Zeitoun: Part 4: Tuesday September 6 Summary & Analysis

Back in the house on Claiborne, two weeks earlier, Zeitoun is wondering when and how he might be able to leave. Now that people don’t seem to need help, there’s not much left to see, and he misses his family. As he’s talking to his brother Ahmad in Spain, Nasser calls to him about some men on the porch.

The armed men are wearing police and military uniforms, bulletproof vests and fatigues. There are at least 10 guns in the room. They ask Zeitoun who he is, and he tells them that he’s the landlord. Zeitoun gives one of them his ID, but the man doesn’t even look at it, and tells him to get in the boat.

Zeitoun is pushed towards the door, where Ronnie and Nasser have already been gathered onto a massive military fan boat. Two officers are pointing their rifles at them. At that moment, Todd returns on his motorboat and asks what’s going on. He says he lives there, and his proof is in the house, but the officer tells him to get in the boat too.

Zeitoun assumes that this has something to do with the mandatory evacuation, and he just needs to call Kathy, who can call a lawyer. But he needs Yuko’s number, which is on the hall table by the phone. He asks the soldier if he can sneak back in and grab it, but as he moves towards the house, the soldier grabs Zeitoun’s shift and shoves him back onto the boat.

The boat heads towards the intersection of Napoleon and St. Charles, where a dozen other men in National Guard uniforms, bulletproof vests, and sunglasses are watching them. Two of them tackle Zeitoun to the ground once they’re led off the boat: his face is pressed into the grass. He doesn’t resist, but he is immediately handcuffed and his legs tied together, as the men bark orders and curse at him and the others.

The four men are herded into a large white van. Zeitoun asks one young soldier in the driver’s seat what’s going on. The soldier says he doesn’t know—he’s from Indiana.

They wait silently in the van for 30 minutes. Zeitoun asks one of the soldiers if he could take care of the dogs in the neighborhood. The soldier agrees. Zeitoun says he’ll give him the addresses, but the soldier says he knows where they are, and walks away.

Finally the van starts, and they drive to the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, seemingly confirming Zeitoun’s assumption that they are being forcefully evacuated. As they pull to the side of the building, Zeitoun sees police cars and military vehicles, with National Guardsmen patrolling the grounds.

Zeitoun and the others are led inside to the main room, where it looks more like a military base than a train and bus station. There are no civilians. Instead, there are only dozens of men and women with guns, along with boxes of water and supplies. Everyone there seems to take more and more interest in the four men. Todd is brought to the Amtrak ticket counter and begins to be interrogated.

Todd, who is usually hotheaded, starts arguing at the Amtrak desk, and finally asks if they’re going to get a phone call. The officer says no, even when Todd insists that they have to. Todd asks a passing soldier why they’re here, and the soldier says that they’re al Qaeda. Todd laughs, but Zeitoun is frightened. In some ways he’s been waiting for this day since 9/11, when rumors about “sleeper cells” meant that everyone at any mosque could be under suspicion.

Zeitoun and Kathy have worried before about the eagerness of the Department of Homeland Security to interrogate anyone with a connection to the Middle East. Zeitoun’s friends have had to send in documents and hire lawyers, but until now Zeitoun had never been profiled, apart from occasional suspicious looks or sneers upon hearing his accent.

Zeitoun decides to ignore this one soldier’s words, but moments later another soldier mutters “Taliban” as he looks at Zeitoun. Now Zeitoun is certain that a horrible misunderstanding is taking place. He sits back while Todd rants, understanding that it will be a long time before this can be resolved.

Zeitoun looks up at the mural occupying the upper half of the station’s malls, depicting the history of Louisiana and of the U.S. more broadly. Zeitoun notices for the first time how much of this mural has to do with struggle and subjugation, from Ku Klux Klan hoods, to Confederate Soldiers, to Native Americans being herded off their land, next to wealthy aristocrats and businessmen.

Nasser is processed after Todd. The armed officials grow excited as they realize that there is cash in Nasser’s duffel bag: $10,000. Todd is carrying $2,400. There are Mapquest printouts in his pockets, and though he says he delivers lost luggage, the officials aren’t satisfied. They find a small memory chip from a digital camera in his pocket as well. Zeitoun sees this evidence mount up, and despairs that he won’t be able to reach a lawyer or judge.

Finally it’s Zeitoun’s turn for processing. He is fingerprinted and his photograph Is taken. The officials take his wallet, and while they ask him basic questions, he isn’t told of the charges against him. Shortly after it’s over, a soldier brings him into a small room and tells him to remove his clothes. Zeitoun hasn’t been read his rights and doesn’t know why he’s being held, but now two soldiers in full camouflage with automatic rifles are surrounding him. Ashamed, Zeitoun submits to a full body check, which is unbelievably invasive. It’s Todd’s turn after him.

Zeitoun and Todd are brought to the back of the station, to where the buses depart. When the doors open, it’s revealed that the parking lot has been transformed into a massive outdoor prison. A 16-foot-high cage extends a hundred yards into the lot under a freestanding roof like those at gas stations. Zeitoun and Todd are pushed inside the enclosure, where two other prisoners are already being held.

For Zeitoun, this has all been surreal, but Todd rants and swears. He notes that this isn’t unprecedented, though, as during Mardi Gras, the police sometimes would put drunks and thieves into temporary tent-style jails. But this one is elaborate: a series of small, divided cages, like ones that hold dogs. To Zeitoun, it looks exactly like pictures he’s seen of Guantánamo Bay.

The space inside the cage is about 15 by 15 feet and is empty except for a portable toilet. Across from it is a two-story office building, now occupied by soldiers staring down at them with their M-16s. Behind them is the loud, unceasing sound of a full-power train engine. Zeitoun realizes that this Amtrak engine is generating all the electricity for the station and jail, and that this sound won’t be going away.

Zeitoun is determined to get one phone call. He tries to get the attention of an officer by reaching for the chain-link fence in front of him, but the guard yells at him not to touch the fence: they can only stand or sit in the middle. There’s a pain in Zeitoun’s foot, and he sees that some kind of metal splinter has gotten wedged under his foot. He needs to get it out quickly, or it will get worse.

A little later, Nasser and Ronnie are pushed inside. Only Todd has been told why he’s being held (possession of stolen goods) and none has been permitted a phone call. Nasser explains that he was concerned about the looting, and so decided to keep his life savings with him. The interrogators seemed not to know or care that many immigrants keep their money in cash. With the Syrian names and accents of Zeitoun and Nasser, the cash, and the Mapquest printouts, they realize that they’re in deep trouble.

For the first hours, Zeitoun is committed to making a phone call. While landlines aren’t working, there is a rumor that there’s a satellite phone in the upstairs office. The prisoners beg for access whenever a guard passes, but have no luck. One guard tells them that they’re Taliban—they don’t get a phone call.

After four hours, the men are given a military-style, ready-to-eat meal of barbecued pork. Zeitoun tells the guard that he and Nasser cannot eat pork, but the guard shrugs and says not to eat it. They give their portions to Todd and Ronnie.

Zeitoun suggests to Nasser that they pray, though they’re nervous about doing so in front of the guards. But Zeitoun thinks that this makes it even more important to pray, so they do so, as the guards watch them.

There’s little space to sleep, but Zeitoun wants to stay awake on the off chance that a supervisor or lawyer might pass by. The others struggle to sleep in the confined space and with the engine blaring. Every so often the guard shines his flashlight in, illuminating the exhausted, confused faces inside the cage.