ZEITOUN

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - Zeitoun is a New Orleans contractor named Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian American family man who decided to stay in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. He'd never abandoned his city before, and wanted to be there to protect his properties. After a few days of paddling around in his canoe and rescuing neighbors, and feeding other neighbors' dogs, he was roughly arrested with three other men, taken into custody, and treated with such huge disregard for personal freedoms that you won't believe this story happened here in America.
Except you'll remember that it happened under Bush, during a time when prisoners were similarly treated at Guantanamo; and you'll think about our military, and how, in order to join our military, one has to be yelled at, disrespected and broken down; and you'll think about how disrespectful and wrong it is, how inhumane it is to treat anyone that way at any time. ESPECIALLY WITH NO EVIDENCE OF THEIR WRONGDOING! I think the way this starts is with that very military training where they take away the self respect and self-hood of the boot camp recruits. It tells them that it's OK to treat others this way, and it fosters an acceptance that this behavior is acceptable on the part of those with authority.
It looks like my review of a very very good book turned into a rant. I wish the things that happened to Zeitoun would never happen to another person again. But it will. It happens every single day at our airports. What kind of person (police officer, FEMA official, court worker, airport security worker, doesn't listen to reason? doesn't give someone a chance to explain? doesn't give permission for a telephone call? doesn't hear another human being? Does our government have the power to demand absolute evacuation of people from their property? I've often thought that in a natural disaster situation I might want to stay and protect my property. I want to know that I have the RIGHT to stay and protect my property. And that I have the right to carry my property around with me, without fear of government workers stealing it from me.
Zeitoun is a very frightening and powerful story.