Page 7 - Silent Violence
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gravity of which required jet-propulsion humour to
escape.
Then there was only a young man in front of us.
He opened his case on the counter and turned it to
the official, who pulled out a white plastic bottle
and stood it next to the case.
"Contact lens fluid," the youth said brightly.
The official unscrewed the top and sniffed; he
then put the bottle back on the counter in such a
way that it was obvious it would not be repacked.
He went back to rummaging.
The young man looked at us and I raised my
eyebrows sympathetically.
Mike had told me not to bring any perfumes, for
they could contain alcohol. Medicine and make-up
could be regarded as drugs. Videos would be
confiscated for viewing. All Marks & Spencers
labels had to be cut off, and anything else
pertaining to Jewish companies or Israel itself had
to be erased or better still left behind. Pendants
with crucifixes or any adornment that could be
construed as an object of worship were not
tolerated. For just as there are no natural rivers in
Saudi Arabia, so too there are no churches or
places of devotion other than mosques. Yet, non-
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