Big Brother at the border: Max Blumenthal’s airport interrogation and the chilling of free speech

By willowt // 2025-02-28

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Award-winning journalist Max Blumenthal was subjected to intense questioning by CBP officers at Washington Dulles International Airport, highlighting the tension between government surveillance and First Amendment rights.
Blumenthal's ordeal is part of a broader pattern of harassment against journalists and activists critical of U.S. foreign policy and Israel’s actions, including similar experiences by Medea Benjamin and others.
The incident underscores a double standard in law enforcement, where dissenting voices face scrutiny while powerful figures accused of serious offenses, like Benjamin Netanyahu, travel freely.
Similar incidents of detentions and interrogations have been reported in the UK and Canada, indicating a global trend of political policing under the guise of national security and counter-terrorism.
Blumenthal’s experience emphasizes the critical need to defend free speech and open debate, which are foundational to a functioning democracy, and the importance of standing up against the criminalization of dissent.

In an era where free speech is increasingly under siege, the recent experience of journalist Max Blumenthal at Washington Dulles International Airport serves as a stark reminder of the growing tension between government surveillance and the First Amendment. Blumenthal, an award-winning journalist known for his critical reporting on U.S. foreign policy and Israel’s military actions, was subjected to what he described as a “strange and disconcerting questioning session” by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers upon his return from a family trip to Nicaragua. This incident, while seemingly minor in isolation, reflects a broader pattern of political harassment targeting journalists, activists and dissenting voices — particularly those critical of U.S. foreign policy and Israel’s actions in the Middle East. It also raises troubling questions about the erosion of civil liberties in the name of national security.

A friendly exchange or political harassment?

On February 24, 2025, as Blumenthal approached the customs line at Dulles, a CBP officer called out his name and led him to a secondary screening room. The officer, who claimed to have seen Blumenthal’s recent appearance on Andrew Napolitano’s Judging Freedom program, engaged him in what he described as a “friendly exchange.” However, the line of questioning quickly took a more ominous tone. The officer presented Blumenthal with a handwritten list of names, asking if he recognized any of them. Two were Anglo names — Nicole Smith and Susan Benjamin — while the other three were common Muslim names, including Muhammad Khan. Blumenthal denied knowing any of the individuals, but later discovered that Susan Benjamin was the birth name of Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the antiwar group Code Pink and a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy. Blumenthal’s wife, Anya Parampil, later researched the names and made the connection to Medea Benjamin, who confirmed that she had faced similar harassment in the past. “There was a period when I was harassed by federal authorities each time I traveled out of the country,” Medea told Blumenthal. “The FBI once dispatched an officer to meet me at an airport upon my return from a foreign trip and called me on several occasions in an unsuccessful attempt to solicit a ‘meeting.’”

A pattern of political policing

Blumenthal’s experience is not an isolated incident. In recent months, several antiwar activists and journalists have reported being questioned by federal agents about their views on Iran, Israel and individuals with Muslim or Arab names. Just days before Blumenthal’s interrogation, the FBI raided the home of a Palestinian American family near Dulles, whose daughter is a Palestine solidarity activist at George Mason University. This pattern of harassment extends beyond U.S. borders. In the United Kingdom, journalists like Kit Klarenberg and Richard Medhurst have been detained and interrogated by counter-terrorism police for their reporting on Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. In Canada, activist Yves Engler was jailed for five days after being accused of “hate speech” for criticizing a pro-Israel activist. These incidents are part of a broader trend of political policing that dates back to the McCarthy era, when the FBI and other agencies targeted “subversives” under the guise of national security. As Chip Gibbons noted in a recent article for The Guardian, the pretext of counter-terrorism has long been used to surveil and intimidate political dissidents, particularly those advocating for Palestinian rights.

The hypocrisy of selective enforcement

What makes Blumenthal’s experience particularly galling is the stark contrast between the treatment of dissenting voices and that of figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to travel freely despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Gaza. While journalists and activists are subjected to invasive questioning, detention and even imprisonment for their views, powerful leaders accused of far more serious offenses enjoy impunity. This double standard undermines the credibility of Western governments that claim to champion human rights and free speech.

Defending free speech in the fight for peace

The targeting of journalists and activists like Max Blumenthal is not just an attack on individuals—it is an assault on the principles of free speech and open debate that are essential to a functioning democracy. As Blumenthal himself noted, “the battle against genocide and the battle for free speech are quite interconnected.” In a world where dissent is increasingly criminalized, it is more important than ever to stand up for the right to speak truth to power. Whether or not one agrees with Blumenthal’s views, his experience at Dulles should serve as a wake-up call to all who value civil liberties. The fight for peace and justice cannot be won without defending the right to question, criticize and dissent. As the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In the face of growing government overreach, it is our collective responsibility to shine a light on these abuses and demand accountability. The alternative—a world where Big Brother watches and silences—is one we cannot afford to accept. Sources include: X.com TheCanary.co TheGuardian.com