Friday, January 2, 2009

The Muslim in the Airport Terminal


Once again we are bombarded with reports of a Muslim family being kicked out of a plane after passengers overheard them discussing the location of the safest places on an airplane. Given that they look Arab and that the woman interviewed was wearing traditional Muslim garb, one would assume that they would have been more sensitive to the concerns of their fellow passengers and refrained from discussing such topic. This is not the first incident of Muslims being denied the right to fly after being overheard discussing in airports subjects such as security and terrorism.

The first time this happened, I accepted it at face value, the second time too, but by now I begin to detect a pattern. All these incidents seem designed to offer Muslims millions of dollars worth of worldwide free advertising by the mainstream media. Go to an airport dressed as a Muslim Arab, say something that would scare the passengers, get removed from the flight by the airline, get interviewed by security personnel, call the press and BINGO. Immediately reports begin to appear on television, newspapers and magazines. The usual canards about America, racism, intolerance and Islamophobia are spread around the world. And then the apologies begin. The airlines apologize, the security agencies apologize, editorial writers wring their hands in agony. How could we have done this to such nice and innocent family?

Innocent my foot. Look deep into these stories and you will probably find an organized movement utilizing the same method to discredit the United States that is being used in the Middle East to propagate the image of victimhood. Remember the bombarded milk factories in Baghdad, the carefully placed doll in the middle of rubble in Beirut and the smoke superimposed by computer over Lebanon?

If I am wrong and those are innocent victims, then one word of advise to Muslim fliers. When sitting in an airport terminal discuss the superiority of falafel over hamburgers. You might get hungry, but you will reach your destination on time.

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