If you speak Arabic, you're a terrorist.
POSTED BY: citizen
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 23:13
VIEWED: 9253
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Quote:
Passengers on a Manchester-bound flight have described how two men were removed from the plane because other travellers thought they were speaking Arabic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5269106.stm
So it's clear, if you look like a Muslim, and you speak Arabic, you must be a Terrorist.
Luckilly we're not the racist ones that judge people on looks language and religion...
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
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Historically, progressive attitudes have generally taken a back seat to getting blown up.
Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
-- Cicero
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Quote:So do you agree that people who look Muslim should be banned from aircraft? Mob rule?
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Historically, progressive attitudes have generally taken a back seat to getting blown up.
Is Xenophobia okay if we're the one's doing it?
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
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But seriously, what are you supposed to do if Arabic is the language you speak? Be quiet and not say anything or else you're thrown out of any transportation system you want to use?
They obviously got through all the check-points safe and clear.
Progressive ideas such as "don't burn people alive as witches" have also taken backseats, historically, to fear, yes. Doesn't mean it's right.
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To be fair and realistic, if I were of Arab descent, I would be speaking english on an English or American plane these days, for my own saftey.
There's a lot of nuts out there, on both sides of the fence.
Alladinisall
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It's a "progressive attitude" to allow people to move freely and not arbitrarily curb that right because of paranoid stereotyping?
----
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being" - Carl Jung
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Where's it all going to end, this is almost as feeble as the story a few days ago about the claustrophobic woman who made a flight turn back.
Unfortunately, this type of incident does the terror mongers work for them.
Of course, people are going to be on edge - that's understandable. But it doesn't mean passengers can start demanding the removal of other passengers.
I'm guessing that Spanish airport security is as tight as any other western airports, so why would people feel nervous ?
What next ? People refusing to get on trains or buses, or any other form of public transport ?
It's a worrying sign for the future, although I do agree with chrisisall. With the current climate, I'd also be speaking English on a UK or American plane.
Not saying that's right or wrong, but people will be understandably nervous, and that might go some way to alleviating fears.
That said, what would these passengers have done if it had been 2 English speakers, who just appeared nervous ?
Could be that someone's just nervous about flying (there are a few around - me included). If they saw someone sweating, or gripping the seat with white knuckles, what would they have done ?
Or someone so nervous they were trying to control a panic attack - it happens. Are we so far down the paranoid road, that anyone who looks suspicious gets removed from a plane ?
But I'm guessing that the real criminals are rubbing their hands with glee, as they are creating such a state of paranoia in the transport systems of the world.
Wholeheartedly agree with Empxenu - paranoid stereotyping isn't a progressive attitude.
If we start down the road of paranoid xenophobia, it's a slippery slope to intolerance and hatred - so let's hope these incidents stop.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Historically, progressive attitudes have generally taken a back seat to getting blown up.
I think you're missing the point. Charles Krauthammer, neo-conservative talking head and Fox News political analyst, wrote a column in the New York Times, "Politically Correct Screening Won't Catch Jihadists," advocating the practice of using ethnicity, nationality, and religion as the determinate factors when screening for potential terrorists at U.S. airports. This position is so flawed, it's hard to know where to start.
First off, this is a racist, bigoted idea that will do nothing to enhance security. Think back to London after the bombings there. A police officer, obviously on edge after the recent bombings, chased down and put seven bullets into a Brazilian electrician. Why? Because the Brazilian panicked and ran from the officer, and the policeman thought he looked like an Arab Muslim. I mention this, because of Krauthammer's answer: security officials should concentrate on "young Muslim men of North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian origin." Krauthammer doesn't say how authorities should go about identifying "Muslim men" or how to distinguish non-Muslim men from Muslim men entering a subway station. Probably just a small detail easily overlooked.
The flaw in Krauthammer's methodology, is that his system includes huge numbers of men of color. How, just by looking, can security personnel identify a Muslim male of Arab or South Asian origin goes unexplained.
Reportedly, after Sept. 11, 2001, some "good" citizens of California took out after members of the Sikh community, mistaking them for Arabs. Oh, well, what's a little political incorrectness in the name of national security. Bang, bang -- oops, he was Brazilian. Two young black guys were London bombers: one Jamaican, the other Somalian. Muslim, too. Ergo: Watch your back when around black men -- they could be Muslims.
So while advocates of racial profiling would have authorities subject men and women of black and brown hues to close scrutiny for criminal suspicion, they would look right past:
· White male Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people, including 19 children, and damaged 220 buildings.
· White male Eric Rudolph, whose remote-controlled bomb killed a woman and an off-duty police officer at a clinic, whose Olympic Park pipe bomb killed a woman and injured more than 100, and whose bombs hit a gay club and woman's clinic.
· D.C.-born and Silver Spring-raised white male John Walker Lindh, who converted to Islam and was captured in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban.
· The IRA bombers who killed and wounded hundreds; the neo-fascist bombers who killed 80 people and injured nearly 300 in Bologna, Italy; and the truck bombings in Colombia by Pedro Escobar's gang. Bombings carried out by Basque separatists, Germany's Red Army Faction, and France's Action Directe.
But let's get really current. What about those non-Arab, non-South Asians without black or brown skins who are bombing apartment buildings, train stations and theaters in Russia. They've taken down passenger jets, hijacked schools and used female suicide bombers to a fare-thee-well, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. They are Muslims from Chechnya, and would pass the Krauthammer test for terrorists with ease. After all, these folks hail from the Caucasus; you can't get any more Caucasian than that.
What the racial profilers are proposing is insulting, offensive and -- by thought, word and deed, whether intentional or not -- racist. And just as importantly, ineffective. But don't take my word for it. Ask the Israelis. El Al, the Israeli airline, doesn't now nor has it ever used racial profiling as a means for detecting potential terrorists. What do they do? They use a more thorough and direct approach:
"When El Al passengers arrive at Israel's Ben Gurion airport or any other airport that services the airline, they undergo an extensive interview by trained security personnel.
They
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Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:Quote:So do you agree that people who look Muslim should be banned from aircraft? Mob rule?
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Historically, progressive attitudes have generally taken a back seat to getting blown up.
Is Xenophobia okay if we're the one's doing it?
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
Only when I'm on it..What Finn said.
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Quote:It's not sure whether they were speaking Arabic, all that's known for sure is they were 'Muslim looking'.
Originally posted by chrisisall:
To be fair and realistic, if I were of Arab descent, I would be speaking english on an English or American plane these days, for my own saftey.
There's a lot of nuts out there, on both sides of the fence.
Would you only speak Spanish in Mexico?
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