Long Time Coming

The two people in this photo recently published an article in Counterpunch entitled The need to fight border regimes worldwide (accessible at: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/31/the-need-to-fight-border-regimes-worldwide/ ). The man on the left, Gabriel Kuhn, attempted to visit the man on the right, Franklin Graham IV, in 2010 at the United States during a book tour. Gabriel was, however, banned from traveling to the USA. In 2011 Franklin attempted to visit Gabriel in Europe, but was detained and later deported by United Kingdom immigration officials. This year (2012), they finally met up in St. Imier, Switzerland during le rencontre internationale de l’anarchisme (http://www.anarchisme2012.ch/ ).

The exact reasons why Gabriel was banned from travel to the USA and Franklin was refused entrance to the United Kingdom are unknown, but the two authors suspect their ideologies were the main cause. Gabriel is a long time political activist who publishes and translates for various left-wing presses. Franklin is an academic committed to defending the rights of local communities in the Sahara and Sahel (North and West Africa) and staunch critic of the Global War on Terror. US and UK officials never cited these reasons for their actions, but it was apparent to Gabriel and Franklin that the authorities were aware (and certainly uncomfortable) of their work.

So what did they talk about after a two year delay because of the excessive paranoia by homeland security and immigration officials? Did they plot the overthrow of democratic regimes or plot violence aimed at Western citizens? No. On the contrary, they talked about the conference, they discussed the troubles in Syria, Palestine, Mali, the Western Sahara, and caught up on the travels and experiences they have had worldwide. They talked about their future goals. Gabriel wishes to decrease his workload and make it to the forest more often. Franklin looks forward to reuniting with his wife in Morocco and is searching for work with non-governmental organizations in Africa. If these men are a threat then they are a threat to those committing injustices both outside the law and through the law.

Thus the two authors would like to thank US Homeland Security and the UK Border Agency for providing them the opportunity to expose their abuse of power. The Counterpunch article shows how thousands are ideologically excluded from traveling to the USA and how the lives of tens of thousands in North America, Europe and Australia are ruined through detainment and deportation.