USA: famous Egyptian Egyptologist Hawass treated as ‘terrorist’

From Al-Ahram weekly in Egypt:

Again a problem with the American customs

By Zahi Hawass

Last year I wrote about the problems I had with American Customs at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.

At the time I was on a lecture tour to promote my book, Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt, published by National Geographic.

At the airport, the officer who was looking at my passport said politely, “sir, you will have to follow me,” and took me to a room full of foreigners who did not speak English.

After giving the officials in charge my passport and lecture schedule in the US, I sat in the waiting room for half an hour.

This was especially remarkable, because my first lecture was at the White House.

I was extremely upset, and I kept asking myself why this was happening to me.

I lived in the US for seven years while working on my doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.

During that time, I never made a single mistake, not even forgetting to pay a traffic ticket.

While I was sitting in the waiting room at the airport, I was thinking that I had friends all over the world and that most of my best friends were American.

So why were they doing this to me? After more than an hour a police officer came over and said, “you are the famous guy with the hat that I always see on the National Geographic and Discovery channels!”

I have been cursed at a Chinese border. In Dubai, my passport was studied by three veiled women for over an hour and my suitcase completely dismembered. In the Philippines I had to bribe someone in order to get my visa extended for a few days. Borders, they can be tough, especially in countries known for corruption. But never, ever, will I return to the United States of America, by Niels Gerson Lohman: here.

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