to dance, "I was embarrassed, but I was afraid to do something wrong that may cause me to look suspicious." So he did and then was asked to dance again for another guard before being allowed to pass. Jackson said he would not formally complain, "We're only here to bring positive light to our lives and the people here." The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an international tour and many other events.
Israeli Security Suspicious of Alvin Ailey Dancer
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Those Mariachi guys piss me off when you enter a mostly silent subway car.
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brochures can be faked. there's a reason they don't have terrorist attacks at that airport.
I wish I could dance my way through customs! It's all just a bunch of crummy long lines and no shoes for me...
I like how he took this all in stride. What a classy guy.
This is like a scene out of a musical....
What's going to happen when a muslim exotic dancer is boarding a flight?
Muslim exotic dancer? Oxymoron?
I hear those burkas take forever to strip off...
Yet another example of the inherent racism evident in the Israeli system. You'd never hear of them doing that to the settlers moving from Brooklyn who commit acts of violence that we ascribe to terrorists.
Oh and Dirk, it's not a scene out of a musical, it's a scene out of the Holocaust. It fits well with the irony of making a Palestinian violinist play for hours for the soldiers at an IDF check point when that very same event happened to Jews during the Nazi regime.
diabolix - not to start a shitstorm, but these measures usually work. The wall - bad for the peace-process, but highly effective against stopping terrorist attacks.
"It fits well with the irony of making a Palestinian violinist play for hours for the soldiers at an IDF check point when that very same event happened to Jews during the Nazi regime." - Right except Jackson wasn't sent off to a death camp which was part of the larger master plan of complete genocide, nor was he shot right on the spot.
Bad PR for the Israelis? Sure, but we'll all get over it.
Is that what they do in those little rooms at the airport? And here I thought it was some sordid procedure involving KY Jelly and a cattle prod!
While reading this article I expected it to say:
"And the Alvin Ailey dance company canceled the evening's show and left Israel immediately in protest to their next destination."
but instead there's:
"We're only here to bring positive light to our lives and the people here."
I'm sorry but even Gandhi knew enough to lead the Salt March, endure prison, and have hunger strikes as a way to shame the British Raj into submission rather than have a star studded "Free India Concert" in the hopes that music and dance could bring the world together like a Benetton ad.