Blog Four Zeitoun: Like Guantanamo Bay

            One of the most shocking and horrific parts of the book was the police response, and their brutality. Towards the beginning of the storm, Zeitoun was going around helping everyone he could. There were a few seniors who were too high up to rescue, so Zeitoun went looking for help. When he saw police and tried to ask for his help, the simply ignored him, and sped past him on their fan boat. If the police were not there to help people, then what were they there for? Clearly, the police had other intentions for why they were un New Orleans.

            However, Zeitoun soon found out why more police and task forces had been sent to New Orleans. A boat pulled up to a house that Zeitoun, and his friends Nasser, and Todd were in. Out of nowhere, they ordered the men onto their fan boat and arrested them. When they asked why they were being arrested, the police did not give them an answer. But this was only the first violation of their civil right, and if anything this was going to be the least brutal part.

            The jail scenes of this book were almost too hard to read. At one point in the book, Zeitoun compares jail to Guantanamo Bay. They were taken to an outdoor prison that was put together at the very beginning of the storm. However, Zeitoun, Nasser, and Todd were put in a separate cage from everyone else. They were the only cage with a guard specifically dedicated to them. It was not because of what they had done, but what they were accused of being, terrorists. I was in awe, and could not find any reasonable answer as to how they connected terrorism to Hurricane Katrina. First of all, Zeitoun considered America his homeland. He was doing the exact opposite of terrorism. He was helping people, and helping America. However, the police refused to accept that.

            Zeitoun, Nasser, and Todd constantly asked for a phone call. They did not receive one, and the requests were not acknowledged. There was no justice system in place. It was a dictatorship, and the rulers were the police, who believed they were free to do whatever they want. Because Zeitoun and Nasser followed Islamic belief, there were certain things they could not eat, including pork. However, for the first few meals, pork was the main course. When they said they could not eat it, the police responded, “then don’t eat.” They were forced to sleep on the cement, with not blankets, and thin clothing. If someone touched the bars, or said something the police didn’t like, they were sprayed with salt and fire extinguishers, and extremely painful and torturous punishment. There were no rules. There were no set court dates. There were no acts of justice. There were no rights. There was the greyhound bus station with a little jail inside, with tons of innocent people picked off the street, accused of crimes they did not commit.