More on the American student in Syria: a reader in Brazil sent me this: "I'm a regular reader of your blog, here in Brazil. Although I have an arab descent, as do some 7 million people in this country, my passport is brazilian. Therefore, I was quite surprised as I read the email sent to you by the american student who complained about having to wait on the syrian border. Waiting for hours at airports, being shouted at, or being sent back home in the next plane without further explanation are some of the things a Brazilian - or any Latin american by that matter - could expect when travelling to Europe, the US, etc . Some months ago, a group of brazilians had to wait for MORE than eight hours in an airport in Spain; the Brazilian ambassador to Israel and his daughter were harassed at the Tel Aviv airport because the israeli officials thought the girl had an Arab name; many, many brazilians were msitreated in European or American airports. My mother, by the way, was almost arrested at the Amsterdam airport the last time she went to visit her boyfriend in Europe, and all because she doesn't speak english well (and maybe because she's got an Arabic surname). And, mind you, Brazil has NOT killed any americans or europeans in any raid! Actually, european migrants have always been welcomed here. There are whole regions of Brazil populated by people that came from Italy, Germany, Polland, Russia, and their descendants."