Thread: Two men kept from boarding US plane after speaking Arabic

Originally Posted by Looper

What if they dressed in Afghan traditional clothes or burkas and arabic robes?

Do you think some increased attention of the security forces should be directed at people who draw attention to their middle eastern identity?

You can only criticise the actions of the airline and security if you think racial profiling has no place in the fight against terrorism. However, I think it is an unfortunate but reasonable method even though it is contentious due to its association with racist behaviour.

The west can be proud to have led the world in dis-empowering racism as a belief system so for our progressive society it is particularly painful to have to give ground in some sense through racial profiling in the fight against terror but I think the practical needs of the situation outweigh the temporary setback in terms of social progress w.r.t. general views on racial equality and cultural respect.

Didn't you dress in women's clothes or something? Given that and your comments on this - and same-sex marriage - you should be profiled as a bit of a idiot/troll at times.

You have a bowl of 100 M&Ms but 10 of them could kill you pick through them or you throw the whole bowl out ?

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Just because an American doesn't wear the American national dress of jeans and a t-shirt doesn't give the government the right to start rounding them up or forcing all Muslims to wear green crescents on their clothes.

A straw man argument. Nobody is proposing rounding people up or making them wear badges.

Security controls at airports have limited resources. Should the resources be directed randomly at all passengers or to some extent focused on individuals who visually or through language identify with the culture that presents the threat?

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Given that and your comments on this - and same-sex marriage - you should be profiled as a bit of a idiot/troll at times.

Trolling is making posts for the purposes of getting a negative reaction. What I see in this thread is one half of the argument being championed and the other half being ignored or overlooked. I present the other side of the argument mainly to provide what I see as some balance for the purposes of discussion, not to provoke a hostile reaction.

What you see as the other half of the argument isn't really. It's a bit silly.

There's a reason people aren't suggesting profiling based on how people sound.

Originally Posted by Looper

I think hearing 2 men speaking in Arabic while boarding a plane in the west would understandably cause some alarm amongst passengers. It may not be entirely proportional to the real risk involved but it is understandable. It is also not unreasonable to briefly detain them for questioning and possibly in order to conduct a more thorough search of their belongings which is what seems to have happened. If its all good then they should be furnished with apologies for the intrusion and thanks for the cooperation etc. but they should understand that the initial concern and the security response is reasonable even if they take some measure of offence. Life does not come with a guarantee of freedom from being offended. They may choose to characterise it as racially biased treatment but racial profiling is a reasonable tactic in the fight against the abundantly real threat of islamist terrorism. To avoid being offended, if it is such a problem for them, they should speak English or keep quiet while boarding aircraft.

I you happen to be an Arab, what would your native tongue be?

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by Looper

What if they dressed in Afghan traditional clothes or burkas and arabic robes?

Then they are almost certainly not terrorists. What half assed terrorist would carry out an operation on Main St, or Wall St, dressed like that? So you would just fail to see the real danger. I'm sure some department of homeland insecurity has a job for you.

Exactly, terrorist do everything possible to blend in - that middle class white guy next door could be the next Jihadi John.....

Originally Posted by slackula

Gun violence kills WAY more Americans than terrorism every year

A little bit off topic there Slack.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

There's a reason people aren't suggesting profiling based on how people sound.

Are you saying that all anti-terrorist racial profiling is wrong or just racial profiling based on language?

I think racial profiling is one useful tactic in targeting security resources at airports.

I think language is one valid form of racial profiling.

Racial profiling is contentious because it bumps up against the taboo of racism in developed countries but being politically contentious is not absolute grounds for discounting a tactic.

I really don't see why someone should be held up and interrogated instead of getting on their flight, just because they talk Arabic or look Middle-Eastern.

I hope this outraging behaviour will have consequences for the airline staff and authorities involved.

Originally Posted by Looper

A little bit off topic there Slack.

Nice cherry-pick but no cigar. You were arguing in favour of racial profiling based upon certain perceived possibilities of a threat, I showed you a huge flaw in your theory.

Which language do you think NSA is filtering right now ?
Polish- German- Farsi- Italian- Arabic

Which words do you think the NSA filtering right now ?
Hamburger- Jihad- Baseball- Mosque- Appelpie- Muhammed

This filtering method is not only used in the U.S. on american citizen.

Usually the Washington Post reports on terrorism first in the EU, before some dumb ass european politician has a clue on what's going on.

it would be almost impossible for a passenger to get a bomb or a weapon onto a plane these days. americans or others picking on passengers because they look arabic are just venting their anger and helplessness in the face of this situation.

as shown by the downed russian jet in the sinai, the danger comes from the minimum wage scrotes employed to clean the plane and re stock the galleys that have free access to the planes during the turnaround period.

it would be easy to recruit one of these workers, pay them well and have them place a weapon or a bomb on board.

so whilst they are wasting time searching your grandmothers handbag or confiscating that 5ml of eye drops, spare a thought for the disaffected employee as he sabotages the plane and then disappears from his job never to be seen again.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Which language do you think NSA is filtering right now ?

French.

Originally Posted by slackula

Originally Posted by Looper

A little bit off topic there Slack.

Nice cherry-pick but no cigar. You were arguing in favour of racial profiling based upon certain perceived possibilities of a threat, I showed you a huge flaw in your theory.

A flaw? I do not see the relevance of pointing out that deaths from some other cause are higher than from terrorism. I am sure deaths from car accidents and cancer are also higher. Do these two further irrelevancies also invalidate all efforts at combating terrorism? US gun laws are an entirely different debate. You are way off topic.

Surely this whole nasty incident would have been avoided had the American authorities handed out forms that passenegers had to fill out indicating their mother tongue.

Clearly an inquiry should now be held into how men with the names Maher Khalil and Anas Ayyad somehow slipped by the airport's "racial profiling" security experts and how the two men got past the "swarthy Look" inspectors at check-in.

How did the other passengers KNOW it was Arabic?

^^
thank goodness there were courageous vigilante passengers to stand up against the potential terrorist threats!

Originally Posted by DrB0b

How did the other passengers KNOW it was Arabic?

What else would these swarthy types speak amongst themselves when plotting schemes not meant to be heard by English speakers?

Originally Posted by DrB0b

How did the other passengers KNOW it was Arabic?

Surely swarthy skin and funny sounds = wog or Arabic ?

Originally Posted by DrB0b

How did the other passengers KNOW it was Arabic?

Yep...
Chances are the average American [or Westerner] couldn't decipher Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, ancient Amharic or the numerous other sub-dialects/language that make up the large Semitic linguistic family.

I know. All fall under the category: they all look alike and sound alike, so they're all suspect.

Originally Posted by Looper

Are you saying that all anti-terrorist racial profiling is wrong or just racial profiling based on language?

I think racial profiling is one useful tactic in targeting security resources at airports.

I think racial profiling maybe seen as a tad....um ... well .. perhaps ... racist...don't you?

Everyone...and I mean everyone should be put through the same security measures as everyone else regardless of colour, religious creed or language spoken...makes it a whole lot safer...

You really should have backtracked with the excuse of trolling when you were given the chance.

Racial discrimination, erhh, 'profiling' will be very useful:

Originally Posted by Troy

I think racial profiling maybe seen as a tad....um ... well .. perhaps ... racist...don't you?

yes i agree
but racism can be good; it's what protects the extended family .
if the other races don't like the extra security measures in the west then they can go home

Originally Posted by blue

Originally Posted by Troy

I think racial profiling maybe seen as a tad....um ... well .. perhaps ... racist...don't you?

yes i agree
but racism can be good; it's what protects the extended family .
if the other races don't like the extra security measures in the west then they can go home

That's what they trying to tell your kind forever - go home.