On Monday, 2 September, certain Jewish institutions in Europe received copy of an e-mail originally addressed to the Foreigners and Borders Service (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras - SEF) and to the Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública - PSP) of Portugal.
In this e-mail, the B. Canadian Jewish family denounced the awkward episode they experienced at Lisbon Airport, when the couple and their three children landed for a 9-day trip to Portugal. At the time, the border guard, read the family’s surnames on their passports and asked: “What is the origin of your last name?”.
"Knowing that our last name is obviously a Jewish last name, given the heightened political climate in the Middle East and the global rise of Antisemitism, we and our children felt very uncomfortable and fearful of this line of questioning. The look of distress on our faces would have been very apparent", stated the couple. The family preferred to reply that the surname is of European origin, which is true, because it is an Ashkenazi surname.
Not content with this reply, the border agent said: “That’s strange, I think it sounds Jewish, it’s a Jewish last name”, a reply that even drew a look from the border agent in the next booth. While this was going on, the family members noticed that all the other booths released the passengers much more speedily, and they were the last passengers on their flight to have their passports stamped and their arrival in Portugal authorized.
"There was no reason to further pursue this question other than to specifically highlight our Jewish religious identity and intimidate us from his position of power guarding entry to the country of Portugal. (...) We answered this question, he saw the distress on our faces and then intentionally stated our religious affiliation as somehow relevant to our entry into Portugal", states the family.
The embarrassment caused by border agent to the B. family is upheld by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which defines antisemitism as a hostile belief or behavior regarding Jews just because they are Jews. Antisemitism can be “revealed”, that is, presented quite clearly through verbal statements or physical violence, or else “veiled”, when, although disguised, antisemitic attitudes are implicit.
The B.’s outburst ends with a question: Was this border agent speaking in the name of Portugal?
