The Greater Tampa Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida
In Partnership with the Gorilla Theatre and Stageworks
Present a Staged Reading of David Gow's Play
Arrivals
Two Performances: Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 P.M.
Sunday, April 27th at 4:00 PM
Location: Gorilla Theatre, 4419 N Hubert Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33614.
Tickets: Adults $20/Students $10; proceeds benefit the Greater Tampa Chapter, ACLUFL
Call 813-879-2914 or visit www.gorillatheatre.com to reserve tickets
Synopsis: Arrivals is a powerful drama that puts a human face on "extraordinary rendition" and threats to liberty in the post 9/11 world. Mohammad El Rafi, a Canadian citizen of Syrian birth, who legally enters the U.S. while returning to his home in Canada, is detained at JFK airport by a Homeland Security official who tells Rafi: "You're not in America." "Where am I?" Rafi replies. "A port," responds Homeland Security. Rafi finds himself in a legal limbo — stripped of his right to defend himself or even know the charges against him. While his wife and his attorney fight for his release, Homeland Security pressures Rafi to sign a statement implicating him in terrorism and agreeing to be rendered to Syria. The play was inspired by the story of Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian citizen detained at JFK in 2002 and sent to Syria for interrogation and torture. Both the Canadian and Syrian governments subsequently stated that Arar was not involved with al-Qaeda or terrorism.
For Info go to: http://www.aclufl.org/take_action/chapters/tampa/index.cfm
Rendition is a legal term. It is the surrender or handing over of persons of property from one jurisdiction to another. Extraordinary rendition is a CIA program that renders suspected terrorists to other countries for "interrogation." Within the US, the most common form of rendition is the extradition of criminal suspects from one state to another.
How does this relate to the play, "Arrivals?"
Because of extreme prejudice (Syrian born ["The man was born in Syria. That makes him first and foremost a Syrian National."], Canadian ["If you weren't so quick to give terrorists citizenship." "And we're amazed at how asleep you are as a nation. A safe harbour for terrorists, for terrorist fund-raising, money laundering, and drug trafficking. You give out passports like party favours. And we have to keep the continent safe, pay for an army... while you have socialist medicine We have citizens dead because of your soft borders, your soft attitudes, lax laws, lack of concern..."], Muslim by ancestry ["The innocent Muslims in this country hid the guilty."]) this man (Mohammed El Rafi), this person (considered innocent until proven guilty) was violently torn (rendered) from the fabric of his life.
In Partnership with the Gorilla Theatre and Stageworks
Present a Staged Reading of David Gow's Play
Arrivals
Two Performances: Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 P.M.
Sunday, April 27th at 4:00 PM
Location: Gorilla Theatre, 4419 N Hubert Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33614.
Tickets: Adults $20/Students $10; proceeds benefit the Greater Tampa Chapter, ACLUFL
Call 813-879-2914 or visit www.gorillatheatre.com to reserve tickets
Synopsis: Arrivals is a powerful drama that puts a human face on "extraordinary rendition" and threats to liberty in the post 9/11 world. Mohammad El Rafi, a Canadian citizen of Syrian birth, who legally enters the U.S. while returning to his home in Canada, is detained at JFK airport by a Homeland Security official who tells Rafi: "You're not in America." "Where am I?" Rafi replies. "A port," responds Homeland Security. Rafi finds himself in a legal limbo — stripped of his right to defend himself or even know the charges against him. While his wife and his attorney fight for his release, Homeland Security pressures Rafi to sign a statement implicating him in terrorism and agreeing to be rendered to Syria. The play was inspired by the story of Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian citizen detained at JFK in 2002 and sent to Syria for interrogation and torture. Both the Canadian and Syrian governments subsequently stated that Arar was not involved with al-Qaeda or terrorism.
For Info go to: http://www.aclufl.org/take_action/chapters/tampa/index.cfm
Rendition is a legal term. It is the surrender or handing over of persons of property from one jurisdiction to another. Extraordinary rendition is a CIA program that renders suspected terrorists to other countries for "interrogation." Within the US, the most common form of rendition is the extradition of criminal suspects from one state to another.
How does this relate to the play, "Arrivals?"
Because of extreme prejudice (Syrian born ["The man was born in Syria. That makes him first and foremost a Syrian National."], Canadian ["If you weren't so quick to give terrorists citizenship." "And we're amazed at how asleep you are as a nation. A safe harbour for terrorists, for terrorist fund-raising, money laundering, and drug trafficking. You give out passports like party favours. And we have to keep the continent safe, pay for an army... while you have socialist medicine We have citizens dead because of your soft borders, your soft attitudes, lax laws, lack of concern..."], Muslim by ancestry ["The innocent Muslims in this country hid the guilty."]) this man (Mohammed El Rafi), this person (considered innocent until proven guilty) was violently torn (rendered) from the fabric of his life.
