Entry Denied: The Strange Case of Professor Adam Habib
In the Black and White Universe of George Bush,
“You either think like us, or you think against us”
You will never hear invective in his tone nor will you sense anger in his response, for Adam Habib, life itself is resolved in smaller steps-the idea of a colleague, the voice of his wife, a question from his child. He has a wide smile, addictive charm and a calming persona, (or was it just late in the day-5pm?). Perhaps he was actually hiding his violent streak behind a veil of illusion, a rant and tirade in submersion? Or is it more likely that the reflexive fear which overwhelms the Americans' security apparatus went berserk, again? Perhaps they just don't like what he has to say.....
During a free-wheeling conversation recently, at his large office suite located in the new complexes of the University of Johannesburg, in South Africa, we discussed his recent experience with U.S. Immigration and Department of Homeland (In) Security authorities, when he was denied entry, then later deported, upon arrival in New York's JFK Airport recently, with his wife and child in tow.
He reflects in silence, careful in thought and articulation, and says "I harbor no ill will toward the agents themselves, for sure, they themselves seemed quite surprised and appeared to sympathize with my predicament."
For whatever he believed in studying at NYU, walking the streets of New York, he bought into the dream which was America, the ideal that one could think or say anything, and that took him into academics. And those distinctly American ideals were juxtaposed against what he knew to be reality on the ground in the Apartheid South Africa where he grew up and was bound to return home to.
He brushes lightly over his latest inspirations, like empowering villagers to see numbers as people and their plight vindicated through the social statistics which comprised their lives.
It must have come as quite a shock to find the USA with a new measuring stick, with the ‘increments of allegiance’ delineated as levels of support for war, however illegal, however wrong, (read "Iraq").
He organized, he met, he spoke, he rallied, mostly limited to Durban, his sphere of influence. And that’s the rub, for buried in the unconstitutional articles which comprise U.S. Immigration Law, being banned from entry into the U.S. does not only have to be based on association with, support of, or funding for terrorists.
Into the mist of legal fog enters the odd concept of using one’s influence to alter people’s thinking or perception in your home country. In other words, having the nerve to protest against the States (outside the United States) or not tow the company line. You wonder what they'd due to Bill Clinton NOW, having protested the American, (after the French), Vietnam debacle while a student in London? "Enemy Combatant", perhaps?
Of the Anti-Iraq War crowd in Durban, Prof. Habib says, “There were basically two groups in opposition to the war, but also in opposition to each other. One a conservative Muslim reply which was, reflexive, anti-American and quite frankly, not the tone we wanted to portray."
"Then there were others, secular voices, of which I considered myself one. Who were opposed on moral grounds, not just to this war, but all war”, says Prof. Habib during a brisk hour-long conversation in his office at Joburg U., “Vice-Chancellor” bolted to the door. His official title, according to his card, says 'Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation & Advancement.'
The Journal “Chronicle of Higher Education” has tracked the cases of 22 University Professors, from various countries; all denied entry into George Bush’s version of an America where "Free Speech isn't Free".
No, not the one you will find enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, considered quant by the likes of people like Roberto Gonzales, the first U.S. Attorney General to have as his primary qualification having covered the Governors’ (read ‘ordained future President’) Ass as a potential juror in a Drunk Driving case, (not that there is any specific proof to back this claim, which has not stopped it from flying across the Net & into more than one book*).
This is the same character who called the Geneva Conventions against Torture “quant” and insisted drowning people to point of expiration didn’t qualify as such either, uses quant terms like ‘Water Boarding’. They all see a War Crimes Trial down a long legal tunnel and use catch phrases like “The United States does not torture”, as Mr. Bush claims almost daily in his developing defense-case mantra.
Professor Habib readily admits to being against the attack on Iraq, but separates, aptly, opposition to the war from opposition to the United States, or the West in general.
He was operating on a 10 year VISA, now revoked, as an academic often asked to address various issues of social and human concern. His latest foray was an invitation from the American Sociological Association Convention 2007, now over and gone, as is his VISA request.
His latest article, full-page, positioned below a cartoon, entitled 'Philopher President' revealed as no more than a vindictive politico, dated 16th December, in the SA "Sunday Times", states the case that South African President Thabo Mbeki lost his support among the "Chattering (Cocktail Party) Classes", when he was seen to betray their fond vision of a caring and socially responsive society. In the laid-back atmosphere of sub-equator Africa, them is "fighting words", my friends. He has the nerve to speak truth to power, without exception.
Sadly, for Prof. Habib, and his family, today in the USA, "Entry Denied" are the new words of the day. Words and concepts like “Homeland Security” and “we have to fight them over there, (read anywhere but the U.S.), so we don’t have to fight them over here” have taken over the common lexicon. Oh, and don't ask them over there if they mind that the fight is in their own backyard :)
D.P. Lang, Editor & Publisher
18th December, 2007
Links:
http://www.csmonitor.com "South African fights denial of U.S. visa" by Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, 16th November, 2007
http://www.int.iol.co.za "No explosive skeletons in his family's closet" SA Sunday Independent, 3rd December, 2007
http://boswestblog.com/2006/10/24/adam-habib-tastes-democracy-and-governance-usa-style
http://www.thehuffingtonpost.com "Banned: Why a South African is Going to Court in the U.S.
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za 'Philopher President' revealed as no more than a vindictive politico
http://www.aaup.org American Association of University Professor's letter to U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice
*Fortunate Son, J.H. Hatfield, Soft Skull Press 2001 ISBN: 1887128-84-0