Do You Believe In Racially Profiling Muslims At Airports?

I believe in profiling, not based on race alone, but rather statistics which is unbiased and not based on bigotry.

 

We need to learn how Israelis profile in their airports. They are experts in profiling radical Muslims.

 

maybe ...

but then I'm a fair skinned female, reddish hair, the wrong side of mid life and probably a pretty unlikely candidate, but the last three trips they've waved their magic wand over me to see if I'm carrying tinkerbell dust.

the theory (several people have suggested this) is they pick people at random to make sure it doesn't look like they are profiling, and because I'm the exact opposite thats why they "sample" me.


a few years ago a middle aged indian woman I know set off metal detectors and was taken away and strip searched ... I think they found it was the gold thread in her sari that set things off ... but they clearly thought all darker skinned people who wear non western cothing could be potential terrorists .... lols ... she was as unlikely a suspect as you can get.

In some place I have been your bags have to be scanned going into a bus station.... but then after going through that, I saw a woman using a sharp knife to peel an orange on the bus

 

The woman was obviously going to hold the bus to ransom with her little knife! She should have been escorted off immediately!

 

lols

... I suspect the scans were actually for something else ... not metal.

a few times we were stopped around that region and our bags searched ... seems people transport opium through there.

 

I fly business class on occasions, I fly mainly Thai Airways. On economy class, plastic knives and forks are supplied during meals. On all business class flights I've flown, steel knives and forks are supplied.

It appears "terrorists" only fly economy class.

 

lols on one trip to london in 2002 - 2003 I had two stopovers .... aust to first stopover - plastic. first stopover to dubai - metal. dubai to london - plastic.

same airline, but they obviously catered to western paranoia on the legs of the journey which touched the anglo/western world.

 

Different airlines and airports have different security standards.

I fly in and out of Bangkok several times a year. You can always guess who the American tourists are. They are the ones who instinctively remove their shoes lol.

 

this was all the one airline ... so I'd say its related to the requirements in the UK and in Australia. the two places in between didn't seem concerned ... mind you I remember with that airline that when we too off there was always a prayer to Allah nroadcast through th ePA system .. think it was after we the cabin crew did their safety demonstration .... maybe they figured the prayer would protect us, but the western airport authorities preferred to rely on enhanced sfatey regulations.

I think I had to remove my shoes in London ... or it may only have been because I was wearing boots ... but I had to remove them in Poland on the way to another country withn the EU. don't remember that from short flights generally within the EU at that time.

South east asia (including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia) generally feels like they have about the right amount of security - its not overkill ... well maybe it is with water bottles, but I have learnt to accept that.

 

I have never been asked to remove my shoes flying out of Sydney.

 

It was not in effect before 9/11 to my knowledge (profiling Muslims or people of obvious middle eastern lineage)

Rev A

 

Islam isn't a race.

Racially profiling Muslims at airports is based on religion, not race.

 

perth either.

 

same thing on a KLM flight in 2001---- Cai-Amsterdam metal utensils. Amsterdam to LAX plastic. I laughed and mentioned it to the attendant on the Cairo/Amsterdam leg- he said that what should be banned on US leg of flights were the glass wine bottles if they were looking at something which could be used as a weapon!

No shoes off in Cairo

 

The only individual from the middle east I would profile are those lacking a sense of humor. It has been my experience that radicals lose their sense of humor in the process of being radicalized. Egyptians especially are known for their great sense of humor and if I found one lacking in it, I would worry.

 

True that.

and not just muslim radicals.

I remember the old radical lefties used to be such a serious bunch!

 

He means to racially profile nonetheless and as we can see there are particular races who are more prone to followers of Islam, but alas I don't believe in profiling based solely on bigotry but statistical fact.

 

The Oklahoma City bombing was Muslim-connecting. Al Qaeda's # 1 guy, Zawahiri went there personally to inspect the site.

 

TSA screeners are prone to profile people based on the way they look rather than how they act even after behaviour detection replaced racial profiling and Muslim-looking persons are more likely to be stopped at airports regardless of how they act. Moreover, the federal ban on racial profiling is not strictly enforced when it comes to terror suspects and the Obama administration condones such a practice to keep terrorists at bay.

 

Turks are (original) pretty white people , arabs (original) are pretty white people , asians are pretty white-yellow . Noone can seperate muslims as blacks greens whites . its not a race , it was told million time .

 

If people with green hair have ben shown as the most likely to eat dogs, I would keep my pet away from green haired people out of caution and protective instinct. Even though I understand not all green haired people would like to make a Fido brisket.....I kinda like my dog.

 

"White Australia" ring any bells?????

 

White Australia what? Finish it.



The worse case of profiling I've seen was in Bangkok a couple of years ago. When the security people got through with the woman (and her twin infants), my wife and I offered her assistance.

 

"White Australia" was the official policy of the Australian government until 1974. They didn't allow African or Asian immigration AT ALL.
The level of bigotry and discrimination in that country makes US southerners look like pikers. The only Americans that get close to the depth of Australian bigotry are in Indiana.
Aussies have absolutely NO business picking at any American racism at all.

Finished enough?

 

So,, what does the White Australia Policy (to give it its correct title) have to do with racial profiling today?

Hardly.

27% of the Australian population are born overseas, 40% have at least one parent born overseas.