Airline stopped man wearing Arabic T-shirt from boarding

An Iraqi man is suing airline and federal officials after they refused to let him board a flight at New York’s JFK Airport because he wore a T-shirt inscribed with an Arabic phrase.

He has issued a discrimination lawsuit accusing the officials and Jetblue Airways of racial profiling.

The incident is part of a discriminatory pattern at US airports since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with officials targeting people perceived to be of Arab descent – particularly those displaying their ethnic background or religious faith, two civil liberties groups said yesterday in filing the lawsuit.

The ACLU, joined by the New York Civil Liberties Union, filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Raed Jarrar.

The architect and political analyst, who has permanent US residency, was barred from the JetBlue flight in August 2006 for wearing a shirt that read, in English and Arabic, “We Will Not Be Silent,” according to the complaint.

“Racial profiling is illegal and ineffective and has no place in a democratic society,” said Reginald Shuford, an ACLU senior staff attorney.