Have a Good NEWS

They took me and my dad and put us in an [Cadillac] Escalade. I didn't recognise the building where we were taken. They put me in my own cell. I was nervous, panicking, crying. I was trying to figure out what was going on.

The female guard said, "It's not. You no longer have rights."

She said, "Open your legs."

I wore the ankle bracket for three years. You can still see my bruises from it. My heel always hurts. I also had to be under curfew, which was 10pm and then 11pm. I was only ever charged with overstaying my visa. I was never charged with anything related to terrorism.

I looked down at my T-shirt to see which one I was wearing. It was black, and said in both Arabic and English, We Will Not Be Silent. An artist group in New York had made the shirt and given it to me as a gift. For me, the message meant, "We will not be silent about the murders that are happening in Palestine or Iraq." They had other T-shirts in Spanish. At the time I'd said, "Whoa, it's such a smart idea, because the Spanish one makes it seem like it's about immigration, and the Arabic one makes it seem like it's about wars."

I was so confused that I didn't know how to answer. Then he said, "We want you to take the T-shirt off, or put it on inside out."

The JetBlue woman left and returned a few minutes later with a grey T-shirt that said New York. I said, "This is not over. I'm going to pursue this through a constitutional rights organisation."

Then he asked, "Where is the device that you found under the car?"

"Yes. We need that device back."

I hadn't spoken to my lawyer, but at the same time, it didn't make any sense for me not to answer their questions. I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong, so I didn't want them to say, "Why are you avoiding our questions?"

Fortunately I didn't hear from the FBI again, but each time I leave the United States, I have problems when I come back. I got stopped when I came back from Egypt about two weeks ago. When I stepped off the plane, there was an officer waiting for me. When he saw my passport, he said to another officer, "That's him!"