A Muslim NHS worker was detained at Doncaster Airport in the UK this week after reading a Syrian culture book on a flight.
While heading off on her honeymoon, the British woman was reading award-winning book Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, completely unaware that she was about to be reported by a member of Thomson Airways cabin staff. When she returned from her honeymoon, a fortnight later, she found herself detained by airport authorities on terrorism charges.
Ironically, the lady, Faizah Shaheen is an NHS worker, and part of her job is to work with mental health patients, and working to prevent teenage mental health patients from becoming radicalised. While she was only held for 15 mins, it seems very doubtful that she would have been flagged if she wasn’t dark skinned herself, and it seems incredible shocking that staff can’t tell the difference between books on culture, and books on bomb making.
The idea of setting off a red flag for simply reading a book, an award-winning one at that, is absolutely horrifying. Syria Speaks won the English PEN Award this year, and Faizah Shaheen was reading it after a recommendation from a friend. The book is a bestseller, but if you have dark skin, or you’re a Muslim then you might not want to pack it as a holiday read this year.
While the holidaymaker was only detained for a short interview, it must have been a very harrowing experience for her, and all caused by reading a bestselling collection of short stories. What a sad state of affairs it is when we have to worry about what we might be seen reading!
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