Nov 30, 2010
Muslim woman defends profiling muslims in airports
Muslim journalist and professor, Asra Nomani, argues that we should include race and religion in the factors we consider when vetting folks at the airport:
(via)
After you listen to her arguments, let us know what you think…
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Ah those “moderate Muslims” only when they are ~2% of population. Just wait till they increase….UK is already showing signs of it.
Moderates are closer to 85% of the Muslim population. The radicals are less than 10%, but they’re the ones that make all the noise!
I think she’s pretty wise and has a good point about the 1970s. Also, she was very well-spoken– it was nice to listen to somebody being interviewed on the news without saying “um” or “uh” every five words.
But, that aside, I really think that our airport security needs to start working more like the Israeli airport system.
Agree with Audrey, we need to look at the Israeli airport security system……BEHAVIORAL profiling
The Israeli’s deal with something like 20 flights a day, so their system works in that environment. In the USA there are many thousands of flights a day. It sounds good in theory (because it does work for them) but in practice here I don’t know that we could do what they do, certainly not at the levels that they do it.
How exactly do you go about profiling a religion? Ask them to fill out a religious questionnaire before they go through airport security?
I think her arguments were really strong. I was impressed.
Super grey area… I’m not even sure what to say.
There was a really good segment on NPR over the lunch hour and I’m pretty sure she was one of the debaters. Two teams debating over whether we should racially and religously profile at airports, with Muslims and non-Muslims on both teams. I know they archive those shows, so look for it later today.
I don’t think we are ready to send our luggage to the airport one day ahead, like they do in Israel. Can you imagine the nightmare of that? Remember, Israel is a MUCH smaller country. I remember a ticket agent speaking on one of those 9/11 documentaries, about how Mohamed Atta seemed to be very evil to him, the “face of a terrorist” I believe he said. But, he did not act on those feelings, so if that guy had been trained to profile, Mohamed Atta would hopefully be rotting in some federal prison or been at the receiving end of the firing line,and all the Americans and others he flew to their deaths would be alive.
“discriminating with being discriminatory” was a really great line.
I thought she was poised and eloquent making her point. Also, she did a great job of clarifying what she means by “profile me” and acknowledging she is walking a fine line, but that profiling Arabs is what is required at this point in history because they are typically where the threat is coming from. It hasn’t always, and it may not always, be the case. But right now, it is.
oops – *without being discriminatory
This topic makes for interesting discussion, but we need to understand that terrorism aimed at Americans has more to do with U.S. foreign policy than anything else. For Muslim terrorists, Islam is their justification, not necessarily their motivation.
Yes, I’ve just heard a radio programme where they were discussing a psychological study of suicide bombers (these were bombers who had pressed the button, but the equipment was faulty). The discovered that religion was not the main motivator, but national pride – people who felt their nation had been badly treated. Hope of paradise was an added bonus, but not the reason for doing it.
In fact, the practice of suicide bombing was pioneered by the Tamil Tigers, a Marxist group in Sri Lanka.
Religious profiling might be logical, though I still think it’s very problematic. Most muslims, after all, are not terrorists.
But racial profiling? What about white muslims? Or asian christians/hindus/atheists? People might have a muslim name, because they were given it by their parents – that doesn’t show their own religion.
> Most muslims, after all, are not terrorists.
However, if I’m not mistaken, the majority of mass terror attacks have been from Muslim extremists.
To put it another way, most Muslims may not be terrorists, but most terrorists are Muslims. Those can both be true statements. And I grew up in Oklahoma City with an acute awareness of Timothy McVeigh (which is why I used the word “most”).
I remember talking with one of my co-workers in assets protection at a major retailer, and one of the things he said was enlightening was how much emphasis was placed on his training for “detecting” thieves. He said that as he was developing his skill set, he could stand at the entrance of our store and detect within 5-15 seconds who was likely to try to steal.
The emphasis was put on behavior. But no doubt there were other signs that would at least cause him to pay more close attention, including race.
That doesn’t have to mean that all white people were ignored (because behavior cuts across racial divides), but it doesn’t mean sticking your head in the sand with regards to who is likely to steal.
I echo others who question how we could actually do profiling based on religion.
My two favorite articles thus far that have made me think the most on this issue (all courtesy of John Gruber:
1. A Waste of Money and Time, “Exactly two things have made airplane travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else has been a waste of money. Add screening of checked bags and airport workers and we’re done. Take all the rest of the money and spend it on investigation and intelligence.”
2. How Israel Handles Airport Security, from a reader of Gruber’s blog summing it up in response to scalability concerns, “In the US, they search for weapons. In Israel, they search for terrorists.”
What precautions are in place right now to prevent a terrorist from walking through the main entrance of an airport and exploding a bomb in the crowded ticketing area? The fact that no one in the government or the media has addressed this proves to me that the “security” measures currently being implemented have nothing to do with keeping us safe and everything to do with keeping us compliant and submissive.