Silly me. I thought flying on 9/11 would be easy. I figured most people would choose not to fly that day so lines would be short, planes would be lightly filled and though security might be ratcheted up, we’d all feel safer knowing we had come a long way since that dreadful Tuesday morning 10 years ago.
But then armed officers stormed my plane, threw me in handcuffs and locked me up.
My flight from Denver landed in Detroit on time. I sent a text message to my husband to let him know we had landed and I would be home by dinner. The plane stopped on the tarmac, seemingly waiting to have the gate cleared. We waited. I played on my phone, checking Facebook, scrolling through my Twitter feed. After a while of sitting there, I decided to call my husband to tell him the plane was being delayed and I would call him when I got off the plane.
Just as I hung up the phone, the captain came over the loudspeaker and announced that the airport authorities wanted to move the airplane to a different part of the airport. Must be a blocked gate or something, I thought. But then he said: Everyone remain in your seats or there will be consequences. Sounded serious. I looked out the window and saw a squadron of police cars following the plane, lights flashing. I turned to my neighbor, who happened to be an Indian man, in wonderment. What is going on? Others on the plane were remarking at the police as well. Getting a little uneasy, I decided the best thing for me to do was to tweet about the experience. If the plane was going to blow up, at least there’d be some record on my part.
Stuck on a plane at Detroit airport…cops everywhere
Soon the plane was stopping in some remote part of the airport, far from any buildings, and out the window I see more police cars coming to surround the plane. Maybe there’s a fugitive on the plane, I say to my neighbor, who is also texting and now shooting some photos of the scene outside. He asks me to take a few, as I have a better angle from my window seat. A few dozen uniformed and plainclothes officers are huddled off the side of the plane. I don’t see any guns, and it isn’t clear what’s going on.
So I continued to tweet:
A little concerned about this situation. Plane moved away from terminal surrounded by cops. Crew is mum. Passengers can’t get up.
Then what looked like the bomb squad pulled up. Two police vans and a police communication center bus parked off the road. I started to get nervous and rethink my decision to fly on 9/11.
Cops in uniform and plainclothes in a huddle in rear of plane.
We had been waiting on the plane for a half hour. I had to pee. I wanted to get home and see my family. And I wanted someone to tell us what was going on. In the distance, a van with stairs came closer. I sighed with relief, thinking we were going to get off the plane and get shuttled back to the terminal. I would still be able to make it home for dinner. Others on the plane also seemed happy to see those stairs coming our way.
I see stairs coming our way…yay!
Before I knew it, about 10 cops, some in what looked like military fatigues, were running toward the plane carrying the biggest machine guns I have ever seen–bigger than what the guards carry at French train stations.
My last tweet:
Majorly armed cops coming aboard
Someone shouted for us to place our hands on the seats in front of us, heads down. The cops ran down the aisle, stopped at my row and yelled at the three of us to get up. “Can I bring my phone?” I asked, of course. What a cliffhanger for my Twitter followers! No, one of the cops said, grabbing my arm a little harder than I would have liked. He slapped metal cuffs on my wrists and pushed me off the plane. The three of us, two Indian men living in the Detroit metro area, and me, a half-Arab, half-Jewish housewife living in suburban Ohio, were being detained.
The cops brought us to a parked squad car next to the plane, had us spread our legs and arms. Mine asked me if I was wearing any explosives. “No,” I said, holding my tongue to not let out a snarky response. I wasn’t sure what I could and could not say, and all that came out was “What’s going on?”
No one would answer me. They put me in the back of the car. It’s a plastic seat, for all you out there who have never been tossed into the back of a police car. It’s hard, it’s hot, and it’s humiliating. The Indian man who had sat next to me on the plane was already in the backseat. I turned to him, shocked, and asked him if he knew what was going on. I asked him if he knew the other man that had been in our row, and he said he had just met him. I said, it’s because of what we look like. They’re doing this because of what we look like. And I couldn’t believe that I was being arrested and taken away.
When the Patriot Act was passed after 9/11 and Arabs and Arab-looking people were being harassed all over the country, my Saudi Arabian dad became nervous. A bit of a conspiracy theorist at heart, he knew the government was watching him and at any time could come and take him away. It was happening all over. Men were being taken on suspicion of terrorist activities and held and questioned–sometimes abused–for long periods of time. Our country had a civil rights issue on its hands. And, in the name of patriotism we lost a lot of our liberty, especially those who look like me.
I never had any run-ins with the law. Since 9/11, though I felt a heightened sense of how my appearance would affect my travel plans, I never had any concrete reason to think I would be targeted. I passed through security without excessive searching (except that one time they thought they saw a pocket knife in my husband’s backpack, which they couldn’t find anyway even though it was there). Because I am my father’s daughter I am aware of the possibility of anti-Arab and anti-Semitic sentiments that have increased dramatically, but luckily no members of my family nor myself have had to endure what so many others have gone through in this country and throughout the world. As Americans we are scared and horrified by acts of terror. But I am not sure that what we are doing to dissuade and protect are working.
We arrived at an offsite building and remained in the squad car for a few minutes. The Indian man was taken out of the car first, and an officer stood at the door to make sure I didn’t go anywhere. I asked him several times what was going on and he wouldn’t answer me. It was like I was invisible. I felt so helpless and shocked. I was being treated like a criminal.
Then it was my turn. I got out of the car and was led, still cuffed, to a cell. “Are you serious?” I asked the officer, and he said yes. The heavy metal door was shut and locked behind me. Again, I asked what was going on and why was I here. Finally he said, they will let you know later. They are going to ask you some questions.
I sat down on the metal cot that hung off the wall. It had a thin, green vinyl mattress–mattress is a generous term–that offered no comfort. It was about a 6-by-10 cell, the concrete walls were painted a light yellow but were streaked with black dirt. The floor was some sort of stainless steel, and a stainless steel toilet that has probably never seen the good side of a scrubbing brush, instructed me to keep holding my stretched bladder as long as I could. Near the ceiling above the toilet there was a video camera.
A plainclothes officer stood came to my door and asked me if I spoke English. Something in me snapped at that question. Of course I spoke English I’m an American citizen, you asshole! Well, I left the expletive out. “Ok,” he said and stood watch outside my door saying he wanted to make sure I didn’t “flush anything.” He also wouldn’t tell me what was going on.
As I sat and waited, quietly contemplating my situation, the other Indian man was getting questioned in the main room outside. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I could hear a bit. They asked him where he was from, did he have any family, where were his shoes. He talked quietly and agreeably. I wondered if he was as incensed as I was or if he had entered this country expecting harassment from the American authorities.
They took him to another room, and I heard an officer tell him to remove his clothes. He was going to be searched. I could not fully grasp what was happening. I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks. I thought about Abu Ghraib and the horror to which those prisoners were exposed. I thought about my dad and his prescience. I was glad he wasn’t alive to know about what was happening to me. I thought about my kids, and what would have happened if they had been there when I got taken away. I contemplated never flying again. I thought about the incredible waste of taxpayer dollars in conducting an operation like this. I wondered what my rights were, if I had any at all. Mostly, I could not believe I was sitting in some jail cell in some cold, undisclosed building surrounded by “the authorities.”
I heard the officers discuss my impending strip search. They needed to bring in a female officer. At least they were following protocol, or something to that nature. Still, could this really be happening?
Eventually a female uniformed officer came in. She looked like a fat Jada Pinkett Smith, and in a kind but firm voice explained what was going to happen. I was to stand, face the wall in a position so the camera above the toilet couldn’t see, and take off my clothes. I complied. She commented on my tattoo, saying, “Oh you have one of those things–good and evil, right?”
“Yin and yang. Balance,” I said, grabbing my clothes to redress.
“You understand why we have to do this, right? It’s for our own protection,” she told me.
Because I am so violent. And pulling me off an airplane, handcuffing me and patting me down against a squad car didn’t offer enough protection. They also needed to make sure all my orifices were free and clear.
She apologized for having to do the strip search, and I asked her to tell me what was going on. She said she didn’t know but someone would come and talk to me. She put my handcuffs back on and left. The other officer stood guard outside. I told him I needed to call my husband. He said I could use the phone later.
As I sat in my cell trying not to think about my full bladder, they brought another man in. I wondered if he had been on the plane as well. Were they going to bring everyone in or had they just singled us out? He spoke belligerently, and I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying. But I did hear two officers talking about the man who stole a $3,000 watch at the security checkpoint. Now there’s a real crime. What was I doing here?
I had no idea how much time had passed. It was about 4:00 when I sent my last tweet on the plane. I couldn’t tell if it was day or night. I was tired, confused, angry and bored. I wanted my phone. I wanted to call my husband so he could come to Detroit and rescue me. I wanted to update my status so my friends weren’t freaking out. Did I also want a lawyer?
Another female officer, this one in jeans and a t-shirt came to visit me. She introduced herself as an agent–Homeland Security. She removed my handcuffs and had me follow her to a different room down a long hall and through a few doors. As we walked, I got a glimpse of the watch-stealer, a chubby middle-aged white guy with a buzz cut. He didn’t look too different from some of the officers.
She led me to a small, white room where a man who introduced himself as an FBI agent was waiting for me. I sat on one of three chairs at a small metal table, and the female agent sat across from me. They both offered me their badges for inspection, not that I would have known the difference, but they were calm and not pushy. I appreciated that. The male agent proceeded to ask me a series of questions about where I had been, where I was going, about my family, if I had noticed any suspicious behavior on the plane. The other agent took notes while I talked. They asked if I knew the two men sitting next to me, and if I noticed them getting up during the flight or doing anything I would consider suspicious.
I told them no, and couldn’t remember how many times the men had gotten up, though I was sure they had both gone to the bathroom in succession at some point during the flight.
They had done some background check on me already because they knew I had been to Venezuela in 2001. They asked about my brother and sister and asked about my foreign travel. They asked what I did during the flight. I told them I didn’t get up at all, read, slept and played on my phone (in airplane mode, don’t worry). They asked about my education and wanted my address, Social Security, phone number, Facebook, Twitter, pretty much my whole life story.
Again, I asked what was going on, and the man said judging from their line of questioning that I could probably guess, but that someone on the plane had reported that the three of us in row 12 were conducting suspicious activity. What is the likelihood that two Indian men who didn’t know each other and a dark-skinned woman of Arab/Jewish heritage would be on the same flight from Denver to Detroit? Was that suspicion enough? Even considering that we didn’t say a word to each other until it became clear there were cops following our plane? Perhaps it was two Indian man going to the bathroom in succession?
He warned me that the last time an incident like this happened back in December, they had to interview everyone on the plane and no one got to go home for six hours. It was going to be a long haul.
They asked me if I wanted to add anything that they hadn’t asked. I said no. Then they asked if I needed anything. I said I needed a real bathroom, and the female officer, saying she didn’t blame me, offered to take me to the officers’ bathroom. I must have peed straight for five minutes.
She walked me back to my cell, telling me it was for my own protection as they had brought in the rest of the passengers for questioning. They would fetch my stuff from the plane and allow me to call my husband. My cell had been occupied by the Indian man I had sat next to on the plane and in the squad car. So I waited for them to move him to the second cell that was holding the watch stealer. As I passed by the small window in that room I could see the watch stealer splayed out on the cot. He appeared to be asleep. I wondered where the Indian man would sit.
After fingerprinting me and asking me about my height/weight/place and date of birth and so on, a middle-aged white cop with a beer belly and a flat top returned me–without handcuffs–to the cell. I waited, wondering if I would be spending the night locked up. I thought about the last words my husband said to me while I was still on the plane waiting on the tarmac, “They must have found out there was a Hebshi on the plane.” We joke about this at times, that because of my ethnicity I am being scrutinized but I had no intention of putting that out to the universe and making it happen.
I thought about Malcom X and how bravely and fastidiously he studied and wrote while he was in prison, how his solitude enabled him to transform his anger into social change and personal betterment. That’s when I decided to write this post. I needed to explain what had happened–was happening–to me. I was not going to be silent. Still, I wondered what my rights were, and though I felt violated and scared I wasn’t sure that our new laws protected me from this treatment.
The female agent returned to my cell with my cell phone. She wanted me to show her my tweets–that were simultaneously posted onto Facebook–I had composed while on the plane. She joked that she didn’t even have a Facebook account. She left for a few minutes then returned and allowed me to call my husband. She said I would be released in a few minutes.
The sound of his voice brought me to tears, but I tried to remain calm. I gave him a one-minute recap of my situation, which only left him confused. I told him I would call him when I got to my car, which was parked in an airport lot.
I hung up the phone and followed the officer out of the cell and into another small room where the male FBI agent was waiting accompanied by another FBI agent–possibly the head honcho on duty. He said the three of us were being released and there was nothing suspicious found on the plane. He apologized for what had happened and thanked me for understanding and cooperating. He said, “It’s 9/11 and people are seeing ghosts. They are seeing things that aren’t there.” He said they had to act on a report of suspicious behavior, and this is what the reaction looks like.
He said there had been 50 other similar incidents across the country that day.
I was led out another door and down a long hall where I gathered my bags, which had been removed from the plane and searched. In the hallway I saw the other two men who had also been detained. They seemed happy to be being released as well. It felt strange to smile at them, and I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.
We walked outside of the building, and for the first time I saw that we were at the airport police station, which also doubled as the spot for the local Homeland Security office to reside–an office that didn’t exist 10 years ago. It was starting to get dark. But I still didn’t know what time it was.
Another officer drove me to my car in the airport parking lot. As he plopped into the drivers seat and me into the passenger’s seat of the unmarked sedan, he apologized for not having air conditioning, but, I thought snarkily, being a descendant of desert people I obviously didn’t mind the heat. He asked me if I was OK to drive back to my home in Ohio, and I said I was, though I wasn’t sure I was. I wasn’t sure how this would affect me. I am still not sure.
All I know, is I probably won’t be flying again on Sept. 11.
In the aftermath of my events on Sept. 11, 2011, I feel violated, humiliated and sure that I was taken from the plane simply because of my appearance. Though I never left my seat, spoke to anyone on the flight or tinkered with any “suspicious” device, I was forced into a situation where I was stripped of my freedom and liberty that so many of my fellow Americans purport are the foundations of this country and should be protected at any cost.
I believe in national security, but I also believe in peace and justice. I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying–as hard as it sometimes may be–not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress. I admit to have fallen to the traps of convention and have made judgments about people that are unfounded. We live in a complicated world that, to me, seems to have reached a breaking point. The real test will be if we decide to break free from our fears and hatred and truly try to be good people who practice compassion–even toward those who hate.
I feel fortunate to have friends and family members who are sick over what happened to me. I share their disgust. But there was someone on that plane who felt threatened enough to alert the authorities. This country has operated for the last 10 years through fear. We’ve been a country at war and going bankrupt for much of this time. What is the next step?
You can read more about the ordeal from this AP report: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/
Erin O'Gara
/ September 12, 2011This is beautiful, Shoshana – had me in tears throughout and I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m so sorry that this horrible thing happened to you, but am thankful that you are home safe and sound. Lots of hugs and love to you!
Dallas
/ September 12, 2011People have become so paranoid, scared of every shadow, every whisper that isn’t government sanctioned. I am ashamed of people who react blindly. The sad truth is, the terrorists did win that day. 10 years later, people are still terrified. That’s the entire goal of terrorism..until America stops the blind fear that makes situations like this possible, they will continue to win.
Ian E
/ September 12, 2011Well said Dallas.
Tanya Harris
/ September 13, 2011If they ever thanked me for “being understanding,” I would have responded, “I understand there will always be bigots.”
I wish I could say it will never happen again, but I’m fairly certain it will. Hopefully not to you, but definitely to someone else. I hope you bang a whole lot of pots and pans together. I hope you get people’s attention so that this school-yard bullying is exposed.
And by the way, who’s to say that a “passenger” reported suspicious activity even though they say this was the case? I hate to say it, but maybe the group of you met their racial profiling criteria.
Bye the way, love the blog.
Tanya in Norfolk, Virginia
Scott - Quirky Travel Guy
/ September 14, 2011I’d be so angry at the unknown person who reported the “suspicious” activity. You definitely handled this with a lot more patience than I would have.
Toni
/ September 15, 2011I grew up in Communist country. It looked the same.
tarotworldtour
/ September 15, 2011After visiting Russia in 2005, I noticed a lot of similarities between the US and Russia in terms of the paranoia and possibility of things like this happening. I pretty much believe that the terrorists that do exist out there are pretty much people all acting in response to oppression of this sort and this kind of policing helps them rather than cures the situation. If can make a global standard for common sense treatment of people, this BS can end tomorrow. Unfortunately, things in most of the West will have to get worse first over the next decade before people really hit the limit. There is also too much information available for people to properly pursue issues, and the administrators of the US, Nato, EU know this.
Amanda
/ September 12, 2011You hit the nail on the head there, Dallas.
Allison
/ September 12, 2011In addition to your excellent comment, the terrorists have also won in that they’ve divided us even further. We had racial tension and race- and religion-based bigotry prior to 9/11, but it’s gotten so much more intense since then.
If the terrorists wanted to destroy America by turning us into each other’s enemies, they’ve accomplished that task.
Russ
/ September 13, 2011Do you think that is a result of terrorism, or perhaps the advent of social networking, anonymous blogging, and the many other ways people can express hatred with no consequences?
That’s not to say that there is any hatred in what has been written here in your comments, but I think we have many outlets for hatred that didn’t exist 10 years ago. This doesn’t stink of being a result of 9/11 to me. I think the author’s experience is awful and I wish it hadn’t happened, but I am also somewhat grateful for a system which does look into what someone may perceive as a serious threat. I survived the attack on Tower 1 of the World Trade Center on 9/11 so my perspective may somewhat subjective, but I would rather be detained or searched (and I was searched unnecessarily many times in the years immediately following the attacks) than have no tools for reporting something that may look suspicious to me. That being said, I think I have the ability to be rational enough not to report three people sitting on a plane not interacting with one another simply because they look suspicious for no reason other than my paranoia and the color of their skin.
Anyway, I don’t think the terrorists “won” because of this scenario. I think someone was very inconvenienced and humiliated and this is a lesson in why the methods to keep us safe need to be further refined, but at least there are efforts out there to do so.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011“Searched”???! SEARCHED??!! The author wasn’t “searched,” she was STRIP searched!!! And, to you, that’s merely an “inconvenience”?? She was *imprisoned* and that’s just an “inconvenience”?? I’m so glad you survived the 9/11 attacks, but to in any way, whatsoever, try to justify the cretins who reported “suspicious” behavior based *solely” on the physicaly appearance of the author is, well, criminal and obscene. There is no justification for what that idiot did. Their abject paranoia may be a *reason* but it is not an excuse. There is no excuse, and they should be subjected to the same “inconvenience” that the author and the other two passengers were. Period, end of story. The terrorists HAVE won, because you think that the pathetic “scared” passenger did the right thing and you think that the author was merely inconvenienced because we have to be so scared that we utterly trash the Constitution by subjecting citizens to unreasonable search and seizure. DHS could have checked her background without all of that and found she was no threat, but they decided to go through with this heinous crime anyway. Inconvenienced, my arse.
Marla
/ September 16, 2011Liz, I’m reading no further after your post because you have said it all. Besides, I don’t think I could emotionally handle any of the gung-ho TSA responses which are surely here somewhere. Shoshanna’s log of events is one of the scariest accountings of this national stupidity I’ve read to date.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I believe it’s a variety of factors, yes, and the anonymity of social media is a part of the change. But yes, I do believe that a huge percentage of it started because of 9/11.
While you, personally, may be rational enough to not report in that situation, clearly someone was not. And that, to me, is the most frightening aspect of this security theater nonsense that we’re forced to endure. Unsubstantiated reports of unspecified suspicious activity are taken at face value by authorities who then cuff people, sequester them, strip-search them, and interrogate them. Who assesses the validity of the original complaint? No one. Who’s held responsible when innocent people have their Constitutional rights violated for no reason? No one, because the original report can be just some jackass on a plane.
There is a middle ground between having “no tools for reporting” and violating people’s rights based on unsubstantiated rumor. We have to find that middle ground.
Niraj K. yadav
/ September 13, 2011Well stated rebuttal, Allison.
I’m of Indian descent, with both my parents being Indian immigrants to the US. Having been born in the US, I’m a citizen by birth, but one of those two men could easily have been me on that plane. And nothing scares me more than the fact that I can be targeted (yet again) simply because of the color of my skin.
My question to those who feel it is not a major outlet from 9/11 is this: If the people beside her had been Caucasian,, would this have ever been reported? Or, instead, as I’ve seen happen on many a flight, would a steward(ess) have rather made sure the individual(s) in question were OK, understanding that illness does occur amongst people of all walks of life and that just because 3 people sitting together seem to be of a similar race does not necessarily mean that they are actually in some sort of conspiracy to commit a crime? I highly doubt it.
dave
/ September 14, 2011If this had been racial profiling, wouldn’t some action have been taken much sooner than near the conclusion of the flight? I gather that nothing was noted as unusual about any of this threesome until the two men went to the bathroom together and spent ‘a long time in there’. I imagine (tens of) thousands of middle easterners were probably flying that day – as they were the days before and immediately after 9/11. Were all of these also detained and questioned? We have only heard one side of this ‘story’ (which is all we will get given protocols agencies have to follow), but, gee, there could be a second side to the matter.
So….is it better to ignore suspicious behavior – under the guise of being politically correct – and have a plane blown up instead killing a hundred?
Okay, maybe it’s just me…but I guess I would consider it a bit odd if two men that apparently don’t know each other go into the lavatory together and spend an ‘inordinately long time in there’ together….
Englishman
/ September 15, 2011As a European “anglo-saxon”, I have no trouble with this over cautious reaction, given the level of concern about the significance of the date. BUT, there is no excuse for this level of discourtesy.
It is very possible to show a MUCH higher respect for the detainee whilever the possibility remains that they (the authorities) will ultimately decide that there is no case to answer.
Unfortunately, my limited experience of US homeland security, in the form of Passport control both in 1974, 2003 2004 and in 2006, is one of open hostility to non-US visitors.
Gigi G.
/ September 19, 2011Oh now Dave…I wasn’t going to make any comment here because there are already so many great remarks but I have to respond to your nonsense.
You obviously have no experience traveling on planes. What you suggest is just so utterly ignorant I can’t possibly be more polite about it. It is not at ALL uncommon for the two passengers…to get up and go to toilets at the same time. It happens like this…the guy on the outside has to go so when he dos the guy sitting in the middle (she said she was sitting by the window) decides it’s a good time to go too. That way he won’t disturb the other guy later…it happens all the time. It’s called consideration and convenience and it isn’t strange. It is only strange to people who are paranoid and racist! AND do you know WHY someone might spend an inordinate amount of time in the toilet? It’s called constipation and it happens OFTEN when traveling on airplanes!
And who is so frigging nosey that they would even be keeping track of how long someone goes to the toilet? A busy body…that’s who.
And what? They were in the SAME toilet cubicle together? I doubt it. This is just a case of some nosey biddy body doing what they do best: gossip. And I’ll just bet you if any one bothered to check the person who raised the alarm probably has a history of “raising the alarm”.
And don’t tell me that our very “intelligent” (I use the term loosely) FBI couldn’t have assessed the situation and figured out just by quietly doing their homework on these people before the plane even touched the ground that there was no risk.
It is an utter travesty and total nonsense.
jon
/ September 21, 2011My bet is that the complainant was someone who was fed up at the time the Indian gentlemen spent in the toilets. I also get pissed of with such people, which normally includes almost everyone except me.
On a different note, I long ago added the US to the list of countries I will not visit, along with Somalia and Yemen. The only time I accidentally visited the US was a transit in Guam in 2007 en route to Majuro – a very unpleasant meeting with some TSA goons and a destroyed suitcase.
kimberlyalohr
/ September 14, 2011HELLLLLOOOO!!!???? ioF COURSE A CAUCASIAN ISNT GOING TO BE STOPPED. THE RADICAL TERRORISTS ARE NOT CAUCASIAN. THEY ARE DARKER MIDDLE EASTERN LOOKING. GET OVER YOUR SELF. IF YOU ALL DONT LIKE THE WAY YOUR BEING TREATED THEN GO TO A COUNTRY WHERE YOU BETTER FIT IN AND YOUR CIVIL LIBERTIES ARE NONE. SELFISH SELFISH SELFISH SELFISH. ALL I KNOW IS MY DOLLAR BILL SAYS-IN GOD WE TRUST…AND I DO , AND SO DID MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER WHO SWEAT HIS A22 OFF TO HELP GROOM THIS COUNTRY FOR FREEDOMS THAT YOU PEOPLE RATHER COMPLAIN ABOUT THAN APPRECIATE. SHAME ON EVERYONE THAT COMMENTED ON THIS POSTMAYBE YOU COULD CRY YOUR SAD STORY TO THE FDNY WHO LOST BROTHERS PICKING UP THE PIECES. YOUR SO SAD YOU WERE PROFILED FOR LOOKING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE.
R.A.
/ September 15, 2011“THE RADICAL TERRORISTS ARE NOT CAUCASIAN…” Meet Scott Roeder, the murderer of abortion doctor George Tiller. Mr. Roeder is a heavy set, middle aged white man. And murdering people for offering a legal medical service certainly qualifies as radical and terrorist.
Shame on you for your outright racism.
Jules
/ September 15, 2011“THE RADICAL TERRORISTS ARE NOT CAUCASIAN…”
And don’t forget Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City. Or Anders Behring Breivik, the white conservative “Christian” who opened fire at a summer camp in Norway and killed 69 people, mostly kids.
Your fear mongering and racism are how the terrorists win.
Mike
/ September 15, 2011“IF YOU ALL DONT LIKE THE WAY YOUR BEING TREATED THEN GO TO A COUNTRY WHERE YOU BETTER FIT IN AND YOUR CIVIL LIBERTIES ARE NONE. ”
Why would he go live in some other country when he is born here.
“YOUR SO SAD YOU WERE PROFILED FOR LOOKING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE.”
You are saying he is a terrorist because he is brown. Go fucck yourself you racist cunnt.
Bean
/ September 16, 2011Ok as racist as this KimberleyAlohr is there is no reason to use a slur that is usually directed at women. Anonymous Mike at least spell the word correctly.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011The point about not resorting to that kind of insult is apt, but he misspelled the terms to avoid any censor.
Ron
/ October 19, 2011You know, I normally hate the use of the C word, but Kimberly is such an abhorrent person it somehow seems appropriate.
Simon
/ September 15, 2011Wow, Kimberly Lohr, you might be the most ignorant person in the world. Your grandfather fought to protect everyone’s rights, but you support the trampling of the rights of your fellow American? It seems that you cherish the freedom that you have, but don’t seem to care if a brown skinned person is locked up for no reason other than her appearance. Hypocrisy is the worst of all sins.
If you’re not downright stupid, then you are a horrible person. I hope it’s just stupid – for that you’d at least have my sympathy.
Nullifidian
/ September 15, 2011“AND SO DID MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER WHO SWEAT HIS A22 OFF TO HELP GROOM THIS COUNTRY FOR FREEDOMS THAT YOU PEOPLE RATHER COMPLAIN ABOUT THAN APPRECIATE.”
You mean the ‘freedom’ to be whisked off a plane, strip searched, and interrogated just because the most paranoid or racist idiot on the plane has decided to make an anonymous phone call?
In that case, screw you and screw your great-great-grandfather for having forced that kind of ‘freedom’ on the U.S.
Hazey Muhfukka
/ September 16, 2011Then you need to leave the usa
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011No, Hazey, people like you who so badly want your security at any cost need to leave the USA for places where that already exists. Those places are called North Korea, Iran, Cuba, for starters. I hear they’re lovely this time of year, and offer the best of safety and security for their citizens.
Get a clue.
Hazey Muhfukka
/ September 16, 2011YOU ARE SO RIGHT !!!!
orangecountyresident
/ September 16, 2011Hazey, people like you and Kimberly cause me to lose respect for this country. And no, I’m not going to leave. I’m going to stay here and vote for people that don’t think like you two. People like you and Kimberly are a million times worse than the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.
orangecountyresident
/ September 16, 2011Wow Kimberly, you are a racist pig. It’s people like you that make me ashamed of this country and you are one of the reasons why I didn’t go to any 9/11 memorials. Too many people who remember the victims of 9/11 think like you. I believe your reaction to 9/11 is a million times worse than 9/11 itself.
Mike
/ September 18, 2011To begin with, you don’t have to shout. It makes me think you’re crazy. And second, unless you are of Asian or African descent, I doubt seriously that your Great Great Grandfather sweated much at all. It was people of the aforementioned descent who did all the real work of building this country. And by the way, there have been Caucasians who have been arrested for acts or intent to commit acts of terrorism. First, there were the Oklahoma City Bombers and then there was Jihad Jane who was arrested last year in Philadelphia. She was blond and blue. Get a grip and learn something.
Apa
/ September 19, 2011“Unless you are of Asian or African descent, I doubt seriously that your Great Great Grandfather sweated much at all.”
Unfair and unwarranted. Go look up the history of Irish immigration to this country. Look up the history of factory labor, especially before the Workers’ Rights movement took off.
Feeding trolls never comes to anything good. And usually drives otherwise sane people to say things they wouldn’t.
googlie@yahoo.net
/ October 2, 2011Wow, you’re an idiot. If you even had the slightest clue what the real definition of terrorism is and pay attention to what’s happening in this country you would understand that the largest group of radical terrorists in the world who are bent on terrorizing the people of amerika, and the world for that latter, are predominately white ameriken flag, badge wearing. gun toting overweight illiterate gas holes. You and your country don’t even have a dollar bill as every dollar in circulation in the US is borrowed from foreign interests including the paper it is printed on because your great grandfather wasn’t as great as you imagine him to be. Furthermore if your God was anything more than an imaginary low life loser you would actually trust him for your protection and not some gun toting, psychologically unstable, otherwise unemployable complete stranger.
If you believe civil liberties is having some complete stranger chain you up at the barrel of a gun and jam their hands up your A22 for their pleasure and imagined “protection” you should remove your head from yours and start feeling the freedom.
It would be great if you and your ilk would leave instead of destroying this country with your idiocracy.
Carmen LeBlanc
/ October 4, 2011“THE RADICAL TERRORISTS ARE DARKER MIDDLE EASTERN LOOKING…”
Yea, ’cause the Northern Irish terrorists have REALLY dark skin.
Walter Freeman
/ January 26, 2013There is no TSA profile to itentify dangerous, arrogant, racist swinenetts at present but you have given us a great start on a working outline. Thanks. We’ll be in TOUCH.
Joe in Calif
/ September 13, 2011Common sense is the middle ground . . . before law enforcement reacts as they reacted here there must be probable cause to react. what exactly is the probable cause to detain here? Some person with zero law enforcement training sees two dark skinned men get up at the same time to go to the bathroom and somehow that arises to the level of detention and strip searching. Really? Thats where we are now? I want to understand where the ability came here for the government to detail the passengers, handcuff, strip search and then
I heard ZERO evidence that would lead one to believe that there were explosives involved here – that was a fiction invented by the government to justify what they had done to that moment. “Oh, we’d better check for explosives” Hey idiots – the plane was ON THE GROUND AT ITS DESTINATION! If they were going to blow it up they would not do so after it landed at its destination.
Is there ANY common sense left in our nation?
There was ZERO reason to detain, ZERO reason to search and zero reason to question. They certainly can talk to these guys all they want – my reaction would have been silence. F you. My practice is never speak to the police – end of story. You have a problem with that? Wait a minute? Am I being detained? If so why? Am I free to go? What are the facts upon which you are basing your detention – the time has come to end the idiots running around trying to justify the billions spent on their toys.
Arif
/ September 13, 2011First of all, I feel for the lady and the other two and the rest of people (crew/passengers) for what the went through.
Wow, you are one sharp cookie. Have you forgotten this is the nation where at one point the whole family or anyone can walk up the the terminal, see their friends or family members get on the plane. And if you were like my family, you would wait till the plane takes off and then leave the terminal. What changed and who changed it?
Have you forgotten how many lives are taken away from how many loved ones? Have thought about how many people were affected by the attack? Have you wonder what those families (left behind) are going through? People who survived are still having nightmares.
I’m Christian and a US citizen, but because I’m from Pakistan my airline ticket is always marked ‘randomly’. I don’t have any problem with it. USA has every right to protect their properties anyways she wants. If I or anyone don’t like it, can leave and go back to their homes.
The fact is, this is my home, I’m afraid to go back home (Pakistan) because Muslims, so called radicals are killing Christians without any reason.
If this incident were to take place on Pakistan airline, with an american or even a Paki christian involved, how do you think it would’ve went?
I tell you how. The detained persons would be either be sent to prison with some religious blame if no explosive found, then killed. Stop blaming USA for what it has become, it is our fault. We just have to live with it.
Irish
/ September 15, 2011Finally!! The patriot speaks! How dare they treat the author in such an ridiculous fashion! What are the charges, Probable cause, Warrant? Who swore to the fact that they where suspicious? Who started this mess and let it continue to propagate? The only thing that separates us from the “disappearances” of the Nazi regime is the Constitution and our Bill of Rights. NONE of which has been repealed! If this happened 50 times that day, there should be 50 cases filed in Federal court. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? The reason the toilet in her cell was dirty is because they had been using it to flush America down the drain! GGGGRRRR!
ruth
/ September 18, 2011Arif and Irish – the extent that they investigated still does not warrant a STRIP search including CAVITY search of this woman. She did not even go to the bathroom – the people sitting next to her did. Let’s see how well you do with a stranger poking around in your vagina or butthole when you’ve done nothing and every indication of your demeanor and response is that you have no idea what’s going on.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011There is a story developing in this thread that someone “paranoid” on the plane saw something like “two dark-skinned men get up together to go to the bathroom” and this is being discussed vis-a-vis the plausibility or not of making a (racially profiled) report to the authorities. Let’s stop that right now.
No such passenger is needed (you could blame the flight crew instead; perhaps even a more plausible angle to take, as they’d have the ability to report suspicious activity in-flight more readily than people with Facebook and iPhones, etc), but this is not necessary either. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what the men did or didn’t do. They could have sat there sleeping the whole time, it makes no difference, so let’s stop trying to understand this in terms that we can imagine as rationally plausible or possible.
We are, of course, hopelessly naive in the United States about this sort of thing. We have no familiarity with informants and
informing on the mass-scale like they saw in the Soviet Union or in Romania, where it was facetiously referred to as the national sport.
Whatever we are going to have “security” look like, the very fact that it is this kind of response and that it encourages people to be informants (whether this is a case of one or not) is the larger issue we should be concerned with, whether we think we’ll be detained or not–because eventually comes the day when “your kind” will be detained, and by then, it’ll be too late.
Wh
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 8, 2011There is a story developing in this thread that someone “paranoid” on the plane saw something like “two dark-skinned men get up together to go to the bathroom” and this is being discussed vis-a-vis the plausibility or not of making a (racially profiled) report to the authorities. Let’s stop that right now.
That’s not “a story developing,” it’s what happened. That’s established. So is the practice of “dropping a dime” on someone by making a false report, which is not what happened here. The discussion is not about the theories, it’s about a specific event that is holographically indicative of a change in American society that is producing social friction and dislocation, and about how to reverse it. Those who read the entire thread are able to discern this and avoid tangential discussions.
Thank you for tuning in to the discussion. There are other discussions taking place elsewhere.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki: thank you for keeping things focused. What I meant by the “developing story” was the thread of the story as it was being told in the comments. For example, at some point (below), someone finally discovers that it was a flight attendant (Elizabeth Something) who did the reporting, and then later, that she was passing on anonymous information from other travelers. That’s what I mean by the “developing story”. The facts of what actually happened are, of course, already established. People in this thread were getting bogged down over details that, in the contextual significance of this event, either don’t matter or are usually taken by people to make excuses for it happening, just as people in Soviet Russia made up reasons why the security forces were carrying away their neighbors. Such details here included bluntly suggesting that the original poster must have been doing SOMETHING suspicious or whether the two men went to the bathroom at the same time or went to the same bathroom at the same time–one guy even develops a whole doctrine of how to fly, saying if you DO get up to go to the bathroom at the same time as someone else, tell the stewardess that you’re going back for gay sex. I’d like to think he was being ironic or trying to be funny, but I don’t think he was.
In this particular post, I wanted to draw attention to the fact that the specifics of WHO did the reporting matters less than that SOMEONE made a report, and that it wouldn’t matter what the two men or the original poster were doing, and in fact didn’t matter. That’s what I wanted to underline.
I appreciate your comments in this massive thread generally. Thank you.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 10, 2011In this particular post, I wanted to draw attention to the fact that the specifics of WHO did the reporting matters less than that SOMEONE made a report, and that it wouldn’t matter what the two men or the original poster were doing, and in fact didn’t matter. That’s what I wanted to underline.
We’re witnessing a generation for whom oppression and tyranny are “givens” and inconsequential if they have no first-hand experience or are able to avoid them. This may be persistent.
I appreciate your comments in this massive thread generally. Thank you.
Thank you. It’s a holographic portrait of the quasi-literate middle-management demographic sector of the collapsing economic order, with occasional glimpses of the more subjugated classes. I see a few armchair revolutionaries, a bit of magistry, but virtually no statecraft. Sadly, that’s not a surprise.
Tina
/ September 14, 2011Ma’am it sounds to me like they were researching the validity of the complaint by taking her away in cuffs in case the complaint was valid and there was a security risk. Putting her in a room alone where she couldn’t talk to others if she had “cohorts” and searching her for any items pertaining to a terrorist threat.
We do live in a paranoid society, but we also have some reason to be concerned. We’re hearing everyday of people using their CHILDREN as bombs, or hiding explosives up their derrieres. People are crazy, and they do these things because they think that they’ll get through basic searches if they go to extremes.
Had she been a threat, and somebody was concerned and brought her to attention and they said no we want to be politically correct and not stop her, or just ask her her name and see she’s an american citizen so not wanting to go against her rights let her go what would have happened if she’d walked into the airport and blown herself up in the middle of it? They’d be shocked, and angry, and how could you let her go, how could you not look into it, it was brought to your attention, etc. Just like 9/11 there were reports, and information that wasn’t acted upon.
The part of the entire story that bothers me is the lack of respect, in my opinion they needed to detain her and follow through with making sure she wasn’t a risk, but they could have been more courteous about it on the off chance she wasn’t a risk and was just trying to get home. If it were me on a plane with my child and I saw something suspicious i’d hope like hell my comments wouldn’t be ignored. And two people getting up at the same time and going to the bathroom IS kinda weird. We have no clue if they were concerned because of the color of their skin, or because these men were getting up and walking out of view together.
John Darling
/ September 14, 2011“We do live in a paranoid society, but we also have some reason to be concerned. We’re hearing everyday of people using their CHILDREN as bombs, or hiding explosives up their derrieres. People are crazy, and they do these things because they think that they’ll get through basic searches if they go to extremes.”
Where exactly are you hearing of those things?
kabdoo
/ September 15, 2011Good catch, John. I was wondering about that myself. It seems to me people who believe they are “hearing everyday of people using their children as bombs” will inevitably be anxious and trigger happy when it comes to reporting suspicious behaviour. I think the media and the government have a lot to answer for as they have created this climate of fear that turns people against each other.
@Tina: Please think about what you said there. Think about a parent using their child as a bomb. Would you do it? Of course not. Would your neighbour do it? Of course not. In fact you’ll find a lot more children harmed by their parents through abuse or even homicide after a marriage breakup.
Either you believe there are a lot of mentally ill parents out there who would do what most parents would say is the worst thing a parent could do in their life or you believe certain people are predisposed to such acts of violence that somehow the rest of the civilised world is immune to.
Sting wrote a great song that tried to point out that the cold war created barriers between people who were essentially the same. It was called “I Hope the Russians Love their Children Too”.
I put it to you that human beings are all the same all over the world, regardless of race or religion. What you fear is IMAGINARY, or at the very least, greatly exaggerated. When you realise this, you will be freed from the shackles of fear and be able to live a normal life. I live in Australia where this climate of fear exists too, but it’s being directed at Asylum Seekers. All common sense has gone out the window and many people want them to be left to die on their boats. It’s shameful but the root cause is the same – unfounded FEAR.
Inquisitor Malakai (@Rliyen)
/ September 15, 2011Actually, the song was just titled “Russians”. But everything else, Kabdoo, I agree with in your comments. I’ve never heard anyone saying that “they use children for bombs.” It’s a total line of bullshit and fearmongering, hands down.
Martha
/ September 16, 2011It may not be happening here in the USA but it does happen over in Israel. One Israeli once said something to the effect that the Palestinians would stop using their young as suicide bombers when the parents loved their children more than they hated the Jewish people.
A.
/ September 16, 2011Have people registered yet that Palestinians aren’t using suicide bombers anymore?
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011Or that children are not being used as bomb mules in the US?
bn1511
/ September 15, 2011This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard…
I don’t understand why the behavior of the two men, one following another to the bathroom, is in the least bit suspicious…
If I don’t have the aisle, I almost always wait for the person in the aisle to go to the bathroom before I go… it’s less disruptive and I think it’s more respectful (though not required) of your fellow passenger…
This is disgusting beyond words… that we corrupt basic human dignity and behavior in the name of “security.”
As someone who flies 100 plus times a year, I know how irritated I would be if someone in the window seat always wanted to make me move so they can go to the toilet and I know how appreciative I would be if they coordinated their “visits” with mine.
But then, I don’t look at people of color and instantly reach conclusions about their motivation.
I hope you and your child always stay safe but understand that sacrificing basic human dignity at the altar of “feeling good” will only ensure your child will grow up in a world full of bigotry and hate. If that’s what you want then by all means, soldier on.
Ravan Asteris
/ September 15, 2011So all forms of fascism are justified for the CHILDREN? What kind of world does that leave the CHILDREN, then? Do you want your CHILDREN to grow up worry that they might be detained based on the color of their skin, way they dress, or slang they speak?
If you’re going to bring the “FOR THE CHILDREN” argument in think it all the way through.
Mr Ed
/ September 15, 2011“Using their Children as bombs” is much worse than a justification for fascism. It serves to dehumanize “them”, as well as justify a fascist response.
Jack
/ September 15, 2011“on the off chance she wasn’t a risk”
Really? The “off chance” that she’s not trying to blow up a plane?
The whole situation was far too much for some paranoid racist saying that fiddling with a phone and sitting next to other dark skinned people is ‘suspicious’.
By your logic we should have a nice trustworthy grandma eyeing people as they enter the airpoirt and just pointing out the ‘dodgy looking’ ones, and questioning them for 6 hours each. After all, “what would have happened if they’d walked into the airport and blown themselves up in the middle of it?” “Why didn’t you trust the grandma?!” they’d cry!
ruth
/ September 18, 2011Tina – the extent that they investigated still does not warrant a STRIP search including CAVITY search of this woman. She did not even go to the bathroom – the people sitting next to her did. Let’s see how well you do with a stranger poking around in your vagina or butthole when you’ve done nothing and every indication of your demeanor and response is that you have no idea what’s going on.
Ron
/ October 19, 2011No. No. No. Getting up to use the restroom at the same time as your neighbor is not weird. It’s courteous, so you don’t have to bother them later. I do this all the time. Your paranoid behavior is making me reconsider being courteous.
Paul
/ October 23, 2011The plane was on the ground. The possible danger was past. Actions after that were unnecessary.
Diane
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana, thank you for sharing your horrendous ordeal with us; it is too too real. Since 9/11, Americans have been encouraged to fear and to be suspicious of others. It seems that..a sick paranoia has been seeded into the minds and hearts of Americans of “the other.” It is regrettable and unjust that these “false witnesses” are never identified or made responsible for their actions/diminuendo’s .. It is a disgrace that we don’t even know our rights…for it seems that you had none…just no words for you, no answers for you…just the guilty until proven not guilty treatment; certainly not in keeping with the American Justice System.
Thank you again. You are one remarkable woman.
Ev Sayan
/ September 14, 2011Completely agree with Allison above. There are no easy answers, but we’ve been blasted too much by fear and unfortunately that is a great tool for the use of power without regard. We, the people, have to keep up the pressure on the authorities to find a middle ground – to protect us without violating us. I am confident a nation like this one, founded on those very principles, can face that challenge and reach that goal!
Mike
/ September 18, 2011Thank you George W Bush and Dick Cheney for creating the fear.
Jason
/ September 14, 2011It is unfortunatate that this happens at all. I’m of ethnic origin myself (not sure exactly which because my mother was adopted) and so I consider myself black. Since 9/11 I noticed that ‘at random’ must be written somewhere on my birth certificate. Every flight I have been on since, I have been instructed to remove my shoes and go through screening processess different from the other passengers. As a former member of a special operations unit, I’m appalled at the ‘freedom’ I put my life on the line for. I’m just glad you have a means of telling people the ordeals people of ethniticity go through while the majority of the population [read caucasions] simply view it as being ‘vigilant’.
ReelBadArabs
/ September 14, 2011Suspicion of Arabs began over 100 years ago with a systematic vilification of ‘Arabs by Hollywood as researched and documented by Dr. Jack Shaeheen:
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/atlintel/culture/blogentry.aspx?blogEntryID=10263598
http://www.wolfmanproductions.com/shaheen.html
http://www.reelbadarabs.com/
Missa
/ September 15, 2011Is this Professor Shaheen? I met you and your wife in Columbia Missouri several years ago after you gave a presentation. My little son was the one that complained he wanted to go home so he wouldn’t miss Leno. And you said your daughter worked for him
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011@ Allison – Having traveled quite a bit both domestically and internationally over the years I can authoritatively state that current U.S. procedures may seem stringent but are far less so than other “active” zones.
Regarding first verifying the validity of the report, elsewhere herein I stated the case thus, “everything that occurred once the report(s) were transmitted to the flight crew is exactly what one would demand of our law enforcement entities. A report must be taken with the greatest gravity until proved otherwise.
A softer response would put that plane at a gate, adjacent to other aircraft and underground fuel lines and the deplaned passengers in a much more heavily populated terminal. Had the threat been an actual assault with massive death and mayhem resulting, would we not be excoriating law enforcement for their “lack of vision”?”
No one’s rights were violated to say otherwise displays a layman’s misunderstanding of the law. I agree that since 9-11 the threshold of “reasonable” search and seizure [4th Amendment] has been redefined.by the circumstances arising from those events. The very ambiguity of the use of the phrase “reasonable” allows for interpretation as society’s needs change. So legal definitions may change without any actual infringement occurring.
As such, it is not the law or it’s enforcement that is at fault. It is our individual lack of awareness of the law as well the definition and significance of the words employed, the ultimate and final arbiter being the SCOTUS.
All that being as it is, well before the events of 9-11 the well established exception called, “Exigent Circumstance” existed. [Wikipedia/4th amendment/5.4] “Exigent circumstances arise when the law enforcement officers have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an immediate need to protect their lives, the lives of others, their property, or that of others, the search is not motivated by an intent to arrest and seize evidence, and there is some reasonable basis, to associate an emergency with the area or place to be searched.”
Cindy
/ September 14, 2011So some college kid playing a “prank”, some bigot who doesn’t like the color of your skin, some mentally unstable person….basically anyone can say anything without validation???? I guarantee you that if the three of them had been white, nothing would have happened. End of story. You can try to make it sound better by saying that law enforcement had to act on the report….but who made the report? There are a lot of bigots in this country and a lot of people use the bathroom on planes. Are we now going to let them all be handcuffed, detained and strip searched without even telling them what is going on? I say you detain the person who reported the activity and strip search them. Whose to say they are not deflecting attention away from themselves and are up to mischief. In no way was this right. From the “person” who reported it, to the flight crew who passed it on, to the police who detained and ultimately the FBI and Homeland Security. Thank goodness my skin is white so I can fly without fear even though she is just as much a citizen as I am. It is criminal and she should file a suit in a court of law. Then maybe things will change. Is Hitler ruling our country now??? Must everyone be white to have rights and not be “suspicious”?
DavosSherman
/ September 14, 2011Cindy: Doubt it. Sounds more like a cabin flight crew-member who got nervous and jerky over someone taking a 20 minute $hit. If the flight deck crew had any doubts they should have diverted. The entire thing sounds like an absolute horse and pony show. A$$hole cops – what effing terrorsist would blow a plane up at the destination gate? I’m glad I’m no longer a line captain.
John
/ September 14, 2011BOYCOTT THE AIRLINE, teach them a lesson. Cabin crew are not trained to do these type of work.
What is worse is the plane was allowed to land and then moved to a less populated area.
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011You are assuming the report was racially motivated and presume that if the report was about a white person it would be ignored or handled differently. While Shoshanna may have “felt” it was racially motivated that doesn’t mean that in fact it was. To argue it was a racially motivated report replaces logic and analysis with supposition from a predisposed belief that is itself akin to the mind set of a racist.
Also to assume your white skin shields you from suspicion and experiencing a similar detention is based on a fallacy. I think one name should cover it, Timothy McVeigh. Do you honestly believe that law enforcement would ignore a report of suspicious activity made against three whites or that protocols would be different for them? Given Janet Napalitino’s expressed views on white terrorists you can be assured that Homeland Security’s response would be the same.
Rohan
/ September 15, 2011Actually I think you’ll find that the accepted definition of something being racially motivated is that “if [only] one person thinks it is racially motivated, then it is.” Since the author does feel this way, the incident was therefore racially motivated.
Joey Taitano
/ September 14, 2011Amen to that.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011You feel that the rights of human beings to be free from unnecessary, unwarranted, and unreasonable police detention and violation should be thrown out on the word of the stupidest, most cowardly cretin on an airplane?
Why couldn’t you just go live in a country like that, instead of turning America into one?
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011Please define your terms, “unnecessary, unwarranted, and unreasonable” and what information you are basing that judgement call on. Drawing conclusions from fanciful predisposed beliefs rather than available facts is an emotional process and not a logical one.
I am sorry Shoshanna went through a very tough time. I can, and do, empathize with her and wish her a full recovery from this experience. Her anger and hurt are understandable emotional responses. But that can’t be the basis for designing response protocols to a potential threat.
Irish
/ September 15, 2011There was no threat. We can’t run around hiding from “potential threats”. Potential threats can come from misunderstandings, bigotry, emotion. There should be no actions on potential threats. Two guys get up to go to the bathroom who look like middle eastern men. They come back and sit next to a woman who looks middle eastern… Where is the threat? When the coward who started this asked the Flight attendant for help, she should have “shooshed” him… 🙂 At the very least, she should have gone the the row, engaged the folks in conversation, asked if they needed anything. Is there still a threat? Are they acting strange, avoiding eye contact, covering an object under their shirt? You don’t need fancy training for this. Sadly, it involves common sense and some basic observation skills. YOU have to get involved
The fact is that there are SSSOOOO many security checks, searches and sweeps for the passengers and the plane before anyone boards. We need to ensure that there is a real reason to be worried before we call in the Police state. Waving it all off to “good protocols” is like slapping the author on the A$$ after her strip search and offering her a cigarette!
Shame on everyone who even thinks this behavior from our government and the people on this plane was somehow justified!
Raging Itch
/ September 15, 2011The “security” response was the worse kind: a false positive.
The people who had their rights violated were innocent. The fact that us there was a response in force means that resources were diverted from other, more credible, threats. There are finite resources, so wasting them on non-threats is dangerous.
If law enforcement is unable to determine if a report of suspicious behavior will pass the Sniff Test, then they are doing it wrong.
——
BOTTOM LINE: the world isn’t safe. Everyone who reads this will die. You make the choice whether to live in fear or REFUSE TO BE TERRORIZED.
Kevin Kenny
/ October 1, 2011Right. A false positive is the worst of all threats. We as citizens have a duty to appear and conduct ourselves at all times so that there is no possibility that we will arouse suspicion and divert the authorities from the real evildoers. Anything else is the moral equivalent of turning in a false alarm.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011The fact that other countries do worse things to fliers does not mean that we should either follow their example or be complacent when things happen here with which we disagree.
What I expect of law enforcement officials is actually NOT to take every single report “seriously,” in the sense that every single report should be considered valid enough to strip search the subject of the report. In civilian law enforcement, when a report is made, the officers at least question the person making the report to determine, among other things, the validity of the report being made. They ask questions of the reporter to determine if the report has a basis in fact, and contains reasonable cause to follow up. As far as I can tell, reporters of “suspicious activity” on a plane are NOT treated in the same way – a person says “I am suspicious of X,” and the authorities basically say “OK!” and proceed with handcuffs, detention, strip searches, and interrogations.
That’s not acceptable. The authorities should, at the very least, interview the reporter FIRST to determine if the reporter has any legitimacy to his or her claims. In the current situation, people make reports of suspicious activity are not held accountable for those reports. Such a system contains no checks and balances on people making the reports based on, as in this case, ethnicity rather than actual behavior (from what I can tell).
There is a middle ground between what occurred, and the so-called “softer response” example you provide which is basically do nothing.
The rest of your information is much appreciate, and I plan to read it in depth.
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011You are correct that law enforcement officials have to make judgement calls on reports all the time. However, they are specifically prohibited from doing so in certain kinds of reports.
For example, here in New York, any report of domestic violence must be taken as a fact and they are required to detain the person against whom the report is made even if the individual who complains recants. It’s not always fair and the arrest warranted or not proceeds in much the same manner that as Shoshana experienced.
The basis for this is called, “Exigent Circumstances” https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Exigent_circumstance_in_United_States_law
We are not party to what intelligence indicated regarding terrorist activity or possible plans – especially on the tenth anniversary of 9-11 that would scramble two F-16 fighter jets to escort the flight to Detroit. We also have this statement from FBI Detroit spokesperson Sandra Berchtold, “Due to the anniversary of Sept. 11, all precautions were taken, and any slight inconsistency was taken seriously,” Berchtold said. “The public would rather us err on the side of caution than not.”
The other passengers were reported to have been taken by bus to police headquarters, held and questioned. While we might suppose what they experienced we cannot say but it is standard procedure to suspect everyone until they are vetted and cleared and in all likelihood searched and/or scanned.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Dan: what you are saying is all entirely defensible, on the presupposition that one must follow a law (procedure, or protocol) simply by virtue of existing. Police who enforced segregationist policies in the US South and elsewhere might have felt a similar queasiness even as they “did their duty”. So your argument ignores those occasions when civil disobedience becomes the moral necessity.
You are also ignoring what prompts people to make reports that then, under an interpretation of an exigent circumstance, must (indeed) be carried through to its grim conclusion. A demonstrable pattern of false positives and the skin color of US air travelers is not a dismissible pattern, and this instance might be in or out of that pattern factually, but it is definitely in the pattern circumstantially.
Basically, the point you are defending is a moot one. Very few people would disagree that “suspicious circumstances should be investigated” or “if a suspicious circumstance is reported, it should be investigated.” The issue, rather, is what criteria do we accept for someone reporting a suspicious circumstance? We can look at the kinds of circumstances where people reported something serious and it turned out to be accurate–such as the strange object found in a bathroom or other public place. So finding a suspicious package in an airplane bathroom would be a likely candidate. Where are the cases where a “suspicious person” turned out to be a suspicious person? I know of no cases, and the current evidence of this thread is that racial profiling is creating a red herring (and will serve as a way for terrorists to be more effective in being invisible–see the white Jihad Jane, etc).
When it becomes culturally acceptable–under whatever pretense–to take anyone’s informing in an uncritical way, then we are veering toward a socially dangerous situation. It creates circumstances where people can deliberately generate false positives in various ways and for various reasons (as some men have learned the hard way about domestic violence, the example you cite). At the very least, in cases of false positives, there should be or could be repercussions for the one making the false report. In fact, for domestic violence, if the police determine that someone has made a false accusation, then that person may be charged with making a false report. In that case also, the person making the report is already known to the one accused. In this case, there is no such confrontation or repercussions, but there should be.
You might say this would dissuade people from making reports. That’s as it should be. People should not feel free to indulge in their racist fantasies about their fellow travelers. Laypeople have no idea what “reasonable grounds” are and they can still err on the side of caution and also moderate their fear-driven imaginings by forcing themselves to a certain level of internal confidence that their report really, actually, does need to be made. Moreover, in the case of a false positive, such people should have to face the ones they accused–aside from the sense of justice in this, it is also an educating moment, as it teaches that person that their basis for suspecting this person (perhaps because of the color of their skin) was unjust. We should want, culturally, to dissuade false positives (reports that lead to false positives), although of course it is in the interests of the ruling powers to put us in a situation where a sense of helplessness or fear makes us have to call authorities to deal with situations. That’s the moment that critically, socially disempowers us, and puts us that much closer to trammeled civil liberties and a police state.
With your respect for the rule of law, I would think you would support an addition to the current procedure that supported the effective function of the rule of law, rather than the effective abuse of law that allows authoritative bodies to further erode civil rights under the color of authority and arguments about national security.
nonegiven
/ September 14, 2011Flying while brown does not constitute “Exigent Circumstance.”
Sarah
/ September 15, 2011I think you answered your own argument quite effectively there: “Some REASONABLE basis”. Having dark skin or a foreign appearance is NOT a reasonable basis.
Ron
/ October 19, 2011Sounds good except there was no reasonable argument to suspect their was danger.
kay
/ September 13, 2011I have to say that I agree with you Russ about the terrorists not winning because of this scenario and that this is a lesson about our system needing refinement. The protocol for dealing with such situation does not develop into a perfect system over night…not even over ten years. I am a flight attendant and I have a pretty good idea about how Shoshana’s situation manifested and to some extent I suspect she is correct… that she was included in the scenario because of the way she looks. Unfortunately, this is a result of the events ten years ago and of the intelligence that has been attained since then about how future attempts might be carried out. At this point, there is no better protocol than hypervigilance and that means that sometimes people are going to be held in suspicion until proven innocent. This is NOT meant to be the American way, but it is the best we’ve got for now to prevent another incident like the one ten years ago.
I feel bad that Shoshana had to endure such humiliation and I hope that her experience helps people to understand that not everyone who may look like those men who orchestrated the horrific attacks in 2001 is a terrorist. I am certain, though, that she was included for another reason and that is the perceived suspicious behavior of her seatmates. In the end, these factors came together to create a situation that looked much like what might be the makings of a possible attack. Thankfully, as it turns out, the situation was completely innocent. Given that there was evidence of plans in the works for more attacks on this anniversary, I do not believe the actions taken in this instance were overdone. I am happy to know that the authorities treated Shoshana and her seat-partners with as much courtesy and respect as is possible in such a situation. In many other parts of the world, suspects are not treated as well.
Jacqi
/ September 13, 2011I so agree with you, Russ. If we had been more cautious 10 years ago, maybe the disaster would not have been so great. However, it is what is, and increased security is a making from the history of 9/11. I am sorry the writer was arrested, but in my book, better safe than sorry. Protocol is protocol. What is with people texting, tweeting, and talking nonstop on their cells, and computers when it is apparent that something is occurring. Could this have helped lead to the suspicions of the crew?
Ann
/ September 13, 2011You might be rational enough not to report people based on baseless suspicions, but not everyone is.
jeanne
/ September 13, 2011Survivor of 9/11 Tower 1: Your comment is SO well said, I too, would rather have this awful experience, because, yes, SOMETHING works…we remain safe from, most likely, hundreds of thwarted attempts at showing us we CAN be hurt!!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Please provide citations to support your assertion that the violation of people’s Constitutional rights has resulted in “hundreds of thwarted attempts.”
We cannot assume that these things are working to keep us safer. And even if they are, we are sacrificing ideals that are supposed to be “uniquely” American – freedom, justice, equality – for this nebulous and unproven safety.
Brenda
/ September 14, 2011Studies show it has stopped nothing.
Brenda
Kellie Rae Rockey
/ September 14, 2011Allison, you are a true wonder. Your arguments are sound a realistic. Keep up the verbal sparring…let’s start a petition to force repeal of the Patriot Act. I recently heard a story on NPR about a middle aged white guy video taping the Mall of America (where he lives) to send to family over seas…He was arrested, sat for hours in a secret cell under the building and now has an FBI file and police record. For taping a video of an American tourist destination in his town to send to family. Another guy was fired, and while the arguments counter his claim that he was fired for being a loud mouthed liberal, it doesn’t matter. He too has an FBI file and a police report with his name on it. I am angry. Just by writing something like this, we could end up in someone’s hot water. “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” We’ve let fear win and we’ve lost so much in the bargain.
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011I agree with you 100%, Allison.
joeytaitano
/ September 14, 2011I wholeheartedly agree. When did skin colour define someone’s ability to harm others? We are so quick to judge others based on appearances. Yet, we fail to realise that sometimes the threat lies within the people we think are harmless. The police, the military, etc. I am grateful for what they do to protect the safety of the people, but at what cost? Has it really come down to violating innocent people’s constitutional rights just for the sake of clarifying a rumour with unfounded evidence? We also fail to realise that we do as much harm to other countries as we are doing to OUR VERY OWN CITIZENS. Lets recap this whole war against terrorism: we falsely accused people and stripped them of their constitutional rights for the sake of national security. BUT who protects those who were violated both in our country and elsewhere? The numerous people who were murdered or raped as a result of this war on terrorism. WHERE IS THEIR JUSTICE? Are they not people as well? Just because they don’t our constitutional rights doesn’t mean we should treat them any less than we expect for ourselves and families. I do support the underlying concept of security, but have we really let ourselves go to paranoia and fear? Before we act, we should act on solid evidence or at least pieces of solid evidence and not rumours before determining someone is a terrorist.
Tom Triumph
/ September 14, 2011How was the Constitution violated? When one goes through security at the airport you are told a what the rules were. Someone accuses you and the police hold you so they can check it out. Holding someone for a limited period of time does not violate the Constitution. It sucks being held, and the fellow passenger might be an idiot, but the officers did their job without bias or abuse and you were writing about it the next day.
It just bothers me that people jump so fast in assuming this when shitty stuff happens. We want people to use common sense, but, to be honest, that leads to bias and old boy networks and stereotyping because our common sense is based on experience (often limited). A rule of law treats everyone the same, so the author wasn’t left to rot or treated poorly because she’s “one of them”. Instead, she was investigated and released the same day. The Constitution, and the officers’ following it, got her through quickly and without incident.
David
/ September 14, 2011Well said Tom. As she speaks of being pulled out because of the way she looks , she claims it to be because of the way she looks. Yet because the officers detaining her look to be the “REDNECK TYPE” she speaks of hating everything that might be Redneckish. If she wants for everyone to love each other then maybe should also live by the rule. I feel bad for what has happen to the young lady, but if you dont want the sterotype thinking to go on then start by living with no hate youreself.
Sheep Hurrdurr
/ September 14, 2011You need probable cause to arrest.
But that’s besides the point, because these people weren’t arrested. They were held without charges. If you can tell me what charges they were arrested under, feel free, because even they don’t know.
Strip/cavity searches, racial profiling, arrest without charges… all of these are “bias and abuse”. “A rule of law treats everyone the same”, so yes, I think it’s safe to say America doesn’t have a rule of law.
Christian Lyons
/ September 14, 2011Really, a strip and orifice search is not a type of abuse? Come on. Her background check and interview should have precluded a strip/orifice search. How humiliating for this poor woman. I think she’s being rather kind in her blog. If it were me being falsely accused and strip/orifice searched, I think I’d be a lot more upset than this. If this were an elderly white woman sitting next to two Indian guys, I doubt she would have been subjected to the same “process.” This is coming from a 46 year old white male and former flight attendant who was actually in flight during the terror attacks of 9/11.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Being strip and cavity searched because someone filed an unsubstantiated report of unspecified suspicious activity is not “without incident.” The Fourth Amendment restricts unreasonable searches and seizure. Ms. Shebshi’s experience, in my opinion, falls under that heading.
The problem here IS bias. Bias on the part of the unknown and uninvestigated fellow passenger who originally made the false accusation. Then, bias on the part of the authorities who took that false accusation at face value without determining whether the accusation had any merit to begin with.
luzmejor
/ September 14, 2011Of course, we have these regulations only because of the eight years of the GWBush administration. Now our society is being prodded into becoming suspicious of our fellow Americans instead of the powerful politicians who deserve to be scrutinized.
Show-me Skeptic
/ September 14, 2011Constitution not violated? Are you nuts? This woman was dragged off a plane, handcuffed, strip searched and detained. All she did was travel by air while dark-skinned — I guess in the modern-day U.S., that’s a crime! The Constitution was most assuredly violated, it guarantees that we wil be free from unreasonable searched and seizures. This strip search and this detwention (seizure) were blatantly unreasonable. Somebody needs to be fired over this.
rba8053
/ September 14, 2011Tom Triumph is completely correct. There was no violation of Civil Rights. She was not charged for anything due to her race. It does suck, but it is for the safety of everyone. Being a patriotic American and of Latino descent, if Mexico or any other Latin country did something as awful as the 9/11 attacks, I would be completely understanding of being searched on the anniversary of the attacks when I am traveling on the exact same method of the attack. I would not be whining or crying.
You have to look beyond yourself sometimes at what is best for the country, not just you. We have become so selfish, and the media portrays all these rights in an incorrect light. Just because you get pulled over for speeding and you are of color does not mean you were racially profiled. If we continue down this line of reasoning that everyone who is racially profiled and simply questioned (not even arrested or treated bad) has had their civil rights violated, law enforcement will be walking on egg shells around anyone of color, and violence and crime as well as actual terrorist attacks will become more prevalent and easy.
Thank you Shoshana for doing your American duty of answering the questions and cooperating with the authorities. It sucks you were detained in that fashion, but it was done properly and as a preventative measure on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack. You should be proud to have been helpful in clearing it up, but without complaining.
Irish
/ September 15, 2011rba8053…
You must work for the Government! I have looked over your comments to many of the posters… Look away from the author being Arabic/Jewish. scrub her color from the picture. She was arrested, STRIP SEARCHED, SEXUALLY ASSAULTED (cavity searched), detained, and questioned without a warrant or probable cause.
YOU need to re-think your belief that the Constitution and further SCOTUS interpretations allow for this!
In the absence of known criminal behavior, not being informed of the charges against her, I think it is perfectly reasonable for the author to wonder if the reason she was being treated this way was because of her skin. Law abiding Americans deserve better than this!
YOU PERSONALLY should reflect on this situation! Re-think and re-read the 4th Amendment and the relevant SCOTUS decisions. Arabic, Latino, Irish, or Black; No AMERICAN should be treated this way!!
Shame on you for suggesting otherwise!
Mike
/ September 15, 2011Mr.Latino,
Will you be ok if you were racially profiled in Arizona for “looking like an illegal immigrant who jumped over the border with 13 kids”. How about searching you for machetes and suspected of being a radical member of “La Raza” groups.
J.D.
/ September 14, 2011This case is a clear-cut violation of constitutional rights. Yes, in cases of imminent & credible national security threats, our “normal” rights may be stepped on in that greater interest. However, there clearly was not a credible threat here. To take the major step of strip searching someone is a HUGE violation of privacy rights. It’s one thing to pull someone off of a plane, pat them down, question them, even check their background through reports. It’s a completely different thing to strip search someone. And, by the way, caselaw does not consider 6 hours to be a “limited period of time” when that time involves holding one’s urination and being subjected to a strip search. If you don’t understand how describing a strip search to merely “suck” is not only offensive to the lady who endured it but also offensive to the Founding Fathers (one of their top priorities in the Constitution was to free citizens from unwarranted searches and seizures; check out the Federalist Papers & see how much of the discussion is dedicated to this one issue), why don’t you have a stranger jab his/her hands in every hole of your body as you stand hoping that the camera nearby has not recorded the ordeal. Oh, and be sure to try to hold you pee while you do it.
J.D.
Can't Stand Idiots
/ September 14, 2011Actually, being held is a “seizure” under the Constitution, and is not allowed “without probable cause.” There was absolutely NO probable cause for seizing Shoshana, let alone the other two gentlemen whose only “crime” was to use the restroom coincidentally at the same time. The U.S. Supreme Court has already held that portions of the Patriot Act ARE unconstitutional. Our founding forefathers must be spinning in their graves.
zirjo
/ September 15, 2011Yessssssssss..that is my opinion such a free country???
While China and Russia are becoming more tolerant of their people..we are going the other way..
Irish
/ September 15, 2011Tom, break out your copy of the constitution… Well, with comments like these, you might have not seen it except for that week you saw it in your high school studies. *sigh* The constitution and the Bill of rights was trampled on during this. You are free to move about the country feeling secure that your person, papers, and home will not be subjected to search or seizure without a warrant being issued upon a sworn affidavit from your accuser. No arrest can be made without charges described in the warrant.
Terms like “Exigent Circumstances” are being thrown around here and it saddens me. No one was in imminent danger that was observed by the arresting authority, so that is out… “officer safety” was in no doubt secured with the pat down after they got off the plane, so a “Terry stop” was all that was needed here. There was no evidence of probable cause found in their seats, on their person, or in the bathrooms by officers, Flight attendants, or passengers.
Further detention, searching, strip searching, and questioning without a warrant would be unconstitutional…
An informed, educated and aware population would have never let America slip this far from the path…
Authority
/ September 14, 2011Allison, there have not been hundreds, there have been so much more. There is nothing to quote because the “authorities” do not make every attempt public. Just like they don’t make every murder, rape, etc. public either. Don’t you think they know how much more fear that would cause? If you would like proof, go to the nearest police station and ask to see their stats. Then imagine that throughout every city in every state around the country. You seem intelligent. Do not assume you know everything and do not assume everything is made public.
Holly
/ September 14, 2011Actually, they do make every murder, rape, and every other crime committed in the U.S. public. They have to. All crimes investigated, all arrests made, and all court documents are public record. In certain crimes, names of victims are not reported in the news to attempt to protect those victims, and juveniles are not generally named because they aren’t of age or being tried as adults. Just because people don’t pay attention to the reports, or because it’s not front page news, does not mean all criminial activity is not public record. The problem with what happened to the author and many others who are detained is that detention is not an arrest. It is not public record because there is no real paperwork inovolved if they aren’t actually arrested. The authorities, whichever variety of authority they are, can detain anyone they like, for any “suspicious” behavior, real or imagined. That is where our laws fail us as citizens. We have allowed our country to become, over many years, so afraid that many Americans feel it is worth giving up some of their rights to feel “protected.” There is no measure that will fully protect you from all the dangers you can imagine and all that exist if your government and its agencies are among those dangers.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011If there have been hundreds, then surely someone can provide at least a few examples.
BB
/ September 14, 2011Flying is not a right. If you don’t agree to the security procedures, then stop complaining and drive.
As for what Authority said, he is absolutely right. The government has stopped many terrorist plots, (such as the Seattle Recruiting Station shooters, or the Times Square bombing plot), doing what they are doing now. There are many more that none of us know about. Its a dirty job, but I’d rather be patted down in airport security than be on a plane thats going to crash into a building.
Again, flying isn’t a right. Its a privilege. Drive if you want to complain.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011@ BB 9/14, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Actually, flying is a right. It is a guaranteed and enumerated right in the US Code. You can read it right here, in fact:
USC 49 § 40103. SOVEREIGNTY AND USE OF AIRSPACE:
(2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sec_49_00040103—-000-.html
Perhaps you can point the rest of us to the conflicting law? Didn’t think so.
And to your other points, the Seattle Recruiting Station shooters were, like many others, people who were given money, plots, and weapons BY the FBI so that the FBI could trot up a terrorism charge.
Times Square Bomber? Not actually thwarted at all. Merely incompetent. And the boys and girls at TSA actually allowed him to board a plane due to their own gross incompetence.
If there are so many more cases like the ones you cited, well, then yeah, Allison is right, there are NO future attacks being thwarted. NOT ONE.
Ron
/ October 19, 2011No thanks. I will fly and complain until the wrongs are righted. I’m sure none of your examples involved evidence as weak as two men going to the restroom at the same time.
Jeanine
/ September 14, 2011‘Authority’ you seem to have a problem understanding the concept of democracy and civil rights. Our government (of which these hapless TSA and FBI morons are a sorry part)–IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY. I do not know ‘everything’ but I do know the difference between JUSTICE and FASCISM. Like far too many public officials you would have us ‘shut up and obey.’ To you I would say if you like dictatorships then move to Saudi.
Lane Yarbrough
/ September 14, 2011She does state “most likely”….no citation needed.
David Alison
/ September 14, 2011And the three brown people on the airplane sitting together are “most likely” terrorists. Unsubstantiated facts are so helpful.
Anne
/ September 14, 2011Excellent response. I personally have to endure “pat-downs” each and everytime I fly as I have a prosthetic hip. I am blonde and blue-eyed, smiling and friendly toward all TSA, yet I am subjected to being handled, literally, before getting on any flight. No one will ever convince me that this makes anyone on the plane I am about to board any safer. It’s smoke and mirrors. I have no recourse….if I want to fly, I MUST allow this. Yes, America is a changed country since 9/11, but as several have already said, refinement in our techniques to identify credible threats is necessary as we find case after case of non-common-sensical searches occurring. Blanket approaches to solving most any problem in life rarely work well. We are Americans. We are suppose to be free to pursue life, liberty and happiness. I am tired of the unspoken idea that I may be a criminal because my body causes a machine to beep. It’s a machine, and I am a human being, deserving rights afforded to me by my Maker. The US Constitution affords me rights as a citizen. When will someone come along that has the insight to see where the line is to be drawn in order to provide security for all of us, and detect with some degree of certainty the people who would attempt to destroy our peace of mind?
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011He can’t provide the example. TSA hasn’t found one terrorist since it was created and hasn’t thwarted one thing. Sure, the found the underwear bomber – after the fact, and it wasn’t TSA who actually found him. I am sympathetic with those who survived the Towers going down. My Aunt and Uncle have lived in Manhattan for 40 years and my Uncle was running through a subway tunnel getting away from the fallen towers. But, if someone was in the tower that day and got out, I will give them a pass on any comment they make regarding this. It’s just too personal for them. I’m sure some of these people probably wanted to nuke Afghanistan, etc. You just gotta let it pass.
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011I am not being contentious when I ask you to state specifically, which constitutional rights were violated?
zirjo
/ September 15, 2011what kind of question is this>>?? what school did you go to? where were you born?How old are you? 12?
Carlos May Nazario
/ September 13, 2011You say we remain safe because of things like this happening. When has there been any threat thwarted because of an unsubstantiated report of “suspicious” activity? There have been threats averted because of diligent work by government officials, but all I see with these overreactive paranoid people is them apologizing in the end and basically saying “No hard feelings.” Then people who don’t have dark skin say they would gladly go through the situation if it meant they were safer. Wow, maybe that’s because the worse you will ever go through is a pat down! And you think THAT is humiliating! Just take the time to imagine being carted off in handcuffs and thrown into jail, even though you have done NOTHING and ARE AN AMERICAN CITIZEN! Even though this story was publicized, there are still people out there who 1-think maybe she did do something, or 2-at the very least she delayed whatever they were doing that day and incomvenienced THEM. But, hey, no harm, no foul, right?
Tyler Wood
/ September 13, 2011The truth is, being in a criminal justice program and sitting through classes on public administration, not every single “unsubstantiated report of “suspicious” activity” is looked into, but in situations where the country is on max alert because of threats from Al Qaeda (Starr, Ahlers, Jansen, 2011) then the common belief throughout the government is some people should have to sacrifice their rights if a suspicious act is perceived. I would normally strongly disagree with people having to sacrifice their rights but if there is already a perceived credible threat it changes things. In this case the report cam from the crew (Elizabeth Chuck), and was most likely perceived because it came from the crew as viable enough of a report to react to. I’m sorry that Hebshi and the two Indian men felt violated but i would like to think that if I was in the same situation I would accept it, but that might just be because I am biased and want to go into a government job after graduation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44501310/ns/us_news-security/?GT1=43001
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-09/us/terrorism.threat_1_al-qaeda-cells-raid-on-osama-bin-plot?_s=PM:US
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011That the report came from the flight crew (a point I suggested was more credible up above before I read this post) doesn’t change the analysis of the situation, except that it shows the training of flight crews needs some tweaking.
The fear people express about being secretly accused has to be factored in with any fear of terrorist attacks. For the author of this post, informing not terrorism was the source of terror. It is reassuring, in one way, that it was a flight crew person who made the report, because one can assume that flight crews have a much, much better idea of what suspicious activity might look like on a plane, although that doesn’t make them immune to racism or tendencies to racially profile, etc. So the only material change that this piece of information introduces is that it demonstrates that official bodies may be likely (and probably should be likely) to respond more to “more qualified reports”. If official bodies respond to someone who is right 98% of the time, that reduces false positives
tremendously, as opposed to leaving it up to fear-riddled passengers who are, literally, just guessing.
This doesn’t address issues of racial profiling, etc., but it points to a way to have workably enhanced surveillance (which is not the same thing as saying greater safety) without subjecting people to what turns out to be unnecessary unpleasantness. I hope that no one has lost sight of the fact that the author has, by these acts against her, been subjected to terrorism. It is an act of terrorism (State-sponsored) for authoritarian bodies to subject someone to this treatment (in my book, even if they’re guilty). It is a display of force that leaves an impression, quite apart from whatever excuses or justifications we (or anyone) wants to offer about necessary security and whatnot. That is, it may be security AND it is terror at the same time. It is terror that extends to her children, as a story, to her friends, as an experience she relates. It comes with anger as well, of course, but the perfectly rational response “I won’t fly on 9/11 anymore” belies the traces of violence done to this woman.
I propose in the case of all false positives that the accuser minimally should have to be confronted by the accused. Anonymous reporting cannot be allowed in cases of what turn out to be false positives. People should know when they make mistakes, and if those mistakes are racially motivated (then they’re not mistakes, but acts of terror themselves), then being shamed for those mistakes is not inappropriate.
I propo
Jeanine
/ September 14, 2011Jeanne and ‘survivor of 9/11 tower 1: RELINQUISHING YOUR RIGHTS TO DIGNITY AND DUE PROCESS DOES NOT MAKE YOU SAFE. IT ONLY MAKES YOU A TARGET FOR FASCISTS. I suspect that neither one of you looks like the targeted racial groups. You would rather live in a ‘safe’ prison’ than a free society? 9/11 was horrendous, but it was a sneak attack. There is no rational way to be 1005 ‘safe.’ All we can do is use some reasonable awareness. As for ‘survivor of tower 1’: how do we know you are who you say you are? You could just as likely be a troll working for the RACIST BIGOTS IN THE FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. THE TRUE TRAITORS ARE THE AUTHORS OF THESE LAWS–PATRIOT AND SO ON. NOTICE HOW NOBODY PROFILES WHITE CHRISTIAN MALES AFTER TIMOTHY MCVEIGH MURDERED HUNDREDS. Frankly, Jeanne, your prejudice and blindness to privilege is showing.
Benjamin Franklin
/ September 14, 2011You suck, Jeanne. You want a different America (maybe one like Russia or China) — one that lives in fear and without liberty. You need to evolve. Now, you sounds just like a non-thinking animal.
marc
/ September 14, 2011Think of the northern civil rights campaigners of the 60’s. Going south for a cause. Now consider your own perspective. How safe does your government need to make you feel? Not everybody can have their courage but everybody needs some.
Carol
/ September 13, 2011I feel badly that this has happened to you because of your skin color.
Unfortunately, people profile all the time. It can be ecause of skin color, or speech accent, or because they are fat. My friend is constantly looked down on because he doesn’t have a “job” and he is Native American. He is a very well known artist but that doesn’t seem to ‘count’. I am overweight and I am profiled constantly. Everyone, even doctors, have a tendency to think people become fat because of over eating In my case, it is because my body does not make enough Human Growth Hormone. I can’t fix it because athletes and others have abused it so there is no insurance company anywhere that will cover the high cost. I think we are all at fault because of our fears, our hate and our inability to trust.
walt
/ September 13, 2011Does this suggest that only people of color can be terrorist?
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011Timothy McVeigh?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The fact that “people profile all the time” doesn’t always result in a strip search and cavity search and the violations of Constitutional rights that resulted in THIS case of profiling.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Allison, I agree with your comments 100%. Today a friend of mine wrote on facebook that her prosthetic breast was swabed for explosives. My doctore explained to me that he will never go through the x-ray machines if he is selected for an enhanced search. He explained to me that exposure to radiation is cumulative and back scatter x-rays are more dangerous than a regular x-ray of your arm or lungs because those x-rays are pinpointed. Back Scatter x-rays do exactly that, they scatter radiation all over your body. With all of the negative publicity, you would think that the police would use some common sense in the way that they conducted themselves. What happend to this lady was outragious. Thanks again for your comments Allison
julianna
/ September 14, 2011This was not a violation of her constitutional rights. As a travelor in the post 9/11 world we live in, we all have the right to be safe. If you don’t like what is happening, drive to your destination. I am so tired of people complaining about civil liberties being violated. If the authorities didn’t act on the tip or even if it was just someone profiling, and there was an explosion or another accident, we all would have been screaming that they didn’t do enough to thwart another attack. You can’t have it both ways. I say profile away. As an American you must understand this…period!!! We didn’t do this to ourselves…those cowards on 9/11/2001 did this. We just have to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again and if that means some blogger from Ohio ….some Father from Virginia…..Some grandmother from Florida…some child from California gets profiled and detained…so be it. This country can not handle another attack and neither can I!!!
strega42
/ September 16, 2011we all have the right to be safe.
No. No, we don’t. “Being safe” is not a right. And if “being safe” is that important to you, then I trust you don’t drive a car (thousands of people die EACH! YEAR!), or send your child to public school (since so many teachers are being convicted of molesting children). And I’m sure you don’t buy food from the grocery store, with all the reports of e. coli contamination that happen every year.
You may be tired of people “whining” about their civil liberties being violated; I’m tired of people using Orwell as a social blueprint.
You may be unable to “handle” another such attack on US soil; but if so that’s not my problem. There have been attacks on US soil before, and there will be again, at some point. I will point out, thou9.gh, that at some point between 9/11/01 and that next attack, you’re probably going to be dead.
Heart attack, cancer, car wreck, falling down the stairs, an allergic reaction to some medication, maybe even a spider bite. Drowning, perhaps. All of these things are MUCH more likely to happen to you than another 9/11 type event occurring. If the government can’t keep you “safe” from the first seven items on that list, what makes you think they can keep you “safe” from an event that is statistically so astronomically rare as a terrorist bombing in this country?
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011All excellent points, though these people aren’t interested in facts. They’re terrified of their own shadows.
As strega42 points out, car accidents are far more deadly than 9/11!.
In fact, there is the equivalent of 9/11! every month on America’s streets. If 9/11! is so scary, then yeah, you should stop driving, too.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Julianna:
Actually, for someone who doesn’t want another 9/11, you are committing a micro-version of it in this post. Your words are an attempt to terrorize, to suggest that my civil rights should be violated, removed. You say I must understand this–or else? Is that it?
I’m smart enough, or reflective enough, to know that if I spend every day living in fear, then every day of my life is screwed-off. I’d rather be scared at those times when I need to be. I was sitting in a cafe one day, and this guy came in, and I had a very strong, visceral reaction that I needed to be somewhere else. I didn’t “report him” I just left, feeling ridiculous that I was, but also knowing I’d feel even more ridiculous if I stayed and something happened. I checked later–nothing had happened. This was probably not my finest hour, but I don’t spend all of my time being paranoid about people–that’s just dumb to do to myself.
Your words frightten me. Your words are the kind that countries I wouldn’t want to live in encourage and promote. If I was elsewhere, I could inform on you as a terrorist, and you would be swept away. Case closed. Problem solved. It’s tempting of course. It’s such an easy way to deal with “people we are scared by”–but is that where we really want to live? Do you? The more reasonable response, of course, is to call for your censorship, but that’s just the same thing–a more polite, gentler kind of death. Is that what you want?
When people say, “If you have a problem with this country, go somewhere else,” my response is, “My problem is with you. You go somewhere else.” If you are going to stump for US values and the defense of the US, then please at least don’t violate those values in what you want. The very fact that your intemperate remarks will not and should not be taken as an input to the crafting of any security policy, though the fear and concern in your voice would be taken into account, is a testimony to what part of the US is good in how it functions. Racists want to lynch people of color; they’re generally ignored. Men want to beat women; they’re generally punished. You want a fascist government; no thanks. You will find friends in politics to back you up and who will try to implement what you want, but luckily most of them are just lying to you that that’s what they’re doing, and really they’re just making sure they can line their pockets more with moolah, using your terror to ensure their reelection and the income stream coming to them through the department of defense and the prison-industrial complex.
You’re not representing your own self-interests by being frightened like you are.
greg
/ February 12, 2013@Julianna, I am happy (or sad) to say that NONE of the Founding Fathers would have ANY respect for you at all. None. They would regard you as just exactly the type of tool those who are corrupt and who seek power would welcome. Franklin himself would no doubt be contemptuous of your attitude…you are the epitome of the type of unamerican element that is going to ruin this great nation. If you want a police state and to disrespect the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence because you are too weak, too small minded, too self-centered to understand and appreciate what those documents mean to America, then move somewhere else and make room for a real American who will not betray everything the Founding Fathers created.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011This is right. The fact of the matter is that not everyone is awake yet. I guess it is ok to do this until it is done to you, a family member or a friend. I don’t roll like that. The Police State is violating all of our Constitutional rights, especially at the airport. While I realize that we don’t have the full plethora of rights that we get outside the airport, per Supreme Court jurisprudence, there is still no doubt that our 1st, 4th, 5th and 14th Amendment rights are being violated at times by certain people (TSA). I’d rather drive across the country at this point than subject myself to this kind of government intrusion in my life. I doubt that I politically agree with the blog owner about much. After all, she virtuously cited to Malcom X of all people. But still, I stand with her in her right to be free of this kind of government intrusion without more cause on the part of the government. Today it is her. Tomorrow, it is all of us.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Well said. Very well said.
wealthyone2
/ September 13, 2011Every one seems to understand that being secure is not easy and a threat real or imagined on a day when the perpetraitors vowed to attack again must be acknowledged and dealt with period. It just so happened that the author of the blog fits the so called profile. They were all sitting together and not related or even familiar. Odd seat selection? Last thing, the fat Jada Pinkett remark hit two groups of people with one stone Blacks and overweight people. The buzz cut white guy who looked like the police another questionable description of human beings. If you don’t want to be
subjected to discrimination and profiling find a better way to describe other human beings. I am not saying whether the reaction was appropriate? however the description of hardworking foot soldiers of American Security on 9/11 leaves a lot to think about.
Dwin Dykema
/ September 14, 2011The speed of trust. We are unable to trust because so many lack integrity and honesty. In order to recieve trust one must first BE trust worthy. There in lies a large part of the world’s problem.
Blanche
/ September 14, 2011Carol: Your remark was timely as the author, herself, profiled the female uniformed officer as a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”. I think she could have chosen another descriptive adjective but she chose a word that, as we all know, signifies contempt of an individual’s physical appearance, no matter what the reason. So, we should ALL be aware of how we treat others and the way we want to be treated and what we say. On the same note, what happened to her was reprehensible but African-Americans have been profiled for decades and experienced far, far worse (try lynching). I wonder how many times Ms. Shebshi experienced indignation when she saw other people of color experience events similar to her own and felt compelled to speak out? In no way are my comments meant to demean Ms. Shebshi. She is correct to speak out but please not to forget that there were many people before you right here in their own country who weren’t even allowed to express their righteous indignation the way Ms. Shebshi has.
Shelly
/ September 13, 2011Russ, I congratulate you on they way you expressed your views if this situation and agree completely. I think Shoshana’s account of the situation was genuine, including the descriptions of the officers. I believe she was allowing herself to express, honestly, what she was thinking and feeling. It seems to me that America has still not come to grips with it’s ethnicity. We still hear of a crime and hope silently that the criminal can in no way be linked to us either by race, ethnicity or color. When we get to the point where it is okay to say (for descriptive purposes only) that a person of a particular ethnicity IS that ethnicity without it sounding racist, we will be on the road to evolution. When people try to describe me without using my ethnicity or race, it makes it quite difficult for someone to envision who I may be but as soon as someone says the [ethnicity/race] woman who was on the elevator, for example, there is a way to identify me accurately. In Shoshana’s instance, though, her “look” is neither her race nor ethnicity and that creates another problem for American racism. It seems that if you have dark, straight hair and light-brown skin, we Americans have not found an identifier for you yet. As this is America, THE melting pot, throw in long, silky, curly dark hair with dark-brown skin and we are once again befuddled.
Homeland Security and the FBI did exactly as they should. They were respectful and thorough. I have been through the same type of search TWICE. once returning from Mexico and again returning from Canada, Because I’d done nothing wrong, I was not concerned.
This a a way of life now and we need to accept it.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011No, we do not need to accept the random violation of a person’s Constitutional rights based on unsubstantiated reports of unspecified suspicious activity from untrained civilians who are not questions about the veracity of their suspicions.
Susan
/ September 13, 2011Allison, there is nothing ‘random’ about flying on a plane on the the 10th anniversay of 9/11. And when somebody calls the authorities to report what they perceive as a threat, the authorities simply follow protocol. Flying on planes post- 9/11 is an inconvenience for everybody, unfortunately some more than others. That’s what happens when hijackers take over planes and kill THOUSANDS of innocent people!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yes, there is. Not everyone can plan their travel plans in order to avoid a specific date. And you’ll notice that not every single person flying on 9/11 was handcuffed, detained, strip searched, cavity searched, and interrogated, which according to your logic they should have been, simply for flying on 9/11?
The protocol, in this case, is bullshit. An unknown and untrained civilian, operating under who knows what, can notify authorities of his or her “suspicions” of another passenger, and the authorities take that unsubstantiated report without investigating the validity of it? Really? So, if I call in a report to DSS that you’re beating your kids, the DSS authorities should take that report without asking me any questions about why I’m making it, what I’ve seen and witnessed, what I suspect, etc., and then yank your kids out of your home? Because that’s the equivalent of what happened here. And I really don’t think you want that.
Hijackers on 9/11/01 killed thousands of people. Ms. Shebshi is not related in any way to that event.
Tina
/ September 14, 2011Maybe i’m wrong, but I don’t recall her mentioning a cavity search. A strip search is far different than a cavity search, just saying.
And yes, each and every claim of child abuse should be investigated, but the “equivalent” of this situation would be them coming to your home, asking you questions, looking through your house, looking on your child for bruises, seeing the claims were incorrect apologizing and leaving your home.
Having yourself detained for questioning isn’t the same as having a child ripped out of your home on unsubstantiated claims. And who said they DIDN’T ask the person these questions, and the person answered with specific examples describing her concerns? Two men leaving at the same time to use the bathroom (could be discussing a terrorist plot) the person sitting next to them ignoring everybody while texting on her phone (could be somebody contacting a person arranging the terrorist plot).
It’s hard to put yourself in somebodys shoes, but it’s very easy to judge them for the feelings they had and choices they made.
Minuialear
/ September 14, 2011The equivalent would be taking the children away for questioning (without explaining why they are being taken away), as well as doing a thorough search of your house, after which point they finally tell you that a neighbor said she heard you yelling and assumed there was some sort of abuse.
This incident wasn’t a friendly “We’re just going to ask you some questions” sort of affair. Police with machine guns marched into the plane, handcuffed three people, dragged them off to a detention center without a word about what was going on, left them locked up for hours, questioned them about everything under the sun, strip searched them, and then explained the situation. The fact that they even had the gall to ask if she spoke English when she’d been asking them what the deal was for hours was indicative of the sort of respect she was given AS A CITIZEN, and that ought to disgust anyone.
As for the claims themselves, I sincerely doubt those two men were the only men who used the bathroom in succession, and I sincerely doubt she was the only person texting or using her cellphone once the plane landed, so that is bullshit. This event reeks of racial profiling, and her treatment is inexcusable given the scant reasons for suspicion that were reported.
SB
/ September 14, 2011“They also needed to make sure all my orifices were free and clear.” I guess you have a different definition of cavity then.
nonegiven
/ September 15, 2011““equivalent” of this situation would be them coming to your home, asking you questions, looking through your house, looking on your child for bruises, seeing the claims were incorrect apologizing and leaving your home. ”
Wrong, if a social worker comes to your door wanting to investigate a report of child abuse, even accompanied by a uniformed police officer, you are not required to let them in, speak to them or let them speak to or inspect your children. You ask if they have a warrant or court order, if they don’t then you tell them to go away.
Charls Martel
/ September 14, 2011The validity of a report is verified in this manner. Tey could have also stormed the plane and shot the suspects, but that would be what you are describing. Your comment about DSS follows the same logic as the previous one.
The claim was made, the claim was verified.
By continuing with your logic we could say that only 100 percent verified claims are to be investigates or confronted? who is then responsable for the inital tip? can only a trained indevidual classify someone as suspicious and give a report to be followed up on?
thought problem: 3 personell on a plane have explosives hidden on their persons. a report was made as to these 3 suspicious indeviduals. how would this report be verified? any different from the above story?
On another vein, I am just curious as to what actions here violated someones rights?
Sally Strange (@SallyStrange)
/ September 14, 2011“The claim was made, the claim was verified.”
Incorrect. The claim was made, and then the claim was acted upon. It was not verified. That’s the problem.
Sally Strange (@SallyStrange)
/ September 14, 2011There really are people out there wondering whether and how a person’s rights were violated here? Our protagonist, a law-abiding citizen on the way to see her law-abiding husband, was detained for hours on an unsubstantiated decision and strip-searched. The Fourth Amendment says that you have the right to be guarded against unreasonable searches and seizures. How do you define “reasonable”? Does relying on the unfounded, unverified, unsubstantiated accusation of a random stranger who’s a bit racist and paranoid really strike you as “reasonable”?
Duane
/ September 14, 2011Allison, I have to agree with you 100%. The simple fact is, the current “protocols” would not stop an intelligent, trained and determined terrorist anyway – maybe a crazed nutcase, but that’s about it. The “protocls” that existed on 9/11 SHOULD have stopped most of the hijackings then – but they didn’t. What was missing then is the same thing that is stil missing now – common sense. Without that, no protocol on Earth will work.
And personally speaking, certain of our rights are worth protecting with life and limb – which means that they are worth taking risks for. I would not want “perfect” security if it meant giving up my freedom. Inconvenience, sure. True freedom, no. When we do that out of fear, then the terrorists win.
A realist
/ September 14, 2011Youre rational is very selfish. Although this poor woman and the two men had to go through this ordeal for what turned out to be no reason, safety is still important to the other civilians and US citizens on the plane. Our government and its the entities working for it are there to keep you, me, and this Lady safe from a real threat of death and terrorist actions. This is the world that we live in. We cannot just forget…to substantiate a claim now-a-days on a bomb threat is a 50-50 shot at suicide. Like it or not, this is the world we live in. This is the result of evil pockets of terror making life harder for all of us. Our world will never be as simple as you lay out in your comments. Our world is changed, and cooperation to prevent another 3000 deaths is a small sacrifice for the greater good.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Sacrificing somebody else’s Constitutional rights is not what I, or many people here, want as “the price of freedom.”
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Realist, please tell me where the real threat of death was on that flight? I am sure you will be able to quickly articulate it. Or are you suggesting that there is a real threat of death everytime a plane takes off in this world? I will grant you that a plane can crash, but I can get in a crash pulling out of my driveway in the morning. Please explain yourself.
David Matthew Bacon
/ September 14, 2011Honestly your willingness to violate people for supposed protection is far more selfish than not wanting anyone to be violated for supposed protection. You’re a fool.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Susan,
We also have Inalienable rights as citizens of this great nation. We have 4th Amendment rights that guarantee us freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. What was done was a complete violation of this woman’s Constitutional Rights! I don’t remember the quote of Benjamin Franklin exactly, but it went something like this ‘Those who are willing to give up their Liberty for the sake of security deserve neither’. As long as we continue to have TSA, FBI and Police Officers who are abusing their power we have in fact ALLOWED the terrorists to win. By the way, I have spent the last 35 years of my life in Law Enforcement and I believe the manner that LE’s conducted themselves in this situation and many others is outragiously wrong.
Nitin Gk
/ September 14, 2011Susan, do you mean to say, brown people should “deliberately” not fly on 9/11, because there flying cannot be perceived as random? Random work, random visit to somebody ailing, random visit to a wife or a girlfriend who was unlucky to be born on 9/11 years before the incident?
So much for The American Dream.
Nitin Gk
/ September 14, 2011*their.
mac
/ September 14, 2011The authorities were simply following protocol? Wasn’t this the defense the Nazi guards used when they rounded up Jews and sent them to the camps?
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Yep. Same with the Communists in Stalinist Russia, Mao’s China, Fidel’s Cuba and Kim’s North Korea.
Anthony
/ September 14, 2011I’d rather my plane explode than be subjected to this tyranny. Good thing I moved out of the fascist United States. I’m really worried about when I have to go back and visit my family. I won’t answer any questions, hold me in the cell. Government thug scumbags, the whole lot of them are.
Libby
/ September 18, 2011Agree.
Expat in Mexico.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Look, Susan, it’s a dangerous world in this post-9/11 era. If you and thousands of others are so afraid to fly on 9/11, then you shouldn’t fly on 9/11. Simple as pie.
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011Well said Susan!
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011I agree with Allison. We do not have to accept violations of our rights. Rational minds need to prevail. I’m sick of hearing the old “if I didn’t do anything wrong I don’t have to be afraid” argument. What if Shoshana had been with her kids? What if she was on her way to visit her dying father? A six-hour or more delay with no cause is not harmless. This is America. We prize our freedom.
Jim
/ September 13, 2011America doesn’t have “an ethnicity”. We are a melting pot of people from all over the world. We are a nation of immigrants and natives, people of all nations who have come here to make their lives. The concept that someone thinks we have “an american ethnicity” is so repugnant that it’s not even funny. Shoshana, I for one, as a fellow American Citizen, apologize to you for what you suffered. You handled it with much more dignity than I would have. You prove that in spite of ourselves, America has hope. Thank you for that.
Arnold
/ September 13, 2011Shelly very well said!
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011If we accepted that unfair and inhumane treatment by anyone or towards anyone – including the government – was inevitable, we’d still be in the 1700’s. Don’t you have any sense of pride in the essence of what it means to be American, with not only the right, but the duty to stand up and speak out against injustices? Complacency and laziness is the antithesis of the American Dream, and will lead to the rotting of our way of life from the inside out – a situation many times worse than what anyone else can do to us, but exactly what they wish they could do. But in that case, they haven’t won – we forfeited. Truly, ignorance is not bliss – it is a path to destruction.
We need to figure out a way to rise above these issues that separate us, and unite as citizens, to fight for the values that this country was built upon, and has struggled to achieve for so many years. We need to speak up, and make our voices heard. We need to stop allowing the politicians to run our country on their own personal platforms, and really start taking back our power.
Shoshana, I am so sorry that you endured this treatment… I can only hope that you can find the strength and love in your heart to forgive – for your own peace of mind – and that your story might be able to make a difference, inspiring more people to stand up and speak out for the freedoms we obviously need to take more responsibility for maintaining, lest we lose them while we’re not looking.
Thank you for opening yourself up like this, and sharing your story.
Chris
/ September 14, 2011You can go through life as someone who allows government to infringe upon your constitutional rights by simply saying this is a “way of life” and we need to accept if you like. However, that kind of attitude will take us down a road towards tyranny, and I would not want to see that.
No, the FBI and Homeland Security did not do exactly as they should. They were acting upon policies that are based on fear and ignorance and do nothing to further protect us. This is no different than TSA agents groping an 85 year old or even a young child.
As Benjamin Franklin said – “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Dave in SB
/ September 14, 2011Shelly Are you #@*&ing kidding??? This is a way of life now?? Accept it?? Our founding fathers felt that a free people were not meant to be subject to this kind of arbitrary crap and that is a great part what made this country great, in the first place. Sadly, people like you are handing over our rights and freedoms, for your illusory sense of safety, such that someday we will just have fond memories of the freedoms our founding fathers gave us through the Constitution!!!
ruth
/ September 18, 2011Shelly – I don’t have to accept anyone sticking their fingers in my vagina and butthole because of another person’s unfounded suspicions. No, I surely do not. It’s a violation and our Constitution protects against it for better reasons than the current fear. It does nothing in this case to ensure national security. What it does is set a precedent for those with some type of authority to do it to you because someone reported something “suspicious.” And eventually that person making a report could be your neighbor that has a petty disagreement with you and goes extreme or someone who just disagrees with your political beliefs. I’ve already had this type of situation occur with me post-9/11 and Patriot Act, and no, it did nothing to further your security or anyone else’s. But it did a whole lot to violate my sense of personal security and safety, which is what is seems to have done in this case.
Libby
/ September 18, 2011Keeping the paranoia at the proper level so as to continue stripping us of our civil liberties.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 19, 2011Keeping the paranoia at the proper level so as to continue stripping us of our civil liberties.
And jobs, bank accounts, homes, opportunities, and a future worth living.
Thomas Hamilton
/ September 13, 2011I agree, the system needs to be fine tone, but i rather have to go through a slight inconvenienced than to have 50 to 60,000 people lose their lives,because the system was being politically correct —–we are at WAR.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011What Mrs. Shebshi experienced was not a slight inconvenience. It was a gross violation of her Constitutional rights. War does not suspend those rights for American citizens.
Charls Martel
/ September 14, 2011What Constitutional right was violated?
rad
/ September 14, 2011All of the 4th amendment, some of the 5th amendment, and much of the 6th amendment. Since you asked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
Eric Blair
/ September 14, 2011Charls,
I think that there is a right to protection from unlawful search and seizure, which is the basis for the requirement for probable cause. It looks to me like this is the chief violation of Mrs. Shebshi’s liberties.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Quite easily the 4th Amendment. Unlawful seizure and unreasonable search. Geez. As for Hamilton, I agree with Allison a strip search and a possible cavity search was not a slight inconvenience to her. This just speaks to the self-centered nature of our society. Maybe your real thought is “F her”. ????
J Rodman
/ September 14, 2011We are protected against search and seizure, unless there is resonable suspicion of a crime.
In this case, there was not.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Her right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizure, and her right to have her detention based on probable cause (see Constitution, U.S., Fourth Amendment).
In addition, her right to face her accuser (see Constitution, U.S., Sixth Amendment, Confrontation Clause).
Lance
/ September 14, 2011Keep slapping them down, Allison…
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011Allison, hardly worth it to argue with some of these people who clearly did not pass their high school government class.
BB
/ September 14, 2011Due to the Patriot Act and our post 9/11 world, her search and seizure was not “unreasonable”. There was probable cause. It was 9/11, and there was chatter of a chance that terrorists would retaliate. DHS and FBI followed procedure, which was given to them in the PATRIOT ACT.
Also, the 6th Amendment only applies in criminal defendants. She was not charged with any crime. She was not accused of being a terrorist. She was detained and questioned due to what people deemed suspicious activity on a day where there was a threat of terrorism.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011And the probably cause was what, exactly? It was either a) that she is brown or b) she is brown and was sitting in a row with other brown people or c) she is brown and was sitting in a row with other brown people who also used the restroom.
Egads! I had no idea that terrorists also use the restroom! Well, I for one will now be reporting everyone I see on a plane using a restroom. Can’t be too careful, you know. After all it is a post 9/11 world and people using the restroom need to be strip searched!
Seriously, BB, if you are this afraid of 9/11 attacks, you just shouldn’t leave your house. Seriously. You are more likely to choke and die on a peanut than you are to encounter a terrorist event.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Although the Patriot Act has definitely changed the applications of the Constitution (detrimentally), there was no probable cause. Sitting on an airplane while being non-white is not probable cause.
Dan from NYC
/ September 14, 2011Allison, et. al. – The law is very clear and nobody’s rights were violated.
The fourth amendment was not violated in that the report presented “exigent circumstance” that made the search legally valid.
The fifth amendment was also not violated in that no one was “held to answer” a term with very specific meaning referring. I quote, “A preliminary hearing is held to determine if there is sufficient evidence that the defendant committed the crime and should therefore be “held over” for trial. Once a defendant is “held to answer,” meaning in custody to answer charges, the prosecuting agency files a document called the Information. The defendant will subsequently be arraigned on the Information at which time he or she will enter a plea and proceed to trial.” http://definitions.uslegal.com/h/held-to-answer/
The sixth amendment was never at risk as it has to do exclusively with criminal prosecutions and rights at trial. Since no one was “held over”, and no indictment was issued, it is an inaccurate understanding to state there is a right to face the accuser. Such a “right” doesn’t exist.
Brian
/ September 14, 2011You talk to much. It’s not a “right” to fly. If you do, you follow the rules which are in place to make it as safe as possible. If you don’t like it, take the bus. And yes, it is sorry to say, that sometimes the color of someone’s skin causes more alarm than someone’s else skin color, but once again, deal with it. If you don’t like it, then move some place else where you feel safer. I would have reported it too. As a matter of fact I would have been on high alert for anything, anything at all which might seem a little odd. Including everytime you reached into your bag while they were in the bathroom.
e
/ September 14, 2011Brian, she did follow all of the rules – as did the other passengers. Since when is sitting in your seat, reading and sleeping considered not “following rules”. You’re an idiot.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Um, no, try again.
Flying is a right.
USC 49 § 40103. SOVEREIGNTY AND USE OF AIRSPACE
(2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sec_49_00040103—-000-.html
If you need to feel safe, then YOU need to move to a country that provides for your safety. Cuba and North Korea come to mind.
Dan from NYC
/ September 15, 2011As with all rights there is a limitation. Flying is a limited right not an unlimited one. Reading the law you posted above clearly states in part, “(b) Use of Airspace.—
(1) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assign by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace. The Administrator may modify or revoke an assignment when required in the public interest.
(2) The Administrator shall prescribe air traffic regulations on the flight of aircraft (including regulations on safe altitudes) for—
(A) navigating, protecting, and identifying aircraft;
(B) protecting individuals and property on the ground; “
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011And just exactly how is strip and cavity searching someone AFTER the plane has landed SAFELY at its INTENDED FINAL DESTINATION allow for protection of individuals and property on the ground when the flight was safely completed as intended?
How, exactly, does that work with your incorrect reading of the law?
BayAreaBiker
/ September 15, 2011Another bigot comment. It would have saved rest of us if you have posted your real picture with your comment too so that I could avoid sitting next to you if we happen to be on same flight or at the airport.
anonymous
/ September 18, 2011And you’re an ignorant, semi-literate authoritarian buffoon who probably tells women IRL that they “talk too much,” too.
Mark
/ September 14, 2011No, Thomas Hamilton… nobody should have to go through a “slight inconvenience” just because we are bombing the hell out of the Middle East. It’s not worth it. It starts with 1 person being inconvenienced, then 2, then 10, then 1,000, then 100,000 then we are putting people of certain ethnic background into camps. Fascism will come to America wrapped in an American flag. You need to foresee the bigger picture when you say things like that, Thomas.
Not one person should ever have to go through what Ms.Shebshi went through.
James Jesse
/ September 14, 2011A slight inconvenience? Wow…
The usual.. ‘It is OK as long as it does not happen to me’
David
/ September 14, 2011Are we really at WAR? We’ve been battling a war on drugs for over 40 years and spent over $2.5 trillion dollars on it, yet have drugs been eliminated from our society? Not even remotely.
We’ve been fighting a war on terror for ten years now. Terrorism existed before that time and it will continue to exist into the future. Our individual freedoms and liberty are being compromised for the sake of fighting this war. At what point do we say “enough”?
Using the “we are at WAR” excuse is a convenient way to justify virtually any attack on the personal liberties that we in the US hold so dear in the first place. Whether it’s illegal wire tapping, unlawful detention or progressively unreasonable searches, we as a people are letting our freedoms erode in the interest of safety.
And just for some perspective, bask in these numbers. From 1994 to 2010 here are the number of people killed in the US from two different sources:
Terrorists: 3,168 (94% on 9/11/01)
Traffic Accidents: 661,403
Maybe we need a good old fashioned war on traffic next?
Libby
/ September 18, 2011War has not been declared.
Donna
/ September 13, 2011Russ – Why did so many good people die on 09/11, and an idiot like you survive??
trisha
/ September 13, 2011Why is it necessary to resort to this type of name-calling when Russ asked for a middle ground, a fine tuning of a system that makes mistakes? I was annoyed to remove the knitted booties off of my 3 month old child at airport security, and would also like to see this system fine-tuned.
Cheri
/ September 14, 2011Donna ~ name calling only shows your ignorance. It’s not at all becoming. It is certainly your right to disagree with someone else’s viewpoint; however, your behavior of name calling has no benefit at all and simply makes you look and sound ignorant.
Dave
/ September 14, 2011so he could be insulted by an idiot like you
Ken
/ September 14, 2011What an unworthy comment.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Come on now, Donna… That is truly dangerous language, and even more un-American than anything he said. We each have the freedom to maintain, and voice our opinions; and frankly, this comment indicates to me that you are not only probably less intelligent than he, but also morally deficient. Congratulations!
David Andrew Lane
/ September 14, 2011Donna…perhaps you’ll want to re-read what “Russ” wrote…just sayin’!
Si
/ September 14, 2011Donna, that was a pretty nasty comment. He didn’t say anything wrong, just his opinion, and all you have is slander.
As far as what happened, do I think she was violated and humiliated? Absolutely! But the catch 22 is unfortunately, if you see something that looks a bit odd and it is a day where everyone is especially on guard, do you tell yourself to let it go, with the possibility it might a real threat, or do you go for help? I do believe there was a better way to handle this and allay fears without putting this poor woman and those other 2 men in handcuffs, but I don’t have the answer as to how.
To those that claim there was nothing suspicious about those men going to the bathroom, you weren’t there, and you can only really see this story from her perspective. It might have looked odd to the crew for two men, sitting close together, and of the same ethnicity to get up and go to the bathroom at the same time and then take a bit longer than normal. The fact is we had warnings of the original 9/11 and we ignored them. Well people aren’t ignoring it anymore. There were other indicators of possible attacks on the anniversary, should we ignore those too?
We are the only country with the kind of freedoms that we have, and we shouldn’t let others change that or cause us to turn on each other, but the other side is that because we have these freedoms, we are also a very easy target. So how do we balance this, so we maintain our American ways, respect our rights, and still be protected? It is a very difficult balancing act. I was in the military during 9/11 and was an Arabic linguist/analyst and it was very difficult then to make good decisions. It is a very convoluted situation. Who attacked us on 9/11?…extremists who happened to be of Arab descent. So who do we look at to attack us again…those of Arab descent. Are there other terrorists of other nationalities? Of course there are, and we should always be alert, but the fact is that there was not a single terrorist attacker on 9/11 who was not an Arab.
Please understand, I am not saying anyone was wrong, I feel for this poor woman, but I also understand why things happened as they did. Instead of simply saying that people acted inappropriately, find answers on how to better handle this. Pointing the finger is a waste of time and doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. To Mrs Hebshi, I am so sorry that you were put through that. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling and I hope that you can find some peace.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Well, she did just sit in her seat.
I guess that IS suspicious.
Appalled
/ September 14, 2011How dare you! That comment makes me sick to my stomach. Way to reinforce the idea that we shouldn’t be judging each other.
WE DARE
/ September 14, 2011… you’re not qualified to judge anyone – look to your own life!
wri7913
/ September 14, 2011Donna,
Your comment only shows how vulgar and idiotic you are. Nothing more. As Russ said, and I concur, I am glad there is a system in place to report incidences but obviously it does need to be refined. People also need to be vigilant but not overactive in their fears. People like Shoshana need to be more aware of their activities especially on a day like 9/11 while flying. People’s fears will obviously be heightened due to possible followup terrorists strike. It hasn’t happened yet but the Press was making references to the Government’s heightened state of alert due to a possible strike.
Are people of Arabic descent going to be profiled on planes? You bet. People of Arabic descent do have a long recent history (in the last 50 years) of airline terrorism. Sorry but that is the honest truth here.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Timothy McVeigh was white. Are white people being profiled when they rent moving vans? Most people who bomb abortion clinics and shoot abortion doctors are white. Should we profile them?
Membership in an ethnic group does not equate to being a terrorist.
M
/ September 14, 2011wri7913 says, “People like Shoshana need to be more aware of their activities especially on a day like 9/11 while flying.”
Who exactly are “people like Shoshana?” Women? Ohio residents? People who are half Arab? People who are half Jewish? What if you’re 1/4 something? 1/8? What if you’re 100% Indian and the only thing you have in common with Shoshana is that you’re not white?
And what exactly were her activities? Reading? What can and can’t she read? Sleeping? What if I can never sleep on a plane? Playing with her phone? Are some games ok but others not? Texting while on the ground – can I do that if I’m brown even if the captain says it’s ok to turn on cell phones? How many white people around me need to be using electronic equipment before I can feel it’s safe to use mine?
Shoshana a regular American person and she wasn’t doing anything!
Tony S
/ September 14, 2011wri7913,
I think that you and others are missing/ignoring some important points.
First, while there needs to be a way to report suspicious activities, the response to such a report should be a reasonable one. What Mrs. Shebshi, and her two fellow travelers were subjected to was not reasonable.
Second, please remember that our Constitution is the foundation and the framework for all of our laws, If those laws fail to protect all of our people, then we have a problem that needs to be addressed. As Allison pointed out earlier, the 4th Amendment was probably violated. Mrs. Shebshi was forcibly detained and restrained based on someone reporting “suspicious activity”, Does anyone remember the major details of the Salem witch trials? Women were tortured and killed based upon the accusation that they were a witch. Before I get accused of missing the obvious, I would like to point out the basic parallels. It only took an accusation to have someone detained (ie, locked up) before trial. During that waiting period, the accused were thoroughly interrogated (tortured) before their trial to try to extract a confession. Failing that, the accused was sent before a judge who did one of two things. He either ordered the accused be tested, such as being bound and thrown into a large enough body of water, or, if the testimony were convincing enough, the judge would order the accused to be executed. I’m not going to beat this one to death, I’ll leave it to you to find the parallels.
While I understand and accept the need for investigating reports like this, there are many other ways to respond. Especially that whole ordeal about the strip search! Someone posted that the blog posting said nothing about a body cavity search, and how it was completely different than a strip search. My question, why would you perform a strip search if not to perform a body cavity search?
Last, airport security didn’t suddenly appear following the events on 9-11. Beginning in the ’70s, there were several hijacking’s of commercial airlines with the intent of monetary/political gain. It was following those incidents that airport security became an issue that mattered to the general public. In addition to this, terrorists began a bloody campaign (mostly in Europe) of random killings to bring attention to whatever cause they were supposedly supporting.
Eventually, the terrorists moved there attacks globally, including to the US. Did you know that there were several terrorists attacks on US soil by the Croatian nationalists prior to 9-11 or the breakup of Yugoslavia? They generally didn’t do much damage, but still, think you can racially profile them? To accuse people of Arabic descent of being responsible for 50 years of airline terrorism borders on being racist. Making these types of comments without first doing a bit of research doesn’t provide security, it only reinforces distrust and fear.
We all need to stop the rhetoric and start thinking for ourselves. The Republicans aren’t going to save us, and neither will the Democrats. Demand real solutions from our elected officials, and stop demanding “security at all costs”. Not everyone that has dark skin is a terrorist, or sympathetic to terrorists, or, from another country.
We need to stop being afraid.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Yeah, I don’t support this comment either. The worst thing that can happen to us (and it already has) is that we turn on each other. Meanwhile, the rulers laugh. Sad.
sukhvirk150
/ September 13, 2011It seems curious to me that many of the people advocating the stricter searches and diminishing liberties in the name of more security are white.
What about the people actually subjected to the searches?
I wear a turban. I went to the Mall of America the other day with my mother and sister. I went to see a movie, and two police officers pulled me from the theater. They questioned me. Apparently they received multiple calls from people frightened by me in the mall, and had been following me for a few hours.
Who’s really shouldering the cost of this “increased security”?
By the way, over the past decade, the number of deaths worldwide at the hands of Islamic Extremists, outside war zones, comes to some 200 to 300 individuals per year. For comparison, during the same period more people – 320 individuals per year – drowned in bathtubs in the United States alone. Attributed to a friend.
Sarah
/ September 13, 2011“Over the past decade, the number of deaths worldwide at the hands of Islamic Extremists, outside war zones, comes to some 200 to 300 individuals per year.”
“Attributed to a friend.”
Really now. How many people died in the 9/11 attacks? Misinformation isn’t just Fox New’s specialty.
Ketil
/ September 14, 2011According to http://danger.mongabay.com/injury_death.htm
341 persons drowned in bath-tubs in 2000.
Including 9/11, roughly 3000 people have been killed the last decade in islamist attacks in the US, according to http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/AmericanAttacks.htm
So, bathtubs have in the last decade slightly more dangerous to the American public than islamist terrorism. In addition to the erosion of civil liberties and public relations, the war on terror has cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly civilians. What resources are being used in to preserve bathing security?
SB
/ September 14, 2011Sarah cannot bring herself down to respond to you as you have now provided some corroboration. Of course, she would never have bothered to check, if there is a grain of fact in the post she responded to either. She will conveniently ignore the thread from hereon.
Dr. Nate Harada
/ September 14, 2011Do you know what the phrase “statistical anomaly” means?
K
/ September 14, 2011That average includes 9/11/01 numbers.
M
/ September 14, 2011Oh, Sarah… you’ve totally missed Sukhvir150’s point, haven’t you?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Well, people afraid of their own shadows do tend to miss the obvious.
Cheri
/ September 14, 2011Why is it that the “race” card always has to be pulled with every situation? That get’s real old and in most situations has NOTHING to do with the issue.
Tony
/ September 14, 2011I agree with you 100% It`s always the non-colored people to huff and puff about everything that`s not happening to them and think they know what everyone feels when they do not.
Citizen
/ September 13, 2011He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither
Tony
/ September 14, 2011Took the words right out my mouth but the full quote is “He who Sacrifices Freedom for a little bit of Security Deserves neither” Ben Franklin
Megan
/ September 14, 2011100% agree with both of you.
SANKAR
/ September 13, 2011Are you white? If a white guy points a finger to the dark skinned person especially at the airport or inside an aircraft it will ring the bell all over. If you belong to that race then you would know it. It is not for protection. It is sheer racism intended to divide the people through intimidation. The major reason is to inject fear in the mind of citizens so that all will stay silent although being wiped out due to depression created by the bank racketeers. The biggest terrorism of the century. At this day, terrorism is just a joke but the crooks are still attempting to revive it by spreading fears. Obviously, it is a huge profit making business.
Cheri
/ September 14, 2011Oh please…. get over it.
Mike
/ September 15, 2011Can you get over your white privilege. People like you are never ever inconvenienced. So how would you know. Now go back to watching soap operas
eye on the ball
/ September 16, 2011SPOT ON! Three cheers for being the first commenter to point this out. Counterterrorism is a MASSIVELY profitable business and it is absolutely in the best interests of many to perpetuate our fears. And it DOES distract us from real abuses carried out by other industries, including profiteering in the financial industry, to keep Americans focused on “Homeland Security” instead of investigating banking crimes.
Do people not remember what “Give me liberty or give me death” means? It means our “founding fathers” would rather have been DEAD that be subjected to the kind of treatment this poor woman describes in her blog post. So to every “patriotic” person who says this treatment is “worth it” in exchange for the “safety” it brings to America – they need to realize they are in total conflict with the brave people, real patriots, who fought a revolution to bring us this country, and everyone else since them who has fought for civil liberties.
Dave
/ September 14, 2011Although I agree that it sucks to have to go through this type of thing, I lean toward the fact that it is way better to be safe than sorry. If one has not awakened to the fact that our world is a dangerous place after what happened on 9/11 then one must be asleep at the switch. We, as Americans, have a group of animals out there that care not for their own lives but instead care about how many of us they can kill. All it takes is one of them to get through security and people will die, that is why it is important for all of us to be vigilent and aware of what goes on around us. This is what the person or persons were doing when they reported suspicious activity onboard that aircraft. The sad fact is that the majority of Americans cannot tell the difference between someone from India as opposed to someone from Saudi Arabia. Right after 9/11 there was a murder of a sikh man because the guy who shot him thought he was an arab. Americans should be educating themselves about the different peoples living in the middle east/southwest asia so that they can make more informed decisions in their vigilence. That vigilence is a necessary evil that we must live with because we are at war with an ideology.
Paul
/ September 14, 2011Refining the methods that keep us safe should include being informed why you’re being detained. No one should answer any questions if they don’t know why they are being asked.
Renee
/ September 14, 2011Russ I totally agree with you. Although I feel that the behavior for suspicion wasn’t there, I do find comfort that in the event a real threat was presented it would be investigated. I agree that she was treated unfairly. However, 10 years ago some suspicions were ignored. And unfortunately we all have to live with the consequences.
Tina Parsley Glymph
/ September 14, 2011I have to agree with Russ.
Questioning you would not eliminate the threat if there was one. It was our inaction of on 9/11 that caused the outcome, and now because the FBI is being cautious we are going to fault them as well. Where do you purpose the middle ground lays here, Without all the accusations and conjuncture of profiling, what would be a better solution? Simply questioning you, if you were a terrorist, I am sure you would be completely honest and forthright in your confession as soon as someone pulled you out of line.
I have to question anyone’s decision to fly on 9/11, especially since several planes are being escorted by fighter jets, that could misread a sign of trouble mechanically with a terrorism attack and end up badly.
Is it racist or bigoted, the case and point could be made either way. If the police suspect me of a felony in another state but have not confirmed that fact, they have a time frame as to which they can hold me in a cell and be lawful.
So let’s do what you suggest, Let’s grab some white guys and yank them off the plane, Why? We don’t have a good reason, we just don’t want everyone to feel like we are singling them out unfairly so we will waste resources and money on a group or people that pose no credible threat right now.
Perhaps it was racist, but like everything in life it is not all or nothing, the blame lies with you just as much as it does with the FBI. Your decision to fly on 9/11 being of a certain race, doesn’t show sound judgment. If not for any other reason but then being target practice for a pilot.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 15, 2011Thanks for your post Tina. Now I completely understand that it is entirely the victims fault. She should have known that because of her genetic heritage she would not be able to fly on 9/11/2011 without being detained for several hours and strip searched.
Are you one of the people who believe that rape would not be a problem if girls stayed out of bad neighborhoods?
Your solution is to grab white people of the plane and subject them to the same treatment, even though you state “We don’t have a good reason”. Please clarify what the “good reason” was for treating these three people this way. For reference, I will not accept “Your decision to fly on 9/11 being of a certain race” as a “good reason”.
I hope that this case goes to court, because I want to see the justification for detaining, strip searching, and questioning three innocent airline passengers. If this is not determined to be a gross violation of the fourth amendment, then nothing will.
greengeekgirl
/ September 14, 2011It’s not a result of terrorism alone. The fear that caused someone to report “suspicious activity” was bred over the next eight years after 9/11, heightened not by terrorist actions but by people in our own homeland. The paranoia of people was selectively targeted, used, and aggravated by political maneuvers, which has left a lot of people with ugly fears about dark-skinned people, particularly of Middle Eastern descent. These people are too simple to have any measure of self-awareness necessary to combat these bigoted ideas–they’re like rats in an electrified cage, and they do what they’re told, whether they’re being told that African-Americans have to go to school with them or whether they’re being told that possible Muslims should be watched carefully in case they’re terrorists. So no, the terrorists didn’t cause all of this alone; a bunch of opportunists did the greatest amount of damage inside our own borders.
Shoshana–if I can presume to call you by your first name, not knowing you 🙂 –I’m terribly sorry that this happened to you, and I’m terribly glad that you decided to write about it. Information and expression are freedoms we need to cherish.
Dave Mowers
/ September 15, 2011Perhaps the United States should stop training terrorists and supporting dictatorships in foreign countries then we wouldn’t have people who want to attack us! What was the excuse for shooting the Iraqi family with eight children to death including a newborn and two toddlers, recently brought under investigation? You think their extended family loves America now? Do the relatives of the Latin American people murdered by U.S. supported dictators love our country? Do parents of children dying from cancer caused by depleted uranium in Iraq love us? When your government murders in your name you get terrorist atrocities in return, maybe we should be asking ourselves why it is happening instead of arguing about the reactions to it.
Angel
/ September 15, 2011‘Inconvenienced’ and ‘humiliated’?? She was given a body cavity search! Why don’t you volunteer for one after being dragged of a plane and handcuffed and come back and tell us us “at least there are efforts…to keep us safe”. Puhlease.
George Metesky
/ September 16, 2011This is completely disgusting. Please accept my apologies on behalf of my lunatic government (and the crazy people in Detroit who did this to you). On Sept. 9th, I was visiting New York City and Penn Station looked like it had been invaded by an attacking army…only it was our own police, in every nook of the station with loaded AK-47s ready to fire on anyone suspicious. I watched one brutish cop flip out on an obviously drunk Hispanic man just because he was speaking loudly and obnoxiously (imagine that, in New York City!). Personally, I would rather live in a country where we suffer a terrorist attack every once in a while than in a perfectly safe country where power is abused the way it is currently being done. And this is with a liberal, minority-member President. Just imagine what would happen if we had elected someone scarier and more militaristic?
DW
/ September 16, 2011While I agree that this is completely disgusting the rest is shortsighted and incorrect. You DO live in a country that suffers terrorist attacks every day. You just don’t see them because they are masked as attacks on our information infrastructure. And they don’t directly cause the loss of life – they threaten to expose the security infrastructure that your tax dollars pay to maintain.
Fly into most any international airport in Europe, or go to a major train station and it’s very commonplace to see the military all over the place. You and anyone else who enjoys the ability to walk freely with little expectation of death and destruction should be thanking those military personnel for deciding to take on this charge on their own. Last I heard there was no draft forcing them to!
And I highly doubt that you really mean you would tolerate a terrorist attack with loss of life occasionally. It would likely take only one bomb going off in your neighborhood, frightening the bejeebeez out of you, or the death of a loved one or friend someplace else to change your opinion.
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011The difference, though, is that those military personnel in Europe aren’t itching for a fight the way the undertrained local police are goaded into it by DHS.
The hysteria in this country is seriously over the top.
DW
/ September 16, 2011You don’t think they are? Seriously? And you know this because… they handed you a flower and chanted the last time you were in Europe? Military presence in major European transportation centers are part of their culture. I saw it as far back as my first trip to England in 1980!
Further, I’d disagree with you about itching for a fight. The very highly trained military people I know aren’t interested in shooting people on their own soil. But they will if provoked. That’s what they are trained and sworn to do: Defend us from enemy’s foreign and domestic.
The cause of this incident wasn’t started by the military. It seems it was a civilian who provided the faulty Intelligence that scrambled jets and caused strip searches. The military simply responded just like they were trained.
Again, I’m sorry and saddened that this happened to her and her seat partners. But if you want to point a finger and find fault, point at the radicals that aren’t interested in building anything – but only tearing things apart at any cost. And then at the highly under-trained “official reporters” who stir themselves into hysteria. If we were living in a hysterical society, we’d have curfews and be walking around with flak jackets.
And lastly, if this was a trained Air Marshall or some other military individual on board that evaluated this situation and made the decision to move forward with this threat, then they need serious retraining – and maybe a new job.
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011We’re saying the same things. My point is that having military and militarized police infesting our cities is dangerous. There is no need for it. Period.
DW
/ September 16, 2011We’re not saying the same thing. You assume that a police force is ill equipped/trained to protect the law abiding citizens it’s charged to protect. I’d counter and tell you that a very high percentage of these individuals are former military, and are incredibly well trained. And for the most part well lead. In fact, I’m related to two highly trained soldiers-turned-police officers who put their life on the line every day. Are there bad apples out there? You bet. But there are bad apples everywhere. Bernie Madoff comes to mind…
It’s not perfect, but I’ll take this imperfect government over all the rest.
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011Bollocks.
A well-trained force with bad apples strip and cavity searches innocent people. They also accidentally shoot people once in a while.
There is a reason Rome forbade a standing military, and wouldn’t let it parade in the city. When a militarized police force is allowed to occupy a city, it doesn’t matter how many wonderful people are in the force, it is a force occupying a city. That’s why when Caeser brought a triumphant military through the city the Senate was appalled. They knew what it meant. It meant the end of a free Republic.
That is a recipe for disaster.
DW
/ September 16, 2011There was no reply button – so this is the best I could do!
SilenceDogood
September 16, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Bollocks.
A well-trained force with bad apples strip and cavity searches innocent people. They also accidentally shoot people once in a while.
There is a reason Rome forbade a standing military, and wouldn’t let it parade in the city. When a militarized police force is allowed to occupy a city, it doesn’t matter how many wonderful people are in the force, it is a force occupying a city. That’s why when Caeser brought a triumphant military through the city the Senate was appalled. They knew what it meant. It meant the end of a free Republic.
That is a recipe for disaster.
_____________________________________________
The British-English influence surfaces! Now I get it!
Yes, I concede that accidentally strip searching someone is less deadly that accidentally shooting people once in a while. But neither is acceptable.
So let’s learn a bit from history, shall we? Caeser marched on the city, the Senate was appaled. It was a civil war. Ceaser wanted control, and the senate fled. Is our military at war with our Senate? I don’t think so. And didn’t we fight that battle some years ago? Something about Union and Confederate? Hmmm?
Brian
/ September 16, 2011Shame you didn’t go down in the tower, Russ – the home of the brave, you subhuman piece of shit.
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011Agreed. Just yesterday, someone on my Facebook list left a vitriolic comment regarding Muslims. He just cannot grasp the difference between Islam and what the radical fundamentalists believed in. It saddens and frightens me that ten years later, we’re still stuck in this rut.
laars
/ September 13, 2011hey jenny maybe help root out those radical fundies, that might help the problem.
Naz Kovacs
/ September 13, 2011Couldn’t agree more!
Mel
/ September 13, 2011I do feel pity for you if your actually innoccent, but I am glad extreme measures were used. No offense, but if most of us had it our way, every single middle eastern person would be deported from Canada and the US. Sorry, but amongst the innocent are the terrorists and we just cant tell you apart and thats what they count on.
ruth
/ September 18, 2011Yuck. I reject your sentiment. Don’t speak for “most of us.” You are in your own body and mind, not others. Speak for yourself. This comes from someone whose parent died doing research to decontaminate and demilitarize chemical and biological agents stockpiled for wars.
Abbe Lakenville
/ September 13, 2011I agree – and I blame the right wing “patriots” for letting, or perhaps one could say “helping”, the terrorists win.
Theonlypatriothere
/ September 13, 2011Let’s get real people. The good of the many outweigh the good of the few. It took what, 6 hours? It wasn’t pleasant I’m sure, but get over it people. Had there been a bomb, and had it gone off, you would all be screaming about how poorly our security teams did their jobs! Make no mistake people, THIS is the price of your safety. They took a small amount of your time, they did not harm you, and they did what the situation required. I can understand that a strip search is not exactly pleasant, but I promise, it won’t kill you. Everyone wants to reap the benifits of being a citizen but no one wants to pay the smallest of prices for it. You picked your representatives people, time to deal with it.
stacie
/ September 13, 2011ITS THE DAY AND AGE WE LIVE IN AND WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THE HAND WE WERE DEALT AND STOP BLAMING THE GOVERNMENT FOR TRYING TO PROTECT US! DEAL WITH !!!!!!! WITH A SMILE!!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011No, we do not need to accept the random violation of a person’s Constitutional rights based on unsubstantiated reports of unspecified suspicious activity from untrained civilians who are not questions about the veracity of their suspicions.
Gump
/ September 13, 2011Apparently you do. Fact is, Islamic extremists don’t fight war with any appropriate rules of engagement. They fight dirty and cowardly. They sneak around dressed as civilians to kill as many civilians as they can. They are the hardest form of war to fight, and the direct result of that is the difficulty of having to watch the public for signs of suspicious behavior. There are going to be mistakes. I’d much rather be detained knowing that the gov’t is making hard choices to try and keep the plane safe, then for them to avoid racial profiling at all costs because it’s “rude or politically incorrect”, and simply hope that people who come from countries with high terrorist activity won’t do it again.
You don’t have proof that they actually stopped you because of your race, it’s just the way you feel because you’re sensitive to it. If I was living in China, and a bunch of white catholic extremists killed 3000 random Chinese people in a day for no other reason than hate, I would be very cognoscente of the fact that I look like them, and would personally go out of my way to make sure they understood I was not the same. I certainly wouldn’t act all high and mighty and exclaim, “How dare they!” I’d actually feel apologetic and feel embarrassed that people from where I come from have such audacity and ugliness. Just as I do for my ancestors in the time of American slavery. I think you need to stop blaming the U.S. for racial profiling and blame the Islamic extremists for creating this result. There is no other way to fight back and defend against this kind of war.
I’ve been stopped and searched on a random airport check, and was thankful when they were done, appreciating that they make sure I get on a safe flight. I’m happy to be searched, I’m happy to take off my shoes, and I thank them each and every time. Get on board.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Being stopped and searched on an airport check is not the same thing as being taken off of a plane in handcuffs in front of the rest of the passengers, placed in a dirty cell for several hours with no information, strip searched, cavity searched, and interrogated. If you would be fine with that, so what? Others wouldn’t, and that is not only their right, it’s the law under the Constitution of the U.S. That document that is the owner’s manual of the country.
Dark-skinned American citizens do not owe anything to white Americans just because they exist. Dark-skinned Americans have the same rights as white Americans, and do not have to kowtow to white American fears.
Cheri
/ September 14, 2011Allison, did this happen to YOU? You really need to get over it. Our world is what WE have made it through our self-absorbed attitudes and ungodly living. We get what we deserve… Actually, thank God, we don’t get what we deserve…for it is a lot worse than anything described within these posts.
Jan H
/ September 14, 2011Allison, I totally agree with everything you’ve posted.
I keep wondering if they ever asked for her Driver’s License – you know, before they threw her in a cell.
David
/ September 14, 2011If i remember correctly there where americans killed on 9/11. Why do you have to have dark skin to feal what everyone is talking? I am a white male who listens to country music and could be called a “REDNECK”.. Does this mean i hate all non-whites? No it doesnt, but the stero-type is that i do. Please dont tell me that because you have a skin color that is not white you should be treated any different than anyone else. This is a case where protocol was used. Sadly what happen on 9/11 didnt not have the proper protocol followed or the planes would have never been hijacked. For all that havent noticed the man who has picked the people to run Home Land Security isnt white.
Kwame
/ September 14, 2011Allison, I just want to say that you are a hero in this comments section. Every uninformed remark that I have been sufficiently moved to reply to, you have already done so eloquently. Thank you and I laud your passion.
For the record, I’m not an American citizen, not resident in the US, but love the principles your country has been founded on. Pity to see what it has become.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Kwame, that is a very nice thing to say. Thank you. 🙂
Anne
/ September 13, 2011By “stopped and searched” do you mean that you were handcuffed, detained, and made to wait to in a dirty cell for hours at time while no one would tell you what was going on or why you’d been pulled from your flight? No. You mean that you were pulled aside while going through security and they opened up your suitcase and looked through it, looked at your shoes, and then sent you on your merry way. You have no idea what this woman and those two men went through, and it’s stupid to compare the two and act like you know what she’s talking about.
The ignorance of whoever reported them is astounding, but not surprising. What puts the icing on the cake for me, and I think for most of the other people here commenting is the fact that they were treated like common criminals based off of a tip from an untrained civilian who had nothing to support their claim other than, “They all look the same and two of them went to the bathroom close to the same time.” They could have at least told her what was going on, and why she’d been pulled from the plane instead of ignoring her, or refusing to tell her and treating her like a criminal. Telling her what’s going on doesn’t jeopardize anything, if she were a terrorist she’d already know what was going on anyway. They also didn’t have to pull them from the plane the way they did. There are better, less humiliating ways to do that. And if you want to defend it, then go pull me some stats about how many actual terrorists they pull off of planes every year. Show me how many times doing that to people has stopped an actual danger, instead of humiliating innocent people who happen to “look like a terrorist” to the ignorant and racist eye.
Her experience was demoralizing, humiliating, and belittling, and until this has happened to you you should probably shut your maw.
PS: I think it’s hysterical that you say that she has no proof that she was pulled because of her race. Please, oh wise one, tell me why else someone would assume that three people sitting next to each other doing nothing but sitting would look suspicious to someone. Oh yeah, and also happen to be the same race. That’s just a coincidence right? This happens to Caucasians as well all the time I bet.
Meg
/ September 14, 2011Gump, what skin colour are you, and did you also get strip & cavity searched
Ed Simpson
/ September 14, 2011“”Gump” you are a real ass***e if you think this is occuring here in America, it is taking place in places where we Americans go with our terror in “eliminating terrorism.”
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011First off let me say I am appalled this happened. What a nightmare.
The fact of the matter is, it is all bigotry and racial profiling. The extremists crashed into the towers because they hate Americans. My Japanese friends still get nasty remarks said to them in public. I know many people who hate all Germans due to Hitler. I am of Swedish descent and I dyed my hair black and due to this I got detained when I was picking someone up from the airport. I didn’t even get out of my car. Oh, and I was driving a black German car. Or maybe I got profiled because I was driving an expensive car and the poor slob who detained me will never see the inside of a car like mine unless he stops them out of some fabricated notion he has regarding why he stops people.
It is all bigotry, pure and simple.
Oh, and to Donna and her comment about Russ, “Russ – Why did so many good people die on 09/11, and an idiot like you survive??” Probably every person who died on that day would have Russ’ opinion now if they had survived. The fact is no one deserves to die because we don’t agree with their opinion. Chances are due to the enormous loss on 9/11, the dead did include some disagreeable people. They still didn’t deserve to die. You, Donna, making that comment because his opinion is different than yours is no different than any other person who exhibits hatred due to someone having a different opinion than yours or a different lifestyle, looks different, is of another religious belief, etc. 9/11 happened because those people placed all Americans in a stereotypical fishbowl and because they don’t agree with certain Americans. Racial profiling is exactly the same. Maybe these three people didn’t die, but they were tortured due to their ethnicity.
All people need to learn more tolerance. Law enforcement need to remember “innocent until proven guilty” and “probable cause.” I hope whoever reported that suspicious activity realizes that 2 fighter jets shadowed their airliner all of the way to the airport. Maybe those reporting suspicious activity also need to be detained and checked out. Aren’t most witnesses to crimes checked to see what their motive is or checked for their credibility?
Still shaking my head over this. Just so unbelievable.
Duane
/ September 14, 2011We should not be so reactionary. So many posters on here currently support the “enhanced security protocols”, solely because of what happened on 9/11. I wonder what will happen the first time those protocols backfire, and result in a tragedy? Will everyone support them so much then, or will people want to go to the opposite extreme? What happened to common sense?
In this case, the Airbus was being shadowed by two F-16’s. They weren’t there for a parade. If certain of the “protocls” had been breached, that Airbus would have been shot out of the sky. So, what if the planes would hav picked that exact time to experience a major electrical failure? What if the pilots would have needed to do a fly-by for a second approach? What if one of them, being nervous, would have accidentally shuyt down the IFF, made a poor choice in on-air jokes, or done one of the dozens of other major mistakes that happen daily in our skies? Sooner or later, our fear will result in exactly what it is trying to desperately to avoid – another tragedy. And, in the process, we will give up our Constitutional rights as well. That’s a poor trade, to me.
There is a difference between inconvenience and violation of rights. The first we can live with, but not the second. We must keep our fear in balance, and regain some common sense.
New yorker
/ September 14, 2011I couldn’t agree more she should be happy got was able to go home and see her family, those that perished on 9-11 didn’t make it home… Go back where your from and blame your own people…. Did it bother you that you were taken off plane well deal with it…it was better to be taken off a plane than to have been blown up and never see your family agian. Your people came and killed our family did you think that everything was going to be okay NO it’s not. What happened to you is nothing compared to what happened to those innocent people.
Clare
/ September 14, 2011“Your people came and killed our family” ? Are you kidding me? Did this lady personally do something to you? You’re nothing but a narrow-minded racist, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Lisa Kretchman
/ September 14, 2011What are you talking about “your people”? She is an American. She OUR people.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011She is back “where she came from.” She’s American. Her own people did not participate in 9/11. Blaming her for 9/11 just because she happens to share ethnicity with the people who flew the planes is racism, pure and simple. And in this case, SHE is the innocent one.
avery
/ September 14, 2011not so sure about that. Don’t know you….and based on your own bigoted and racist remarks (“fat”, “fat belly”, “rednecks”), I don’t care to.
You are very offensive.
And it’s likely most people here don’t ‘know you’ and what your real motivations are — a bored housewife trying to get blog hits (like a crack addict off a crack pipe?)….a homegrown terrorist (we’ve had our share of those, too – doesn’t matter if you are “American” or from mars)…what?
don’t know….don’t want to know. you were doing something on the plane you should not have been doing and don’t like the consequences so you are crying foul. It’s not a new phenomenon – – many people getting caught not obeying the rules do the same thing – – trying not to take responsibility for their OWN actions.
If you really want to teach your children something — teach them to be responsible for themselves and not blame their situation on a made-up fantasy such as “racism” — as your writings clearly show you are the racist.
And let it be known, plenty of people of ALL ethnic backgrounds have been shaken down by airport security. We just don’t whine about it.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Um, do you realize that Allison is not the author of this blog post, no?
I hope you really aren’t that stupid.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011For someone who professes not to want to know, and not to care, you took the time to post. That’s an odd way of showing your not caring.
Please link to examples of fliers being handcuffed, detained, strip searched, and interrogated that are of all ethnic backgrounds.
Another New Yorker
/ September 14, 2011This is the dumbest comment I’ve read today. Good job, New yorker — you worthless piece of xenophobic shit.
Dina
/ September 14, 2011New Yorker- You are a disgrace to the American people. People like you are the reason so many countries hate us.
Before you tell people to go back to where they are from- take some pride in where you are from and LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY SPEAK ENGLISH.
If you didn’t notice there have been approximately two insulting comments written, but none have offended me- an American- as much as yours has. There is a better way to make your point without demanding that someone – who is also an American, by the way- leave the country. “Her people” did not kill your family, as “her people” are not terrorists, the hijackers were.
Gideon V.
/ September 14, 2011@new yorker “Your people”?! “Go back to where you’re from” Really?! What part of “her people” are you referring to? The Arabic or the Jewish part? Never mind, from your comments I gather that you don’t even realize there is a difference.
Man, if people would only read and educate themselves a little bit before making comments like yours, the world would be a better place for sure!
The most violent element in society is ignorance. ~Emma Goldman
BayAreaBiker
/ September 14, 2011Wow! I am just shocked at the level of your ignorance. Her family came and blew up your family? Which family are you talking about? The White family? or does it include all of Americans? I am sure you didn’t mean latter as then that would make Ms. Shebshi your family too.
Thanks for enlightening us with your bigoted remarks. But do you know that there were two other folks got “detained” who were actually from Indian descent and along with her, their rights were violated too. Last time I checked, none of the Indians were involved in ANY terrorist attacks against US. Do you have the same thing to say to them also?
e
/ September 14, 2011“New Yorker” – she is home, and I wish there were more people like her in this country than those filled with hate and bigotry like yourself. Her experience 10 years ago on that day was the same as everyone else in America – sadness and disbelief. People of all races can and have done terrible things to others – to think that we can blindly make judgments about entire groups of people based on the actions of some is insane.
I find it incredible how so many people seem to think that they can compare experiences of being pulled aside and searched in line to what Ms. Hebshi had to experience.
Jen D
/ September 14, 2011Just a reminder, New Yorker, that Shosi is an American citizen – born and raised here. When you begin invoking “Your people” you cross the line. Her father was Saudi by birth, but lived here in the U.S. for the majority of his life. Her mother is an American. When you tell her to “go back where your (sic) from and blame your own people,” should she head back to Southern California? Seriously?
Fah
/ September 14, 2011How would you like authorities to racially profile a redneck like you for KKK suspicion ? Strip search you, put you in a cell, not allowing you any lawyer access.
m.e.
/ September 13, 2011You’re an idiot! How do we know they’re unsubstantiated until they’re checked out? DUH!!!
Loud Cry Ministries (@mrloudcry)
/ September 13, 2011“Listen, when I slap you you’ll take it and like it!” Humphrey Bogart – The Maltese Falcom (1941)
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Agreed Stacie!
Tony
/ September 14, 2011Keep believing that Stacie, the Gov`t don`t give a damn about the people. oh you are going to see in the next couple of years what they have planned for all of us, They have already started a National I.D. card with chips in it, putting cameras all over the country, putting chips in our bodies with all of our information on it, Making it very hard for people to attain passports, Locking the borders on both sides not to keep Mexicans and Canadians out but to keep everyone in keeping everyone who doesn`t think for themselves in fear. And for those of us who can see outside of the box and see what is really going on are called nut jobs, crazy and conspiracy theorist because we see and know what is really going on and choose not to go along with the rest of the Sheeple within the collective society of Idiots that easily fall prey to Manipulation.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Stacie, did you say the same thing during the Bush administration? If you did not, you are a partisan hack. It’s ok for Obama to do it, but not Bush. There are people on the other side of the equation who would say that it was ok for Bush to do this but not Obama. It all makes me sick. IT ISN’T OK FOR EITHER ONE OF THEM TO DO THIS! Wake up.!
Jeannie
/ September 14, 2011Stacie,
I could not disagree with you more. Citizens with this attitude helped, yes I do mean helped, the followers of Adolf Hitler commit some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind. This is the same attitude that allowed the internment of American citizens of Japenese descent during WWII. It is NEVER ok to allow ANY abridgement to our constitutional rights, for ANY prupose. In this case there was an unreasonable search and this poor woman was incarcerated (liberty). I am sure that if I called your local police station and (without giving my name) told them that you had bomb making equipment hidden away and were planning an attack and they then removed you from your workplace in handcuffs, strip searched you, locked you in a cell for 4+ hours without allowing you any contact with the outside world, repeatedly questioned you and then let you go saying “No hard feelings” you would be filing a lawsuit within minutes of your release. This entire episode is merely an illustration of how much we have all allowed our Constitutional rights to be infringed upon in the name of “security”. We should all be outraged that we have allowed this to happen.
Mae Vernon
/ September 13, 2011I agree totally, Allison. If the non-radical Muslims would assist in investigating/capturing their “radical” brothers, I would not have the same feelings towards them.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011This seems…random, especially in light of the cooperation that U.S. armed forces have received in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Justin
/ September 14, 2011As a U.S. Army Veteran who has personally deployed to these war zones you are misinformed if you believe there has been cooperation by these governments, or their people. The overwhelming majority of people in this region are raised and educated to hate Americans and Jews. This is a Fact! I understand your points of view and respect your tenacity in defending them. I do agree that these individuals were racially profiled and their rights were violated. Being half Hispanic I emphasize with them, and realize if I were one of the three in that row I might have been in a cell along with them. This being said I understand the actions that were taken. Although it is unfortunate, it is also naive to think that others with a law enforcement or military background what not have had the same suspicions in that circumstance. I can tell you from experience that they would have. It’s not politically correct and it’s a sobering and incovienent truth but profiling is a necessary and successful tool. This has been the case long before 9/11 and will continue to be the case after. When profiling becomes wrong is when the intent is skewed. They weren’t harassed simply because they were of ethnic decent. They fit a particular description on a particular day and happened to randomly commit an act that when compounded with all the factors did create reasonable suspicion. It’s no different than if a blond haired blue male robbed a bank the first 3 Fridays in a month, all similar males would be more scrutinized the 4th Friday. It’s unfortunate but reasonable. If these people would have been working together and had an explosive device, these posts would probably look a lot different as we thankfully honored this civilian for being observant and vigilant. We can have empathy for a person or group of people for an unfair situation but that doesn’t ultimately make the situation wrong. Let’s not blame the people trying to protect us. There is really only one group that deserves blame, The Terrorists….
TJ
/ September 14, 2011Yeah because all of us non-radical Muslims know who all the radical ones are and where they live and congregate, right?
alytron
/ September 14, 2011That is just insane. Truly nuts.
Ron
/ September 13, 2011Allison –
Don’t know you, but read several of your comments here. I’m with you.
My stance is as following:
The US has several wars going on at the moment, we hear all the time about our men and women overseas protecting our freedoms. I say bullshit, I don’t think our freedom was ever threatened by these nations we’re at war with. Not to say that I don’t appreciate our military, I wish them the best, and they’re just doing what they’re told. But protecting our freedom at the moment, I don’t see it.
That all said, protecting the freedoms of US citizens also falls upon the shoulders of ordinary US citizens, so when you see some situation no matter how offensive, like when the KKK wants to peacefully assemble, you need to support it. I hate those bastards, but I support their 1st amendment rights.
I hope the blogger mounts a legal action and lets us know about it, I’ll certainly help support her. She definitely should’ve lawyered up but there is absolutely no reason, based on what I’ve read that they had probable cause to strip search her.
And frankly, anyone that will trade their freedoms for security theater, deserves no freedom, freedom is a continuous fight, but it is mostly fought at home.
-Ron
Zoe
/ September 14, 2011Do you really think that fear Americans have, is because of the terrorist destruction of the day 9/11? No The fear Americans have is rooted in the governments manipulation of the media. remember the daily color codes codes we had to deal with every day? These so called “Terror Alerts”, caused Americans to live in fear up to the illegal unjustified, oil driven invasion of Iraq. The sudden growth and expansion of an actual International American Empire, came to fruition from this galvanizing of the fear of the citizens of our USA. This is a sad fact and very true. The largest untapped oil fields in the world lie in Iraq and Iran. Does anyone really think the USA can survive without taking these lands, in the event of some shortage? NO. The answer is NO. So Bush and now Obama are protecting our oil interests abroad. Also noteworthy is the fact that Afghanistan has some the of the largest geological sources of rare earth materials, that are absolutely necessary for the manufacture of technology. Think we can do without those in a shortage? No absolutely NOT. This isn’t about justice or what is right. This is about hedging bets during a time of depleting resources and rising demand from the worlds increasing populations AND the need to protect a lifestyle that is dependent on these substances to survive. If oil and rare earth minerals and metals where to stop, we would be suddenly relegated to a lifestyle like that of colonial America, without the established skill sets. With an increased population, and a short supply of all energy producing material (including wood), complicated by the inability to transport, a very quick spiral into hunger and death would occur. This is the concern behind the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, This invasion is also to surround Iran and keep it in check, ready to pounce if need be: eg; nukes, need oil. The profiling and nabbing of people here in the states is to keep the populace divided, afraid and submissive. I do not believe this is right. But I do know that this is what is happening. I believe their are other ways to get along, peaceful ways that build trust. This is all very sad, yet with our youth there is hope and we must teach them that peace is the only answer. We must teach billions of people to help each other. How? I do not know. Watch the documentary W. on hulu. It shows what happened, all of the planning and hubris, all of the capitulation. None of these people were heroes. As a matter of fact they were killing hundreds of thousands and walking around like a bunch of morons planning it all. The movie W. is a perfect example of why war should only be used for actual self defense against invasion, or an attack by an actual nation using real weapons. You can’t have a war against an idea, because the fighting will last until the idea is gone, which in this case since war breeds terrorism, will be never. This isn’t a joke, it is real. The United States Of America, my only home, will have troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and possibly other places, forever? Until a new source of energy is established? what? What is this? I am also afraid to say anything here for fear of big brother. But I will be an American and say my piece, Freedom of Speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States Of America, is my right and I will defend it by using my right.
The Mommy Lane
/ September 14, 2011Allison, that was extremely well said.
Reading this post broke my heart. Words can not express how sorry I am that this happened. My heart goes out to you and I hope that you will be able to move on from this without too many scars. The effects of racism are powerful and they can change who you are as a person.
Ranti
/ September 14, 2011I am 30 yrs old, I am a family physician and I am also African.Let us call a spade a spade and not just an agricultural implement. This is racial profiling, period.
As a frequent visitor to the US, I have over time and out of necessity, become somewhat immune to the frustrating and sometimes inane questioning & searching that I’ve had to endure at point of entry into this great country,simply because of my skin colour and the colour of my passport.
However ,on my most recent visit here, the treatment was so appalling, I was almost left in tears. I had flown in from Heathrow in London,and as I was passing through immigration to get onto a connecting flight to DC from Miami, I was stopped and questioned 3 times for no apparent reason at all,but as the only non-white person on that plane, it wasn’t rocket-science to figure out why.
After the third dude had finished questioning me, I was aksed to follow him and as we were walking down the corridor towards a room, I politely asked him what was going on and if whatever was going to happen wouldn’t take too long as my connecting flight would be boarding in about 40 mins.Without so much as a glance at me, he barked & said “Sir, I don’t care. You could be there for 20mins or you could be there for 4 hours, it is what it is”.
So I was led into this room and as I walked in, I observed that there were about 60 other people in that room – and what was so immediately obvious was that apart from myself there were 4 other black people in there with the rest being hispanic, so clearly, nothing “random” about this “stop & search” then. I was kept in there for about 2 and a half hoursand eventually when I was called to the desk, the questions asked were the SAME ones the previous 3 guys had asked me – ”Why are you here?’. ”What do you do?”, “How long are you here for?”, “You were in this country 3 times last year, how come you can afford to come here so often?” ( Well, because I can afford it,duh!!), that plus the fact that I’ve got family here- I was at my brother’s graduation from Harvard, I was best man at my friend’s wedding in Texas and I also came later on in the year for a medical conference in New York. There you go all explained, the barking at me was totally unnecessary as was the suspicious tone & manner in which the questions were yelled at me. By this time of course, I’d not only missed my scheduled connecting flight,but also 2 other connecting flights I could potentially had got on, my checked-in luggage had already gone ahead to my destination airport, and I didn’t get into my final destination until 3:30 a.m the next morning – at another airport miles away from where my luggage had gone ( my previous scheduled arrival barring this incident was to have been 6pm) .It was an altogether very unpleasant experience and made me reflect on whether I wanted to continue visiting the States in the near future – each trip from Europe with ticket fare, hotel stay, spending money etc, usually costs me at least $2,000. That’s $2,000 to the US economy each time I come here, but if i’m going to be made to feel as if I must be up to no good simply because of my skin colour, then is it really worth it? Might it not be better to take my tourist dollars to say Bahamas for example,at least there I know I won’t be humiliated for being “different”. No one is saying Homeland Security shouldn’t do their job, and post 9/11, I understand the paranoia that’s quite prevalent in the society these days. But there must be a way in which the job can be done more efficiently & competently and certainly more courteously, with respect and dignity to the passenger/traveller. Not all visitors to the US bear malicious intent towards this great nation, and certainly not all “non-white, non-American” nationals of other great countries are terrorists.
While I am reallly sorry about this truly unpleasant experience that you had to go through Hoshana, I am very happy and applaud you for sharing your experience and thus helping to initiate and generate debate and discussion on this topical issue.
The bitter truth of the matter is that this sort of thing happens ALL to the time to those of us who are “different” on account of descent or accent. Our stories never get told because we are “foreign” and so therefore in some way, in doesn’t matter the way we are treated,because we don’t matter, we don’t have a voice.
Anne
/ September 14, 2011They have not accomplished that task. Accomplishing this task would not generate over 300 supporters of this post and 1,726 responses. The world is evolving into one of dialogue and communication. How many individual people around the world respond to a community’s aid in the face of devastation? This past Sunday I decided to read up on 9/11 – not the political rhetoric, but what people did and how they helped, blindly, unflaggingly and out of instinct. I was amazed.
Susan
/ September 14, 2011The terrorists are traitors within your own gov.. 911 wasnt perpetrated by Muslims. Watch Loose Change. Watch this little summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO2KOL6SadY&list=PLDEFDED8905F97506&feature=player_embedded#!
Alicia Chandler
/ September 14, 2011I hate it, but I have to agree with your point of the terrorists winning by turning Americans and people in general against each other, based on race and/or ethnicity.
Thank you so much for sharing your horror with us, to make us all aware of what is happening to innocent people all the time. Unfortunately, we sometimes need a reminder, and I hate that it was at your expense, and the expense of the other two gentlemen who went through it with you. I pray that you will be able to ‘be the bigger person’, and expect that you are, by not hating all of us for the bigots and jerks that ARE out there. Hugs and prayers,
Alicia
Abhi
/ September 13, 2011Personally, as a non-american, I can completely understand a country that was attacked by a bunch of foreigners, conducting racial-profiling… of foreigners. But when some geniuses decide that the response to terrorists from another country blowing up stuff, is to start suspecting and treating your own citizens as criminals, it starts seeming surreal. How hard would it be to just maybe casually check the “suspects” for weapons and isolate them while you checked if they actually were citizens or not? If they are citizen how does anything else matter? How many americans participated in 911 exactly?
I could totally understand if I as a foreigner was treated as a suspect. Hey, I have all the choice in the world to not to travel to USA. I mean the country was attacked by foreigners, so I may not like to be treated like this, but I can at least understand.
But why should an American citizen be understanding about this? Why should they cooperate?
And what is even more surreal is that majority of Americans will actually accept this kind of logic and take it lying down. Why is no one actually asking their representatives, why the government is treating its own citizens as potential terrorists? Why is no one asking Obama this question on Live TV?
Ricky
/ September 13, 2011First, I appreciate this comment coming from a non-American citizen. I also believe that if this happened to an American flying to another country, there would be a lot of yelling and self-righteousness about how dare they detain me, etc. But, for an American, in America, its just taken as if its for the ‘Good of the General Population’. Those bleak futures spoken about in 1984 and Brave New World are coming true and America is the leader.
jem from california
/ September 13, 2011Please explain what you mean by a “non-American Citizen”. If I read correctly she is an american and always has been. It’s her family that were Non-american at one time in her heritage line.
Cassandra
/ September 13, 2011“I also believe that if this happened to an American flying to another country, there would be a lot of yelling and self-righteousness about how dare they detain me, etc.”
Exactly. Imagine three American white dudes getting pulled off a plane in Jordan, or China, and being arrested and interrogated for six hours. The American press would go absolutely apeshit.
But the scariest thing about this is the (nice) FBI agent mentioning that there had been 50 similar incidents that day. This is not a unique story that we can wave away as “oh, better safe than sorry”. This is something that happened to one intelligent, eloquent woman with a blog who wanted to share her story, and about a hundred other people who we haven’t heard from, who probably want to forget the entire thing. It’s not an freak accident – this is how Homeland Security works, and it is beyond ridiculous. According to the AP article, the government sent two fighter jets to “escort” the plane into Detroit. Because there were too many brown people in one place, and one of them had the drizzling shits during the flight. Terrifying, really.
Ram Samudrala
/ September 13, 2011I think as an immigrant who is now an American citizen (and well aware of American history and culture), I concur with Abhi’s words. American citizens should not take this lying down or without clothes. The person should sue the government and take it to the Supreme Court and get them to rule on this issue, and who knows, a court may well find these kinds of activities illegal and unconstitutional. The problem is that no one is doing this since they don’t have the resources to deal with the legal system (which has become a travesty). So unless you can fight your own case or unless you’re rich enough to hire a good lawyer, you’re hosed.
JackRabbit
/ September 13, 2011Our “representatives” are not (and have not for some time) representing us. They speak for their bank accounts and special interest groups. They don’t care about what happens to the average American so long as they get theirs.
It’s sad. And I pray every night that it stops. But it’s the truth.
wargalley
/ September 13, 2011Worst part about it imo is how the Patriot Act was reinstated in less than an hour about half a year ago or so. When does our government EVER take less than an hour to decide on something important?
Gump
/ September 13, 2011So and sadly true.
Bang
/ September 13, 2011Well, this kind of reaction that the US Gov gives to her citizens is not the first time. Otherwise, there would not have the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII!
Finisterre
/ September 13, 2011Wait, what? So it’s not OK for Shoshana to be arrested and humiliated, likely because of her ethnicity, because she’s an American citizen, but it would be absolutely fine for a *non-American* person to be arrested and humiliated because of their ethnicity?
This is *exactly* the same thinking that caused this disgusting incident to happen to Shoshana. Racial profiling is wrong because it targets innocent people for very nasty harassment on unacceptably vague and ineffective grounds. What happened to Shoshana should not happen to anyone, American citizen or not. It is not an effective way of preventing terrorism and it is certainly not the action of a liberal, rational state.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011Great post…well said.
In Respect
/ September 13, 2011Abhi, thank you for your comment. As an American, I appreciate your appreciation of why racial profiling is a logical course of action to take. To your question, a couple of the latest attempted attacks were by American citizens with ties to terror groups and if I recall, there was some indication that attempts on the anniversary might be by “home grown terrorists”.
Ella Noe
/ September 13, 2011Abhi, you are absolutely right with your questions. I asked myself the same questions but got no answer.
Lisa
/ September 13, 2011Unfortunately, we have terrorists here in our own country that are citizens and who choose to follow some anti-American train of thought. Whether American citizens or not, any form of terrorist is not something anybody in any country should have to deal with. With that being said, it is horrible that this woman underwent this treatment. It’s like seeing somebody on the street and assuming they are a gang member because of the way they look. Because of a few sick twisted people, the newest form of biggotry has come at the expense of those of middle-eastern heritage. Even President Obama has had to endure such prejudice even after he has won an election and is trying to run a country.
I hope this helps us all to become more accepting of others…even if they look like they are middle-eastern. Just like every other generalization, just because their skin is darker or they look a certain way, doesn’t mean that are going to do harm to anyone or anything.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011did you know that at least one of the terrorists who help hijack one of the airlines was an american citizen and had been living in america legally practically his whole life? he had 2 kids and a wife and lived in florida. but yet you ask why us americans treat our own citizens like this its because of people like that terrorist. just because your a citizen doesnt mean your here because you love the country. and that goes for any race for those people who like to play the race and ethnicity game.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011So, it is your opinion that all American citizens should be strip searched and cavity probed either before, during, or after flying, yes? I mean, if you are making the argument that one of the 9/11 terrorists was an American citizen, then all American citizens need to be searched and interrogated the way Ms. Shebshi was, according to that logic.
Unless you are making the argument that only SOME American citizens should be searched and interrogated, and certainly you aren’t making that argument, are you?
J
/ September 13, 2011You are twisting words and therefore not making any sense what so ever. Just thought you should know.
Sarah
/ September 13, 2011…yeah, her comment came completely out of left field. Chris was saying that not every terrorist attacking the U.S. comes from a non-U.S. country.
And yes, “only SOME American citizens should be searched and interrogated” — ones that look nervous, ones whose paperwork doesn’t line up with the facts, etc.
Ron
/ September 13, 2011Well .. looking nervous is fairly normal when there is a threat of a finger going up your butt. And what paperwork?, flying domestically in the US no ID is required, you will definitely be held up without it, but you can freely travel from Maine to California by bus with no formal ID, flying is no different.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011My comments were based on “Chris”‘s original posts, the first part of which is reproduced here:
“did you know that at least one of the terrorists who help hijack one of the airlines was an american citizen and had been living in america legally practically his whole life? he had 2 kids and a wife and lived in florida. but yet you ask why us americans treat our own citizens like this its because of people like that terrorist.”
My assumption, based on that post, is that “Chris” was saying that because one of the 9/11 terrorists was an American citizen, it was okay to target American citizens for Constitutional rights violations. If “Chris” was saying something else, it was not clear what that was.
Ms. Shebshi’s paperwork was not at issue, nor was her demeanor at issue. She was reported for suspicious activity for sitting in the same row as men of Indian descent.
Justin
/ September 14, 2011Allison, millions of American citizens who have the appearance of possible middle eastern decent, myself included have been aboard air planes since 9/11. These people are not routinely strip searched and violated. This is an isolated incident with very unique circumstances. I belief your views are coming from a noble place, but it doesn’t seem as if you are able to step back and view this particular incident objectively. Although everybody should be empathetic for these individuals involved, I think most rational people who are able to put aside political correctness and be honest with themselves would admit that the particular circumstances of this incident would create reasonable suspicion.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011The particular circumstances of this incident create reasonable suspicion how? Simply because Ms. Shebshi was sitting in the same row as two other dark-skinned individuals? What did Ms. Shebshi do that fit the description of suspicious activity?
Just because every single dark-skinned flier isn’t strip searched and interrogated doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be outraged when racial profiling is done for some of them.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011I don’t get this comment either. I am looking at this objectively and asking questions, which is what Allison is doing. Obviously, Allison is concerned not only with this incident, but with the broader implications of what is happening here. I am also concerned about this. Clearly, there are not enough facts known for you to conclude that there was reasonable suspicion in this case. The blog entry doesn’t demonstrate the facts, but neither does the AP story. I want to know more. In the meantime, it sounds like some other passenger(s) reported “suspicious activity”. What does that mean? Should the government have to articulate to the aggrieved what that suspicion was or what it constitutes? This is a dangerous situation that is used in Cuba all the time to go in and ransack people’s homes and lives. Seemingly, we are but a step away from that. I have a problem with that.
Tony S
/ September 14, 2011Justin,
I’m one of those US citizens who appears to be of middle eastern descent, though I’m of Italian and Mexican heritage. Prior to 9-11 I was frequently stopped by airport security for additional checks, including having my laptop case swiped with a card to check for chemical residue.
At first, it was embarrassing, then it was just plain annoying. My being stopped meant my co-workers had to wait for me, or worse, they would be checked as well.
Following 9-11, my first few trips through airport security were much different. My first flight was just after planes were allowed to fly again, and there were some in the media warning of racial profiling. During that first trip, not only wasn’t I checked, when I passed the security personnel that checked bags for chemical substance, the officers actually turned away from me. While it was a nice change, I didn’t think it was going to last. It didn’t.
Not long after, I was almost always taken aside for extra screening at the main checkpoint, and occasionally had the “X” on my ticket that identified me as someone who had to be checked at the gate as well. It would sometimes take me a half hour to get through security from start to finish, not counting the time I spent waiting in line.
While I originally considered it to be just a progression in making the flying public feel more secure, I soon came to resent all the extra attention. So did my co-workers.
While my experiences weren’t as extreme as Mrs. Shebshi’s, it was apparent to me that things were going too far. People shouldn’t have to go through this, not in the USA. It’s not what we stand for, and none of us should accept it as the price to pay because some people wish to live in fear.
At no time does law enforcement have a right to invade our physical self without due cause. And last I heard, an unsubstantiated allegation is considered hearsay, not due cause.
if you’re willing to give up your Constitutional rights, including the right to privacy and the assumption of innocent until proven guilty, be my guest, but don’t demand the same from me.
Charls Martel
/ September 14, 2011Correct, there is no way to tell if someone is a terrorist by Citicenship. all individuals should be treated with equal suspicion. unless you have evidence of the contrary (that is, no us citien engages or will engage in a form of terrorism).
in the end the moral of the story should be about how everyone should get along, because it is not about the rules we put into place doing what they were designed to do.
I am not aware of any Constitutional rights violations here either.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011With all due respect, that is because you just aren’t aware period. Again, I’d like to know where an anonymous report leads to a strip search without more reasonable suspicion. Obviously, they searched her to see if she had a device or explosive on her person, right? I mean, what other technical explanation for the search? She was screened by TSA. They can check her hands and garmets for explosive residue. They can do an enhanced pat-down, but no, they wanted to do the strip search. Why? You don’t know why, but the government does and I want to hear the explanation. Maybe TSA Bob will tell us (then again, maybe he wont). lol
Lance
/ September 14, 20114th Amendment – unreasonable search and seizure, based upon the report of “suspicious activity” (which was merely sitting in her seat) by a citizen with no applicable training to determine probable cause.
6th Amendment – the right to face your accuser.
A lesson in Constitutional law would serve you well.
Matt
/ September 14, 2011Look up Coffin v. United States.
We are a nation governed by the Rule of Law. That is the essence of a Republic. There are three sources of law in this country — the United States Constitution, Congress, and Common Law as established through the precedents set by our court system. The last time I checked, the crashing of planes into buildings by foreign terrorists does NOT constitute one of those sources of law. It therefore does not grant legitimacy to measures which contradict our fundamental laws.
Presumption of innocence is a firmly established matter of Common Law in this country. Coffin v. United States firmly established that. It does not need a word-for-word presence in the Constitution to be the law of the land.
Your notion that “all individuals should be treated with equal suspicion. unless you have evidence of the contrary (that is, no us citien engages or will engage in a form of terrorism),” is as unpatriotic and illegal as it is paranoid.
Susan
/ September 14, 2011Have you read the Constitution? Of course her rights were violated. Also I am not aware that any of the alleged highjackers were American. One lived in FL and worked for the NSA- Mohammed Atta- an Egyptian. But he was employed by our own gov.- the NSA. His father also claims to have gotten a call from him the day after 911. 7 of the alleged highjackers turned up alive and living abroad. One had died 2 years before. HOW CAN ANY GOV. HAVE MUGSHOTS of 19 men and have “solved the crime” within 2 days of the event before doing an investigation- especially when these 19 names were not on the official passenger lists- and where would they have gotten mugshots?
Paul K
/ September 13, 2011One who spends too much time in the bathroom…
Ejaz
/ March 1, 2012Let me say what some of you are circumnavigating, if you look of Arab\sub Asian descent and are a US cititzen you should accept to be treated differently. So much for equal rights and discrimination, but dont worry ‘”its for you’re own protection”
Joe in Calif
/ September 13, 2011You had me right up to the point where you failed 8th grade English . . .
learn the difference between ‘your’ and you’re’ . . . how hard is this folks?
Grammar Clown
/ September 14, 2011It could have been a typo. And how hard is it to write in normal sentences instead of using your silly ellipses?
MrLee
/ September 14, 2011OH NO SHE MADE A SPELLING ERROR!! Lets discredit everything they say because they used your instead of you’re!! Give me a break and grow the F up and get over it!!!
Anyways, I am very sorry for what happened to you Shoshana!! Like someone typed above “People have become so paranoid, scared of every shadow, every whisper that isn’t government sanctioned. I am ashamed of people who react blindly.”
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011It may go for any race, but how many stories have you heard of three white people locked up, not given access to a lawyer, and strip searched?
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011That’s a good point. Right now, I am not familiar with it. I have just heard and seen a lot of white people and white kids getting groped at the airport, but I digress, I suppose it could be worse. I am still not going to excuse it. My feeling is that the government no longer works for us. It is us against them. They treat us as their subjects, and that is not the America I grew up in.
alytron
/ September 14, 2011Really? all of the information I can find about them says no, that is not true at all. So please give up some information, a name, a link to a news story, something to validate this.
Kathy
/ September 13, 2011our own citizens do plot against us!! There are Americans involved in terrorist activities. That is part of the problem!! I feel bad about this particular incident but I also understand where whoever reported this is coming from. I wish they would have watched more closely because if what you say is true( never left your seat, didn’t talk to anyone etc.) than hopefully it would never had happened!! But I am very nervous to fly. And I do watch others very carefully when I’m flying. I do agree a casual “check” would have been better. Americans come in all races and all nationalities and so I really do watch everyone!!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Please provide links to stories of white Americans being handcuffed and removed from a plane, strip and cavity searched, and interrogated.
Justin
/ September 14, 2011Allison please provide links to distinctly identifiable white Americans that hijacked air planes and flew them into buildings killing thousands. I will then provide links to similar looking distinctly identifiable white Americans being handcuffed and removed from a plane, strip and cavity searched, and interrogated because they randomly found themselves in a situation that provoked reasonable suspicion…It’s not as simple as your trying to make it !!!
K
/ September 14, 2011In 1974, a disgruntled white man walked into BWI, shot and killed an airport security guard and then proceeded to hijack an airliner for the sole purpose of flying it into the white house and killing the President. Does that sound at least similar to 9/11? Things like that event actually have happened quite a few times but rarely go reported for security reasons. We don’t want people to know just how often government leaders are targeted.
The situation described by Mrs. Hebshi was racially motivated and no reasonable probable cause was given to justify the actions taken.
JK
/ September 14, 2011http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/us/19crash.html
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Just because Ms. Shebshi happens to be in the same ethnic group as the 9/11 terrorist does not make her a terrorist, nor does it make the millions of people in that ethnic group terrorists by definition.
What actions by Ms. Shebshi provoked reasonable suspicion?
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011I think Justin makes a good point, but this is why we need something more of an Israeli-based screening model, not the monster we have created due to political concerns. At the same time, you are correct about the reasonable suspicion angle. As a regular joe looking out for my family and our freedoms, I do believe that the enhanced screening needs to be appropriately targeted, but in this case, we are talking about prior-screening, not after that fact harassment like we see here. This story implicates do many problems with what is going on with air transportation in America and even other societal issues.
David
/ September 14, 2011Timothy McVeigh was a typical looking white American. He personally participated in the planning and execution of a terrorist attack in the US that killed 167 people. He didn’t use a plane, he used a Ryder rental truck.
By your logic, can you provide links to similar looking white Americans being handcuffed and detained, strip and cavity searched, and interrogated because they happened to be renting a moving truck?
Jeanine
/ September 14, 2011We do NOT NEED TO ACCEPT THESE TYPE OF VILE VIOLATIONS Timothy McVeigh murdered several HUNDRED people in a FEDERAL BUILDING NO LESS, and yet we do not see white males being profiled. You are BIGOTED ASS JUSTIN.
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011Here’s a link to a story about white terrorists: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/conspirators.html Or maybe this one. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/jared-lee-loughner-gabrielle-giffords-shooter_n_806243.html Granted, these are not hijackings.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Dude that’s racist.
I mean, really, literally-Joe-Biden, it is. I’m not just some airheaded pwog that likes to use that word all the time. Attempting to justify mistreatment of human beings by referring to the actions of other people with a similar ethnicity is like straight out of the KKK, yo.
Timmy McVeigh was white, and every day thousands of people that look just like him hang out at federal buildings without getting strip-searched. Furthermore, they wouldn’t get strip-searched even if some cowardly mouth-breathing kook called in a warning of “suspicious behavior”. Double standard, amirite?
Tony
/ September 14, 2011And while you`re watching everyone else I will report you for looking nervous and suspicious.
Mike Foley
/ September 13, 2011Ahbi,
You have my utmost respect and admiration for your very sensible and logical comment. It’s more about controlling and stripping the citizenry of our rights than it is about security. Why couldn’t they have put the “suspects” through one of those virtual clothes-stripping scanners when they were taken into custody, and/or had them sniffed by a bomb-detecting dog, or some other screening process that does not involve the indignation to which they were subjected. Ok, it’s plausible that a plot could have existed, and perhaps that plot could include blowing the whole plane up when it reaches the terminal, but that’s the risk everyone takes when we travel–some idiot is gonna do something stupid. I’m not going to blame the Captain, who ultimately decided that the information relayed to him in-flight by his crew was enough reason to report it to authorities on the ground, who made the call based on a report passed-off 3rd-hand from 30,000 feet. For crying out loud, the flight was traveling from a U.S. major city, not some foreign country that could care less about our security concerns. They could have given the people something like a sobriety test on the spot, like, “who’s your Senator or Congressman?” or “describe the house that you grew up in.” If they start singing alla akbar, or some other crazy crap, then they get strip searched. But if they can answer without a terrorist accent or attitude, then let them go, or at least tell them that if they don’t strip or somehow show that they’re legit, then they’ll be subjected to surveillance, and/or put on the no-fly list, for say, 6 months. I mean, whatever happened to the protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures?” If you’re born here, and/or you have melted into the pot by learning the language and you dress and act like an American, like this Mom apparently does, give ’em a break! Take down their license, and follow up if they feel as though they’re a threat. If they are, then more terrorists could be caught w/out even having to do the Chinese water-torture thing.
prat
/ September 14, 2011That is so true @ Abhi and I absolutely support it. I mean as a non-american citizen and a colored person i get stopped at every single air travel and i am always one of those randomly chosen persosn who is put through full body search or asked to randomly open her cabin luggage right before boarding a flight when my baggage has already been cleared. however i have always justified that as thinking a country which has been attacked has some right to check international incoming people more stringently than citizens. but its un-acceptable when its meted out to american citizens because of color. as someone very well said before in one of the posts-its okay to harasss colored “American citizens” because caucasian citizens can feel safer! wow!
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011This isn’t totally right. My white brother gets harassed flying to Asia all the time, both here in the US and over there. He just fits some kind of profile, probably involving drugs. But, I commend you for recognizing, without knowing our laws, that you traditionally you do not have the same rights when you are trying to enter the country from abroad as opposed to already being here. Unfortunately, our government is not recognizing this right all that much at the airports and even at the bus and train stations on occasion when they set up mobile TSA checkpoints.
M
/ September 14, 2011Abhi writes, “How hard would it be to just maybe casually check the “suspects” for weapons and isolate them while you checked if they actually were citizens or not?”
Believe it or not, Abhi, this is not a question of citizenship. All non-citizens who are in the United States have the same rights afforded by the constitution as do citizens. The only right they don’t have is the right to vote.
M
/ September 13, 2011Ditto to the other responses to Dallas. Not only did they succeed in dividing us further but succeeded in bankrupting us thanks to the response to 9/11 (going to war).
Rightasrain
/ September 13, 2011Think California is bankrupt because of a war or stupidity?
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Um, no – the people in charge of our own financial systems bankrupted us. Blaming it on the 9/11/01 attacks is simply an extreme form of laziness and denial, not to mention an aversion to taking responsibility for changing the situation. We are the only ones responsible for our reactions to their actions. We could have responded differently. There was certainly no need to declare war on Iraq in response to an attack by a rebel group in Afghanistan.
Obviously, many Americans need to wipe the sleep from their eyes and start looking at the cold hard facts. But, to do that, we have to convince our citizens to get off their lazy asses, turn off the reality t.v., put away the Doritos and actually do something… I mean, who is actually going to admit responsibility for something they’d have to do something about if they were to acknowledge the truth? This corrupt government is doing an amazing job of keeping us sick and unmotivated to move at all.
This is not the fault of the terrorists – it’s not even the fault of our government! It is our own fault. So, either stop bothering to comment on blogs about it, or get off your asses and do something.
M
/ September 14, 2011Marnie, how you feel about the war is exactly how I feel about it –it was unnecessary. (Read what I wrote again – I said “response to 9/11” – I didn’t say 9/11 itself). But it wasn’t the banking system that caused us trillions of dollars deficit… it was the war. By September 2008 when the banks collapsed, we already had a deficit.
M
/ September 14, 2011AND by the way, this is what the terrorists ultimately want: the collapse of America. That’s why they chose the twin towers in Manhattan –it’s a symbol of our dreams and also our might, it’s right next to Wall Street. Did they expect our economy to collapse? No. They didn’t even think the towers would collapse (going by a recent documentary I saw about Bin Laden). But we responded in such a way as to bankrupt ourselves.
Damn that Bush.
Martijn
/ September 13, 2011Unfortunately, it will be a long long way (if ever) to return to anything that resembles normal. A major problem is that instilling fear works very well on most (and it seems especially the American) people. Sad but true.
People don’t rationalize for themselves anymore, they let others tell them “truths” and use fear as a way to feed these truths. Look at advertisement for health products for example, most of it is based on fear.
Laura
/ September 13, 2011The last ten years may be the best gift to those who study the sociology of Nazism and/or Communism. The question of how a civilized and educated people (Germany in the beginning of the 20th century) would become accomplices to the Nazi government that passed the Nuremberg laws and how a people would turn their backs on their neighbors and friends, locking the other way when the authorities arrested and detained with no other reason but race is being answer here, in America, for the last ten years. Cowered by fear, not only of terrorists but of the Homeland security, FBI and the slew of other agencies that grew out of 9/11, each of us is silent and compliant, when not others rights are infringed but ours as well. Now we know that the communists might not have been smart economists or administrators but they were brilliant sociologists and psychologists. They knew that once the spirit of a people is broken through terror controlling the individuals is easy. You just need to reinforce the memory once in a while, just to remind the folks who is in control. Otherwise, just arrest people, limit their liberties, take away their rights – not all at once, just few at a time – and, when one day, they will realize what happens to them it would be too late – the muzzle in place, the chains permanently attached and a fake smile required – they are now protected.
David
/ September 13, 2011I understand the thoughts of trying to equate Nazism and Communism to overeacting security issues such as this but they are not even close to being on the same moral plane and I am so tired of people comparing one kind of issue to another without really critically looking at the nature of the items being compared. Your reaction is the fear itself, not what is going on. I have had other times when authorities have required my personal information due to suspicions but you don’t argue, you deal with it and if there is a violation of your rights you lawyer up. That’s life.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Er. In what way IS this different than the early years of Nazism and Communism? This IS what it was like, and the Russian people and the German people just going along with it is what allowed it to progress into its later, worse forms.
You stop things like that at THIS point, not at THAT point. Your argument is what? Are we supposed to wait until we get to Stalin before we take any action, or are we supposed to try to point out how wrong it is NOW, BEFORE we get to Stalin?
paul
/ September 13, 2011early nazism didn’t look anything like what the writers did. early nazism involved serious amounts pressure and injustice at an ENTIRE group. This story illustrates what happened to a few of the millions of indians/middle easterners in this country. there is no systematic effort by the government to prevent these folks from owning property, getting a job, or anything else the nazis forced on the jews during their early reign in germany.
also, although i’m deeply disturbed by how this situation was handled by the government (in an unthinking, mindless, by the book way). imagine what would happen if lax security caused a plane to be blown up. i agree that these folks should have been taken outside the plane for a moment, questioned by a seasoned professional or maybe an israeli agent (the israeli airport authorities are crackerjack at this) in the back of a bus or something, and then cleared to go. there are tell tale signs of terror and a seasoned agent would be able to pick up on these things immediately. I really think this is the result of 1) it being 9/11 2) rednecks on the plane who would rather be safe than sorry 3) officers who are not able to think or making decisions but have to follow protocol by the book. In any case, this never should have happened.
But I don’t think it’s fair to equate this with nazism
John Spiers
/ September 13, 2011You need to study how nazism and stalinism worked. It is the exact same game plan, exact same process, for the same reasons, for the same goals. Read Rise and Fall by Shirer, and read why the communists built the berlin wall, for exactly the same reasons we are building wall with mexicans… national security, economic concerns, terrorism… It needs to stop now.
Tom Lange
/ September 13, 2011I don’t think you are looking at the big picture in your reply… Nazi Germany started by believing that a certain group of people were to blame… They became the focal point, and the scapegoat… And from there, it wasn’t long before Hitler was leading the lemmings on a leash-to genocide.
Take a step back, and look again… The similarities are there… If you don’t see them, I suggest that you might believe that “apples and oranges” is a valid expression of disparate things… (it isn’t.)
Tony
/ September 14, 2011Tom I agree with you and Ian, I have studied WWII and I thoroughly. Here`s what the Sheeple you are arguing with cannot see and what happened ten years ago is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany.
As a reasoned to give him control over Germany He burned down the Parliament building and blamed it on foreign terrorist which enabled him to create laws that took the german peoples right away and made them the enemy as well as have their blessing to go to war to get the terrorist.
And this was exactly what happened on 9/11 our own Gov`t did this blamed it on foreign terrorist of middle eastern decent to get us into war while at the same time created laws that made us the enemy.
All of Bushes speeches were recycled Hitler speeches with Hitlers named changed to Bush, and so his daddy and the Bin Ladens made billions and Billions of Dollars along with the new tricky Dick (Chaney) The Bank HSBC and loads of others.
And in the end we`re the ones that got screwed.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011I agree with your other posts, but not this one. First of all, Hitler blamed the torching of the Reichstag on the Communists, as in domestic communists. Minor point, I know. I also agree with you that Bush has played a big hand in this, but Obama has clearly doubled-down on it. This alarms me that both parties act in such a tyrannical and dictatorial fashion. Some of the tactics used appear to be “gestapo” and nazi-like, and they are, but I think if we are moving towards one model at all, it is more of a socialist/communist model rather than a fascist model. Of course, by now, the argument is almost semantical. Who cares? We the people get screwed. We need Obama to get tossed out of the white house. At the same time, we don’t need one party controlling all of government. I suffer no delusions that a Republican president is going to stop all of this nonsense going on at the airports. Hell, the media won’t even ask the candidates their stance on this. And we all know that Rick Perry played a major role in killing the Texas anti-TSA state bill.
Lance
/ September 14, 2011You were being somewhat reasonable, until:
“All of Bushes speeches were recycled Hitler speeches with Hitlers named changed to Bush, and so his daddy and the Bin Ladens made billions and Billions of Dollars along with the new tricky Dick (Chaney) The Bank HSBC and loads of others.”
Now I have no choice but to discount your post as tired rhetorical tripe. (And by the way – I’m with the author on this, not those who flail wildly trying to defend undefendable policy)
Joe in Calif
/ September 13, 2011what about the right to remain silent? you come on the airplane, seize me off of it, cuff me, toss me in a cell, and generally behave like a storm trooper. My response is to tell you to f off – but thats just me. I have ZERO reason to speak with you – just get me a lawyer and wait for the feces storm to begin. I’d still be in jail there in Detroit but I will probably never have to work again . . . because the tax payers will be paying me a huge settlement for the violation of my rights. These folks forget – WE possess the rights – we granted a few to the central government. Its too bad that the Civil War ended the way it did – because it cemented this all knowing all powerful central government that thinks it knows best.
George Bacon
/ September 14, 2011OK, Joe – that’s quite a leap from 2011 terror issues to the outcome of the Civil War. “It’s too bad that the Civil War ended the way it did…” Seriously? If the other side had prevailed, we would still have slavery as a legal institution in this country. Slavery is the ultimate form of terror, is it not?
Mister Aloha
/ September 14, 2011You speak like that cause you caucasion and this is America, try doing that in a 3rd world country!
BayAreaBiker
/ September 14, 2011Yeah! the idea is good up to a point but the problem with that whole plan is what if after arresting, the “authorities” ship you off to Gitmo or try the case in a Military Court. Remember, the “authorities” have access to the media to let the fellow citizens “know” about the “enemy combatant” before you can even get your day in a court of law and say “Not Guilty”.
thankful
/ September 13, 2011Tt seems to me that all you people are forgetting or overlooking one fact the reason that the plane was stopped was because the two men were taking an excessively long time in the bathrooms, Not because of the color of their skin. yes she happened to be sitting with them and she unfortunately was gathered into this whole scenario. I would rather be strip-searched and embarrassed and be alive than not and be dead. So maybe we should be thankful that the pilots and the airline attendants are being more aware of the activities of passengers. It seems to me that you people are the one that is making it about race than about facts. I don’t the pilots looked at them and determine whether they were or were not American citizens. I am sure we are all well aware of the fact that there have been American citizens that have committed travesties . So as far as I’m concerned thank you Frontier pilots and attendant keep up the good job and continue to keep us safe
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Your willingness to sacrifice your Constitutional rights does not mean that everyone should be forced to do so.
Random reports of unspecified suspicious activity by random civilians should not become the basis of illegal or unreasonable searches and seizures.
Justin
/ September 14, 2011Allison, “Thankful” pointed out logical and objective reasoning that highlighted the unique facts of this individual scenario, but for some reason you are unable or unwilling to step back and view this objectively on its individual merits. As per the response of the airline and law enforcement the report was neither unspecified or random, to say that you would have to provide evidence that at least on passenger on the plane had a contradictory observation of the men that got up together and spent a long time in the restroom. That information has not even been challenged, hence your arguement of the search being illegal or unreasonable is subjective. I imagine the families of passengers from United Flight 93 might see it differently.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Spending a long time in a bathroom due to airsickness is not suspicious.
Do not invoke the 9/11 dead to justify this. Doing so dishonors their memory.
Lance
/ September 14, 2011/sarcasmon
That’s right! Cuff/detain/strip EVERY SINGLE PERSON who spends more than 30 seconds in the lavatory, or who uses a barf bag! Airsickness is a precursor to terror!
/sarcasmoff
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Looks to me like you are frustrated that Allison won’t see it your way. Sorry, bro, but that’s life. Allison is not acting unreasonable here, and there are loads and loads of unreasonableness on the internet. Allison is looking at this from a more macro point of view in terms how this could impact any and all of us. I understand the viewpoint. If she isn’t a lawyer, she might want to consider law school.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Ew, no. Got lots of lawyers in my family, though, and grew up debating issues around the dinner table. Thank you for your kind words.
avery
/ September 14, 2011uh…that’s where you are WRONG. We live in a democracy.
You keep claiming to be American…but you SURE don’t seem to have a clue about American Law and Democracy.
I’m growing more suspicious of you by the minute.
We elect our leaders and they make laws that we, as citizens follow.
it’s really not all that complicated.
No one is “sacrificing their Constitutional rights” — in fact — just the opposite. They are following the right to VOTE and have elected leaders make decisions in the best interest of its citizens, which is exactly what Homeland Security was born out of.
It’s been around for many years now — so when have you been exercising your “constitutional right” before then to have it revoked, if that’s what you believe?
No one said it was a “random report” — and no one said it came from a “civilian” — once again — you are showing your own bias.
The pilots do NOT make decisions to have flights scrambled based on “random civilian reports.”
You really DO need to take a civics lesson….and get up to speed on how Homeland Security really works.
And….you need to get out more (but preferably, not via a plane).
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Apparently, the decisions of those leaders involved stripping American citizens of their Constitutional rights (or at least redefining those rights in detrimental ways). I do not and did not support those decisions.
Pilots, as far as I am aware, don’t make decisions about scrambling F-16s. That would be the decision of Homeland Security, yes? So Homeland Security made the decision to scramble fighter jets, handcuff and detain and strip search and interrogate three innocent people, on the unsubstantiated report of unspecified suspicious activity.
That’s not acceptable to me, and it appears based on this comments discussion that it’s not acceptable to a large number of Americans as well.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 15, 2011“uh…that’s where you are WRONG. We live in a democracy.
You keep claiming to be American…but you SURE don’t seem to have a clue about American Law and Democracy.”
Technically we live in a Representative Republic. In a democracy every policy would have to be put to a general election. I do not normally correct another person’s misidentification of our federal government, but since you decided to insult someone’s understanding of that exact topic I could not help myself.
You do not have to exercise a right in order to have it taken away. Are you saying that if I exercise my right to remain silent I forever give up my right to free speech?
You are correct that the DHS made the decision to sent the two F16s, although from recent articles no authority is taking credit for the strip-search. The FBI has denied any association with it. The airline has denied ever identifying the lady who wrote the blog post.
The DHS was created by the legislative branch, but their creation does not mean they are automatically constitutional. The Judicial branch has the power to reject any law that it deems unconstitutional. Unfortunately they can not exercise this power until the law is challenged. This is why I hope Shoshana does not let this go and pursues all legal avenues available to her. I really want to see whether the judicial branch will deem the detention, strip-searching, and interrogation of someone based on the person assigned to sit in the seat next to them spending a bit of time in the bathroom a constitutionally legal procedure.
ruth
/ September 18, 2011Jonathane – I hope she does, too, but I wonder if DHS and the airline are already working on sweeping it under the rug and paying the three off so that this test doesn’t occur, and they continue to operate in the same fashion. With denials from the airline and FBI, it looks as though the documentation trail is already being hidden…or maybe this is just another way that the Patriot Act makes it possible to treat someone as a criminal or combatant, then deny it because there is “no proof” of its occurrence.
Anne
/ September 13, 2011It wasn’t because they took a long time in the bathroom, it’s because they went to the bathroom in succession. As in, one went to the bathroom, came back, and then the other one got up and went to the bathroom. Nothing else was offered as suspicious activity besides that and the fact that they were all the same race and were sitting next to each other. Right. That’s totally logical. Two people both having to pee around the same time? That NEVER happens! AND they’re all indian!? Better sound the alarms!
Also, if it had been a flight attendant who thought they were taking too long in the bathroom all they would have had to do was check the bathroom after they were out. Have you been in an airplane bathroom? Not many places to stick a bomb. Also? Since when was taking a long time in the bathroom suspicious anyway? Maybe he was taking a shit. Maybe he was jerking off. Maybe he gets sick on flights and was throwing up because he didn’t want to sit next to a total stranger and throw up in a bag two inches away from them. It’s sad that you think “he must have a bomb” is an acceptable thing to have come to your mind.
Meg
/ September 14, 2011Thankful
Come back to us when you’ve spent six or seven hours in a police cell, without information, or having any clue about whats going on.
I find it somewhat gobsmacking that so many people would support such a gross violation of basic human rights based on someone elses paranoia not even based on the observations of trained law professionals.
So they spent excess time in the bathroom. I have a stomach bug ATOW, I spent half an hour in the bathroom on a flight this morning, and I’m willing to put money on the fact no one would have blinked an eyelid because I’m white
Joe
/ September 14, 2011Amazing, all of this happened because they spent too much time or made multiple trips to the rest rest room? People have health issues. Sometimes it is nervousness that results in multiple trips to the rest room. Irritable bowel syndrom, Colitis, nausia etc. There is absolutely no reason for the LEO’s to behave the way that they did. Keep in mind, these people were searched even before getting into the airport sterile area. Where was the risk? What threat did these people present that required the treatment that they received?
The bottom line here is that the LEO’s were out of line and completely unjustified in what they did.
Ram
/ September 14, 2011why is it that people are willing to sacrifice their constitutional rights in this case, but when it comes to giving up the right to bear arms, its’ “over my cold dead hands”?
Does every white person who buys fertilizer now come under suspicion because of Timothy McVeigh? Let’s be clear, Timothy McVeigh and all the crazies who’ve gone postal and fired automatic weapons in schools, malls, offices, etc have done much more damage to America without nearly the negative response.
Kremmen
/ September 14, 2011“thankful”, you are simply an idiot. You are praising the pilots and FA for stupidity in causing someone’s suffering for no reason with no justification. If nothing else, the plane was in the air already. The crew did nothing to restrain the passengers, so, if they’d had a weapon, they had every opportunity to use it. The Frontier staff involved should be arrested for making a false report and should pay compensation to every passenger for the delay, plus massive punitory damages to those who were arrested and assaulted without cause.
Mister Aloha
/ September 14, 2011I agree! Freedom is earned, if they don’t like how America operates, then move back to your home country. We are not holding them back if they want to leave. North Koreans cannot leave their country even if they wanted to. That’s how that country lives. So leave if you don’t like America. One Nation Under GOD!!! God Bless the U.S. of A.!!!
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011My family came to the US in the 1700s. Where do you want to place me if I don’t agree with you? Jesus…
Matt
/ September 14, 2011“Freedom is earned”
A question for you. What would you say to the man who wrote this?
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Freedom is another word for Liberty. Now, if the unalienable right to Liberty is granted by our Creator, how can it be earned?
alytron
/ September 14, 2011Freedom is earned??!?!??!! What planet are you from? And if “they” don’t like the way American operates they should leave? First you’re assuming that “they” are immigrants, and second, the whole point of democracy and liberty are totally at odds with your whole statement. I think perhaps you need to open your eyes to the fact that not all brown people were born outside of the USA, that the constitution guarantees them the rights you feel they should “earn” (what have YOU done to earn YOUR freedom?), and also backs up the peoples rights to speak out, mobilize, organize and work towards change, not just be forced to leave. The whole POINT of the constitution is to protect the american people from oppressive, tyrannical rule and protect them from over reaching government, that is why America was formed, and the founding fathers would have told your royalist ass to get back to Britain if they heard you talking that kind of nonsense.
Torus
/ September 15, 2011Shoshana was, and always has been, a United States citizen. She was born here. I’m sick of all the people telling her to “go back to her home country” when… she’s already there. In the country that she loves.
And, by saying “freedom is earned”, thanks for letting us know you slept through your high school government class.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Na, I always take a long time in the bathroom – for-ev-er – and I’ve never been questioned, handcuffed, strip searched, or even spoken to about it… Of course not – I’m white. (Nice try.)
Also, I’m not trained in any sort of law enforcement, or even flight attendant protocol… But I’m sure that I could have easily, nicely, asked the gentleman if he was feeling okay, or needed anything – and found out right away whether he was actually doing something which warranted further investigation. We all watch too many hollywood movies with dumbed-down characters, who seem to have lost all their senses and intuition about anything, and get themselves killed by ignoring every possible sign of real concerns – for the sake of drama… We seem to have lost all faith in our own perception, and live in fear of what our imaginations can conjure up.
Let’s not forget that the incidents of 9/11/01 were very, very rare – and unlikely to happen again in this country in any one of our – or our grandchildren’s lifetimes – even without strip searches after planes land.
We need to get a grip on reality, people. Come on.
Blue Pattern
/ September 14, 2011“Tt (sic) seems to me that all you people are forgetting or overlooking one fact the reason that the plane was stopped was because the two men were taking an excessively long time in the bathrooms,…”
So, by this reasoning, an airline passenger who happens to have dark skin or a foreign accent (or both) could and likely would be reported for “suspicious activity” by a “loyal American” passenger who is irritated about having to wait their turn while the first passenger sits on the toilet to defecate — an activity that typically takes longer.
Right. Now I understand. Using the toilet while looking or sounding different is a “suspicious activity.”
Jan H
/ September 14, 2011When I heard this story on the news on Sunday, I thought maybe the men had had Mexican food and how embarrassed they must be. I can’t believe it evolved into this BECAUSE they were Indian.
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011I understand the attraction of trying to make a comparison between early Nazism and today’s America, but it is not possible to compare the CAUSE of the events of 9/11/11 with the cause of Hitler’s hysteria. There was no catastrophic terrorist event that led Hitler to uber-nationalism and his extreme hatred of the Jews. To compare those situations almost seems like justifying Hitler’s actions. We have reason to fear terrorists. We just should not assume that all brown-skinned people are terrorists. Hitler’s hatred of Jews was pure bigotry.
Scojam
/ September 13, 2011Sorry David but Laura was describing a process by which rights are lost and governments becomes the ultimate all seeing authority and citizens lose all recourse. You can’t compare the USA with Nazi Germany or Soviet Union Communism of course but she wasn’t doing that. Laura was describing a process that certainly is in place in America today. Unless something happens to change that process writers like Laura will be able discuss valid similarities with those regimes. It’s not there yet but it’s coming.
SHM1026
/ September 13, 2011David, thank you for mentioning that. It drives me up a wall how many times people try to equate Nazism with something going on in America today. The plain truth is that there is NOTHING that even comes close. Comparing something in America with Nazism is part of Glenn Beck’s schtick, and it is just plain ignorant. Since 9-11, we have had to take extraordinary measures to protect ourselves; and so far, we are proving to be lousy at doing it gracefully.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011PLEASE don’t even TRY to equate what you may have experienced from authorities to what the author experienced. Just stop it. You did not ever experience anything like what she did. “Required my personal information,” indeed. Yeah, they required her personal information, alright.
Shanna
/ September 13, 2011Yeppers. I am so tired of spoiled Americans whining about the very freedoms and safety the authorities provide. Freedom always comes at a price. I was once checked at an airport for drugs. And I have blonde hair. But I was dressed as a hippie, coming from sf and I realized this and moved on. It was no big deal. Grow up, miss shebhi. The only person who has a problem with your Arab background is you.
jenojeno
/ September 13, 2011“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” — George Orwell
Allison
/ September 13, 2011You were handcuffed and taken off a plane, strip and cavity searched, and interrogated? I doubt it. You miss the point – “freedom” includes freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures (Constitution) and the right to confront one’s accuser (also, Constitution).
The price of freedom shouldn’t be the surrender of our freedoms.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Good call, Allison. These three people need to be able to confront their accuser/s. And yes, being detained for hours, handcuffed, strip-searched does not compare to random “checks” for drugs. Let’s see how these people like a TSA officer getting gloved and sticking their fingers up their orifices that are normally only examined by a gynecologist.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Allison, I think you should ease up on Shanna. She is ok with it because Obama did it. Now, if Bush had been doing this, she probably would have torched something herself. It’s hard dealing with ideologues.
Katiebug
/ September 14, 2011I’m not taking a side, simply pointing out holes in your argument.
“Illegal searches and seizures” is not relevant to this case because of the Patriot Act. It’s law, whether fair or not.
Nor is the “right to confront one’s accuser”. That’s in court, when you’re being tried for a crime. She did not make it that far into the judicial system because she was charges were not pressed and she was released. Again, fair or not, it is still law.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you Katie. I did read in another post the changes that have been made in the interpretation of our Constitutional rights under the Patriot Act, and realize that that particular part of my argument is flawed.
I think the Patriot Act and it’s modifications of Constitutional rights is the real problem here, as well as the interpretation of that Act by the authorities involved.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 15, 2011The patriot act can not make something that is unconstitutional suddenly acceptable under the constitution. To my knowledge this can only happen in one of two ways.
1) The one we are taught about in highschool government class is an amendment to the constitution itself. The patriot act is a law passed by the legislative branch and signed into law by the executive branch, not a constitutional amendment. Thus the patriot act does not change the constitutionality of these searches.
2) The second is through interpretation of the constitution by the Judicial branch. Parts of the Patriot act have already been deemed unconstitutional by the Judicial branch. I hope that Shoshana takes this to court, because I want to know for certain whether the detaining, strip-searching, and interrogation of the three people on this flight is deemed constitutional or not.
I fully expect Shoshana and the two others involved to be given substantial settlement offers with the condition that they do not challenge the constitutionallity of the detainment, searching, and interrogation.
avery
/ September 14, 2011get a lawyer then — and let’s just see how far that gets you.
can’t wait to see how that turns out!
we get the ‘point’ alright…and it has nothing to do with freedoms.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I’m not sure who you’re responding to. If the point isn’t freedom, then what is it, in your opinion?
Stacy
/ September 13, 2011Oh come on. You were once checked at an airport? You can’t relate to this woman. Unless you can say you were handcuffed, thrown in the back of a car, stripped searched, and fingerprinted- then you should shush. I am tired of people having no sympathy anymore.
Iqbal
/ September 14, 2011You Shanna have a heart of stone! Ms Shebshi has been thru an awful experience and yet you ask HER to grow up !! Are you real? Do you have peanuts in your brain?
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Shanna, you apparently smoked way too much pot during your hippie days in San Francisco. You were probably too stoned to bother arguing, and the weed seems to have either dulled your sense of perception, stripped your ability to read, or vaporized your sense of empathy.
Did you even read this post by Mrs. Hebshi? (Obviously not, because calling her ‘miss shebhi’ is too far off the mark for you to have actually understood what she wrote.) Furthermore, it occurs to me that the only relevance of your blonde hair, is the senseless comment you made. Rest up, get sober, and try again!
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 15, 2011Shanna, may I ask why you were checked for drugs at an airport. Was this at customs or the TSA. The mission statement of the TSA has nothing to do with drugs, unless they present a threat to airline safety. If you were checked specifically for drugs at a TSA checkpoint than that is a direct violation of your rights as it is not part of the executive search privlages granted to protect the traveling public. Instead it is a warentless and suspicionless search for evidence of a crime. This is expressely prohibited and a direct violation of the fourth amendment.
I was also not aware that my freedoms are provided by authorities. I was under the impression that my freedoms were god given and unalianable. Or is that just what some old irrelevent document states. Perhaps if you spent some time edjucating yourself you would not believe that your rights and safety are entirely in the hands of authorities.
To tell someone who was handcuffed, detained, strip-searched, and interrogated based on the suspicion of a few passengers and the flight crew to grow up is insensitive and selfish.
B. Perry
/ September 13, 2011Thanks Laura,
Eric Hoffer, a longshoreman philosopher wrote a book called “True Believer” that studied the very question of how the people in Germany in the 1930s, the most well educated country in Europe could descend into becoming a nation of people that supported its Nazi government. The book is one of the best books I’ve ever read and if anyone wants to gain more understanding of why we as a nation have become what we have, this book offers some insights. Let’s hope we descend no further as that future, if it happens, will cause us to live through a greater real nightmare than we can imagine.
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely agree. It’s scary.
JenRo
/ September 13, 2011If only people could recognize this! Sadly there are very few things as powerfull as fear.
Alice
/ September 13, 2011Brilliant response, Laura, and my impressions as well. Thank you for posting. I believe you and Dallas have nailed it.
Linda
/ September 13, 2011Well said Laura …
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Spot on, Laura.
Theobromine
/ September 14, 2011Communist Rules For Revolution
(Captured in Dusseldorf May, 1919, by the Allied Forces)
______________________________________________
“A. Corrupt the young, get them away from religion. Get them interested in sex. Make them superficial, destroy their ruggedness.
“B. Get control of all means of publicity and thereby;
“1. Get people’s minds off their government by focusing their attention on athletics, sexy books and plays and other trivialities.”
“2. Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance.”
“3. Destroy the people’s faith in their natural leaders by holding the latter up to contempt, ridicule and obloquy.”
“4. Always preach true democracy but seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.”
“5. By encouraging government extravagance, destroy its credit, produce fear of inflation with rising prices and general discontent.”
“6. Foment unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorders, and foster a lenient and soft attitude on the part of government toward such disorders.”
“7. By specious argument cause the breakdown of the old moral virtues: honesty, sobriety, continence, faith in the pledged word, ruggedness.”
“C. Cause the registration of all firearms on some pretext, with a view to confiscating them and leaving the population helpless.”
NOTE: “ The above “Rules for Revolution” were secured by the State Attorney’s office from a member of the Communist Party, who acknowledged it to be still a part of the Communist program for overthrowing our Government”
George A. Brautigam
State Attorney
State of Florida
Silly
/ September 14, 2011Oh, that’s actually a completely fictional account. You can spot this because it’s written in the words an American trying to bash communists would use, not those a communist would use.
No communist would use “natural ruler”, for example, because there is no “natural ruler”. In fact…no real democratic person would use the phrase, either, because there ARE no “natural rulers” in a democracy.
So whoever wrote this most likely was a fascist or royalist. Good job eating up Nazi propaganda.
alytron
/ September 14, 2011yup. Pure propaganda.
TJ
/ September 14, 2011You don’t even need to go to an example from outside of the USA for that. You can look back on WWII and what happened to the Americans of Japanese descent.
Isla
/ September 14, 2011Laura, so, so true. I do think the day is coming when we wake up and find
“the muzzle in place, the chains permanently attached.” I believe we will see it within the next 30 years…the mechanisms are already in place, and we are either not seeing, or so scared that we are accepting.
avery
/ September 14, 2011wow! talk about an ‘over-reaction’!
this woman was NOT arrested, her liberties were not limited and her rights were fully intact.
if she really believes all that — then get a lawyer and let’s see what happens.
i doubt very seriously, she will get far. (but hey — go for it!!!!)
many of us, of ALL backgrounds have been through similar circumstances since 9-11 and respect and honor the work of Homeland Security.
If some of you would actually learn how many horrific acts of terrorism have been thwarted since then — and how many thousands of lives have been saved — you would be singing a different tune.
Oh…and let me guess. None of YOUR relatives had a full-bodied airliner smash into their office 10 years ago or had to choose between burning alive or jumping 85 stories to concrete below.
Just a guess.
(you may want to listen to betty ong’s 911 call from that day — just to get a taste of what she and so many others endured)
How do you know not EVERY single passenger and flight attendant was concerned about these men and their behavior?
Maybe this woman’s non-action when it was obvious to everyone else something was amiss….raised a red flag.
The fact that THIS woman may have been doing EXACTLY what you seem to detest “sitting by and doing NOTHING” — while they very well could have been trying to blow up the plane — speaks volumes about your own bias.
You see — it works BOTH ways — except sometimes — common sense (Thank God!) prevails.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Please post links to stories of passengers of all ethnicities, especially ones that are different from Ms. Shebshi’s, being handcuffed, detained, strip searched, and interrogated for hours before being released.
Please post some information about acts of terrorism that have been prevented with the use of these techniques. Surely there are some?
Do not dishonor the 9/11 dead by invoking their names to justify the actions here. You cheapen their death by using them in that fashion.
Gino
/ September 13, 2011So very painfully true.
Diane
/ September 13, 2011In defense of the authorities, if it weren’t for them taking action when there is suspicion, we would probably have a LOT MORE terror in this country. Because people would KNOW, that we are too laid back and they could get away with terrorizing our country more than they do now. I’m sorry for what happened to Shoshana, but if it were me I would not have known that the authorities were just doing their jobs.
Andrea
/ September 13, 2011Diane, although I disagree with you, I would be willing to consider this argument if the “authorities” could provide a shred of evidence that this type of abuse of power and harassment of American citizens actually prevented real terrorism.
Heywood
/ September 13, 2011Why are you blaming “the authorities???” In this instance, they were simply RESPONDERS. It was the PASSENGERS ON THE PLANE who fingered that row of “suspicious looking characters”–the authorities were only acting on information they received. Would you prefer that the “authorities” ignore all reports, because some of them may have come from idiots who let their prejudices inform their decisions?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I would prefer that people responding to a report do what police officers do when they receive a report – ask many questions of the REPORTER to determine the validity of the report BEFORE questioning the accused. Cops don’t interrogate in this manner every single person against whom a report is made, and Homeland Security shouldn’t, either.
And I would prefer the questioning not violate someone’s Constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure, and the right for the accused to face his or her accuser.
Erylin
/ September 13, 2011bravo
Hanalei
/ September 13, 2011Agreeing with Allison completely. Well stated.
Lizabeth
/ September 13, 2011Well said Allison. While reading the original blog i imagined myself as her. If i am who i am now, but with darker skin, I would still want those basic protections. I wonder if this (my) country would still be like it is today if the attackers on 9/11 had been caucasian. just saying that we would be enraged that our mothers/daughters/sisters were being strip searched. And before people spout off on this about “they shouldnt come to this country”…neither should you or your ancestors…this country is meant for all and the way our government is running it now even native americans are being targeted and searched…they were here before ANY of us.
Chance
/ September 13, 2011Allison, you are wrong. The crew and pilot had to make the decision that there might be suspicious activity on the plane. The cops going into that situation, of course would protect themselves and those onboard. Think about this….they are going into a plane blindly. If indeed there was a terrorist and they went to question them, do you think maybe the terrorist could have overpowered the cop? Now the terrorist has a gun and a plane and boom….everybody is dead and 9/11 is relived. Cops can detain you for whatever reason. It is charging unwrongfully is the problem. In this situation, no one was charged with a crime. It’s better to be safe than sorry. It is sad she had to go through this, but it was because of everybody’s paranoia aboard the plane. The authorities are not at fault.
laars
/ September 13, 2011hey ally sometimes there isnt enough time to have dinner with everybody and ask questions like in a who dun-it movie. that day there were threats of “something” happening so the responders weren’t waiting.
Mary
/ September 13, 2011You are so right.
Naren
/ September 13, 2011Exactly. Did someone consider the plane had not blown up or hijacked yet? Hello, Good Morning? It did land safely even with those three brown terrorists conspiring all the time and two of them spending a little more time in the bathroom than usual (and returning back to their seats without guns or bombs in their hands) . Did these ‘Authorities’ consider nothing was done by anyon eto thwart their (our ‘terrosisits’) efforts, but just some ‘suspicious’ activity reported; so it cannot be ‘as’ serious?
So even if this was reported, this could have been handled in a completely different way. There’s no point in subjecting them to such such cells and treatments. They have handed over their information to you, did not blow up the plan when they were sitting together and conspiring, so will not do it when they’re in your facility surrounded by all half the military. Do your investigation and treat them respectfully. If you say 50 such incidents were reported through the day, be mature enough to consider this could be another of those and handle it well!
Hilarious, Foolish, Shameful!
Gump
/ September 13, 2011I agree with this, as long as it’s possible, and in this case it was.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Indeed, Allison. When a magician performs a magic trick, they use some diversion so that peoples’ eyes don’t catch the magic in the trick. Maybe the accuser was diverting the attention off of themselves onto these three people. I think it only fair that the reporter should have been detained and interrogated, too, and also these three people need to be able to confront this accuser.
avery
/ September 14, 2011maybe this woman’s protesting is a “diversion” to what she was really up to.
So far, she’s been caught in a number of different lies.
(look up homeland security reports for december 2010 — what she said happened then – did not happen).
she admits her husband tried to bring a weapon on a plane and mocked security when they failed to find it.
she’s not very good at covering her motives. i’m sure it’s obvious to others, as well, which is why she will be targeted and followed for the rest of her life — THANK GOD!!
avery
/ September 14, 2011you mean, like the “crew”? which includes the pilots and flight attendants?
“after the CREW REPORTED that two people were spending “an extraordinarily long time” in a bathroom, Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuck said.”
The CREW reported it – the CREW (not some “random” passengers) – the TRAINED CREW!
you really need a LESSON in flight protocol and Homeland Security — you seem to be the ONLY person flying who doesn’t seem to understand that what the CREW SAYS goes…..no matter what.
If you don’t like it — don’t fly.
(you can always exercise you constitutional right to VOTE and lobby and get folks elected who share your belief — but something tells me you like to complain too much to actually do anything about what you like to complain about — an affliction many who have nothing better to do seem to have)
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Apparently the crew needs better training, since none of the 50 or so people identified as “acting suspiciously” on 9/11/11 (according to the reports I’ve read, and including Ms. Shebshi) were found to be guilty of anything.
I think there’s a middle ground between “the crew can say anything and they will be believed no matter what” and “nobody can report anything ever.” I would like to see that middle ground include having the crew making the report have to provide specific and reasonable grounds for their suspicions, grounds that are more concrete than “I thought he was in the bathroom too long.”
I have voted in every federal, state, and local election since I was 18. I also frequently lobby for political causes and candidates that share my beliefs. But then again, I don’t have to justify my beliefs or my participation in this discussion to anyone, including you.
Val
/ September 13, 2011Thank you! Now that actually makes sense.
Dave
/ September 14, 2011And it was the pilot who called in the “army” after being notified of the suspicions. The pilot is in complete charge of the aircraft, if the pilot says you don’t fly then you don’t fly.
Tom Lange
/ September 13, 2011Unfortunately, history suggests that it does. Not that I defend it, or believe it, but the camps that Asian Americans were put into on the West Coast-were done to prevent an attack. They can look back and say: “It worked, didn’t it?”
People defend the atrocity that is the Patriot Act, and argue that we haven’t had any terrorist attacks since, and reason that Bush did a good job…
-Of course, the number of terrorist attacks in this country is so small that it makes a 10 year window completely meaningless. Some people will find meaning it it, however…
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011The ironic thing with this is that as the 2012 election gets closer, the Obama supporters will make the same argument about “keeping the country safe”. We are screwed by both parties on this point. 😦
Shelly
/ September 13, 2011For one thing, No one can prevent terrorism but the proof is in the pudding to coin a phrase…We have had ZERO terrorists attacks since 9/11 because of the publics awareness & reports coupled with our Authorities responding quickly & thoroughly! So you must consider this argument by your own words. The world has changed and ignoring evil isn’t an option, our Government has the obligation to Protect ALL of its citizens. So “For the greater good” becomes one of thee most important points for all of us to remember and understand. With this information I hope our government learns from this incident and improves the system for our civil rights and our protection too.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Actually, that’s quite backward and wrong.
See, the purpose of terrorism is to cause exactly this. “Terrorism” isn’t about killing people — it’s about terrorizing. That’s why it’s called “terrorism” and not “killing-people-ism.”
Killing people is a means to an end. The end is to destroy a society, by breaking down the rule of law and social contract. And we do this better than any other nation on Earth. We’ve gone from a light unto the nations, a place which may not have always done the right thing, but was always on the right path, to a place that is an example of a police state, a cautionary tale to other nations. And why? Because we have reacted in exactly the way that al Qaeda was hoping.
In doing so, we’ve proven that we are a PERFECT target for terrorism. A terrorist who attacks the United States gets EXACTLY the goal they want: a repressive, over-zealous, fascist security force which destroys the freedom and liberty that this country once had.
Once upon a time, people thought that “freedom” was a thing that you were willing to risk your life to fight for. This country was founded on the notion that you had to risk your security to guarantee your freedom — and that that is a bargain well worth making.
Now? We trade in all our freedom for a tiny bit of security, the act of a craven coward. And we harm other people in the process.
I am ashamed to be a citizen of a country where three people could be detained like that, because someone was afraid. Terrorism requires people to be terrified.
And the people who are terrified are craven. And willing to harm their fellow citizens because of their own terror.
TheCrapMan
/ September 13, 2011Ian,
A perfect take on the situation.
Ralph Baker
/ September 13, 2011Ian, If you are ashamed to be an American Citizen, You have the right to LEAVE on the next thing smokin`. I don`t agree with a lot of what happened in Detroit and I also have no solution to offer. Our lives as Americans have changed considerably in the last 10 years. I will still stand behind the troops and my Commander -in -Chief, whom I diagree with on many levels, because it is my Duty as an American to do so. I have rights and Freedoms due to the every day Heroism of the troops that protect me. If your ashamed, find a Country that you can contribue to and get on the next flight. You will not be missed.
R.B.
Michele W.
/ September 13, 2011Very good observation about the cost of freedom, I may just have to repost that!
Glenn
/ September 13, 2011I Put my mom, my sister or daughter in this position and I am horrified! !
I am a 4th generation American, and what ever words this poor helpless scared women used about redneks and beer bellies in venting, was in far better taste than I would use. WE THE PEOPLE are terrorizing our own people
JenRo
/ September 13, 2011couldnt say it better myself! really.
Coco Rivers
/ September 13, 2011ian,
Extremely well articulated and very accurate, in my opinion. I am ashamed of what happened to Soshana and what she had to endure. The Patriot Act is unpatriotic and those who deny this are looking at the world with blinders on. Something is not better than nothing if any crackpot or bigot can see to it that innocent citizens are stripped of their rights in the name of security. We are no more secure, merely a terrorized nation that has failed to learn from history. Many of these comments make it obvious that too many of us consider propaganda fact.
Lara
/ September 13, 2011Well said, Ian. Very well said. I particularly like the distinction between “terrorism” – causing terror, and “killing-people-ism” – causing the death of people. When did we decide that our freedoms, as Americans, weren’t worth it anymore?
I am so sorry about what happened, to you Ms. Hebshi, and to the many others whose stories have not been told. I am reminded of this poetic quote by the German Pastor Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me–
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
…and I wonder, as Americans sixty years later, who are the groups we silently watch be persecuted? Are we asking ourselves ‘who will be left when they come for me?’ In closing, I ask, when will we, as a collective conscience for America, find our voice and remember when freedom came with a price?
Amanda Waterman
/ September 14, 2011Thank you Ian. Well said.
Mister Aloha
/ September 14, 2011One question to all you that feel America was wrong (searching Shebhi) did any of you loose a family or friend in the 9-11 tragedy? Did all those people ask to die the way the did? NO! I am sorry she had to go through that, but like she said herself, “I won’t be flying on 9-11 any more.”
Hello?! It’s the 10th anniversary and she wonder’s why? They were on heightened security…..what does that mean to you??? There was evidence that there were plans to do something on the anniversary??!! Hello?! You folks seem NOT to be listening. A thief but comes in the night. If you knew when the thief was coming, then no more burglaries….If we knew when terrorist was going to hit, no problem……but we don’t so we have to be very cautious……..I am truly sorry this happended to you (Shebhi) but this is not the seventies or sixties…we are at WAR! We need to keep ALL Americans safe from harm……our military is over seas to keep us safe and to keep our freedom…..FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011Mister Aloha,
I did not loose a friend or family member on 9-11, but I did loose one in Oklahoma City. Does that give me credibility? Now I have some questions for you.
Did the unwarented detainment of Shebhi bring back any of the lives that were lost on 9/11?
Did the unwarented strip search of Shebhi reveal any evidence that will stop a future terrorist attack?
Did the unwarrented interrogation of Shebhi provide any information that will lead to the dissruption of future terrorist plots?
Did the fingerprinting of Shebhi reduce the risk of a future terrorist attack?
Is it your opinion that only people who lost a loved one on 9/11 have any say on the matter of national security?
If you are to scared to get on a plane without having the SS watch over anything, then you can drive, take a bus or train, or even walk. After all, flying is not a right.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Good thoughts, Ian.
Tony
/ September 14, 2011Ian two thumbs up, you are on point.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Well done, Ian. Again, not sure if we would agree on much politically, who knows, but this is pretty much spot on.
Silly
/ September 14, 2011“He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.” -Benjamin Franklin.
Not that people who argue for racial profiling and abusing people who aren’t white will aknowledge this guy. Clearly, Franklin was an arab terrorist in disguise!
The one nation on earth that reacted well to terrorism was norway. Scores of people dead: No fascist laws passed.
jen
/ September 14, 2011sooooooo over-thought.
few people are ‘terrorized’ here that i know of. I fly all the time and don’t feel at all “terrorized”. no one I know feels “terrorized”
What I do feel….is SAFE!
I feel FREE and GRATEFUL to be an American and have an abundance of freedoms.
I’m grateful for the security we have in place — i’ve been singled out, too (searches, extra security, etc….and i’m not being profiled…i’m being screened. see, i’m not biased in my own thinking)
I consider it a minor inconvenience…..as there are MORE important things in life….like….LIVING!
(and not being bogged down by over-analyzing flight security).
This was a one-off occurrence (and it happened on the 10th anniversary of 9-11) and the flight crew acted out of an abundance of caution –
i hardly consider ONE time in TEN years being “terrorized” by fear.
sheesh!!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Searches and extra security are not the equivalent of being handcuffed and removed from a plane, detained for hours without communication, strip searched (and likely cavity searched, based on Ms Shebshi’s statements), and interrogated. That is not a minor inconvenience. It does not matter that this “only” happened once to Ms. Shebshi, since racial profiling is not acceptable.
Sally
/ September 13, 2011Diane, I agree with you, it is necessary . If the plane would have been blown up the families of the dead would be very upset and screaming bloody murder, so if you don’t like it don’t fly
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Surrendering our Constitutional rights to the fear of a bigoted minority is not the answer.
Shelly
/ September 13, 2011Everyone forgets, Flying is NOT a constitutional right, it is optional! If you dont like the security requirements, then don’t fly. But as soon as the Government fails to see something coming or the citizens just believe they didnt do enough after a disaster (ie: Katrina) then everyone is up in arms complaining, calling for congressional witch hunts and wanting the government to answer/pay for its mistakes! Since the very beginning of this Republic, the founding fathers DID delegate the responsibility of Defense & Security to our Government! Our Government was not sopose to be in the business of feeding, housing and taking care of its citizens, those are individual, community & local responsibilities! But Defense and Security is solely the Governments responsiblity!
John
/ September 13, 2011At no point were Constitutional rights ever surrendered. When you board an airplane, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions the airlines have described on the back of the ticket. Flying is not a right, it is a privilege. There is nothing in the bill of rights that says every person in America has the right to fly commercial.
It is a simple decision for anyone to make, if you do not agree with the measures the airline security and authorities are allowed to take then DO NOT FLY COMMERCIAL.
Also, unfortunately you can not pick a different airline, because every carrier has to conform to the same rules set out by the different Government organizations.
To that end, I do not ever want to be singled out like Shoshana was. It is degrading and humiliating. But, let us be honest with ourselves. How many times have you thought that a package looked suspicious? Or that somehow that person looked suspicious in your neighborhood? These are reactions that we have been taught to think, because they are healthy for human preservation.
We can sit here and argue about whether the assumptions of the crew of the airplane were warranted or not. But what it really comes down to is the question of whether the Pros outweigh the Cons. The crew cannot be afraid to make decisions like this when the entire plane is at risk.
Dave
/ September 14, 2011so if you don’t like it don’t fly
Allison
/ September 14, 2011That is also not the answer.
jen
/ September 14, 2011so…if you don’t like it….change it.
you won’t, because you know you are wrong.
(or maybe for you…it’s too easy to complain)
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Actually, I believe I am right, and I vote and participate in the political process in order to attempt to change it.
Floyd
/ September 13, 2011Don’t you think that if these people were going to blow the plane up they would have done it before they were yanked off of the plane? Why go to all the trouble to board an airplane with an explosive, only to be detained after the flight lands and is quarantined? The time to stop a terrorist is not after the plane lands. Terrorists may not be entitled to legal representation, but these people were. Being suspected of something, no matter how evil, does not trump the Constitutional rights and protections that were violated on that day. The people running this country are idiots.
Finisterre
/ September 13, 2011I suspect, Sally, that if you had been hauled off a plane, arrested and strip-searched because someone thought you’d gone to the toilet a few too many times, you would be ‘very upset and screaming bloody murder’ about your Constitutional rights, not concluding that ‘not flying’ was a sensible response.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011“Baaaaaa! Baaaaaaa!”
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Sally,
I hope that you are “detained” for our general and unspecified safety in the near future. Might give you some perspective on the supposed necessity of false arrest, unlawful detention, and criminal mistreatment.
r3newed
/ September 13, 2011“if you don’t like it don’t fly” = terrorism wins again. This process is the wrong way to go about offering any protection from terrorism. If American citizens can be detained for hours, strip searched, apparently body cavity searched, and questioned without probable cause other than the word of another person who is suspect of their activities, then terrorism can chalk up another goal. At the very least, they should have a search warrant for the strip search and body cavity search.
What did they expect to find on these people who had already been through the TSA checkpoint before they got onto the plane.
Detaining a suspected person AFTER their flight has landed is very poor and very late security. If they were going to do something, don’t you think the misdeed would already have been accomplished?
I’m all for profiling before people get into a plane and before the flight, Pull anyone aside that stands out from the profiling and question them further. I am against the current TSA and Homeland Security policies that are in place right now. In my opinion, the authorities here have trashed the Constitution with their processes for trying to find any would be terrorists.
David
/ September 13, 2011The plane had already landed at its destination, so I don’t get where you’re going with that assumption. What’s necessary is for the authorities to actually conduct an investigation into the accusations, and not assume that the reports are accurate just because you have some people who don’t appear the way someone believed Americans should look. The threat was long over once the flight had landed. That was the time to test the veracity of the accuser, not ramp up the violations of the rights of those accused with what we now know was no basis in fact. I’m betting that if this were you, you’d have a very different take on one surrendering their civil rights for the sake of the unsubstantiated accusations of others.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011If you require human rights violations in order to help you feel more comfortable, it is YOU who shouldn’t fly.
redheadwglasses
/ September 13, 2011Dear Diane,
We don’t need more people like you in this country. Kindly leave. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Love,
Reasonable people who aren’t xenophobes
p.s. not every non-white is a “foreigner.” True story.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Is this what the face of tolerant liberalism looks like, redheadwglasses? You don’t agree with me, so leave? You’re a “xenophobe,” so leave so that we can have a uninformly tolerant society?
I think Diane was making a reasonable point, and that point is that sometimes a vigorous response is necessary to prevent violence, save lives and protect public servants. This isn’t always the case, and invariably mistakes are made and it takes too long to sort out that everything is okay. In the meantime, innocent people are inconvenienced, even scared. That’s something we should strive to eliminate but can never totally end in a world in which there are bad and good people who can be mistaken for one another in the heat of a moment.
Someone else said in this post that when police respond to a complaint, they ask questions of the complaintaint first before questioning the suspect, and in a situation in which there is clearly no threat to the officer or the public, this is certainly the case. But if an officer is summoned to a scene in which a reasonable person, lacking first-hand context, could construe poses an imminent threat of violence, I can assure you the officer will secure the suspect and perhaps even the complaintant until he or she can sort out what’s really going on.
It’s well established law, and common sense, that police have the right and in many cases the responsibility to secure and restrain suspects for their own safety and that of the public, the suspect and any victims.
So I’m not going to get very riled up about this. Why? Because our system is better than *their* system, as flawed as it may be.
In our system, we investigate facts and release detained individuals with an apology and a ride back to their car.
In other systems, don’t have the freedom to live Tweet their detention on suspicion of terrorism, suspects are beaten mercilessly until they confess to crimes they did not commit, are simply charged and convicted in sham show trials or summarily executed without so much as consideration of guilt or innocence merely because they are come from the “wrong” part of the world or believe in the “wrong” God. These things happen here, too, but they are the exception, not the rule.
Our system is not perfect. It bears the constant vigilance of an educated citizenry to prevent the inevitable excesses of power from gaining irreversible hold on our freedoms. And it must be protected from the paranoid and misinformed imaginings of a terrified people.
But our system of law enforcement and justice does not deserve to be villified and pilloried for responding and investigating and coming to a reasonable and lawful conclusion that no laws were broken, for apologizing for causing an inconvience and for releasing a detained individual as quickly as possible.
This incident, as frightening and instructive as it is for both the writer and law enforcement (and there are lessons for both), is not indicative of a system run amok, but is rather evidence that ours is a system in which laws, not the prejudices of men, ultimately triumph.
I’m sorry for the writer’s inconveniences, and I’d like to think I’m wordly enough that I would not have mistaken the innocent bathroom habits of two foreigners for a mortal threat.
But it’s hard for me to say exactly how I might respond when, 35,000 feet in the sky, with the ominous warnings of a credible terrorist threat issued by my democratically elected government thundering in my head, I am faced something out of the ordinary as the sweet face of my 4-year-old son and my wife flash through my mind.
I’m sorry for the inconvience and fear this woman and these two gentlemen suffered. In a perfect world, I’d wish it on no one. At the same time, I can’t fault the public servants who also just wanted to go home to their own families and who apparently worked diligently to clear these individuals and send them on their way.
John
/ September 13, 2011Maybe, but this is merely conjecture on your part without foundation? What if everyone on every plane points a finger at each other everywhere? So does it make it right for everyone to be strip searched all over this country? What I’m saying is someone falsely stated that “suspicious activity” was taking place when this was not the case by this ladies statements here which seem very valid. It does have the appearance of being tied to skin color which is profiling and that is wrong. Did they strip search the person that made those statements? This could amount to a hate crime. They clearly landed the plane without incident right??? Did a strip search have to be conducted over less measures that would prove her innocence? Its clear she was guilty by the strip search and not being givin’ information about why she was being taken from the getgo.
I’m somewhat surprised at your answer but I’ll bet you haven’t been stripped searched without being given a reason why. When it happens to you, you’ll know how this woman felt.
Jim R
/ September 13, 2011Detention and strip searches based on accusation and innuendo. Hmmmm… we’re reverting back to the Salem Witch Trial days, or so it would seem.
JB
/ September 13, 2011Sorry, Diane – but we do have a lot of terrorism in this country, the majority of it domestic terrorism carried out with handguns.
Lance
/ September 14, 2011The topic target is over there ——->
You missed badly.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011So what? Ban handguns?
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Really, Diane? Really? If we didn’t strip-search innocent CITIZENS for NO REASON, we’d have more terror attacks? Can you point me to some information that says that the naked photos and genital groping that we are subject to every time we fly has actually caught would-be terrorists? ‘Cause so far TSA hasn’t advertised anything about actually stopping terrorists. Your reaction is EXACTLY the proof that the terrorists have won, because you would be just fine with being imprisoned and strip-searched for no reason. They have won because people like you think it is OK to subject innocent people to such degradation. They have won because you are OK with the fact that we have lost our freedoms in the name of “security.”
ditchthebun
/ September 13, 2011Whilst I agree that others who may have ideas about committing acts of terrorism may be discouraged due to the heavy security activities that have been active for the last decade, I do think that this is the only way in which terrorism is thwarted by this system.
I am reasonably sure that she should have at least been responded to before she was taken to the security office and been informed why she was being detained by the police in handcuffs. Pretty sure everyone has the right to have the answer to that.
I am an Aussie and something I find interesting is that when we go to the the airport I always seem to be “randomly” targeted for bomb or illegal substance testing (for anyone that does not have this it is a non-evasive procedure where they simply rub some cloth over your hands, clothes and lining of your bag and test it). I am the furthest thing from “suspicious” you can imagine, I have asked why I always seem to be approached for this, mostly I am just told it is random. Then my friend started dating a guy that works for customs and he said it is because I look non-threatening, like I wouldn’t make a fuss and that they are discouraged from approaching people of Arab appearance or women wearing cultural clothing as it might cause an incident of accusations of racism. Interesting!!! They would rather not cause a scene and risk a bomb getting on the plane all for a simple swab test. This was around the same time that an informant let the police know that they believed a person dressed in a burqa would conceal explosives under the garment and would target a “hub” in Sydney city.
I am so so sorry for what happened to you, it was just WRONG, plain and simple. You have every right to feel violated and I hope that the support of your friends and family helps you through this time.
David Dunn
/ September 13, 2011There apparently has developed a fine line between “preventing terrorism” by acting from suspicion, and perpetrating said same in the name of protection from suspicion. I think we as Americans must be just as vigilant against the erosion of our rights and freedoms as we are against the terrorists who try to do great damage to our country. Otherwise, we will end up doing their work for them. I believe Shoshana’s experience was a terribly unfortunate example of the authorities accomplishing just that. Those of us who are, or who look, white, are not inclined to reflect back on our history at what the authorities have considered to be meet and seemly behavior, “just doing their jobs”. Ask one of our Native American or African American (and there are other groups as well) what “acting on suspicion” meant to them. Ask an African American today what “Driving While Black” means to them. How we strike the balance is an extremely difficult thing. But the “LOT MORE” terror in this country could start to come from those very authorities in whose hands we place way too much room for interpretation. Sitting idly by, in the name of “the authorities were just doing their jobs” and watching the Shoshanas of our American family be mistreated is unacceptable. Where do you propose we draw the line for that?
Penny
/ September 13, 2011I agree. Maybe if they had done this 10 years ago we wouldn’t have lost thousands of people to a senseless act. Unfortunately terrorists don’t wear a sign saying they are a terrorist and the authorities have to guess. It’s sad because even women and children can be a terrorist among the radical groups. I’m sorry Shoshana had to experience this but it was for the safety of thousands. We are not disturbed by events but by the view we take of the events.
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011I don’t think what happened to this innocent woman kept anyone safe. I don’t see how violating the rights of innocent Americans keeps people from being killed. I guess I’m just confused.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I think you are missing a big fact here, Penny. Shoshana did not do anything that even hinted at probable cause, besides the parents she chose. How did you choose your parents, Penny?
Hitler wanted to get rid of all dark people, too. You know, it’s all about color and how people act. Just ask Timothy McVeigh.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011Maybe if they had waited until the plane landed safely, directed it to move away from the terminal after it had already been there, boarded the plane with a SWAt team, and detained three people who had not done aything related to terrorism. I guess it would have worked if the criminals on 9/11 had decided to forget their plan and allow the plane to land safely. Of course, if they did that then they would not have committed any crime as the possesion of box cutters was not against the rules of flying at that time.
“Unfortunately terrorists don’t wear a sign saying they are a terrorist and the authorities have to guess.”
Are you really comfortable with the authorities simply guessing as a reason to detain, strip-search, interrogate, and fingerprint random people?
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011It took me a minute to grasp the implications of your statement, so I will have to post a second time.
“Unfortunately terrorists don’t wear a sign saying they are a terrorist and the authorities have to guess.”
since terrorist are criminals I can change that one word and the meaning changes.
Unfortunately criminals don’t wear a sign saying they are a criminals and the authorities have to guess.
So if an authority guesses I am a murderer, I get hauled in, strip searched, interrogated, fingerprinted, and if this produces no evidence against me released with an appology. No probable cause required?
So if an authority guesses I am a theif, I get hauled in, strip searched, interrogated, fingerprinted, and if this produces no evidence against me released with an appology. No probable cause required?
Chris
/ September 13, 2011amen to that
thankful
/ September 13, 2011So happy to see someone else agreed with the opinion I had
Alice
/ September 13, 2011Diane, it is a matter of HOW action is taken. I agree with Scojam that this is a systematic process by which we are gradually desensitized into compliance for our “safety”. There are ways to interrogate or question people that do not violate their rights as US citizens.
tb
/ September 13, 2011i agree diane! tough shit! these people are doing their jobs, and I’m thankful for it. if it were me I would be grateful that they were on alert, and not be whining about security measures put in place to protect the American people! if you don’t like it, then next time drive!!!
blb
/ September 13, 2011Tb, you would never be in the situation that Shoshana was in–I’m guessing you are Caucasian). And security measures are not effective if they violate human rights.
Joe
/ September 14, 2011TB, the problem is that they were NOT doing their jobs CORRECTLY!
They abused their discretion and I’m willing to bet that if Shoshana were to consult with an Attorney, she will be successful in suing the Agents involved.
Perhaps, everytime I do a car stop for someone going through a stop sign, I should immediately pull them out of their car, search them, handcuff them, take them back to the station and strip search them. After all, they do present a threat to me, since I have to approach the car and I don’t know if they are armed with a weapon or not.
The people on the airplane at the very least have gone through a magnatometer to check them for weapons. Their bags were at the very least x-rayed. Their carry on was x-rayed as well so the probability that the people on the airplane having a weapon is extremely low.
On the other hand, the people that I pull over, have not been searched. Not knowing if they have a weapon can be freightening.
I think from now on, anyone going through a traffic light, stop sign or speeding will immediately be hadcuffed and strip searched to ensure my safety. At least the people I will be strip searching have done something wrong unlike Shoshana who was just sitting in her seat and minding her own business. I wonder how long I will be keeping my job? Gee, do you think TSA would hire me? I will be an experienced searcher!
VoiceOfReason
/ September 14, 2011And when more people start driving due to the inconveniences of flying, the terrorists will start using car bombs.
What then? Military checkpoints between states? Required travel plans to be filed with the National Transportation Safety Board, under their newly expanded powers via the Anti-vehicular Terror Act?
And then when that fails to curb car bombs, what then? Strip search at public parking facilities?
“Vere Are Your Papers?”
VoiceOfReason
/ September 14, 2011Right. So when the terrorists finally decide that flying is too much of a hassle, and that they’ve won that front, the car bombings will start.
What then? Military checkpoints at all state borders? Travel plans filed between states with the National Transportation Safety Board, using it’s newly expanded powers under the Anti-vehicle Terrorism Act?
Where does it end? “Vere Are Your Papers?”
Ketil
/ September 14, 2011Because, as we all know, there are no other ways of conducting terror than blowing up an airplane, after it has parked, on the ground, at its destination.
It isn’t possible to buy an automatic rifle, and kill dozens of people at a political youth camp, nor to blow up subway systems, trains, or simply run a lot of people over with a car?
Are you seriously suggesting that confiscating toothpaste at airports deters or prevents any of this? Is fertilizer only sold from the trolley aboard aircrafts in your country? If not, why aren’t we seeing a lot more terrorism? Where are all the suicide bombers?
The fact is that, in spite of the wars incited by America and it allies that have cost half to a million (mostly muslim) lives, there are very, very few people eager to sacrifice themselves in terrorist attacks, and approximately nobody with the means and faculties to pull off anything more than an IED in their own Iraqi or Afghan neighborhood.
All of the so-called security is part paranoia, and part theater for the paranoid.
Torus
/ September 15, 2011It’s becoming clear to me that the public at large may not even know what “terror” means. Terror is fear. Terrorists attempt to make people fearful. Killing people is simply a means to an end, not the end result.
This country is terrified of being “terrorized”, so it just accepts these heightened security measures and subtractions of our inalienable rights without assuming anything bad will come of it, and also support the waging of a war against an idea (what in the world is a “war on terror”, anyway?).
By definition of “terror”, there is a LOT of it in this country. We are terrified of something that has little chance of actually happening when the serious threat in this country is an accident on the freeway. And, in this respect, al-Qaeda has succeeded.
Dr. "K"
/ September 13, 2011Amen to that Dallas…
John
/ September 13, 2011So, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Not any more, especially given that so many people are posting here that the authorities and the idiot who reported “suspicious” behavior did the right thing and are protecting us from evil.
Ken
/ September 14, 2011More like the land of the willingly oppressed and home of the chicken. Which, I take it, is your point. Liberty is not for lily-livered sheep who are all too eager to surrender freedom for a (false) sense of security.
But this does not mean the terrorists have won, as some have suggested. Rather, it means that we have met the enemy–and he is us (apologies to Walt Kelly). Or, as was famously said at another time, in the face of a different sort of threat, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” Seems like a lot of people have forgotten that lesson.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Not anymore.
penny
/ September 13, 2011maybe if authoritites acted like this on the true 9/11 – 9/11 would of never of happened – hats off to the authoritites for protecting us –
Steven
/ September 13, 2011I think that what happened to Shoshana is absolutely horrible. It is very unfortunate that she had to go through such a traumatic and embarrassing event. However, I do believe that our governments security tactics since 9/11/2001, no matter how potentially unfair they have been, have been largely successful in protecting our country from further terrorist attacks in the 10 years since 9/11.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011“traumatic and embarrassing event”
Is that another way of saying terrorising event?
“I do believe that our governments security tactics since 9/11/2001, no matter how potentially unfair they have been, have been largely successful in protecting our country from further terrorist attacks in the 10 years since 9/11.”
Do you have any evidence of this? Which aspects of the “governments security tactics” have been so successful? I am open to changing my view if presented with new information, so please provide support for you opinion in the form of facts and data.
Gopal
/ September 13, 2011well said.
Don Barnhart
/ September 13, 2011And what if dangerous items were found? How would you feel then?
Myself I would be glad the airlines reacted.
Bob A.
/ September 13, 2011It’s funny how people were not so suspicious of 20 something, white, anglo, christian men after the Oklahoma City bombing. That murderer killed hundreds of men, women, and children, but the residual racist paranoia was not there. The matter is that the media, through their use of such phrases as “Islamic Extremists” caused this sort of paranoia. Why did they not refer to McVey as “Anglo-Christian Extremist”? It is tag lines like this that lead folks to the kind of paranoia profiling that will probably be around for a long time. It is also the reason that young afro-americans cannot walk down the street at night, without someone crossing the street to get away from them. I don’t believe that we are all racists. But, unfortunately, “we are what we hear”.
Alankar Gupta
/ September 13, 2011You are absolutely right. We will win the war against terrorism when our lives return back to what they were on September 10, 2001 and when the Homeland Security and TSA ceases to exist. Till that day we have not won the war.
Best wishes,
laars
/ September 13, 2011so dallas i guess wait for the explosion to figure out whats going on?
rohlik
/ September 13, 2011the woman who was detained waa unfortunate incident, and she complained about racial profiling but at the same time talked about fat woman and men policeman that were rednecks, is this profiling?????? absouletly, we are so very luck we live in the best country in the world and people who are not comfortable here should leave.
Hue
/ September 13, 2011What’s wrong with describing someone? Did she said being fat was an awful thing? I don’t think so. I think you are insecure with yourself-like maybe you are fat?
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011Maybe she did throw them into a stereotypical category based on what they looked like, but did she call “the authorities” on them and cause them to be subjected to the humiliation she went through? No. So, it’s probably not fair to call her a hypocrite. Also, I’ll bet she was in the worst mood of her life so I’ll say a little name calling is okay in this situation. And are you suggesting that innocent, decent American citizens whose rights are grossly violated and thereby made “uncomfortable” (an understatement in my opinion), should leave the country that they have a constitutional right to be in because they are unhappy with that kind of treatment? Interesting. Also, she didn’t say anything about hating America or what it should stand for. She just didn’t want to take the abuse she suffered at the hands of paranoid bigots lying down. And by paranoid bigots, I mean the ones who called in the authorities.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I think her reply was restrained. She was way too polite in her description of them. You do realize this just happened to her? I would still be too angry about it to even post such a nice reply as she has posted.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011She said she was an American, should she leave? Should she go to her father’s homeland and be abused by Saudi men and the Saudi legal system? I agree with your point that she seemed to be engaging in the same behavior she accused them of, but she doesn’t have any power; whereas, those government scum used their power to torment and make her life very difficult. Personally, I don’t think race is the dispositive factor here, but I think she is justified in thinking it may have played a roll and for throwing some anger towards those who did it to her. I can get past that. Can you, or do you want to play a gotchya game with the victim? Perhaps it was her own fault that she got raped. Geez….
Also, you may want to look up the word immutable.
Matt
/ September 13, 2011There are those of you who live under this dilusion of peace and understanding through tolerance and love. Then there are those of us who live with the reality of violence and hate on a level that you will hopefully never experience.
While inconvenient, what happened to the author probably saved lives. These searches and detentions aren’t designed solely to harass the many tribes of the desert. They are designed to detect and DETER suspicious and criminal activity. Reluctantly I feel obligated to mention also that 9/11 was not the only terrorist attack on the U.S. perpetrated by brown skinned individuals who happened to speak Arabic and read the Qur’an. With that said my sympathies are slim to the “racial profiling” problem that we (us redneck, speedboat driving, country music listeners) have. While noticing a car full of white kids in their early 20’s driving slowly through a known drug area may seem like “profiling” to you, to me it seems like college kids trying to score some weed. (marijuana is still illegal in most states by the way)
Everyone here is free to say whatever we like on any forum we choose. We are also free to practice whatever brand of God we choose, just not at school or work or anywhere anybody who hears or sees you doing it will be offended.(this means all you middle class gun toting republican types) All of these freedoms have been provided to you. I say provided because the majority of you have never appreciated the men and women who have been keeping the wolf away from your doorstep for all these years. Most of you have not served in the military, or gotten ready for work in the morning hoping that at the end of your shift you would still be alive. Neither have you given any thought to how many holidays, childrens birthdays and other hours upon hours these public servants sacrifice to keep your basic human freedoms alive. It is this last reason that makes me less sympathetic to the inconvenience of a few hours of questioning and the humiliation of a strip search.
Before i climb back on my unicorn and ride off in to my world of kittens and jelly beans let me leave you with another thought. Somewhere in everyone’s not so distant past, an ancester of ours thought it wise to leave what ever shithole, third-world country they were born in to come to America to find a better life. If you feel that they were mistaken, and that we are “getting it all wrong”. By all means travel to what ever land you were descended from. I assure you……..You Will Come Back. (if they dont cut your head off on al jazeera you infidel)
Mac
/ September 13, 201110 years is not too long ago. 20 years will be a ceremony instead of a memorial and all will forget what happen. The Terrorists never forget and will be patient enough for the “Americans” to let their guard down. Then, they will strike again. It’s a lose-lose situation no matter what the outcome. Had there been a real terrorist threat and the reaction was not the same, then everyone would be furious for letting something happen. Lucky for us all, there was no terrorist threat and everyone is safe and alive. Protocols have to be in place for protection. Does it suck for some? Yes. Was it racial in nature? Debatable. Wrong place wrong time with suspicious people sitting next to you. Nothing will ever be perfect and some “feelings” will be hurt. No matter how many rules/regulations are put in place there will be loopholes and a terrorist organization WILL find them. America is full of people who only know the “American Life” and have no clue to what is going on outside It’s borders (other than what the media want’s them to know). There are many cultures out there that would kill every American just because they don’t live the same culture. They don’t “love” and “care” like the American culture. There is no “talking them out of it” just like they can’t “talk you into it”. It’s OK to be paranoid. Just don’t be stupid about it. I’m not writing to offend. Just to shed a little reality. I only posted to the first post I saw.
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011“Wrong place wrong time with suspicious people sitting next to you.”
Suffering from air sickness is susspicious behavior?
What is the acceptable time limit for going to the lavatory of an airplane?
Please clarify what the suspicious behavior was.
Peter R
/ September 13, 2011Thanks to Shoshana and all the comments for revealing this appalling incident. I wonder what the stories of the other “50 incidents” are. In this case, it is frightening that the suspicions/paranoia of some unidentified person could trigger such abuse of innocent people–and that some would say, well, that’s just post-9/11 life for you. Why is it that “law enforecement personnel had to be so rough and rude with no evidence other than the unknown “accusor’s” accusation? I feel humiliated and ashamed by their behavior, and I apologize to Shoshana and all others so treated for being part of citizenry that has allowed such things to happen.
Naren
/ September 14, 2011I was wondering the exact same thing. I want to know more about those “50 incidents”. what exactly was reported as ‘suspicious’ (just brown folks sitting next to each other?! and nothing else?) and how were they handled.
Oh wait, we probably won’t hear about them.
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011I agree and makes you wonder whether there should be a cause of action against either the reporter or, more likely, the government. I think it should be targeted to the government. Reporters should be encouraged to report, generally speaking. It all came down to how the government handled it. Let’s be honest, this is all politically driven. No political party wants to preside over the next attack, so they have no problem brutalizing an “unimportant” citizen for the sake of saving their own necks. We need term limits for all, and you are only allowed to hold one public office during the course of your lifetime. Sort of like a “thank you for your public service, goodbye” sort of thing.
B.R.
/ September 13, 2011When should people get suspicious and react.? When there’s a gun to their head? Or better yet, when the plane is going down? Grow up!
Johnathane Dorane
/ September 16, 2011You can get suspicious whenever you want, but you can not interfere with the rights of your fellow citizen without probable cause supported by oath or afirmation.
Do you walk down the sidewalk keeping an eye on everyone and your distance because they may have a gun that they are planning to put to your head?
Do you time peoples bathroom breaks when you are eating out?
Do you time your co-workers bathroom breaks?
Do you time your family members bathroom breaks?
Please explain to me how their behavior warrented this level of a reaction. It would have been possible to seperate the three individuals and ask them questions for a few minutes to determine that they were not a threat. There was never and still is no evidence that these three people represented a threat to anyone.
Jason Hallman
/ September 13, 2011No the sad truth is white people are scared of what doesn’t look like them. this has been and will always be true sorry. I’m not trying to be insensitve or disrespectful. They use the attack to justify their treatment of people who don’t look like them. it’s been a pattern throughout the history of america. I was once stopped by the police becausde they said they recieved a call that Ii was walking supiciously by a bank. I was on the side walk and it was cold outside so i had on a big jacket. I was coming home from a ballet rehersal i was being “real suspicious” I’m sorry this happened to you I’m sorry this happens to anyone. our problem is not terrorism it’s fear and ignorance and untill we confess and accept that we wont began to address what can be done to keep from reacting out of fear
Pat Kelley Bradshaw
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. And glad you are willing to share the story. Too much of our daily lives are controlled by fear since 2001. We should be ashamed of a great many things which have occurred in the last 10 years. And Dallas is correct. In many ways, the terrorists did win.
Anita
/ September 14, 2011I echo your words, Dallas and I, too, am appalled and ashamed by your treatment.
GOPAL IYER
/ September 14, 2011What if the “Government” was perpetrating this terror? Isn’t that possible? There’s enough motive… “Power”.
lilbambi
/ September 14, 2011Sadly so true Dallas. It almost seems like we are in an Orwellian 1984 environment when you hear stuff like this!
So sorry you had to go through this! No American Citizen should ever have to go through that!
jennifer keeley (@beadingbyjenn)
/ September 14, 2011i couldnt have said it better myself!!
you are totally right,we need to stop sending our troops over there to be murdered and start focusing on our own country who has suffered tremendously due to the fact that we are making their country better. we need to fix us so we can help others. 10yrs have been long enough.
Shoshana-im sorry you and the other two men had to go through this,but maybe something good will come of it!! take care and stay proud of America(even through the unAmerican instances). “what does not kill us,makes us stronger”
Joe Milwarde
/ September 14, 2011Yes, the terrorists did win that day, and they are still winning, and they have nothing to do with the Middle East. All physical evidence at the World Trade Center points to controlled demolition as the cause of the collapse of 3 high rise buildings on 9-11-2001, and almost all physical evidence was ignored by the so called government investigations. Starting from that scientifically irrefutable conclusion, one needs now to ask, “Who were the terrorists?” Things will continue to degenerate until the events of a decade ago are investigated instead of covered up.
Pete
/ September 15, 2011Our ‘gift’ from Osama Bin Laden. Now you see what the real price is for his murdering acts on 9/11: to make the U.S. an unwelcome place for all those people who chose freedom instead of sharia law, liberty instead of religious tyranny.
joeld
/ September 15, 2011you mean our own government won that day
Libby
/ September 18, 2011Actually their goal was to draw the USA into wars thus bankrupting it.
They certainly have succeeded.
Charles Heller
/ September 12, 2011Shoshana – I am really appauled at your response to the people who imprisoned you, and your lack of knowledge about your rights. The best way we can all fight this, is to simply decline to converse. Tell them that you will not speak to them. If, on the first request they do not conduct you to the toilet, urinate in their cell.
Be polite, and refuse, respectfully, to converse. The only way they can proceed is with your cooperation, unless you have really done something wrong and there is evidence. Don’t EVER willingly talk to a TSA or FBI agent. Just remain silent. There is no law which requires you to speak. Without any blame or accusation at you, this is the only way we will regain our rights – not cooperating with those who exceed their authority.
Respectfully,
Charles Heller
Moose
/ September 12, 2011Stand up to the authorities, says a white man.
K.S. Schultz
/ September 13, 2011I find this the saddest part of the acccount…a person who feels she is being racially profiled… speaking hatefully about “rednecks”, country music, and speed boats….the descriptions of the white bald paunchy officers (find it hard to believe that in Detroit there was only 1 officer of color)… and then other people of color jump on board to slam “whitey”. Yes, the terrorists have done a good job of dividing Americans and apparently the profiling goes both ways. Every civil rights movement has included millions of compassionate white Americans and as such a person I am offended.
Diane
/ September 13, 2011I agree with you K.S. Schultz!!! She talked about them singling her out because of her color, but she was to quick to talk about hating southern people, their music, and the way THEY LOOK, WTF!!!!
Crys
/ September 13, 2011give some grace-we are all reactionary, and her situation was both extreme and humiliating. Frankly, I am lily white and I would hate on white people doing that to me!
X
/ September 13, 2011Are you fucking kidding? She explained that she was so humiliated and angry that she began to feel that way (irrationally, because she was scared and ANGRY). You sound like one of the people who probably would have found her “suspicious.”
Yodamite
/ September 13, 2011@X:
I agree. The thing that baffles me is that, with everything this poor woman was put through, K.S. Schultz and Diane are most troubled by Shoshana’s silent reaction. As if getting handcuffed, strip-searched, and getting interrogated is a walk in the park.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011and you sound like one of those people who wines all the time and complains about how you dont have anything so you sit at home and wait on OBAMA to pull his magical bag of money out from under his ass.
Yodamite
/ September 15, 2011Actually he doesn’t sound like that at all. Sounds like you misread his post. May I suggest you make the eye holes a little bigger in that hood of yours. That would make reading a little easier.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I love watching privileged white people lose their minds when someone who’s had their Constitutional rights violated uses an insult toward those doing the violating. It is truly irony in action.
Matt
/ September 13, 2011In your opinion, are all whit people “privileged”? Also can you tell me which of her Constitutional rights were violated?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The Constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to face her accuser.
And yes, in America, all white people have white privilege. Since other people in this comment thread have misunderstood that concept, here is a good website about what it is (it might not be what you think I mean): http://www.mtholyoke.edu/org/wsar/intro.htm
Linda
/ September 13, 2011Wow. That was an eye-opener. 100% true.
jennifer keeley (@beadingbyjenn)
/ September 14, 2011@allison
i would so disagree. im as white as they come and i live in Texas and i cant get a job even at burger king because every spanish speaking immigrant gets it. even though i could understand and perform any job just the same if not better. SO EXCUSE ME,WHERE ARE MY “WHITE PRIVILEGES”????? dont get me wrong,im not racist. but this is America and its the born and bred Americans that DO NOT get “privileges”
Markus
/ September 13, 2011Right, because white people always get pulled off airlines and detained because they look a little bit like that McVeigh fella.
She was sitting in a jail cell at the time she wrote this, for no other reason than someone thought that by simply sitting in her seat during the entire flight, she was up to something, detained by a largely white collection of “authorities” from several branches of law enforcement and government, acting on laws passed by that government, put in place by a president whose largest demographic of voting supporters was white Southern voters.
So, try to understand why someone going through a cavity search while her husband has no idea where she is, might be a bit resentful of the type of person who supported the President who passed the laws that allowed this travesty to happen to an American citizen.
You think her noticing the color of the officers’ skin is racist? OK, fair enough. Let’s put you and your family on a boat, ship you across the ocean, and force you to work as manual labor for a few generations for a black population. They we’ll free your people for the express purpose of fighting and dying in your owners’ wars, so they can go on to be treated as a fraction of the worth of a black person, while being denied access to decent work, pay, civil rights, or education for another few generations. Then we’ll haul one of your descendants off an airliner one day thanks to a law passed by a black President, enforced by black police officers, because someone thinks they look a little too much like that white guy who did that terrible thing a decade earlier, and we’ll see if your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson doesn’t notice the color of the man checking his colon for a bomb.
Then we can come back here and finish this discussion about what counts as racist in this country today.
Asma Khan
/ September 13, 2011how about I handcuff/strip search both of you (for looking what you look like) and see much you like me.
AJ
/ September 14, 2011Using profanity-abbreviated or blatant-doesn’t give credence to an opinion just as it fails to weaken the one that is opposed!
Xanthoptica
/ September 13, 2011In basketball, you make a point to “call the first foul.” It’s hardly surprising that a person of color who had clearly been detained for flying without being white might notice the racial or ethnic traits of the folks who are bragging about their overtime while her dignity is flushed down the toilet. She didn’t introduce race or ethnicity into the situation…but simply reacted to bald and mean-spirited racism.
rohlik
/ September 13, 2011i disagree she absouletly is clearly a racists, with her comments, she is a disgrace, support our country and policies if you hate them that much leave.
Rachel
/ September 13, 2011I would absolutely love to leave. Unfortunately, though, it’s a pain in the butt to move to another country, especially when I can’t even find a job in the US with a bachelors degree (you need to have enough money to support yourself, or get a work visa which is sometimes pretty hard to do).
Also, I will not support policies blindly just because they are “our policies”. Sometimes they’re pretty stupid policies. Isn’t that what the founding fathers wanted in the first place anyway? For freedom of speech and the right to disagree with the way the country is run?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Nope. Americans have the right to complain about America. That’s actually a pretty important ideal that was a part of our founding belief system.
zirjo
/ September 14, 2011Rohlik..she decided at that moment she would hate anything to do with Country music, and whatever comes along with it.
In other words she hated the idea that white men was doing this to her.
You know when someone refers as to rednecks that reminds me of ignorance. Not race and this is what she meant. by using this words.
As in many societies there is lacks of education and and most of all competence on what you do in this case is security the people taken this kind of jobs and you see it in every port the woman about 70 years old with no bladder only a bag on her side to hold her pee…but she must be searched because this is security or otherwise (I could loose my job excuse) Personnel taking this position are not the smart security force, you can think of them as untrained and not too smart but they could beat you if you resist, they do not know anything about privacy acts whatsoever very ignorant people that do things as if it was only one color in front of their eyes. I’ll tell you sometimes i had travel i noticed this people are so stupid on their search you can stand there and see their mistakes and think how many people could go trough this isles and find dozens of ways someone could take illegal instruments into an airliner. Their job is completely unnecessary if there is another attack for sure will not be coming in an airliner any way. I appreciate authorities took a step towards security but this is done absolutely wrong. I hope that some day
they can restore our liberties and stop scaring people throughout the whole USA. The so called (patriots) that call on these 3 are the 1st ignorant s.. the ones to follow are even more stupid..till the bosses arrived FBI and others….
Chucky
/ September 14, 2011Rohlik,
The point of a democracy is that if you hate the policies you are supposed to complain and work to change them. You are not supposed to just take it–or leave, you are supposed to fix it. The government makes lots of mistakes, every day, some are badly written laws or policies, some are based on misinterpretation of the law, some are out of control bureaucrats. In this case, as noted above, someone was detained AFTER being cleared to get on the plane by security, being Xrayed, magnetometered etc, and after the flight was over. This is bad policy, and it is an unreasonable search in custody without according rights required by the Constitution. If you think this is RIGHT, work to change the constitution, otherwise it is not legally justified, and it violates, rather than protecting Freedom.
Torus
/ September 15, 2011So you’re saying that we should blindly support everything the government does, never questioning whether or not it could do more harm than good or that it’s just an outright terrible policy?
Sarah S
/ September 15, 2011I love it when illiterates with foreign names (from countries with Communist pasts) come and tell us Americans we should all leave the US if we insist on knowing our Constitutional rights- and complaining when they are violated…
KB
/ September 13, 2011Completely agree with what you find to be the saddest part of this account. Understandably, she is upset by what happened to her, but she is really no different with her descriptions of the officers she interacted with. Would have been a much more powerful post if she, herself, could have risen above the very thing she is blogging against.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Yup, she is really no different. That’s why she handcuffed and strip-searched them, and detained them with no justification or explanation for hours.
Oh.
Wait.
No she didn’t.
Maybe there ARE differences between the people who violated her rights — and, by extension, YOUR rights and mine, too, because rights are rights — and the victim here. You think, maybe?
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011What are you 12? You can’t see the difference between being arrested and strip-searched and noting that her captors were fat rednecks?
BTW, I am white, male and born in Georgia. I’m even a little bit fat.
zirjo
/ September 14, 2011KB..she decided at that moment she would hate anything to do with Country music, and whatever comes along with it.
In other words she hated the idea that white men was doing this to her.
You know when someone refers as to rednecks that reminds me of ignorance. Not race and this is what she meant. by using this words.
As in many societies there is lacks of education and and most of all competence on what you do in this case is security the people taken this kind of jobs and you see it in every port the woman about 70 years old with no bladder only a bag on her side to hold her pee…but she must be searched because this is security or otherwise (I could loose my job excuse) Personnel taking this position are not the smart security force, you can think of them as untrained and not too smart but they could beat you if you resist, they do not know anything about privacy acts whatsoever very ignorant people that do things as if it was only one color in front of their eyes. I’ll tell you sometimes i had travel i noticed this people are so stupid on their search you can stand there and see their mistakes and think how many people could go trough this isles and find dozens of ways someone could take illegal instruments into an airliner. Their job is completely unnecessary if there is another attack for sure will not be coming in an airliner any way. I appreciate authorities took a step towards security but this is done absolutely wrong. I hope that some day
they can restore our liberties and stop scaring people throughout the whole USA. The so called (patriots) that call on these 3 are the 1st ignorant s.. the ones to follow are even more stupid..till the bosses arrived FBI and others….
redcordelia
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, but isn’t this a very human response to what was happening? Hate in return for hate?
Yodamite
/ September 13, 2011@Schultz:
Really? You thought her internalized emotional reaction to her oppressors was the saddest thing about her account–a reaction that she owns up to at the end of the article? That’s what you walked away with? That’s Sad!
And, what an absurd false equivalency you try to create! Sorry, Shoshana was racially profiled–not regionally stereotyped. One leads to violation of civil rights, false arrest, and a humiliating strip search, while the other leads to some dorks on the internet laughably comparing the plight of a southern white person to that of a racially-profiled minority. No, the profiling does NOT go both ways. A “redneck” doesn’t end up in a cell because someone thinks his twang is silly or disagrees with his taste in music.
She reacted the way she did because of the way she was treated. And, if you actually use your brain, you would see that she concludes the article with a message of tolerance that is aimed at everyone, including herself.
LM
/ September 13, 2011Brilliant comment, Yodamite. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
EAE
/ September 13, 2011Yodamite, I completely agree with you.
Matt
/ September 13, 2011Excellent!!
lilbambi
/ September 14, 2011Excellent reply to such insensitivity, Yodamite.
How would they like it if that happened them? Are they trying to say they wouldn’t internally get frustrated with what was going on? Even if they would later reflect on that frustration differently?
John
/ September 13, 2011I was also left feeling offended after reading this blog. I am not only white, but also a southerner.
I am sure you were detained and questioned, but it is obvious by the blatant lies in your post that you are exagerating the situation in an attempt to make the white man look bad.
Shame on you.
Guster
/ September 13, 2011Southern, white, and a delicate flower, too! A very common combination.
Being detained, and strip-searched, and handcuffed–completely baselessly–is bad. But hurting my fee-fees is worse. Shame on Shoshana, indeed! I think the lesson she should take from this is that white men have her best interests at heart.
We really do, Shoshana. Now remove all your clothes.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011More white privilege.
It is white privilege to be able to read an account of someone’s Constitutional rights being violated, and that person having an angry reaction toward the violators (which she owns up to), and dismiss the account because white feelings might possibly have gotten hurt.
Finisterre
/ September 13, 2011Well said, Allison. These ‘I am offended’ comments are unbelievable. Particularly the one that ends ‘I am a compassionate person’. You’re really not, dude.
Piper Bayard
/ September 13, 2011Wow, Allison. Such a racist chip on your shoulder. Perhaps you should direct your complaints to the African-American president who endorses these violations. Those white Southern rednecks at DHS could do none of this without his authorization. And by the way, didn’t she mention she was strip-searched by an African-American? Hmm. It seems to me like this issue is not so black and white as you would like it to be. In fact, I know just as many Latinas and African-Americans who profile the Hebshis and the Indian men of this world as terrorists, just as you are incorrectly profiling me right now.
What happened to this lady is a travesty perpetuated by a nation afraid of its own tall shadow. A nation being told by our President and Big Sis (Janet Napolitano, Director of Homeland Security) to “See Something, Say Something.” Each of us Americans of every race is losing our freedom. This injustice will not be overcome if the primary concern of racist people is to prove that people of their specific color are the most persecuted. We ALL have a horse in this race, and sensible solutions will only prevail if we pull together and stop putting each other down.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011It seems that you misunderstand my use of the term “white privilege.” It’s a concept from critical race theory, and it refers to the fact that in America, simply by being white, white people have privileges that others do not have. White is seen as the norm, while non-white is seen as the non-norm, the “other,” the abnormal.
It is white privilege, for example, to read a story about a non-white woman whose Constitutional rights are violated in a humiliating way, and then state that because that woman said some mean things about the people who humiliated her, you’re going to dismiss her story, as the poster named “John” stated.
The fact that non-white and white people were involved in the violation of Ms. Shebshi’s rights is not relevant to the concept of white privilege, nor is the implementation of the Patriot Act, or any of the other issues you mentioned. My mention of white privilege was specifically relevant to “John’s” dismissal of Ms. Shebshi’s experience because his white feelings were hurt.
The Wikipedia entry on white privilege is a good place to start learning about the concept.
And I’m white, by the way.
Shanna
/ September 13, 2011Let me ask you a question…..do we white privileged people have the right to not be blown up in the air??????? Anyone?
Since we are all so concerned with rights
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Sure. Of course we do. So, if and when there’s an actual threat in which there’s some clear evidence of wrong-doing, genuinely suspicious behavior that could lead to a plane getting blown up, by all means law enforcement should take that seriously.
But in this case? None of that was present. Some facts:
• None of the behaviors of the people arrested was actually genuinely suspicious
• It is not even plausible that any of the people arrested could have had the capability to blow up the plane. None of the people arrested so far for attempting to do so even came close to having a working plan that would have led to that result
• The plane was not even in the air, nor preparing to be in the air. That ship had sailed, and every passenger on the plane was assured of their “right to not be blown up in the air”, no matter what law enforcement did to the suspects
So next time you invoke your rights, please take the time to be sure they are relevant to the context.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Explain why non-whites don’t have Constitutional rights when white people get nervous.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011yea lets use wikipedia for a backup because its soo reliable right? and you racial idiots who say that white people have priviliges and as soon as you get approached about it you say that you were being “misunderstood”. i dont care if your black white orange green or freakin pink. jump off this subject about profiling and feeling so “violated”. its gettin real old!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Ms. Shebshi was identified based on her race. Her Constitutional rights were violated not because of her behavior, but because of her race.
I identified the Wiki link as a starting point, but there are other academic websites available to explain the concept of white privilege:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/org/wsar/intro.htm
http://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/whiteness05.htm
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/whiteprivilege.htm
It would help if you understood a concept before you dismissed it.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Chris, you are not making a good point about anything when you say, “you racial idiots who say that white people have privileges…”
Anyone who cannot identify with a strong feeling of violation by hearing that someone was wrongly accused, strip searched, and interrogated has lost not only any sense of what it means to be American (if they ever had that,) but is a cold and hardened human being (if they still are considered ‘human’.)
Why don’t we take your mom and dad, handcuff them, throw them in a dirty cell with no explanation, ability to use the restroom, or allowance to call you and explain why they never showed up at home after their plane landed, strip them, cavity search them, interrogate them, and then send them on their merry way after 4 hours – and then tell me there was no violation.
And, if you cannot acknowledge that there is still an advantage to being white in our society – especially in this era – then, you are obviously just being stupid on purpose, whether or not you’re actually aware of your ignorance.
Furthermore, if you’re so sure that Wikipedia is completely unreliable, then why don’t you provide references to your own credible resources, versus just shutting down hers?
For such a moving, disturbing, and beautifully raw post, written by an honest, feeling person about their own tragic experience, the discussion seems to be rife with unfeeling, defensive, ignorant, and imperious commentary.
This is about a person, and all of our rights as Americans, to be free from subjection to violation – regardless of the situation, and especially without due process. It was never about protecting a plane full of innocent people; they were never in danger. (Besides being protected when everyone was screened before boarding, this happened after there was no more question of their possible potential impending danger.)
Whether you agree with the comparison to the climate in pre-WWII Germany, this quote by Martin Niemöller certainly rings true here:
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
If there aren’t protections for all Americans against this kind of abuse of power (from wherever it stems, or is allowed,) then soon none of us will be protected from frivolous encroachments on our rights – for any reason, or none at all. The only entity which can protect our rights is us – united together.
If you can’t see this much, then you have no morally or intellectually valid leg to stand on in this discussion.
Linda
/ September 13, 2011Good comeback Allison – and by the way Miss Piper Bayard – the whole Homeland Security S–t started during your ex- BUSH administration – how soon have you forgotten this??????
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Lol. Linda, first of all, you should not be so quick to assume I am a Republican. Second, Obama could have obliterated it in an instant. Instead, he has chosen to expand it’s powers.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Allison – I’m going to chime ine on the white/black piece. Would you let me know the ratio of black to white pro football players and pro basketball players. Please don’t say white’s have extra privileges…if anything, the pendulum has swung back the other way. Agree with you Piper.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Another indication that the theory is not understood. White privilege is irrelevant to your examples.
Piper Bayard
/ September 13, 2011I see you read a lot of books, Allison. Good for you. However, this is not an issue of “white privilege” by any definition. White German-Americans were treated much worse than this during WWI and WWII. That’s because we were at war with them. Now, we are at war with Islamic extremists who come primarily from the Middle East. If tall, blonde Swedish people were attacking us, they would be profiled, beaten, and treated unfairly just as the German-Americans were. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying that’s the bottom line.
Piper Bayard
/ September 13, 2011I should have been more specific. We were not at war with German-Americans. We were at war with Germany.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Ah, thank you for making it clear that you don’t understand the theory. That saves me a lot of time. I appreciate it.
bridgett
/ September 14, 2011If they come from the Middle East, then why has the US been in ASIA for the past 10 years. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan are Asian countries.
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Bridgett, I’m referring to the 9/11 bombers, who were all from the Middle East. There’s enough literature out there to educate you about Al-Qaeda that I shouldn’t have to explain why we are hunting down Middle Eastern terrorists in Asia. Just google it.
I support Rationality
/ September 14, 2011Wow, Piper, misinformation. Obama did not expand the powers of the Patriot Act. A little fact-checking is a good thing.
Sarah S
/ September 15, 2011I see you don’t read a lot of history, Piper. During WWII we were at war with both the Germans and the Japanese. Guess which Americans of those two ethnic backgrounds got carted off to camps, had all their property stolen and after the war were denied for decades any legal redress of their wrongs? (Hint: it wasn’t the white-skinned ones.) Guess which of those two ethnic groups perpetrated actual acts of sabotage against the US government, the fear of which formed the justification for the internment? (Hint: it wasn’t the brown-skinned ones.)
By the way, I’m white, grew up partly in the South and my ancestors were among the first settlers of Georgia. And it’s not the bottom line. The bottom line, if you’re American, is the truths we “hold to be self-evident”. Among those truths is NOT “run scared and trample on the Constitutional rights of anyone who looks different than you the minute you feel threatened.”
fonsmoonen
/ September 16, 2011Yeah yeah, After 66 year ´we`still pay the price for that bubble gum freedom. Stay where you are ! the next time.
Gump
/ September 13, 2011Whatever, I was a white kid who grew up in a mexican neighborhood. In my school, white people were the minority. There was no privilege being white in that situation. So sick of hearing that. If you’re singled out as being a gang member because you dress like a gang member, who’s fault is that?
Gump
/ September 13, 2011See? and the price I paid for growing up in that neighborhood? Bad grammar.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for making it clear that you don’t understand the theory. That saves me a lot of time. I appreciate it.
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Lol. I understand the theory just fine, Allison. I am saying it does not apply in this context. You know, I think the China has the perfect job for you. Ever heard of the Fifty Centers? 🙂
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Oh, wow, an oldie but a goodie – calling someone with whom you disagree a Communist! I haven’t seen that one in a long time. Thanks for the memories – I had forgotten the “Red Scare” gambit.
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Allison, google Fifty Centers. I’m not calling you a communist. Obama even has one in the form of Jesse C. Lee on Twitter. Just look it up.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Silly me. When you said China has a perfect job for me, I assumed you invoked China rather than Obama for a reason. But I can understand how you’d mistype “China” instead of “Obama” – those keys are so close to each other on the keyboard!
If you weren’t calling me a Communist, you wouldn’t have mentioned China.
Jane
/ September 13, 2011But nobody DID see anything. Your point is invalid. This woman (and her seatmates) did nothing suspicious.
Alice
/ September 13, 2011With all due respect, Piper, these policies were put in place ten years ago; not by our current president.
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011With all due respect, Allison, Obama could have changed those policies the moment he got into office if he wanted to. Instead, he has done everything he can to expand on those power-grabbing policies, i.e. the “enhanced patdowns” that he specifically advocates. Take a look at the progression of the federal regulations and the executive interpretations on the issues. This is not a case of “Democrat good, Republican bad.”
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry, I don’t see where I made any mention of Democrats or Republicans. Could you point that out to me?
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Oops. I meant that last comment for Alice, not Allison.
Gump
/ September 13, 2011BOOYAH!
Gump
/ September 13, 2011That BOOYAH! was for Piper
Piper Bayard
/ September 14, 2011Thank you, Gump. Right back atcha!
Al
/ September 13, 2011No. Racism = POWER *PLUS* prejudice.
Sit your ass down.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011shut the hell up. the same old white people are bad and others are good. what you idiots dont know is that you get on here and talk about how profiling is wrong and stereotyping is wrong but yet you say as much bad as you can and call white people rednecks and say that white people have priviliges. thats stereotyping right there wow how stupid can allison, yodamite, and X, and steve bock get?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Unfortunately, it seems that you also don’t understand the concept of white privilege. Here’s a good place to start: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/org/wsar/intro.htm
Nothing in this comment thread, or in the concept of white privilege, states that whites are bad and others are good. We are talking about racial profiling that results in the violation of someone’s Constitutional rights.
Ms. Shepshi already admitted, in her original blog post, that her responses to the events were exactly what she was experiencing, and owned up to that. Again, I am amused that whites who read the post seem to focus ONLY on her gut-level reaction to being handcuffed, detained, strip and cavity searched, and interrogated, and not the actual events of her being handcuffed, detained, strip and cavity searched, and interrofated.
Anna
/ September 14, 2011Allison — What happened on that plane is atroicious. But when you can prove to me that all white people enjoy those same rights then maybe I will believe in your theory. As of now, I can’t because it doesn’t take into account that people have individual stories and histories. That is one racist theory and you being a white person who believes it doesn’t make it any less racist.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Please explain how the fact that white people, in general and as a group, have certain privileges (an assumption of normality, for example, or a decreased likelihood to be racially profiled, for another) is racist rather than descriptive.
Yodamite
/ September 15, 2011White privilege has already been demonstrated here multiple times–not just including the events Mrs. Hebshi recalled. In this comment section, people have repeatedly disregarded the greater injustice inflicted on Mrs. Hebshi in favor of the minor insult directed at the white officers. They see that minor offense as the equivalent or worse than the hardship Mrs. Hebshi faced. They have blamed Mrs. Hebshi herself for her arrest, and have attempted to defend racial profiling. (They have the advantage of promoting racial profiling, knowing full well that it will never impact themselves.) They see racial discussion as an imposition on their lives and they seek to shut it down.
White privilege is not just a set of advantages that white people possess, but it is also the delusion that racial inequality does not exist and that people of color are at fault for not achieving the advantages that they have. This delusion also allows them the initiative to control the discourse on racial relations.
How often do we hear people like Chris pop up on sites like these and, in monosyllabic fashion, attack anyone who dares discuss racism? His state of mind is the very definition of white privilege.
Yodamite
/ September 15, 2011Chris is the perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect in action.
Rollie Fingers
/ September 13, 2011You poor thing! Are you all right?
Michelle
/ September 13, 2011How about you not think about yourself for one moment out of your entire white-male life? You have no clue whatsoever to knowing what it is like to being a minority, to have some white person point a finger at you for nothing more than being brown or different and get hauled off by cops. Your white privilege is showing. You will never be strip searched and humiliated in front of a 50+ people with no reasoning given, purely because you don’t look like an “Real American.”
Your “hurt feelings” are the last thing that this is supposed to be about. Shame on you!
Poor Lucky Me
/ September 13, 2011@John It must be so hard being an oppressed white man. We all really REALLY feel for you.
Shame on you for being an unabashed idiot.
Ahsan
/ September 13, 2011Dear John-
You’re right. Southern white men have never done anything evil.
Love, former slaves, victims of Jim Crow laws, Native Americans, Latinos, women, Asians, and the rest of this increasingly “colored” country.
“People” like you believe every lie that you suck from Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity’s teats. Yet you accuse this account for “blatant lies”? Based on what? Grow up and realize that the world is a much more nuanced and complex place than your provincial world outlook (which is so typical of some Southerners).
And on behalf of the rest of us Americans, we’re ALL offended by you and your brothers in redneckery.
Daisymae
/ September 13, 2011To John (cc: KS Schultz and Diane)
I too am a white Southerner (very proud of it) and I am ASHAMED of YOU and your Hideous, hateful remarks. It’s people like you who cause the rest of the country to believe such awful stereotypes of Southerners.
I am appalled, shocked, and horrified at what happened to Shoshanna and these two gentlemen–innocent people just minding their own business. This hideous abuse of innocent Americans by our out of control government has to STOP!
Real Americans–real patriots–will do everything in their power to oppose this abuse of our citizens. That includes morally upright Southerners.
Hitobito
/ September 13, 2011John,
You are not only white and a southerner, you are ignorant. You wouldn’t be able to recognize a “blatant lie” if it landed on your pecker. She doesn’t have to “make the white man look bad”…they do quite a good job of doing it themselves. So, STFU.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011A woman’s rights were violated, and all you can think about is that she didn’t bow and scrape low enough to the white man.
George
/ September 13, 2011John, just because you don’t believe it happened as described doesn’t mean it didn’t happen exactly as she said it did, and if you take a derogatory comment as a reason to become all upset and offended, try for a second imagining you were in her place, and this happened to you.
Don’t you have a shred of compassion for a fellow person and an American citizen who was treated this way? What about her RIGHTS?
Can you imagine that you are in a place where there are mostly asian people, and you were taken off a plane, strip searched, and not told of what you were being held for. If you told your story of what happened, and made a comment on the way the person was making cracks about how they were going to make more overtime because you were being held, and how, for them, the tragedy of 9/11 was a great thing… more $$$.
Before you get all upset, please imagine you being in that place. I am a white person, and have been in places where I was treated very different that someone who was from the area (mostly jamaican and spanish people in this case), and it was pretty easy to get angry that they were treating me like this in my own country, and it would be very easy to comment on the way they looked, or their funny accents, or hair, or…
Have people lost the ability to be compassionate to our fellow human beings, to see differences in ethnicity as a bad thing rather than an enriching thing to our communities, have we become the same as the people who caused and committed the attacks, and are we turning on each other now?
I believe that Osama Bin Ladin achieved what he wanted in the end: and bankrupt country, in both a financial and spiritual way. It’s comments like yours that confirm this hypothesis.
LB
/ September 13, 2011Are you for real John?
zirjo
/ September 14, 2011JOHN..she decided at that moment she would hate anything to do with Country music, and whatever comes along with it.
In other words she hated the idea that white men was doing this to her.
You know when someone refers as to rednecks that reminds me of ignorance. Not race and this is what she meant. by using this words.
As in many societies there is lacks of education and and most of all competence on what you do in this case is security the people taken this kind of jobs and you see it in every port the woman about 70 years old with no bladder only a bag on her side to hold her pee…but she must be searched because this is security or otherwise (I could loose my job excuse) Personnel taking this position are not the smart security force, you can think of them as untrained and not too smart but they could beat you if you resist, they do not know anything about privacy acts whatsoever very ignorant people that do things as if it was only one color in front of their eyes. I’ll tell you sometimes i had travel i noticed this people are so stupid on their search you can stand there and see their mistakes and think how many people could go trough this isles and find dozens of ways someone could take illegal instruments into an airliner. Their job is completely unnecessary if there is another attack for sure will not be coming in an airliner any way. I appreciate authorities took a step towards security but this is done absolutely wrong. I hope that some day
they can restore our liberties and stop scaring people throughout the whole USA. The so called (patriots) that call on these 3 are the 1st ignorant s.. the ones to follow are even more stupid..till the bosses arrived FBI and others….
Jess
/ September 14, 2011John is clearly trolling here, isn’t he? You don’t have to reply to ALL the idiots, Allison.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I have a tendency to feel that it’s only polite to respond. I will try to remember your wise suggestion 🙂
Em
/ September 13, 2011Yes, because in Detroit they make it a point to hire all officers of color seeing as it is a predominantly Black city… right.
The Detroit Metro airport is located in Romulus, MI. The officers in this account were not local police officers. They are employed by the goverment. I have been to Detroit Metro airport many times & yes the majority of the officers & TSA agents are White. In fact, every airport I have flown to the officers are predominantly White. Whites are the majority in this country. How is it odd that she only dealt with one officer of color?
And if you are truly a compassionate White person so concerned with the civil rights struggles of other ethnic groups, why would you be offended by her reaction? How would you react if you had been racially profiled? I’m sure you would have been completely logical & not thought anything ill of any of the people who were mistreating you right? And then to bring the term “whitey” into this… I have to wonder where your motivation is when you are so “compassionate” and sympathetic to others causes? We should be sympathetic to one another when we are mistreated. Do you want a pat on the back for being a half decent person?
Laura Allender (@Effiern)
/ September 13, 2011FYI, whites are NOT the majority in this country. Browns and Blacks and Asians (non-white by most definitions) are the majority. I for one hope that the non-white population of this country treats the white population better than we have treated them throughout the history of our country. Right now we whites aren’t doing such a great job with that.
Ben Franklin said it best: “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” With our current policies on “preventing terrorism”, we have given up basic liberties guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution as Allison pointed out. There is absolutely no evidence that treating our own citizens, whatever they look like, as if they ARE terrorists has PREVENTED even one single act of actual terrorism.
The kind of profiling that needs to be done does not depend on the color of a person’s skin or even whether they have a “foreign” accent. It depends on behavioral characteristics, as practiced for years by Israeli airport security. This should have been put into place in the beginning instead of all the expensive, extremely annoying, and mostly worthless things that have been done over the last 10 years.
Imagine that…our elected (non)representatives wasting our tax dollars.
jamie
/ September 13, 2011Whites are no longer the majority of this country. I am lily white, country music listener, and cold beer in a coozie drinker yet I am not considered a red neck. I have been profiled not because of race but because of hair color. I am a blonde and a very smart blonde at that. I am an accounting major with a 4.0 gpa but people don’t know that all they see is a blonde ditz. Profiling happens with everyone white, black, asian, middle eastern no matter what our race is. With that being said it went to far in this poor womans story it should have gone down a different way as another poster said earlier whomever called this in should have been questioned further before anyone acted on this and also I would like to know if this was all acted upon by one “nervous” individual.
zirjo
/ September 14, 2011Jamie I’m so glad you have a comment ..she decided at that moment she would hate anything to do with Country music, and whatever comes along with it.
In other words she hated the idea that white men was doing this to her.
You know when someone refers as to rednecks that reminds me of ignorance. Not race and this is what she meant. by using this words.
As in many societies there is lacks of education and and most of all competence on what you do in this case is security the people taken this kind of jobs and you see it in every port the woman about 70 years old with no bladder only a bag on her side to hold her pee…but she must be searched because this is security or otherwise (I could loose my job excuse) Personnel taking this position are not the smart security force, you can think of them as untrained and not too smart but they could beat you if you resist, they do not know anything about privacy acts whatsoever very ignorant people that do things as if it was only one color in front of their eyes. I’ll tell you sometimes i had travel i noticed this people are so stupid on their search you can stand there and see their mistakes and think how many people could go trough this isles and find dozens of ways someone could take illegal instruments into an airliner. Their job is completely unnecessary if there is another attack for sure will not be coming in an airliner any way. I appreciate authorities took a step towards security but this is done absolutely wrong. I hope that some day
they can restore our liberties and stop scaring people throughout the whole USA. The so called (patriots) that call on these 3 are the 1st ignorant s.. the ones to follow are even more stupid..till the bosses arrived FBI and others….
Torus
/ September 15, 2011How is 72.4% of the country a minority? Sorry, but no. Whites are still the majority.
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf
A little homework for ya, from the recent census.
Sarah S
/ September 15, 2011Oh? You were pulled off a plane in handcuffs without explanation, had all your orifices examined by a stranger and were held while your husband and children waited anxiously with no word of what had happened to you for hours because you were BLONDE???
I understand (and appreciate) that you DO realize that what happened to this woman was wrong- but please be careful of what premises you accept. Racial profiling does NOT mean people saying insensitive or hurtful things to you based on your personal appearance. It means having your civil rights violated based on your apparent ancestry.
Michelle
/ September 13, 2011you get to be angry or hurt by things every once and while = white privilege
Being judged every day when you step outside looking different (not American enough) or when people read your name (a hard to pronounce name) off a list = something you will never ever experience.
compassion about white people is not the point of this post. Get over it. You too Diane
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011Ooooh the poor widdle white racist was offended!
Christian Zimbabwan
/ September 13, 2011Omg your name is schultz! you must be a white neonazi! oh wait my name is Christian zimbabwan! you probably think I’m a dirty gorilla with the brain of a pea worshipping old books!
(this was just an example, I’m not even black)
See, it’s hopeless, sickening, and it just makes me sick to be called an american nowadays. What ever happened to the land of the free so many brave men and women DIED for? what ever happened to the CHRISTIAN country that accepted all believes with harmony? We tolerate atheist and they urinate on the cross, wow. What ever happened to tolerance and respect? Most saddening, those you got the respect fire back at the ones that gave it to them. Interesting isn’t it. Well I’m sure the type of people I’m talking about might reply to me insulting me. Pretty easy to find them.
As for me, I’m not paying overpriced ripoff air tickets to get searched like a delinquent so the other with no morals who loves to be touched by the TSA can feel “safe”. Even with all that bunch of crap security and bigotry you got a nigerian to blow up his pants. So it doesn’t seem effective besides constant terror on the population. Heck like many have said here, these terrorist have surely done a great job at bringing TERROR to YOU. I’m more scared of my own people than someone blowing up the plane. Maybe if i comb my hair to the right they’ll think I’m trying to cover explosive in my cranium.
Stacia
/ September 13, 2011Not only that, but the one officer of color was a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith.” That’s a little too close to the “all black people look alike” racist trope for me to be comfortable with it. Some reactionary talk because of the situation seems perfectly legit, and I’d qualify “fat bellies and rednecks” as such an expression, but Shoshana continues with multiple negative comments about weight and skin color and culture — including the “fat Jada Pinkett Smith” comment — and it makes me cringe. It just does.
Some people apparently think she deserved being singled out because she has proven after the fact to be as concerned about skin color as the panicky idiot on the plane who reported her because of her appearance. That’s a lot of crap. We live in a culture that routinely gives credence to citizens who profile based on race. In that way, even though Homeland Security didn’t see these 3 people and detain them based on their appearance, they immediately believed a citizen who DID judge them based on appearance alone.
Homeland Security and law enforcement are racist because they are enabling a system that allows racism to go unchecked because of (sometimes unconscious) idea that whites don’t commit crimes as much as people of color do. Enablers of racism, enablers of fear.
Although it would be nice to have read this post without dealing with the author’s obvious better-than-fat-Jada-Pinkett-Smiths-and-rednecks attitude.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011If she thought all black people looked alike, then how would she know what Jada Pinkett Smith looks like?
It’s getting more and more obvious that a large number of people here are reacting from their gut about past, building issues they are holding onto, and not using their heads, nor a clear, nonjudgemental perspective from which to address this travesty… much less a sense of fairness, compassion, or even a less-than self-centered viewpoint…
We have a lot of work to do as moral humans!
M
/ September 14, 2011OR… maybe that woman really did look like a fat Jada Pinkett-Smith. When I read Shoshana’s account, a number of things came to mind — this is an intelligent woman who writes well, has a good sense of humor, is very observant and has interesting insights, is outspoken, is astute, etc. She may not be an expert in legal rights, but very few people are (and besides, the US Patriot Act leaves us with very little in circumstances like this). Anyway, I had no doubt that when she wrote that someone looked like a fat Jada Pinkett-Smith, the woman must have actually looked like that! I don’t think it’s the all-black-people-look-alike trope at all but an astute observation with a pop culture reference.
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011Maybe she did throw them into a stereotypical category based on what they looked like, but did she call “the authorities” on them and cause them to be subjected to the humiliation she went through? No. So, it’s probably not fair to call her a hypocrite. Also, I’ll bet she was in the worst mood of her life so I’ll say a little name calling is okay in this situation.
Lance
/ September 14, 2011Careful. Being in the worst mood of one’s life is NEVER a license to sink to their level.
Iqbal
/ September 14, 2011You have no idea of what racial profiling is all about Schultz. You only ‘think’ you do which is not the same as actually having undergone such experience. Racial profiling of the negative type can be mentally devastating and can leave deep psychological scars. As I come from a loving family background and I am emotionally secure, it doesn’t affect me at all. However, a lot of people are not so lucky and I fear for their mental well being.
Schulz needs to swallow a big dose of humility. If you really want to understand the damaging effects of racial profiling, why don’t you go to Afghanistan and be an American ‘guest’ of the Taliban!!
sstan
/ September 13, 2011Considering everything that is being discussed, I don’t believe it is fair to assume Charles is white. Do you think he is white because his name is Charles? The way he writes? Have you seen this man before? Met him? You are certainly quick to assume – which is exactly what the people on the airplane were doing – assuming something suspicious was going on.
Allison
/ September 12, 2011With all due respect, Mr. Heller, I think that such a response would only create more difficult for Shoshana, and for anyone without a certain amount of privilege.
People with privilege, either racial or class/economic, can refuse to cooperate and have that refusal be seen as exercising their rights. Unfortunately, most of the time when people of color or or lower SES exercise their right to not cooperate, it’s most often seen as “resisting arrest” or refusal to cooperate for nefarious reasons.
I believe that such a reaction on the part of people without power would only exacerbate the situation.
Angela Alvarez
/ September 13, 2011Allison, thanks for writing that response to Mr. Heller. His advice is dangerous and misguided. It would have definitiely made the situation worse and Shoshana would have probably ended up with a charge, at minimum,
in response to that type of behavior.
nickmalik
/ September 13, 2011@Allison is correct. If she has refused to cooperate, she’s still be in prison.
I am of Indian and American descent and an American citizen. Ironically, my family history in the USA goes back to Bunker Hill, yet I’m usually identified as an immigrant. After 9/11, I was stopped regularly at airports and questioned because my first name is common in the middle east, even though I’ve never used it. They’ve cleaned up “the list” in the last few years, so I don’t get stopped anymore, but it is always on my mind.
Your experience is frightening because it is systematic. There is nothing that would “prevent” it from happening again, or even challenge the behavior of the government and airlines.
Racism has a part here. All it takes is one ignorant person, or one racist, in a position of even “relatively little authority,” and the system runs off the rails. There are no rules to prevent it.
And that is what worries me for our future. We have no right to redress these concerns.
Ginny
/ September 13, 2011Honestly, I think refusing to cooperate would be bad for ANY person, regardless of age, race, sex, economic standing, etc. Really, the best thing that can be done in such a situation is exactly what Shoshana did. It’s horrible that she was put in that situation, but because she cooperated she now has a power of her own. She wrote this blog as a normal person, not as a radical who courageously (and perhaps unwisely) stood up to the “MAN”, but as a normal person who got stuck in a horrible situation. It’s when things start happening to normal people that we begin to evaluate what went wrong. Hopefully everyone who reads this will be able to reflect on what Shoshana has so bravely shared with us. Anybody could be “that person” on the plane; both the person who was unjustly profiled and the person who overreacted by alerting security to an imaginary threat. Maybe by reading this, a future mistake can be avoided.
ditchthebun
/ September 13, 2011I think you are correct, I can not honestly and truly imagine myself in this situation, but I am pretty sure I would be scared out of my wits and would do whatever I thought would get me out of there quickest. You want me to strip, yup fine! Want me to talk? Ok, done! You want a BLT, give me the ingredients… I wont even spit in it. I think when you are in that situation you just need to do whatever you deem is best for you – to get you out of the situation.
I would like to think that I would have gone in that interview room and in response to their questions repeatedly asked to be read my rights and informed why I was there, but honestly… I would probably have been serving BLT’s!!!
Jeffrey Renz
/ September 13, 2011Actually, it’s a tightrope when you are being interviewed by a federal officer or agent. Shoshana was lucky to have encountered ethical agents. 18 USC 1001 makes it a felony to utter a false statement. The second you open your mouth in an interview like Shoshana’s you risk being charged with this offense. If you remember Martha Stewart or Barry Bonds or Scooter Libby, you’ll remember that they were not convicted of the offenses for which they were investigated. They were convicted of uttering a false statement. 18 USC 1001 is the last refuge of a failed investigation. Shoshanna Hebshi was lucky.
Gump
/ September 13, 2011Down with Whitey!
Jane Wong
/ September 14, 2011I agree with Allison. Shoshana did exactly what she should and could – put all this information on the Internet and let it get as wide a distribution as possible. It is much harder to keep this kind of egregious behavior hushed up now than it was several years ago, and the public has a right to know.
Guest
/ September 12, 2011Charles –
If only that was the way the real world actually worked. I think you would be amazed how many Americans were imprisioned and denied representation after 9/11 because of it was under the the threat of terrorism. Also, I am surprised that you are “appalled” by Shoshana’s response yet you are not appalled with a person who reports suspicious activity to the authorities because of racial profiling.
thankful
/ September 13, 2011Thank you.
N. Jeanne Burns
/ September 13, 2011I’m with Allison here. Unless she is led and well-supported and surrounded by well-organized people, refusing to converse is essentially a death-sentence.
Rich
/ September 13, 2011Remember “you have the right to remain silent”? If you speak to any gov’t agent, anything you say (or don’t say–because they ‘remember’ it that way) can and will be used against you.
Nothing you say can be used in your defense.
Anyone arrested for anything does best to remember “anything you say can and will be used against you” and no lawyer would ever talk to the police without his lawyer present, if at all.
If you don’t have that right, you really don’t have any rights at all.
Abhi
/ September 13, 2011@Alison : Not wanting to “have difficulties” is exactly how you lose your rights and freedoms. If you are willing to make a hue and cry about your rights being violated, it makes it an issue and forces them to change the way they do things. But if you were say a black person, and did not object to sitting at the back of the bus, that is exactly how they end up telling you to attend separate schools and make laws punishing you for sitting in front of the bus. But apparently rights and freedoms are something that do not matter much for you.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Your personal insult is out of place here.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011And if you DO sit in the front of the bus, and don’t give in to The Man, then you’re free — and they drag you out in the middle of the night, set dogs on you, beat you half to death, then hang you the rest of the way to death, and then burn your body.
It’s not as effective a way to protest as you might think, unless you’ve got a whole community backing you.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Of course, what the “stand up for your rights the way Rosa Parks did!” crowd doesn’t understand is that Ms. Parks’ indeed very brave action wasn’t exactly spontaneous. She along with the NAACP and the SCLC had planned for months to engage in this civil disobedience, so she 1) had a plan, 2) was prepared for the opportunity, and 3) (and most importantly) had a network of confederates and legal people in place for when the event took place.
Ms. Shebshi, on the other hand, had none of those, so it’s a bit disingenuous to claim that she should have, in the heat of the moment, with no forethought or planning and no network of legal professionals, “stand up to the man.”
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Yep, and that they chose Rosa Parks very carefully, and chose NOT to go with three or four OTHER volunteers, all equally brave, because they thought that there was possibilities of backlash, and of dragging names through the mud in order to discredit the movement (one had had a child out of wedlock, for instance).
That Rosa Parks was an activist, brave, intelligent, prepared, and with a team. We Americans like the idea of a lone brave person standing up to injustice, but one person can’t stand up to an organized, systemic problem. It requires a whole team. This takes nothing away from Parks; she is every bit the hero that people think she is — just, she was backed with a huge team of OTHER heroes, as well.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Exactly. My thoughts exactly (although expressed better than I could).
Rich
/ September 13, 2011God, brilliant! Why didn’t Jesus think of that???
More Scared of the Government
/ September 13, 2011Allison put that quite nicely, but I would add that your response harkens back to an era where you couldn’t be cavity searched simply for being in row 12 and having darker skin than the people in row 11.
She wasn’t practicing some form of civil disobedience – she was sitting on an airplane waiting to get home to her husband & children.
Due process went out the window in the past 10 years. No one was going to walk into that cell and say “we’re sorry, but your lawyer is here and since we have no credible proof against you, we’re going to have to let you go.” If she hadn’t been tweeting? There’s no reason to believe that her family would’ve been able to figure out where she was if she had continued to be detained “in the interest of national security.”
Karl
/ September 13, 2011Obviously easy for you to say from the comfort of not living the story told. It’s a lot different when you’re the focus of the authorities, especially with this display of armed power and silence.
gusphoto
/ September 13, 2011There IS precedent that they can detain you without cause, which makes this a very tricky proposition. I agree that we must resist the abuse of authority, especially since this is clearly evidence that our country has now reached a fascist existence and anything can happen to any of us. Even this very statement of opinion is doubtless being recorded, analyzed, and reported somewhere in our country’s intelligence apparatus. But in this situation I feel safe enough, for the moment at least, to make the statement against our authorities’ behavior. So please, Mr. Heller, do not be appalled, but offer constructive criticism and, yes, educate us. I am happy to now know to not converse. But I suspect weighing one’s options during the experience is the only thing that has kept many an innocent individual safer in all the countries and regimes who have experienced the era we are just beginning to enter. Having heard my parents talk of disappeared acquaintances during the military regime in 60’s and 70’s Brasil, I never dreamed I would could be facing this disgusting and repulsive situation after my parents brought us here for a better opportunity. This is truly disgusting and we must fight at any chance we get, but perhaps not once each of our very breaths are directed by detainment.
..and I DO wonder who ALL these terrorists are. Aren’t we all just pawns in someone’s game? How many individuals are there who feel they can manipulate not only you and me, but masses of us. They must be brought low. Cooperation can make us much greater than the fear and survivalist paradigms.
PEACE.
tsaoutofourpants
/ September 13, 2011Um, no, there’s not precedent that you can be detained without cause. This woman’s constitutional rights were shredded.
Everyone’s thoughts about race here are missing the point: this can happen to any of us. As a “white man” who has been unlawfully detained by DHS (see my blog), I am keenly aware that even if they FIRST come for those with darker skin, you can rest assured that if we ALL do not resist NOW that they will eventually come for us all.
Yogish Baliga
/ September 13, 2011Charles Haller, It is easier said than being done. I cannot imagine what would have happened to Shoshana if she had refused to answer their question. This country is not what it used to be. Don’t forget “the great patriot act” which allow the government agencies to apprehend without release.
N
/ September 13, 2011You can probably get away with that if you’re white…not so lucky if you’re a different colour.
Kathryn Jones (@thick_marmite)
/ September 13, 2011Oh, come on. You’re appalled at her actions? While you have a point with regards to exercising personal rights, your harsh and disrespectful tone to her in that single sentence is unnecessary; besides, I think the unfortunate reality for people of color and lower SES is more along the lines of Allison’s comment.
Daniel
/ September 13, 2011On the other hand however, by complying with the law, she’s been able to leave much quicker. I do not believe that it is in anyway the officers fault, they have just been doing there job; yes things like strip searches are humiliating, but you have to look at it from their point of view too. They didn’t know if she was an actual terrorist or not, so they are obviously going to take every precaution necessary to make sure they are safe. Fortunately she was innocent, but who is to say, that of those other 50 cases across the country, that someone else wasn’t? You just don’t know that, and while it’s unfair that she has been detained, someone on that plane has reported her, and the authorities have acted on that report. Compliance would only help her too, as refusal to talk is often suspicious, and if she has nothing to hide, which she obviously didn’t, then she wouldn’t have any reason not to talk.
ayesha
/ September 13, 2011i don’t know… i don’t buy that they have the right to arrest, detain and strip search an individual just because someone says they think that person might be a terrorist… this is the problem with profiling. someone could easily report me just because i look muslim and foreign (it has happened to me, but thankfully i wasn’t detained or anything, and the cops were very nice). and i should be understanding of being strip searched because they have to make sure i’m not a terrorist???
shoshana’s story makes my blood boil, i’m sorry… i have no problem complying with extra security measures, i’ve been docile as a dove with my TSA encounters and i’ll even understand a little extra attention based on mine and my hubby’s “muslim” appearance, whatever. but something like this? hellz to the no. just my opinion.
Exillior
/ September 13, 2011You need to review the States’ Terrorism Act. I gather from this blog post that it is called the Patriot Act in the States. In the UK, from the moment you’ve been suspected of being a terrorist, it is possible for the law to detain you for 28 days (that was supposed to expire on Jan 2011 but I don’t think it has) without ANY charge being made against you, and your assets are automatically no longer yours.
Jamie Frank Karolyi
/ September 13, 2011Well said. Here is one thing I don’t understand about all of the TSA, if everyone, and as sad as I am to say it more so Muslims or those looking like them, are so thoroughly searched before even getting to the gates why would they even think that someone could have bombs strapped to them as this poor woman was asked about.
Joe Bas
/ September 13, 2011So if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear?
That’s the textbook definition of Facism.
And as for the “other 50”, please, if DHS actually FOUND one of these mythical terrorists before they tried to do the deed, they’d be trumpeting it from the highest rooftops.
praymont
/ September 13, 2011“… they have just been doing there job.”
Yup, just following orders. Where have we heard that line before?
“They didn’t know if she was an actual terrorist or not, so they are obviously going to take every precaution necessary to make sure they are safe.”
That doesn’t follow. It’s true of most of the people you’re around on a given day that you don’t really KNOW whether they’re actual terrorists, but that doesn’t entitle anyone to “take every precaution” for safety.
“Compliance would only help her too, as refusal to talk is often suspicious, and if she has nothing to hide, which she obviously didn’t, then she wouldn’t have any reason not to talk.”
So you wouldn’t mind if we allowed the police to randomly search any home in the US without a warrant. This shouldn’t be a problem for you, unless you’ve got something to hide, right?
Alan Alexander
/ September 13, 2011Comments like this make me so profoundly ashamed to be an American, almost as much as the horrific post to which it is responding.
AFC
/ September 13, 2011Everyone is just doing their job. No one is responsible.
Floyd
/ September 13, 2011Why didn’t they know if she was a terrorist or not? TSA already screened her in Denver. It looks like nobody on the plane or in law enforcement has any faith in TSA.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011This is because we have abdicated personal responsibility to the system; we don’t trust individual officers to evaluate the situation (any non-racist person could easily look at the three people detained and determine that they were not a threat), because so many are corrupt, so we process everyone through a “process” equally demeaning to all who pass through it.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Daniel,
Here is your logic, applied to you.
I think you are a terrorist, because you are acting suspicious. In order to take every precaution necessary, you will be cuffed, held, imprisoned, and strip searched. All without charge or warrant.
Having fun, moron?
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Did you know that Communist regimes and Hitler used that “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear” BS? There is. no. excuse. for what the authorities did. None. None. That you are trying to justify their actions because they make us “safer” is apalling, disgusting, and obscene. Tell you what, YOU go get thrown into prison, get strip-searched, and be prohibited from making any phone calls to your family or a lawyer, without cause. Then come back and tell me it was just fine, just a minor inconvenience in the name of safety.
Jen
/ September 13, 2011Your response begs the question…doesn’t the FBI have a compiled list of known terrorist? If not why wouldn’t they work on finding out who they are and target them instead of our great citizenship. I know for a fact that the airports have a compiled list of “suspicious names” they check.( I have traveled with friends who are stopped every time they travel) They know that much. What about all the “security measures” taken at the gate? Are we saying that the security checks before and at the gates are pointless and faulty? Shouldn’t we be concerned with that instead of harassing our citizens? What have we really gained with all these “security measures” anyway? A false sense of security that means nothing anyway because if you “look” suspicious you can be pointed out even to the point of being aboard a plane and landed, safely mind you, detained for an unknown amount of time without any contact, without any knowledge (a.k.a your civil rights denied). Meanwhile the real terrorist can probably get through the checks and gates without being detected. Maybe what we are saying is that we have come full circle to McCarthy era like fear where we point out our neighbors as terrorist in place of communist. At the very least we should look at a process where we are unfairly detain OUR people and not detain FOREIGN travelers. I don’t believe I have read of an instance where Homeland security detained FOREIGN travelers for suspicious activity on an airplane or otherwise. And do you know why? Foreign travelers would be less likely to travel here to the U.S. with the knowledge that we have cracked-down on our incoming foreign visitors and therefore they would not spend their MONEY here. It’s easier to appear to be doing something when we use our own people as scapegoats then to target the real problem.
Rob
/ September 13, 2011Mr. Heller is correct that you would be within your rights not to cooperate. Let’s play that out though: Would they still detain you? Yes, they only need “a reasonable suspicion,” in this case based on the citizen report. Would they still search you? Yes. They can do that in order to protect themselves from potential weapons. Would they still question you? Yes. You might have a lawyer there (and a wait for the lawyer to arrive from origin unknown given that you’re in a city away from home – how many criminal defense attorneys do you know outside, or even inside, your own city?) and the lawyer might advise you not to answer certain questions, but you’re getting questioned. In the end, you’re likely to be released, but all you’ve done is wasted your own time and money delaying the inevitable. Not very good advice Mr. Heller.
John Q. Public
/ September 14, 2011Well, Rob, for some people dignity and self-respect are worth more than money and time. Without those people we become a society of sheep, bending over naked while some TSA flunky shines a flashlight up our buttholes. I never cease to be amused at the number of Americans who crow about how free they are yet don’t see a problem with TSA activities. It’s nothing short of Gestapo/KGB behavior.
Daniela
/ September 13, 2011I think her response was mature and right. While the authorities may not have treated her with fairness and respect, she was the BETTER person and proved her intelligence, bravery, and understanding the best anyone could in that situation. If I ever found myself in that situation I would hope that I would act the same, although I don’t know that I would have the strength to do so.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Unfortunately, for someone whose top priority is to talk to her husband and let him know she is O.K. it would be more beneficial for her to comply with the authorities. She was able to call her husband and was eventually released because she complied with them. If she had been detained any longer, her husband would now know the situation and be able to get a lawyer involved to have her released. If she had disobeyed their orders she would have been held even longer and personally, to be stressing over whether your loved ones think you are alive or dead is much worse than answering a few questions for the FBI.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Charles Heller,
This woman was falsely imprisoned, hand-cuffed, stuck in a small cell, deprived of a bathroom, and finally strip -searched (including her body cavities). And you have the gall to suggest that she should have refused to cooperate? That her behavior appalled you? If she’d been uncooperative, they would have kept her locked up for days, and certainly would have escalated her mistreatment, and interrogation.
You talk like a big guy. Let’s see how tough you are after a cop has you in cuffs, against the wall, with his gloved finger probing your anus.
You haven’t a tenth of the guts of this woman.
Steve Bock
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Dark-featured people who refuse to answer questions from Homeland Security agents go to Guantanamo.
wtF
/ September 13, 2011That would have been a perfect solution. Great suggestion! Then we wouldn’t have to have heard about it at all. She’d still be there.
laars
/ September 13, 2011hey charlie nice advice she wouldnt look guilty at all and they probably just let her go. yer a dip stick chuck!
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Something to consider. Was she read her Miranda rights and was she arrested? If not, she should have been let go immediately and if so, she had the rights to an attorney immediately. But, in the case of suspected terrorism, doesn’t Jurisprudence go out the door and then they can detain her indefinitely without the right to a fair and speedy trial? Also if martial law is declared, there is no more Jurisprudence. People can be arrested without being told why and then be held for indefinite lengths of time.
Someone needs to report to Americans (or anyone in the US) what they should do in an instance like this.
Rasta teacher
/ September 13, 2011I so agree with you Erin. Even though I am living in Sweden this made my heart and eyes pour out sadness. I respect your conduct Shoshana which was the only respectful thing that happened in the event described.
Your story scares me because of the similarities to what the Nazi did during world war two when they singled out people solely based on their Jewish or Romano descent. That also happened because of fear and ignorance.
I send you perfect love straight from my heart and soul and I feel you are a true hero for not loosing your temper and remaining calm towards your aggressors.
Shirley Pakulslo
/ September 13, 2011Sorry…your story sound like bullshit.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Exactly what part sounds like that? Can you be specific?
Concerned
/ September 13, 2011Allison you are absolutely full
Of hate and a problem starter. You’re looking for a fight not just conversation
Allison
/ September 13, 2011My responses to the comments here have been calm and reasoned. I don’t believe I have called anyone names. I have asked for evidence for people’s statements, and have disagreed with people. Disagreement is not hate. Asking for evidence is not starting problems.
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011Allison, I just have to say that I have great admiration and respect for the calm and intelligent manner in which you have commented and responded to these posts.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you, Yoko. That’s very kind of you to say. 🙂
BayAreaBiker
/ September 14, 2011I have exactly similar sentiments as Yoko. This whole unfortuante event with Ms Hebshi and how she carried herself through the ordeal and the support she received in the form of comments from folks like Allison is admirable, and a leanring experience in its own.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I very much appreciate your positive feedback as well. I am completely sure that if I were in Ms. Shebshi’s situation, I would not have responded with such grace and calmness. Her strength of character is admirable.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011‘Concerned’?!?
Have you actually taken the time to read all this?
You are delusional!
Karen
/ September 13, 2011Shirley Pakulslo- Are you for real? I can completely believe this story. Though I have never had to endure this kind of treatment, after 9/11 every time I f’lew I was ‘randomly selected’ to be searched. Turns out my maiden name was the same as someone on the terrorist watch list. I am a blue eyed light haired, American citizen. I once flew with a Jewish friend of mine who had olive skin and a dark bushy beard. We were both pulled out for search. My friend said ” I get why I am being pulled out but can’t figure out why you are!” It happens everyday, people are so afraid. This woman has endured enough , no need for you to call her a liar. As it happens since I have been married and changed my name, I have not been pulled out of line.
laars
/ September 13, 2011karen so you got pulled out of line big deal so have i. im just a white guy minding my own business and i got nothing to hide i say check away. as far as it was because the color of her skin maybe look at all the terrorist pic, hmmmmm. sorry if you were late for dinner honey.
Ann
/ September 13, 2011Care to even elaborate how it sounds like bullshit? Open your eyes, shit like this happens more often than people tend to think.
Cianna
/ September 13, 2011in addition to explaining what part is bullshit, please explain how it was picked up by numerous news networks long before she even posted? Pretty sure you are the one sounding like bullshit.
Sam
/ September 13, 2011Please do explain how something picked up by news agencies is bullshit.
Don’t say you’re sorry because you are not. You may not want to believe it, but it happens all the time.
It’s too bad if your illusions about freedom and liberty for all took a hit, but any student of history could have told you that such an America never existed. Sice 9/11/01 it’s certainly entered the realm of the implausible.
Marnie
/ September 14, 2011Let’s be clear: There is no reason to call this story bullshit. Why did you even read it, or bother to post that if you really believe that.
On the other hand, we need to be VERY careful of claiming, or even believing, that because something is reported in the big business of the News Agencies, that it is fact… They are just as penetrable by corruption and lies as the government! (Money speaks loudly to every one!)
Sophie
/ September 13, 2011If anyone was ever confused as to what the word ‘privilege’ means, here it is in a nutshell: believing that because you personally have never encountered harassment, then the harassment cannot be real, and the people who are reporting it must have something wrong with them.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Sorry…you sound like an idiot.
Here’s a link to the story:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-
detained/
Alissa Usagi
/ September 13, 2011He’s trolling, I’m sure of it.
Dude wants to piss people off.
borkula
/ September 13, 2011Hey Shirley, wake up. This kind of stuff happens all the time. If you don’t believe me, here’s an experiment you can do. Wear a veil or turban for a week and see how people treat you. it’s a pretty enlightening social experience.
Or dye your hair some fluorescent color.
Or if that’s too threatening for you, just borrow a rusty/primered car and drive it around in nice suburbs for a few weeks and see how much more frequently you get pulled over/ticketed vs your cozy SUV.
Try dressing to give the appearance that you are homeless and sitting in a park for an afternoon. See how long it takes the police to swing by. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.
If her story seems strange to you, it’s probably because you’ve always stayed where ‘people like you belong’. Step outside your sheltered little world and you’ll find that it’s a very different place.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011The Associated Press has reported her story is real.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44501310/ns/us_news-security/?GT1=43001
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/
Basement Paradise
/ September 13, 2011Wow! What an experience!
randomnessinc
/ September 13, 2011If you don’t file a lawsuit, these things will continue to happen. It’s your only means of recourse and you need to take it.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I agree, if not only to alert people on what to do in this situation and to find out the name/s of her accuser.
J Rodman
/ September 14, 2011If there was such a suit, I would be happy to financially support it — though with any luck the ACLU would be willing to take it on (who I already contribute to).
Online
/ September 13, 2011I’d be just as upset as the author but I read about a half dozen disparaging comments about “fat” “white” people which kind of undermines her credibility.
Her lousy experience is no excuse for her own generalized, appearance based prejudices.
Billy
/ September 13, 2011So right … we all hate something … or someone.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011Put a sock in it, fattie.
Andrew
/ September 13, 2011As a fat white man who is NOT a fascist thug, I found her comments not offensive at all.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011“Lousy experience.” Well, aren’t you the master of the understatement. So, if you’re ever imprisoned without cause and strip-searched, and not told what the whole ordeal was about until it was over, you’ll be fine and won’t be angry or upset because, hell, it was just a lousy experience. Y’know, like being cut off on the interstate.
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011Maybe she did throw them into a stereotypical category based on what they looked like, but did she call “the authorities” on them and cause them to be subjected to the humiliation she went through? No. So, it’s probably not fair to call her a hypocrite. Also, I’ll bet she was in the worst mood of her life so I’ll say a little name calling is okay in this situation. I’ve never heard of a better excuse. And I think her experience was a little more than lousy.
Katiebug
/ September 14, 2011This argument is a paradox to this entire conversation. One stereotyping instance is acceptable when another is not? Just because the degree differs, does not mean the basis does. Hate is hate, to be quite honest.
Food for thought: What if the person who reported that row for suspicious activity had been in the “worst mood of his/her life”? Perhaps it was only name calling and it was okay in that person’s situation, too.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I see exactly why she reported on descriptions of people. They judged her based upon her appearance, so to be fair to her story, she had to describe the people interrogating her to show if any looked like her or how they appeared. That was quite obvious as to her intentions with these descriptions. I am surprised that it flew over a few peoples’ heads.
dalancroft
/ September 13, 2011Beautifully written. This, a compliment from a professional writer.
StartProfilingNow
/ September 13, 2011How is this so horrible? Were you arrested? No. Were you paraded in front of the media and your picture all over the TV? No. You got detained and asked questions for a few hours and it was a little scary. But you weren’t beat up. You weren’t charged with a crime you didn’t commit. It is what it is. It was the 10th anniversary of 9/11! It was a day when the media reported they wanted to attack as if we needed to be told. It’s a plane ride, your normal freedoms don’t apply. Don’t give me and the rest of us this shit that you were profiled due to race. B.S. You did nothing wrong or suspicious but your seat mates did something odd. I can’t recall the last time I saw 2 men in the same row both get up and hang out at the bathroom for a long period of time. I could give a f*uck what race or creed or age they are; if people do something suspicious it is what it is. Did you know they are pulling the oxygen masks out of the plan bathrooms because someone could go in there and blow the oxygen connection up easily? It takes time to fix all the planes. I hope and pray we start profiling in this country. No, not radical profiling that would be moronic and pointless. Profiling is where you watch the body language and other behaviors of a person and experts can pick out people who are more likely up to something bad. So you had a scary day but surprise surprise you went home quickly because you were innocent. But it had to be checked out. What if your seat mates really were bad guys? What do you expect us to do? Try being in another country that really doesn’t have civil rights. Have the innocent hikers come home yet from Iran? No. So, I don’t blame you for being shook up and upset, but stop playing the race card as that’s f*ucking ridiculous. You yourself admitted you never had any problems before. Gee, I wonder why…
Fritz Reissig
/ September 13, 2011Thank you so much for sharing your story. I hate that this happened to you but I’m so glad you wrote about it. I teach Social Studies to 7th and 8th graders. I read your narrative to them today as a follow up to something we were discussing in class – how we have changed as a society since 9/11. I have never had a class of students sit so quietly and so attentively. It was a great starting off point for a lively discussion on the impact of increased security on the rights and liberties of citizens. Thank you for your story. I wish it had never happened.
Sybrsean
/ September 13, 2011lib·er·ty
noun \ˈli-bər-tē\
1 : the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice
Our country’s founders cherished liberty, not democracy.
Ron Paul
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Jefferson
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Abraham Lincoln
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy
Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.
John Adams
Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.
Woodrow Wilson
Give me liberty or give me death.
Patrick Henry
I will gladly take the risk of death for “Liberty”, over the prospect of no Liberties for “Security”. Vote Ron Paul 2012 and restore Liberty to this country. What happened to you is an atrocity, it’s NOT AMERICAN.
Calin Brabandt
/ September 13, 2011> I started to get nervous and rethink my decision to fly on 9/11.
Shoshana, you should rethink your decision to fly entirely! This could’ve happened on any day (other versions of your story certainly do happen every day). People must refuse to fly the airlines for any purpose, period (pleasure, business, family matters, etc.)! There is too much money in the “security” business and the sociopaths and tyrants running it are all power-drunk control freaks. Political processes will never end it. Vote with your wallet. Don’t buy the ticket. Don’t take the ride. Tell the airlines, businesses, and tourist bureaus everywhere why you are not flying. When you and 10% or more of the population joins me, the senseless tyranny will end!
UNITED STATES VET.
/ September 13, 2011GET OVER IT…. What about all those who died 10 years ago? Think about things from others point of view? The odds of 3 people all from the same ethnic background all sitting together in the same row. The two males acting out of the normal range, and this all taking place on 9/11.
Obviously something was done to alert the crew to take said action. I fly every week, and see all kinds of behavior, so something must of caused the crew to react in the way they did.
In my opinion, you just wanted to get exposure, and attention.
Im sick to death of babies crying racial profiling, and discrimination. We are not living in candy land, with puppy dogs, and warm hugs. We have lost so many good people, so many soldiers. If officails have to pull you off the damn plane naked with thier finger up your ass to keep it safe, so be it.
Why dont you ask the family and friends of all who died on 9/11 if they would of minded if those resonsible had been harrased just a little bit.
GET OVER IT.
ruth
/ September 18, 2011With all due respect to your service and those who died on 9/11, sir or ma’am, no. No, I will not relinquish my rights or those of others because someone with poor judgment may have overreacted. Our Constitution does not support violating someone with probing of their orifices, including their vagina and/or butthole, based on unfounded suspicions. The three people were not of the same ethnic background – two were, one was not. We’ve lost so many people over so many years and decades to maintain the integrity of our Constitution and our rights, including my father and many of his colleagues. As for 9/11, intelligence agencies and the presidents had information months before it occurred, yet they chose to ignore the warnings.
orangecountyresident
/ September 22, 2011UNITED STATES VET, I don’t give two shits even if you were among the Navy Seals that blew away Osama bin Laden. It’s racist pig Americans like you that cause me to lose respect for your country and your people. Since you expressed yourself about the OP having a finger stuck in her in such a flippant way, you have the potential to be a rapist bent on committing anal rape on women and men alike. I don’t feel safe living in the same country with people like you. You are more of a threat to this country than those 19 hijackers that struck on 9/11.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 22, 2011You are more of a threat to this country than those 19 hijackers that struck on 9/11.
While I agree completely with this statement, I’ll suggest that it would be heard by more people were it not surrounded by your obvious anger. I’m angry as well ~ I’m angry about the dehumanization of the American people and countless other people over the course of history. But acting in anger ~ and expressing anger ~ are not effective remedies. I’ll ask you to sit back and realize that people like “United States Vet” (I’m a veteran myself) are not at all representative of the overwhelming majority of Americans, and are no more than fringe groups that the government and media are attempting to stir up to revolutionary violence. Let us hope that they are no more influential on the ground than they are in this conversation.
orangecountyresident
/ September 22, 2011I am angry. I’m angry that people like UNITED STATES VET who serve this country have racist and sexist attitudes and these bastards think they know what patriotism is when in fact they don’t know shit about patriotism. People who wear their patriotism on their sleeve like that are jingoistic jack-booted Nazis. The only people in uniform I respect as those who don’t suffer from Islamaphobia or who don’t go around judging people or make excuses for bad behavior as UNITED STATES VET has. Too often, people in uniform are very disrespectful towards those who are not in uniform or who don’t think like them. I don’t have an issue with people serving their country but if they’re going to be an asshole about it as UNITED STATES VET has, then don’t expect me to respect you.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 22, 2011Quite often when someone directs anger at another person, people who witness it ~ who are not angry about the same thing ~ tend to try to find excuses for that other person, in order to avoid becoming angry. Seldom does one person’s anger change the mind of anyone else ~ who is already angry about the same thing ~ in any other way. It does not gain support, and tends to soften support that it already has. And as far as having any effect on the person at whom one is angry, expressions of anger most often met with denial, resistance, and hardening of whatever attitude or opinion inspires the anger in the first place.
Our anger, however, has power ~ and like any other power, it gains strength and increases as long as it is not used. Undeserved anger returns its power on the person who is angry ~ it’s a double-edged sword best used to intensify one’s own efforts in working in one’s own interest, not “against” others except where there is no choice at all.
And in all cases, it’s best to control your anger rather than let it control you.
The British Asian Blog
/ September 13, 2011WOW, very moving stuff, the main thing was that your safe.
Derrick S.
/ September 13, 2011The next step is obvious, just ask any Japanese American who lived during WW2., especially if there another attack.
It’s a damn shame this country talks about standing tall and not balking at the face of terrorism yet that’s exactly what it’s done and in the process innocent people like you suffer from minds that have given in to fear.
Walt Harris
/ September 13, 2011Has anyone else noticed how she talks about people being fat,having beer bellies and flat top haircuts.She also refers to some people as rednecks.Sounds has a few predudices of her own to get over.
r3newed
/ September 13, 2011I was not offended by her description in the least. Being a middle-aged white man who is slightly overweight and sometimes sports a flat top haircut, I think can explain the difference. Her statements were her own opinion. I happen to hate rednecks, beer bellies, country music, and speedboats, but that doesn’t make me prejudice about them. – it’s only my opinion. Shoshana was only stating her opinion too. She was describing what she saw, what she experienced, and what she felt – intimidated. While she was being treated like a criminal before any proof had been presented. If her description offended you, then you are rather thin-skinned and missed the whole point of her blog entry.
Cathy
/ September 13, 2011You say you “hate” a specific kind of music and a specific kind of person…”I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.” Then you are just as guilty as those you claim profiled You. Shame on you. Maybe you would feel more comfortable in another part of the world, with “like-minded” people. USA would be happily left to hard working people, who listen to country music and drink crappy beer! Goodday, MIss. Go spread your hatred of America and its citizens somewhere else.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Cathy,
The writer is an American citizen. She was imprisoned falsely and strip-searched without due cause, a warrant, or anything else.
That’s illegal under the constitution of the United States.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Her hatred of country music, speedboats, and shitty beer didn’t result in someone spending hours in a dirty holding cell, then being strip-searched and cavity probed, THEN being interrogated.
By the way, in the USA, people can hate stuff that you like. But usually it doesn’t result in Constitutional rights violations, the way it did in this case because someone “hated” (or at least distrusted) Ms. Shebshi’s skin color.
Alice
/ September 13, 2011Thank you Allison and Steve. Well said.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Cathy, you are the epitome of what is wrong with this country. She is a CITIZEN, you moron. She was subjected to abject degradation by people who fit all those things she doesn’t like. So, hating country music deserves imprisonment and strip searches? You are an imbecile, and you and your ilk are the cause of our losing the precious liberties you claim to love but in truth are willing to give up in the name of “safety.”
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011She was being ironic. I am surprised at how people are missing this. Someone decided she was a terrorist based upon how she looked, so she pointed out how silly it was to “hate” things based upon appearance.
Matt Murphy
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry that you had to endure this terrible ordeal and I agree that what happenend to you was completely unfounded and unfair, however, I find it very ironic that you say in your blog
“I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying–as hard as it sometimes may be–not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress. I admit to have fallen to the traps of convention and have made judgments about people that are unfounded. ”
Yet earlier in your post you say ” I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks”
Seems to me that you don’t want to have anyone pass judgement on you because of the way that you look or dress, yet you have no problem making judgements on others. As someone who lives in the South, I detest the fact that many ignorant people in this country have a pre-conceived notion that all Southerner’s are fat, hillbilly rednecks and that simply is not true. All I am trying to say is to not be a hypocrite in your words and deeds but to apply those same principles to others.
anonymous
/ September 13, 2011Honestly Shoshana, would you have rather the authorities not have inspected you and the other two men and found that you never made it home that day to see your children? Just saying, what if the other two men had done something? You have to admit that two men, of simillar ethnic origin, sitting next to eachother getting up to the bathroom at the same time is a little strange. Often times people who sit next to someone of the same ethnic origin on a plane know eachother. Ask yourself this question, do you tend to have friends of the same ethnic origin? Or do you only have friends of a differant origin?
Russ Jacobs
/ September 13, 2011Well written and it was certainly an ordeal that I would not want anyone to have – but as it is – safety for the majority will cause uncomfort for others!
SARG (@SARG_SR)
/ September 13, 2011As a member of the U.S. Military and a native of Ohio, I appologize for what you and your row mates had to go through.
greg
/ September 13, 2011I hope everyone whom had a part in this unnecessary, unethical search (including the pompass asses that reported unusual behavior) realize that these violations against you can not be undone, and realize that they should beg you for their forgiveness.
M. d'P
/ September 13, 2011Sympathies to Shoshana, but welcome to the real world of African Americans every day–not just on 9/11: walking down the street in any city, flying on a plane, driving through wealthy neighborhoods–the treatment you received because of how you look is still the norm for us. A further statement about civil liberties.
Aaron
/ September 13, 2011wah wah wah. People are gonna be on pins and needles when government officials say we have a credible threat and they see suspicious behavior. Better safe than sorry and yes no one should be treated inhumanely especially when no one knows if they are doing anything wrong, but I sure wish people 10 years ago would have sent an F-16 to take down the people that had different colored skin that day.
vasudeva108
/ September 13, 2011Dear Shoshana,
You are a brave and beautiful soul, and it is a sad state of affairs when someone of your outstanding character and grace should have to endure such treatment, especially at the hands of the law. Sadder still that such divisions still exist in a world where we are all really brothers and sisters. I am a Jewish American, and though I can ‘blend’ in and I am proud of my heritage, though I know many people dislike Jews here and abroad. They also don’t realize that being that being anti-arab is another form of anti-semitism as we are both semitic people, though most Jews have fairer traits, AS IF IT MATTERS! G-d bless you, you dear brave soul… May you know peace, and happiness for all of your years.
R. Levine
anthony karee
/ September 13, 2011u find out when`s it to late ,stupid …fu@k the iranian`os mid east and all that $hit…………..
Ben
/ September 13, 2011I once worked as a temp unloading refridgerated containters with boxes of chocolate into a refridgerated warehouse onto pallets for distribution to local stores. We were getting chocolate from Germany, Switzerland, and France. We were also unloading boxes of chocolate from Mexico, Columbia, and China (this was just after the recall of toys from China for using lead based paint). An inspector from the FDA would come and take a few sample boxes of the German and Swiss chocolate. One day I asked him why only the German and Swiss, I was more concerned with the boxes from China and Mexico, his reply was that the boxes from Germany and Switzerland were the only ones on his list to check. Later that night I told my Father about the incedent, my Father, who had just retired from the Federal Goverment, chuckled and said ” If you do not look for problems in the place they are most likley to occur you will not find them until it is too late”. Miss Shoshana I apologize for the entire ordeal, and I thank you for what you went through for everyone else’s safety.
John Palmer
/ September 13, 2011We are terribly sorry to have you go through this ordeal Shoshana. We need to start finding some ways to identify, verify, than act. It appears in this case they identify and acted. This process leads to many mistakes. As a pilot, we have a say “identify, verify, and rectify” I would have asked for more verification before I make a decision and land the plane and maybe the pilots did. Unfortunately, it was September 11 and everyone was on the edge.
silencespeaksdanielrice
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m glad eveyone is fine. http://www.silencespeaksbydanielrice.com
Bill
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana,
I don’t know you, and likelihood is I never will. Like many below, I am very sorry that you had to go through such an experience. What is encouraging to me, and hopefully just a bit encouraging to you and others, is that there are so many others who are outraged at what happened. Of course, I say this with all fairness in mind to those who took the actions, but I do wonder if there would have been a similar reaction if the three of you were white… As a white person in our culture, I sort of doubt it. For me, this is not merely “white guilt” at play, but rather a sad reality. I appreciate people’s alertness (the modicum, “If you see something, say something” comes to mind), but perhaps one of many lessons in this is that we should all take a little personal responsibility– did any of the flight crew or potentially concerned passengers say a single thing to any of you prior to calling the authorities? From the sounds of it, probably not. In my mind, that should have been the first step– if something concerned them, they should have done a little more investigation on their own before jumping to such rash conclusions. Unfortunately, paranoia strikes deep. I wish you the best in the future, and if nothing else, I hope that I can keep this in mind should I ever find myself profiling another human being for such an innocuous action. Peace to you.
Leyla
/ September 13, 2011It is unfortunate that this happened, but I understand. If a bunch of young caucasion males had bombed Japan on flights, and then 3 caucasions end up in the same row, flying on the 10th anniversary, then it is nothing more than an unfortunate misinterpretation. Had we been more paranoid 10 years ago, this never would have been a 10th anniversary. Unfortunately, for the 3 passengers, it was a wrong place at the wrong time incident. Sorry!
William Lowry
/ September 13, 2011Do not believe for one minute that just because of the color of your skin and your race that they are profiling people who appear to be Middle Eastern. The color of your skin may have exacerbated the scrutiny, but that is not only factors involved! I am nothing near in appearance to anyone resembling someone from Southwest Asia or the Middle East and I was cuffed, strip searched and humiliated because the Security Officer with TSA said that my clothes were baggy, loose fitting and I seem to be carrying something concealed as I was going through the security check-point at the airport. The real kicker, I was boarding in my Military Uniform, on a Military Purchased ticket, with Military Orders to fly, with my Military ID Card and the concealed item was my cap, tucked-in behind me belt in the rear. The Security Officer said I posed a threat and I was detained, I missed my flight, had to leave the following day and I did not get someone telling me thanks for my cooperation, I got a jerk that told me that I am just as suspect as anyone else… People are bending over backward to not let profiling be the main reason for their suspicion, but it seems every-time that anyone who resembles a Middle Eastern, cries that it is just about profiling them. Stop already, those of who are not Middle Eastern and are being detained far more often that those of Middle Eastern appearance and we are not going to the media, or filing suits for discrimination and we certainly are not claiming profiling. You are not being “Profiled”, if anything, people who resemble Middle Easterner’s are receiving more benefit and avoidance from what would otherwise be a reason to detain someone.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Thank you Mr. Lowry – especially for serving our wonderful country so that all of us can freely express our opinions to this blog. God Love you!
Yoko
/ September 14, 2011There didn’t seem to be any other reason for her detainment other than the color of her skin and that she was sitting next to other dark skinned people who went to the bathroom for “too long.” She was already on the plane, had already been through security and was on her way home. I don’t think she’s being a cry baby about this. I think she’s sharing her story because people need to know what’s happening and maybe if enough people speak out, our way of doing things in situations like this will be more fair and right. Then maybe NO ONE will be cuffed, stripped, and searched, and ALL innocent americans will be able to avoid experiences like your’s and her’s. I, for one, hate when people “play the race card,” but in this case it feels totally warranted.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011So how did you handle it and did the military come to your defense?
Tim
/ September 13, 2011Sorry but the Terrorists are mostly middle eastern looking people, not american looking people. But that does not matter. What matters is you were a little inconvenienced, and luckily you weren’t a threat. get over it or don’t fly. If a real problem was on the plane you would be the first to say why didnt they check it out. I dont care if they check me, I want to be safe when flying…..
ALiberalWalkingTall
/ September 13, 2011Tell me something, Tim. What’s an “American Looking” person look like exactly?
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name,
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Timothy McVeigh was white, last time I looked.
Americans should not have to surrender their Constitutional rights in order to fly.
TJ
/ September 13, 2011This is the world we live in. I hate the race card but its played against me often. I’m stopped if I’m out late in my own suburban neighborhood. And of course the story is, “we’ve had reports a of stolen vehicle matching your description”. Your incident just happened on 9-11. Mines occur any evening after midnight.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Your experiences should not happen and should not be tolerated. I am against racial profiling of any kind, whether it is the type you mention or the events in Ms. Shebshi’s blog post.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011TJ, sorry you have to experience this. Hopefully this profiling can bring Americans together instead of tearing us apart.
Have you ever watched the movie, “The Wrong Man,” starring Henry Fonda? It’s a true story. It’s about a white man, of course, but it goes to show how someone’s wrong ID can victimize anyone.
Roberta
/ September 13, 2011Well, I don’t know what is beautiful about this story. It is a blatant example of a violation of civil liberties. It’s a well written documentation of facts. I hope that you never have to endure anything like this ever again. I also hope that the state of our world can someday get to a point where we can feel safe and secure, and that such suspicion, detentions, searches, et. al. will be uneccessary. I am so sorry for your ordeal.
Jack Crowe Jr.
/ September 13, 2011This Is SOP for Frontier Airlines & Delta Airlines. I am A Cherokee Nation Citizen and was “Racially Profiled” in March in a flight from St Lewis to Memphis on Delta Air Lines. No apology! Should I have Stopped a Delta Airline Employee driving down the highway and asked to see their Driver’s Licence witt out being able to articulate a seriously valid “Probable Cause To Believe” some form of violation of law or public safety had been or was being committed I would be in Deep DO-DO! As stated by one of our National Founders “Those who sacrifice essential freedonm in order to buy a little tempory security,Deserve Neither Freedom Or Security!” Homeland Security should be renamed to The “Department of Positive Paranoya”!
Spock
/ September 13, 2011I agree with Erin. I am surprised at some of the comments. In fact Shoshana was very gracious given the treatment she received. Some of these comments which are critical of shoshana are harsh reminders of what will happen if Tea Party gets elected. Everyone who does not conform to a given profile will be discriminated. I hope my fellow citizens wake up to the true values of decency and rationality.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011That right there is profiling the Tea Party and I have no political agenda, I just like to be fair. You cannot group people into stereotypes. The Tea Party is about taxes, duh.
J Rodman
/ September 14, 2011Sir, you seem to be confused.
If someone makes inaccurate statements about a group, it would be making false statements. If done so willfully, it might be lies. If done so to deliberately make them look bad to damage their public character, it might be libel or slander.
If the Tea Party as a group is being accused of supporting racial profiling, because of the actions of a few members, then it could be called generalization. An insistence on keeping a view of the Tea Party despite any and all information might be bigotry. Deciding what they’re about before learning any real information might be prejudice.
However, it’s not *racial profiling* until we’re setting up police checkpoints and throwing Tea Partiers in jail.
Do you understand the difference between “saying mean things” and putting people into cells for arbitrary periods without any crime or reasonable suspcion thereof? Because you don’t seem to.
Trey
/ September 13, 2011The people who attacked us on 9/11 were not white, not black, not Asian, they were Arab!! So call it what you want, if we dont “racially profile” we are going to get burnt again!! If we handicap ourselves by trying to be politically correct, the enemy wins because thats what they are taking advantage of. If you’re Arab in this country, stop complaining or go back to your mother land. In other words, try to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Ms. Shebshi is in her homeland. She’s American. Dark-skinned people can be Americans, too. Membership in an ethnic group does not automatically equate to being a terrorist.
Fresh kee
/ September 14, 2011wake up dude, nobody attacked you. it was all planned and set-up by the Bush administration. do more research online……..what happen to WTC-7, not plane crashed in? Bush needed a war so he created one by killing its own citizen…the other plane that crashed has no reminant..but they where able to pick IDs of the terrorist. Foolish satanic America, i wonder why they are always fighting…..one day America will come ruin. check 911truth.org and see more light and fact. America is far way too secured for 911 if not planned.
Osama, died December 2001, but also you were all fooled again by this other Obama. see this link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212851/Has-Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-seven-years–U-S-Britain-covering-continue-war-terror.html
One day God will judge America and British. They have been unfair to human race. see link again http://ronabbass.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/osama-killed-yesterday-osama-died-in-dec-2001/
.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011She’s half-Jewish, Adolph.
Torus
/ September 15, 2011Timothy McVeigh.
If you wanna say that racial profiling is good in order to not be attacked again, then 72 percent of the country (white people) should be carted off to cells and get strip-searched and cavity searched for no probable cause whatsoever just because of his act of terrorism.
Oh, and all school kids, too, because we should prevent another Columbine.
Is that what you want, genius?
jerry
/ September 13, 2011Racial profiling, boohoo. Stop the all too apparent attempt to cash in on this situation through the sympathy of the internet, although you certainly have learned to be an American, you waste of oxygen Arab.
Thers
/ September 13, 2011Oh, please. If I hear one more Arab-American moan about being racially profiled I will be sick. You all deserve to be “profiled’ just as any other American would. If there was suspicious behavior, and you happened to be mistaken for a terrorist, you should thank your lucky stars that you live in a country concerned enough with your well-being to investigate further. Of course fears would be heightened on September 11. Get back to being a mother and quit wasting time blogging!
Americans lost their innocence because of people of your descent and their radical views. If you dislike being monitered a little more closely, please do return to your native land and do us all a favor.
Jen D
/ September 13, 2011Thers – just in case you missed it, Shosi is of Arab/American descent. Her mother is an American, her father was Saudi. This IS her native land! Having known her for the majority of our lives, I can attest that she grew up in Southern California and lived in a very normal, middle-class neighborhood, right down the street from my family. As for your assertion that she “get back to being a mother and quit wasting time blogging,” why don’t you follow your own advice and get back to doing whatever it is you should be spending your time on, rather than spouting the vitriolic B.S. you’ve so delighted us with today?
Thanks.
jenojeno
/ September 13, 2011Ah, another reply from the High-IQ Contingent. The only good thing about folks like Thers is that they’re too lazy to vote.
JR
/ September 13, 2011Thers, What is wrong with you? Do you listen to yourself? You must be one of those ‘christians’ who claims to be compassionate and loving but actually promotes hatred. This country has become disgusting, and I am embarrassed and ashamed to be considered “American” based on today’s definition and based on having countrymen like you. What have we degraded into? A bunch of paranoid idiots turning on eachother, and having no compassion at all. I am truly ashamed to call myself an American if it means being like you.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Membership in an ethnic group does not automatically equate to being a terrorist. Sitting on a plane is not suspicious activity.
Kimship
/ September 14, 2011Considering her native land is the United States of America, why don’t you keep your bigotry and racism to yourself so the rest of us Americans can stop feeling ashamed of our country and some of its citizens.
Dawn
/ September 14, 2011Hello, she was born here. People like you make me sick!!
B.R.
/ September 13, 2011Thousands and thousands of people of all colors and races are searched at airports everyday since 9/11. Why must we bend over backwards for the people who actually fit the terrorist profile. If you don’t like it, don’t fly!!!
Jack Crowe Jr.
/ September 13, 2011I was Proud to be a Law Enforcement Officer when I first started in 1968. I gave a Sacred Oath to Preserve , Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States. To Enforce all Laws ond Ordinances within my authority with total fairness and compasssion. That I understood that My “Prime Function was to Protect and SERVE every person within my area of Jurisdiction. The Atrocities committed in Airports under the cover of “Security” if committed elsewhere would not be tolerated! The “TERRORISTS” HAVE ACHIEVED VICTORY WHEN THEY HAVE MADE US SO AFRAID THAT WE SACRIFICE ESSENTIAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS WITH OUT PROTESTS.! “THOSE WHO sACRIFICE ESSENTIAL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES IN ORDER TO BUY A LITTLE TEMPOARY SAFETY,DESERVE NEITHER FREEDOM OR SAFETY” PATRICK HENRY
aLL OF THE ACTS DISCRIBED WERE TOTALLLY, ABSOLUTELY,AND COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL! I AM SHAMED THAT ANY LEO WOULD BE SO AMATEURISH AS THESE WERE DISCRIBED TO BE.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for your service, sir, and for your recognition of how deeply important our rights and freedoms are to the very fabric of this country.
rrraymundo
/ September 14, 2011Where do you go from here? Do you develope new and even more expensive technology to weed out the paranoid flyers, passengers and crew? I’m a customer service person at an airport. I’ve seen incredibly suspicious activity that was to my knowledge never taken seriously, although I hoped some system was in place between me and the plane to monitor these situations. A redneck with a race card that’s scarey.
rRON
/ September 14, 2011This is too much to tolerate.Shoshana you have immense tolerance. People who have taken you for questioning needs to answer. We understand that the security is very vital. But acting without any clue is idiotic. People responsible should be taken to the courts.
Valerie
/ September 14, 2011I am of Italian decent. I have black hair and olive skin. Right after 9/11, I was always pulled aside and my carry on luggage always checked. I will say that I was not treated with disrespect. The security people actually seemed a little embarrassed. I knew that the way I looked probably was the reason for me being pulled out of line and checked. Funny, it only happened when I was traveling alone. If my husband was flying with me, I was not taken out of line. I had mixed emotions about this at the time, but I came to the conclusion that until people could move away from the fear of those aweful actions that day, I would just have to live with it. However, if what happened to this poor woman had happened to me, I know that I would have had the same feelings and anger that she had. One thing we must remember, for several days before the 10th anniversary, all we kept seeing and hearing was that there was credible terrorist threats that were received. So, given that, I guess I can understand the extra precautions. In 2001 terrorist intelligence was ignored. The administration had been told that Bin Laden had made his intentions known and still the intelligence was ignored. So, I do understand that authorities had to take every report of suspicious activities seriously.
Scott
/ September 14, 2011Unfortunately, this is the society we live in. Shoshana, I am sorry for the troubles you endured on your flight. But this is what needs to be done to protect the people of the USA. You feel that you are profiled, but is that not what Israel does? It is what needs to be done to protect the citizens of this country. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but we were attacked on 9/11 by Muslims of Arabic descent. People who probably looked like you. If you have done nothing wrong, and have nothing to hide, what is the problem with being scutinized a little more than anyone else. The truth will prevail, and a little inconvience for National Security should not be as big a deal as you are making it out to be.
USA forever
/ September 14, 2011Bravo to the people who suspected you and to the police and FBI and HLS. Was it profiling? Perhaps but how many non arabs are trying to destroy America? Are you guilty of any plot? Perhaps not but think of how many “sleepers” there may be in America right now. Did the crew and passengers on the plane act out of fear? No, they are just careful and doing what is required of them during a time of war, remember everyone on that plane was also inconvenienced, a small price to pay considering if the threat turned out to be real. Is everything ok now, 10 years after 9/11/01? 1993 first attack on the WTC, 8 years later the towers fall. WAKE UP YOU FOOLS!!! FIGHT BACK! SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING! Back in 2001 when we were asked to say something if we see or even suspect something they didn’t mean “just for the time being” they ment for how ever long it takes! As far as Im concerned I will never trust an arab ever again, no matter if he/she is an American citizen or not, no matter if they are terrorists or not, how are we suppose to know if they are or aren’t? They are so good at fooling us the best solution is suspect them all. In fact lets send em all back
Alexander De Ridder
/ September 14, 2011You seem to forget that America has Jack Bauer, Chuck Norris AND Obama, so there’s nothing you should be afraid of.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011An honest racist, at least. I suppose that’s something. I’m not sure what, though.
ghf
/ September 14, 2011USA forever…you make me sad to be an American
Forty something white man from Arkansas
ender
/ September 14, 2011Please imagine you are a pilgrim in 1600’s and the native americans persecuted you similarly because a few members of your group committed a terrorist act. Do not pass judgements so easily. I come from a nation that has been a target of Islamic terror since 1980’s and understand where your anger comes from but to profile somebody based on the color of their skin is a throwback to the pre-civil disobidience era. Do you want that? There are no easy answers to the question of how america is going to deal with terrorism but to say that you want throw out a part of the population because of the color of their skin is ridiculous and borders on treason. Would you say the same for all white people after what timothy mcveigh did or all the black people for because of the underwear bomber from nigeria? Before you react please sit back and imagine yourself in Ms Hebshi’s position.
Alan Frisch
/ September 14, 2011According to MSN this was being Tweeted in real time until you were handcuffed, Twitter was not around until 7 years later, so forgive my skeptisim.
Mark
/ September 14, 2011Learn to read, maybe, Alan? It looks like you are accusing Ms. Shebshi of making this up? This just happened to her this past Sunday. Not 10 years ago. So, I’m not sure what you mena when you say that “Twitter wasn’t around until 7 years later, so forgive my skepticism.” …What are you not getting about this, Alan Frisch?
Marissa
/ September 14, 2011I think you misunderstood. This happened this year, Sunday, September 11, 2011.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011LOL.
Alexander De Ridder
/ September 14, 2011I’ve been in the US for 4 years, coming from Western Europe. People think I was here all my life, or at least much, much longer than that – except for that “something” they can’t quite put their finger on.
I am truly, honestly, suffering from positive discrimination. People make it so obvious to me I’m the kind of immigrant they want in this country. I am first in line to get a job, be considered for friends, etc.
I married a Hispanic man’s daughter, and it was an honor.
Blacks don’t hate on me because I’m European so I’m not offspring of slave abusers, and where I come from North-Africans are unpopular immigrants but blacks are pretty cool – so they sense no hostility.
Arabs like me because I am an immigrant in America along with them and understand their culture a million times better than natives.
When I tell white Americans that I’m European, their eyes go open and something like a silent AHHH comes out. Then travel stories ensue and how much they envy me growing up in those places and how much they admire me speaking several languages. And they almost never forget to mention that they traced their ancestry down to European immigrants.
So if I am recipient of so much “opinion” because I’m white, just imagine what blacks, hispanics and arabs go through. But since bias is part of human nature, let’s just give everyone that nice positive bias that I’m enjoying in this country.
Brenda
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry she had to go through this but we as a country are helpless. If we lighten security to make all passengers comfy, that leaves an open door for terrorists to repeat their attacks. We already have a 9/11 to prove they will indeed attack. We want to avoid a 9/11 part 2, while also avoiding a 9/12, or a 10/2, or a 11/25. I have not flown after 9/11/2001. My skin is olive complected due to my Italian background. While being checked with the rest of the passengers and then double checked because of how I look might be uncomfortable, it makes me feel secure knowing that the checking is going on.
marvinbryer
/ September 14, 2011Marvin Bryer, in Los Angeles County we have installed a strange version of Homeland Security. But the people in charge, including the Glendale Cops who were previously under former Police Chief Randy Adams, who helped bankrupt the City of Bell, and has not been arrested, are the real terrorists. I just got as parking ticket that was put in my mailbox without a postage stamp, in violation of the United States Postal service laws, and of course, the US Post Office is going BANKRUPT! I try to stay off planes but cars in Glendale are also not safe.
Marv
Frank
/ September 14, 2011Israel profiles, it sad but its needed.
Wim Bradford
/ September 14, 2011I agree strongly with this comment… and i would only add that
America is no longer the hopes and dreams we had for her.
There’s an insanity run rampant.. though all layers of our society
and our leaders … and I believe its only going to get worse.
mike b
/ September 14, 2011We know this is going on all the time. Thank you for being bold enough to relate your experience to the nation. Ironically now we use repressive tactics just like the groups/nations we have been so critical of.
J
/ September 14, 2011So….lets say something had happened. Months from now people would be commenting on the ‘lack of response’ to the obvious signs of an attack…the same way they did regarding Pearl Harbor and 9/11. I’m willing to sacrifice the small discomfort of yourself(and myself) for the health and safety of all. I think we owe that for the greater good of this once great nation. For someone to so graphically describe such a traumatic….strike that…..dramatic experience….I find that sad a problem in itself. If you don’t like the manner in which this land protects its citizens….then LEAVE.
Sarah S
/ September 15, 2011Oh good, let’s have an argument about which of us Americans should leave. I vote for the ones who consider violation of Constitutional rights a ‘small discomfort’ that we should all be willing to ‘put up with’ for the ‘greater good’. I come from a line of people who were defending the rights of ALL Americans of whatever color or religion long before there WAS an America. So if you think you’re going to put ME out of my country- well, you can think again, Buster. Bring it on. We beat you on slavery, we beat you on internment of Japanese-Americans, we beat you on Segregation, and we’ll beat you again. It may take a generation- or two- or longer yet, but we will never give in or give up. Because no REAL American will ever sacrifice the smallest part of our own or another’s freedom out of fear. Neither will we dishonor our dead by using them as a cover for cowardice and prejudice.
Peter
/ September 17, 2011I believe this is completely necessary. I consider myself American though I was not born in the U.S. I am 22 years old and have lived here since I was 2. I love the American culture, country music, and I served in the military. I am Cuban and have a dark complexion which is comparable to the Mexican appearance. Being stationed in California during a time that those of dark complexion were seized and asked for documentation or faced immediate deportation. I was driving my Jeep Wrangler with my top down, blaring country music. I had a military hair cut and Marine Corps bumper sticker. I was pulled over, searched, my Jeep was searched, and I was asked to show my papers. I was prepared because I knew what was going on. I had my citizenship papers, military orders, military ID card and all driving paperwork of course. I realized that the officer was acting on orders as he had to face his on board camera as he reviewed my paperwork. I was not upset. I knew what I had coming for being a certain color. I was as cooperative and respectful as possible. Though I risked my life during 2 deployments in 2 countries, I was understanding. As should any targeted race be understanding. There is no way that you should not understand why you were seized and searched on a plane on 9/11. I believe that there was nothing unjust about your experience. I am not brainwashed. As a minority and part of an interracial marriage, I am familiar with being singled out.
SilenceDogood
/ September 17, 2011I note that you left the part out about your strip and subsequent cavity search, which means not only did you not have the same experience, but that you missed the entire point.
What happened to you was wrong and unConstitutional.
What happened in this case was wrong and unConstitutional.
People in America should neither expect nor understand to be singled out for their race. Ever. Period.
It’s sad that you swore to uphold the Constitution, sacrificed your life in 2 duties to do so, and then completely disregarded it on the side of the road like some shill.
Pathetic.
Emory Upchurch
/ September 12, 2011Amazing. So glad that you wrote this.
Sudhanshu
/ September 13, 2011I second that though I am amazed that you were able to write this the next day. Something like this would have left me in shock and denial for a lot longer, kudos to you for getting this out in open.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Me, too. What a brave woman.
Celeste Masson
/ September 12, 2011oh man, shosh. i am horrified. absolutely. thank you so much for sharing your experience. people need to read this! sending love you much love.
Beth Winegarner
/ September 12, 2011I am so upset that this happened to you. What can we do to help you get your story out — or to keep this from happening to anyone else?
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Hi Beth, thanks for your kindness and support. Feel free to share this posting. I am a firm believer that personal accounts like this will show how little progress we have made and how far we need to go.
Lane L. Yarbrough
/ September 13, 2011Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!….Flight 623….6+2+3 = 11. Now it all makes sense. Do I win anything?
Junaid
/ September 13, 2011and 9 characters in “Flight 623”
To the person that was appalled at your actions, while i understand that standing up is important for yourself, there are other implications of standing up for yourself in those moments.
As i am muslim and indian i tend to get harassed from time to time and generally do stand up for myself, but the consequences of that are that if the story of me ever being harassed goes public, many in the media would spin it as “oh look at the muslim who would not comply with the police, they dont care about america, if they did they would have complied.”
There are many ways of handling her situation, for her handling it in the manner she did was correct for her. Lets not judge the victim for their actions but rather those who can not see past a persons color.
William Lowry
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely Lanie, you WIN! You win a BIG HUG, wrap your arms around yourself, close your eyes and imagine it’s me, then squeeze real tight! There is that better? Your post put a smile on my face, I hope I put one on yours!
Jen D
/ September 13, 2011Hi Shoshi,
I have shared this with my circle. Outraged and saddened by what happened.
Sending you peace – Jenny
Heywood Jablome
/ September 14, 2011I was on this plane you antagonized the flight crew and security YOU did this on purpose as a publicity stunt…Yeah I saw right through you… from the TSA lines …So fucking knock off the pseudo-martyrdom…Cant wait til the videos are reviewed and they haul your useless birkenstock wearing tree-hugging, GED toting useless ass to Federal Prison… I hope you like Melissa Etheridge and Queen Latifah because you will be spending the next few years getting acquainted. Now shut this pointless nonsense blog down and turn yourself in … You’re flat out busted and everyone already knows it
Dvorah Waldman
/ September 12, 2011I’m so proud of the way you conducted yourself and had the presence to be so observant about your experience.
Emily
/ September 12, 2011Unbelievable. My friend shared this link on his facebook page and I’m so sorry to hear of your story. It sounds like you were very brave and kept calm throughout. My boyfriend is half-Indian and I’d always pooh-poohed his concerns with being racially profiled while traveling – but no more.
Katie Greene
/ September 12, 2011Shosh- Thank you for sharing your experience. It makes me ill, knowing you had to go through that. Much love to you and the family.
Katie & Brandon
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Thanks guys! Love to you and your gorgeous boys back.
Leonard R. Taylor Jr.
/ September 13, 2011In this country of fear and retaliation,it`s unfortunate that you had to face the wrath of this counties authority. You did not deserve to be treated that way no one does. But fear and prejudice walk hand and hand today in our society, weather its on a plane or facing you on the streets of any town America. Remember God loves you and will protect you, regardless of what man tries to do to humiliate you.
Beth Morse
/ September 12, 2011I am sooo sorry this happened to you! It’s totally absurd! I will be sure to share your story. I’m glad you are home safe and sound. Hugs
flutter
/ September 12, 2011Oh Shoshana! I remember you so vividly in high school. It breaks my heart to know this happened to you.
Hugh Donagher
/ September 12, 2011This story is enraging. We’re supposed to feel protected by such overbearing, authoritarian abuse of power? I sure don’t. The average American is more at risk of enduring the abuse of our homeland “security” agents than they are of suffering any harm at the hands of terrorists. We’re fighting terrorism with terrorism. The terrorists have won.
Jen (@Desisister_Jen)
/ September 13, 2011agree absolutely..but its not the ‘agents’ we need to blame, but a public thats allowed fear to make them suspicious of all things ‘brown’…its the same climate as the 1930’s and worries me greatly…
Jennifer Scharpe
/ September 12, 2011All I can say is, WOW. I couldn’t imagine what your day was like and sorry you had to experience racial profiling. Thanks for sharing your story. Glad you are safe!
Kyla
/ September 12, 2011Whoa. I’m SO sorry that happened to you. At the same time, I am so impressed with the way you conducted yourself through that ordeal AND with the thoughtful, even-tempered way you composed this post…I don’t know that I could have relayed something like this without loads of profanity and exclamation points. Thank you for sharing this.
Erika True
/ September 13, 2011Agreed!
Kathy S.
/ September 12, 2011I’m sick and disgusted too! That’s so messed up.
Dani Wright
/ September 12, 2011Wow. I am so sorry that this happened to you! Thank you for sharing this with all of us. It brought me to tears reading it. My father (a mexican-american) has the same name as someone on the no fly list so he gets harassed every time he flies. He is a retired peace officer so though it annoys him he doesn’t think much of it. I guess I have always taken the stance of, it’s to protect our country so it must be ok. I am sick to my stomach at the thought of my stupidity and lack of compassion. Although I haven’t seen you since high school, reading your wonderfully written words immediately brought your young smiling face to my mind! I will be sharing your story with everyone I know. As you said, we have to stop living our lives in fear of what “might” happen and move forward to the wonderful possibilities that could be if people stopped getting sucked into the panic. All of us have judged a book by it’s cover at one time or another unfairly but it is beyond out of hand. I don’t know how you refrained from smacking or at least returning some snide comment to the officers rude comment about being descended from desert people so you wouldn’t mind that he had no air conditioning. You were much braver, calmer and tactful than I think I could ever have been!
Marsha Litwiller
/ September 12, 2011My God! Can’t imagine what you went through. To be put in handcuffs,jailed and strip searched. Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and your damily. You are a strong woman and I am proud to know that you and my daughter Amy are friends. Marsha
Erin M. Langford
/ September 12, 2011I am so ashamed of our nation right now that this sort of thing happens to innocent civilians. Thank you for sharing this. Where is the credibility behind the suspicious other passengers felt, other than skin-tone? It’s ridiculous. I am very sorry that this happened to you. I can’t even imagine going through something like this without being very upset the entire time. You handled yourself much better than I would ever hope to in a situation like that.
I am glad that you are home with your family and friends. I also hope the men that shared this horrible experience with you are doing well (as they can be given this horrible event.) I found a link to your story on one of my friend’s facebook pages and I have shared it as well. I thought our country stood for something better than this sort of thing… 😦
thankful
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry I have to leave this site I can’t believe many of you people dissing the land of the free if you are so unhappy then maybe you should find another place to live yourselves it was terrible what happened but I can understand why, we want to make all Americans safe not just some
jenojeno
/ September 13, 2011Anything to be a little more safe, right, thankful? It’s sickening that the land of “Don’t Tread on Me” has become the land of “Sure I’ll Bend Over May I Have Another Sir.”
incal
/ September 14, 2011wow! a spate of “if you don’t like America, leave” comments, and now let’s be thankful Thankful has made his last post.Surely there can be no excuse for condoning loss of liberties, regardless of the ancestry of those whose liberty has been restricted. This case is made all the worse due to accusers not accountable and the guilty until proven innocent aspect. If you know your History, sounds rather like the Inquisition, which was also a case of “sovereignity”.
Erin M. Langford
/ September 14, 2011I want America to be safe. I love the fact that I am able to make comments like this because I live in a nation where I have the freedom to speak my mind. I am against unreasonable search and seizures and so is our Constitution (the Fourth Amendment.)
I can’t understand why any citizen would be stripped, humiliated and treated like an animal. I’m sorry that you (who did not leave a real name) seem to think that this sort of behavior against a citizen is o.k. to “make all Americans safe not just some.”
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Yeah, that’s the way for change, just runaway. How about stand up for your rights that are already in place? That is what this land is about. People are complaining about our rights being compromised. So if you don’t like our rights, you are welcome to leave.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011That was directed to “thankful.”
Torus
/ September 15, 2011The United States is not perfect. And, in order to make it perfect, we have to fight policies we don’t agree with and stand up for what we believe in. That is one of our rights in this country, and a right to revolution is one of the things this country is based on.
We do this because we love our country. Blind support is not a good way to show one’s love for anything.
Audrena R.
/ September 12, 2011Shoshana! Wow! I’m so sorry about your experience. Keep writing and reflecting.
CTJen
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your story.
Jason Plemons
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry this happened to you — happened at all.
teresa
/ September 12, 2011I also am so sorry. I know that does not help….but I look at all of my many shapes and colors of kids at school (a high school you I understand you know well) and pray that they never have to suffer through this. It makes me angry….but I too hope to use this anger for change. Thank you for sharing.
Bill
/ September 12, 2011Racial profiling is unacceptable. Sorry this happened to you.
Mary Cummins
/ September 12, 2011I saw this posted on Google+. I’m so sorry you experienced this. I have some Arabic friends who’ve also been hassled because of 911. It’s a sad, sad day when people have to worry about being treated this way because of the way they look.
Ted Samson
/ September 12, 2011I’d say “Unbelievable,” but this is far too believable. I’m sorry you had to endure this, Shoshi. It makes me sick.
Jess
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry that this happened. Celeste shared your post on FB and I’m passing it on. I was thinking yesterday that the Arab-Americans, Sikhs, Muslims, and anyone else unlucky enough to get caught in the fallout don’t have anyone commemorating what THEY went through after 9/11. And that’s not a story we’ll hear on the news anytime soon.
Monique
/ September 12, 2011I couldn’t have said it better myself. I wrote about the exact same thing yesterday — why is no one talking about the freedoms lost for those groups as a result of “defending America’s freedom”?
I’m sickened that this is happening to so many around the country, and so sorry that it happened to you. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I agree with you that personal accounts will hopefully show how little progress we have made.
Tom Betz
/ September 12, 2011Not just on September 11; forget about flying. Ever. I started my boycott of airline travel in 2002 and haven’t looked back.
We have to starve the airlines until they demand an end to this sort of abuse of due process; it’s the only way we will ever recover our human rights.
As far as I am concerned, your ordeal is proof that Osama bin Laden won.
And it sickens me to know this.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Amen!
There are other things we can do, including pressuring our elected representatives to represent _us_ instead of the TSA jobs program. But economic power is in the hands of the airlines, and only because travelers give it to them.
Take that economic power away, and the airlines will be the first to start lobbying for sanity to be restored to our transportation system.
Erin Tengquist
/ September 12, 2011I can’t believe this is even acceptable, and the mindless cop that said those last lines to you, should be fired. WOW.
DFA
/ September 12, 2011Dont like it? Move to the middle east, you’ll love it. Wahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Summer
/ September 12, 2011Yeah?
Will you still feel that way when it happens to you?
When they slap you in handcuffs and hold you against your will for several hours with no explanation, will you graciously accept it with a smile?
If you don’t, congratulations: you’re a hypocrite.
ADP
/ September 12, 2011Well, I’ve heard the airport in Israel is pretty brilliant in screening people quickly and competently (that’s been observed by both Republicans and Democrats: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/article_17b9b79e-f6a1-11df-b071-0017a4a78c22.html).
Unlike our wasteful, slow, low-accuracy American ways.
UnionsSuck
/ September 13, 2011That’s what you get with a unionized TSA…
Alan Alexander
/ September 13, 2011Except it wasn’t TSA, it was Homeland Security, you dolt!
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011School yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States
nic.
/ September 13, 2011Oh yes, very quickly and competently. You know why? Because most Arabs (those living in the West Bank and Gaza) are not allowed to fly to airports in Israel. They come in via Amman through the land border, where the process may take many hours (it took me 4 hours and I’m not even Arab). Very quickly indeed. If you would like more racial profiling, though, you should definitely follow the Israeli example.
Joel
/ September 13, 2011Your a piece of shit
Woman
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, that pretty much was the only thing I could think of to say to this guy, too.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011Examine the fascist troll in its native habitat.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011This post literally made me LOL, and so I say to you, sir: LOL
Reba
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, ? Why don’t you move to Germany ? You’d fit right in.
Iskandar Rabeendran
/ September 12, 2011i went through 1/10th of what happened to you and I still felt horrible. i wanna be your FB friend now !
tjic (@tjic)
/ September 12, 2011The Nuremberg trials set the precedent that “I was only following orders” is no defense.
When we take our country back from the insane police-state thugs we need to have trials and punish those who have invaded our civil liberties like this. Their behavior is beyond contemptible.
Calin Brabandt
/ September 13, 2011> The Nuremberg trials set the precedent that “I was only following orders” is no defense.
Sadly, this moral concept didn’t stick after Nuremberg and it continues to be eroded every day. It no longer exists in the “law industry,” despite the best efforts of many orgainizations, including “Oath Takers.”
Cops and soldiers are robots. They believe their actions and the consequences of their actions are never their own moral responsibilities.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Very good point, tjic.
Alison
/ September 12, 2011Wow – I wish I could say I’m shocked at this, but I feel like shock would be naive. Still, it absolutely galls me to no end to think of innocent citizens being treated like criminals, like dirt, based on nothing other than the suspicions of others…suspicions which are based in their own prejudices.
I am so sorry you and the two men had to go through such a despicable experience, and grateful to you for sharing it. I think it is extremely important that people see the awful results of bigoted hyper-vigilance, of marginalizing people as bogeymen based on whispers and lies, of pat refusal to believe certain people are good people. It can only lead to a bad place, no matter what they try to claim about “security” and “freedom”.
Kevin
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry. On behalf of decent americans everywhere I apologize.
Kathryn Quigley
/ September 13, 2011Agreed!
Allison
/ September 12, 2011To add to the absolute ridiculousness of it all, the mainstream media is reporting an event that is COMPLETELY different than your personal experience, which should shock no one and totally infuriates me: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/no-charges-against-3-deta_0_n_958150.html?ir=Denver
Allison
/ September 12, 2011Just to be clear, I believe you. My post was just meant to illustrate the lies that are being told about the actual event.
M
/ September 13, 2011That’s what I felt too, after reading the media report. It’s one of those typical reports that leave you with the vague notion that the govt was doing its job and that the people detained probably did something to warrant the detention. That’s terrible that for 10 years we’ve been hearing reports like this and the media has actually not been covering the detainees point of view. The media, early on, decided to side with a falsely-defined patriotism instead of journalistic integrity.
BayAreaBiker
/ September 14, 2011One other thing – I am never flying Frontier, EVER. Whatever ghosts this other passenger might have seen and reported the suspecious behavior of “going-to-loo-and-spending-long-time-there”, the flight attendant could have used her/his commmon sense to first enquire and then reported the men. Had they been real terrorists, they could have blown the plane right after the F-16 showed up.
This whole show of authority was over the top and unnecessary.
JayMonster
/ September 13, 2011Just out of curiosity, where exactly are the “lies” that you speak of? Thee people detained on “suspicion” (based on the article, it seems the suspicious person was a Frontier Airlines Flight Attendant), and nothing suspicious was found, this after questioning, they were released.
Yes, it sounds far more routine in the press, but, I fail to see where the comment that the press is lying comes from.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The news coverage implies (and in some instances, outright states) that there was actual activity on the part of all three detainees, when there was not. Never leaving one’s seat is not suspicious.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011That attendant needs to be grounded.
s.
/ September 13, 2011the articles in the mainstream press suggest that actual suspicious activity occurred, which it did not.
guest
/ September 13, 2011actually, the “mainstream” media reported this exactly the same way as she said – the three people were arrested because someone overacted about 2 brown men maybe spending “too much” time in the bathroom. Other than not knowing the personal details she reported here, what did the “mainstream” say differently?
james
/ September 13, 2011That article really isn’t any different at all. It just tells the incident from a perspective of somebody who wasn’t personally involved. I don’t think any facts in that article differ from what this woman has said – she just has more facts from what happened to her personally.
St. Exuperantius
/ September 13, 2011There’s a significance difference between writing that someone had been released after questioning and writing that someone had been handcuffed, locked in a cell, strip searched, interrogated, and then released. “Questioning” sounds benign and less invasive than what happened.
AFC
/ September 13, 2011Well, now you know what “questioning” means.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Yeah, I have to make an appointment with my gynecologist to be questioned like that.
Kathleen
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry this happened! 😦
Corey Heim (@brewfangrb)
/ September 12, 2011I’m sorry that you had this experience, but happy that you conducted yourself so much better than I probably would have. My only question: How are the “authorities” (I sense a hint of derision when you used that word) to know the suspicions of the person who reported what they believed they saw were based on racism or stereotype?
Should they ask you: “Are you a terrorist” and based merely on your answering in the negative, let you go on your way? Your post isn’t specific, but it doesn’t appear your search was a cavity search (which makes it no less embarrassing to you as an individual). But, again, how are the authorities to know you’re not concealing weapons or materials without a search?
The frustrating thing about your entire situation was that you were innocent and got caught up in either a report by an outright racist or more likely, an overly-frightened citizen who probably should do a better job of looking for acts rather than skin color. But, if I am on a plane and *I* see something I really believe is suspicious, am I to only report white men who are suspicious? If I see what I THINK is suspicious activity by a person of Middle-Eastern or Southwestern Asian descent, should I dismiss it, assume I’m just profiling the person?
Sure, your reasonable perception of the situation is that you were profiled and the big, bad authorities were completely wrong–because you were innocent. How is that to be independently verified without investigation?
The point–I don’t think I understand how the problem you see can be “solved” without people simply not reporting anything. I guess I’m wondering: Is reporting suspicious activity ok as long the person turns out to be a terrorist? But profiling if they are not? I understand, as a white male, I have the benefit of privilege and the consequences of profiling and racism are hard for me to “feel”. But, I’d simply ask you this: Wouldn’t any other innocent person have the right to feel what you felt on a basic level–you were inconvenienced, made to feel humiliated, anxious about what was going on…but aside from the “why was I picked”, any innocent person of any race or ethnicity would feel that way, no?
Chris
/ September 12, 2011Well said, Corey.
Kim Ray Johnson
/ September 12, 2011Thank you so much for you comment. I totally agree. Where is the middle ground? How can we be safe and still respectful? I’m sure the victims of 9/11 wish they could have been detained and humiliated but had a chance to go home and tell their families about it. I totally agree that this was awful for Shoshana. It breaks my heart, but what is the solution?
Alan Alexander
/ September 13, 2011Actually, the victims of 9/11 would probably have settled for locks on the cockpit door, not to mention SOMEONE paying attention to the report that said “Bin Laden determined to strike inside U.S.” with a response more serious than a month-long vacation.
ADP
/ September 12, 2011Actually, at Ben Gurion they’ve found just asking “Are you a terrorist?” to be very effective at screening.
I don’t think she’s saying people shouldn’t report anything. But as long as we remain ignorant of what actually constitutes a *real* threat, we’re going to be wasting a lot of time and money on fears borne of racism.
Crafty Trilobite
/ September 13, 2011How about we worry less about the very remote possibility of dying by terrorist and more about the human rights of our fellow citizens? This event was so transparently motivated by racism–are we really such a nation of cowards that we willingly go along with it in exchange for a modicum of (false) security?
Johnny
/ September 13, 2011“those who would trade a little freedom for a little order will lose both and deserve neither.” thomas jefferseon said that. smart guy….
Bhazulle
/ September 13, 2011Amen Crafty. I would rather take my chances with the “Terrorists” and possibly, remotely run the risk of losing my life, (As opposed to the 1-30 chance everytime I merge into traffic) then the very real, very direct threat of living under a totalitarian government hell bent on “Protecting” me to, well, death. I’ll take my chances with my dark skinned Middle eastern neighbor. He’s a nice guy, known him since the 5th grade. I could probably take him in a fight. Verymuch doubt I could take the body armor clad jackboot kicking in my door in the middle of the night because someone may or may not have heard me swear to loud at the television set.
Laurna Macnear
/ September 12, 2011I’m guessing that she was thoroughly searched by TSA before boarding the plane…. isn’t that why they were there??? Tell you what, let me know your next flight and we can call ahead and arrange for you to be pulled off the plane in handcuffs, strip-searched in an open cell, not told what is going on, not allowed to contact your family or an attorney and we’ll see how safe you feel!
MQ
/ September 12, 2011Corey, please re read the post. The gentlemen seated next to her came under suspicion because someone thought they took a long time in the bathroom (turns out one of ’em was airsick), and she was yanked out simply for sitting next to them. Ask yourself, if she was not brown, would she have been detained? That’s the point. Its easy to take the privelage of being presumed innocent when you’ve never experienced what its like to be presumed guilty.
Wendy
/ September 13, 2011The average, random citizen is no more well equipped to determine if a behavior is “suspicious” than they are to teach a class of kindergarteners or diagnose a heart condition. These mistakes in suspicion will continue to plague the “see something say something” logic until there is a well-disseminated and standardized set of activities defined as suspicious. This may be an unreasonable goal but it just illustrates the flaw made when “authorities” call for and give credence to these reports of suspicion.
You are being ridiculous and flippant when you comment about only reporting white males making suspicious behavior. Racial profiling is unamerican and unethical, period.
If there were statistics to support the “see something say something” policy the media would be parading them out every time a situation like this occurs. It is my “suspicion” that the vast majority of tips from folks who think they’ve observed suspicious behavior don’t ever lead to the arrest of any true terrorist.
Abhi
/ September 13, 2011@Corey Heim
Dear genius, how many American citizens were in on the 911 plot? They should have simply taken her to some room(as opposed to a cell), asked her for her citizenship details, and once they found out that she was a citizen, they should have let her go.
Clearly the person reporting her was not question much. And the way they treated her should have been in proportion of the evidence that the other person/coward gave. “I think I saw a knife in her handbag” gets you stripsearched. “Was doing stuff that most people do, except that she looks arab/asian” should just trigger a mere check of citizenship.
Perhaps you should let us know how many American citizens carried out 911 attack. But apparently you belong to the group of brain-dead people who would strip-search and suspect the pilot too, at boarding time(clue :The pilot doesn’t needs guns or weapons to crash the plane. I had to point it out since you are incapable of thinking this by yourself apparently)
Just a thought
/ September 13, 2011@Abhi, Abuse of another poster in this forum is most unfortunate. Your opinions on the issue add to the discussion, abusive language and name calling do not. Respect for others is part of the issue here.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011Fascists, and the people who enable them, are not worthy of respect.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011No Americans were part of the 9/11 plot. But it was Americans all the way behind the Oklahoma City bombing; also consider Eric Robert Rudolph (Olympic Park bombings); Nidal Malik Hasan (the American-born, US Army-serving psychiatrist who massacred troops at Fort Hood); the Unabomber whose last name I can never spell, etc.
Assuming that American citizenship precludes terrorist activity is just as naive, short-sighted, and troublesome as assuming that brown skin predicts it.
In Respect
/ September 13, 2011Thank you! Add to the list Richard Reid, the AMERICAN shoe bomber or the AMERICAN born convert to Islam, Anwar al-Awlaki who routinely calls for death to Americans and encourages attacks from “within”. Sorry, citizenship is no longer cause to assume someone “can’t possibly be a terrorist”.
M
/ September 13, 2011As I recall, Timothy McVeigh was an American citizen born and raised.
Firinel Thurman
/ September 13, 2011You said: “The frustrating thing about your entire situation was that you were innocent and got caught up in either a report by an outright racist or more likely, an overly-frightened citizen who probably should do a better job of looking for acts rather than skin color.”
I think your use of “or” suggest that you don’t understand what a racist is. If someone, who witnesses no suspicious acts, and yet is frightened because of nothing more than a person’s skin color, as you described in the second phrase, then they are a racist, so your options appear to be racist or… racist.
M
/ September 13, 2011The common man/woman is not an expert in terrorism and the govt should stop empowering them to think that they are. We are not the first country to be hit by terrorism and there’s a lot to be learned from other countries that have many more years of experience than we do. We also need to study world history and understand things like the Gestapo. If you don’t understand how problems can be solved without people not reporting anything, that’s ok because you’re not an expert. But at least understand the huge danger in actually having people report things and what that can lead to.
Lucretia M Pruitt (@LucretiaPruitt)
/ September 13, 2011Corey – that one is actually kind of easy. We have long held that the accused in this country has a right to face his/her accuser and be tried by a jury of his peers. Not reported by ‘someone’ and held & searched on account of “It’s 9/11 and people are seeing ghosts. They are seeing things that aren’t there.”
The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution pretty clearly discusses this. It says:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
And yeah, she kinda did make it clear that it was a cavity search
“Because I am so violent. And pulling me off an airplane, handcuffing me and patting me down against a squad car didn’t offer enough protection. They also needed to make sure all my orifices were free and clear.” You can’t exactly check “orifices” without a cavity search.
No one swore out an Oath, nor was there a Warrant. If you wanted to report a suspicious person outside your house? You’d have to make a statement to the police and you’d have to be willing to stand up to that in court.
It may take a really long time for the SCOTUS to get around to actually admitting it, but if you think a warrantless strip search, where the person being detained is denied the right to legal counsel, is denied the right to know what the charges are or the grounds for this kind of search isn’t “unreasonable” then I would submit humbly that you’ve never found yourself in such a position. What if one of the people sitting in that row had been a 12 year old? Not so reasonable all of the sudden.
If there is a person acting suspiciously near the playground of a school? You still have to be willing to make a statement to the police. If you choose to do it as an ‘anonymous tip’ somehow – the police have to then find some justification (legal justification) to get a warrant to search that person’s house – let alone his/her body cavities. The fact that the 3 people in that row were treated differently than the rest of the passengers and that the officer “walked me back to my cell, telling me it was for my own protection as they had brought in the rest of the passengers for questioning” tells you that it was based on fear. If she wasn’t guilty of anything? Why not just say loudly as you return her to the same area as the rest of the passengers “We’re sorry ma’am. We had to follow procedure. Clearly this was in error, you are free to go.”?
From what is written here, it’s clear that the FBI agents had time to have done a background check. It’s also clear that the police were in no imminent danger of a woman handcuffed with her hands behind her back in a small locked cell somehow magically exploding some device contained inside her that she had waited to set off until the plane had landed, sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes, and been stormed by security.
In theory, terrorists with devices like that would actually *use* it on the plane, or at least, long before the point that the search took place as opposed to waiting until finding themselves handcuffed, alone, and helpless in a cell. (p.s. ultrasound or xray is far more efficient than a cavity search and considerably less invasive.)
The point isn’t “well how can we be sure to get the bad guys if we don’t do this?” but instead “is this approach actually netting any ‘bad guys’? If not, why are we stripping random Americans of their civil liberties and legal rights because someone on a plane has an over-active imagination?”
Really, the security theater has got to stop now. We’ve got to grow up and use techniques proven by decades of use in places like Israel. Because there was a point in time not so long ago, that the thought of *anyone* treated that way by a government was obscene. It was the bogieman presented to young, naive travelers headed overseas “don’t do anything wrong – you might get thrown in a Turkish prison and never be seen again!” A bogieman it turns out was & is very real. But now, just as equally, someone in Turkey could say the same to his children as they head toward the U.S. now.
Katrina @ Hix in the Stix ~ Army Edition
/ September 13, 2011@Lucretia, THANK YOU for this post! You are the first person to have pointed out what I thought when I first read the news article (before reading this blog post)…If Shoshana or the other two passengers had meant any harm they would have done it BEFORE they ever landed! Detaining them and “strip searching” them after they landed is like patching a whole in a boat after it has sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Too little, too late.
I am not completely opposed to SOME racial profiling – but it should have been done before they ever got on the plane. What happened here is outrageous. Beyond absurd. And the person(s) who reported the “suspicious behavior” aught to be tarred and feathered!
Shoshana’s “racial prejudices” that resulted while she was being detained were totally understandable. She should NEVER have been put in that position in the first place. She had done nothing more suspicious than fly on 9/11. The whole “standard procedure” stuff is bull crap and someone (maybe several someones) really screwed up in their jobs. She and the other two men who were detained deserve a formal apology from the President of the US, the airline they were flying, and the FBI for wrongful detainment and invasion of privacy. Their rights were most definitely violated!
My husband is in the Army, currently deployed – he found this article and told me about as HE is outraged and thinks someone really screwed up. This isn’t the kind of “Freedom” he is fighting for he told me and he said that “they” should be really glad she is being so understanding about all of this!
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Well said Lucretia!
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Hey, Corey, I understand what you’re saying.
Shoshana, I’m going to be blunt and honest about what I experience where I live. It will probably hurt you, and I ask your forgiveness. I hope it will also help us start to resolve our paranoia.
First, look at what the complaint of suspiscion said, per Scott Wintner, a Detroit Metropolitan Airport spokesman, as reported in the NYT:
“– multiple passengers holed up in the bathroom — led to F-16s shadowing Frontier Airlines Flight 623 from Denver as it neared Detroit. ”
Given the existence of the Mile High Club, there was a time when “multiple passengers holed up in the bathroom” would’ve resulted in nothing more than giggles and smirks. If Homeland Security (could we have named it anything more Nazi-evocative?) believes people in an airplane bathroom together usually indicates a terrorist plot, they should simply issue a rule against it similar to those against smoking. They make the flight attendants threaten us with Federal punishment during the pre-flight talk if we don’t comply with that!
The point is, Shoshana never was in the bathroom with her seatmates, nor they in the bathroom together as far as she knows. Some simple, discreet questioning of the passengers seated near the bathrooms by the flight attendants could have verified the untruth of the allegation, and none of this need have happened. “Has there been more than one person in the bathroom at the same time?” Duh.
I have a feeling the profiling started during seat assignment, actually, knowing several airline employees. There’s a sense of entitlement to consider the “sensitivities” you talk about, Corey, and I suspect the three were seated together because they had “funny names”. That way, “real Americans” wouldn’t have to sit next to someone who might make them “uncomfortable”. Just lump all of “them” together where we can watch ’em.
What if we turned our fear on its head and behaved as if we had no fear? That would mean approaching someone we felt suspiscious about and engaging them in a friendly way. What if the accuser had simply looked Shoshana and her seatmates in the eye, smiled, and asked, “How’s it going?” There’s an awful lot to learn from body language when you do that.
If I see someone sweating all out of proportion to the temperature, I’m gonna ask if they feel alright. I’m gonna offer to get them a cool wet paper towel from the bathroom, or a dose of aspirin. How they react to kindness will be most revealing, and then I can decide whether to get help from the authorities.
Speaking of the authorities, how does it make anyone safer to treat a suspect roughly unless they are physically resisting? Too many cop shows where they take a person down for asking questions when they’ve been told to shut up – it’s outrageous!
And since when do we think it’s OK to handcuff people without arresting them, Mirandizing them, and stating what they’re charged with? Since September 11, that’s when.
The Constitution doesn’t mention “detainees”. You’re either under reasonable suspiscion (probable cause) or you’re not. This dangerous gray area is an invention that’s being used by police now to intimidate citizens into “coming down to the precinct to talk”. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.” That’s complete BS, and every citizen should retain a healthy level of disdain for the authorities.
Look, if our main concern is whether we might die in a terrorist act, we will lose this country. We must each be willing to die for our freedom or it will be taken from us. A strip search for the protection of the authorities? I thought they were all heroes, which implies bravery and the willingness to lay down their lives for Constitutional principles.
No, the strip search is an enhanced interrogation technique meant to make the detainee feel helpless and break down resistance. If nothing else, everyone reading Shoshana’s story should contact all their elected representatives and insist that it cannot take place until a suspect is duly arrested under probable cause and is entering the jail.
http://www.congress.org/ lets you find all your state and national representatives by just entering your zip code, and connects you with their contact information. Bookmark it. You’re gonna need it.
Kit Walker
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely perfectly stated
Mike
/ September 13, 2011The authorities could have asked questions or had a discussion with the three people instead of cuffing them, marching them off the plane, jailing them, strip searching them, and generally humiliating and terrifying them. There was no indication of any violence, imminent threat, or crime. So why these measures?
That doesn’t solve the problem of nervous nellies reporting routine behavior as suspicious, but it certainly mutes the negative impacts. Police used to be skilled in de-escalating situations; now they seem only to escalate them.
If the police had a five minute chat with the three people, the crew, and a few other passengers, we wouldn’t even be reading about this terrible incident.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I’m friends with a policeman and I hate to say it, but they are all taught to be distrusting of everyone and are completely paranoid. And it’s not a stereotype; they are taught not to trust anyone. And it’s legal for them to lie to you in questioning.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011Well it would help if the proper authorities followed the dictate of our rule of law – innocent until proved guilty. This woman, and the two men, could have been taken off the plane and questioned respectfully. To be taken off, handcuffed, strip searched and put in containment based on a civilian witness’s opinion is unreasonable and against everything we purport to stand for.
Common sense seems to have gotten lost along with our ability to react appropriately to situations.
AFC
/ September 13, 2011You write: “My only question: How are the “authorities” (I sense a hint of derision when you used that word) to know the suspicions of the person who reported what they believed they saw were based on racism or stereotype?”
I’m a little dismayed that you would ask such a question. The “authorities” should simply ask them whether there is any basis for their suspicion. If the answer is “no,” then they shouldn’t detain anyone (whether they chalk it up to racism, or whatever else). If the answer is “yes,” then they should ask them what it is. If the answer to that is, “they just don’t look right to me”… well, then what do *you* think should follow?
Basically, if there is actual evidence of criminal activity backing up a “suspicion,” then it should be acted upon. If there is no evidence of criminal activity backing up a “suspicion,” then the lack of evidence should suffice to guarantee the treatment of persons as innocents. In neither case should “suspicion” itself be in any way a criterion for any kind of action by police.
And, frankly, I think any child should understand all that.
Exillior
/ September 13, 2011I agree with you. Which means that the only solution to the crucial question of “how do we know the people on this flight aren’t concealing weapons or materials” is to cavity-search everybody flying.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Corey,
Every year, about 37,000 Americans die in traffic accidents. The chances of a the average American being killed by a terrorist are astronomical. We don’t strip search everyone who gets in a car and drives.
Your euphemisms are very telling. The facts are that this woman was hand-cuffed, falsely arrested, jailed, and strip searched – for no probable cause, without reasonable suspicion, without search warrant, due process, or cause.
You have the gall to euphemistically dismiss her ordeal as”made to feel humiliated, anxious about what was going on”.
In fact, her civil rights were seriously violated.
mr
/ September 13, 2011Ummm…..and more than 1.2 million U.S. citizens are stopped each year for suspicion of driving under the influence and released because they’re determined safe to drive. Granted, they aren’t subjected to strip searches (at least I hope not) – but that’s simply because the risk associated with your average drunk driver simply pales in comparison to the risk associated with your average mass terrorist and a more extreme vetting process simply isn’t prudent. These drivers are, however, questioned, tested, potentially humiliated, etc. Clearly the experience of a cavity search is undoubtedly more uncomfortable than a simple “walk the line” test, but the principle is exactly the same. Lots of perfectly safe drivers are pulled over fruitlessly in the name of “probable cause.” It isn’t fun. But that’s the deal – at least if you want to keep drunks off the road.
Simple analogy. But you get the point. Now, let the name-calling begin….
mr
/ September 13, 2011Corey, despite your poor choice of baseball teams (:)), you are otherwise a sharp, acute observer. Short answer – there is no clear-cut “middle ground.” There simply isn’t a “right way” for authorities to do the jobs we all expect them to do….they MUST do….without frustrating, offending and sometimes even scaring some of us. The risk is simply too great to err on the side of trust and faith. Unfortunately, we can no longer afford to be naive…a few undereducated cowards in airplanes literally ran that option into the ground ten years ago. Perhaps Shosh should aim more of her vituperation at them, since their actions were the ultimate source of her recent humiliating experience. I’m guessing Jeremy Glick and his cabin-mates would have traded a limb for some deprecating questions and a strip search, but maybe that’s just me.
As for the aforementioned authorities violating their constitutional rights….thankfully, most of us understand clearly that the report of suspicious behavior in this particular case, given the context and circumstances, more than warranted probable cause. I couldn’t give a flip about skin color, taste in music or penchant for drinking cheap beer (quick side note: nowhere in Shosh’s account does she mention that her “accuser” is white…wouldn’t it be sad, and a bit ironic, to find out he/she was, let’s say, a little Vietnamese woman?). No, really….let me confirm….I simply do not care WHO looks like WHAT and how they prefer to cut their hair. I lost my “right” to do that when I watched a few thousand unsuspecting 9-to-5ers follow their morning coffee with a refreshing jump out of a 100+ story building. I’m sure the posters on this thread can understand….
Anyway, thanks for your post. It’s fortunate that you represent a vast (if not ‘silent’) majority of Americans who may not be entirely comfortable with the current means of protecting ourselves but understand that a trade-off is now, unfortunately, a part of our lives.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011I guess you didn’t read her blog completely and missed this or else you don’t know the definition of orifice:
“Because I am so violent. And pulling me off an airplane, handcuffing me and patting me down against a squad car didn’t offer enough protection. They also needed to make sure all my orifices were free and clear.”
All my orifices means “all.” She’s already humiliated enough, so does she have to go into detail? Her statement is quite clear.
steve
/ September 12, 2011Be sure to thank Obama for the change.
saireygamp
/ September 12, 2011sorry, this is bush/cheney change
Aaron
/ September 13, 2011Bullshit. The Patriot Act was passed by a Democratic congress and signed by a Republican president, then re-upped by a Republican congress and Democratic president.
At the end of the day, the TSA is run and managed by the EXECUTIVE branch of the government. If President Obama, Eric Holder, or Janet Napolitano wanted to stop these egregious violations of the fourth amendment, they could. They’ve been running DHS and TSA for three years now. It’s nonsense to blame this on Bush/Cheney.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011The act was definitely supported by far more Rs than Ds. Yes, Obama could use executive order to modify the agencies, but Presidents rarely institute major changes in programs instituted by their predecessors without an act of Congress, and the President’s job is to enforce law created by Congress, not to modify it. Yes, he could have vetoed the reauthorization, but the veto would have been overridden, and Presidents hate it when that happens.
RR
/ September 13, 2011Some folks will really do a lot of mental acrobatics to avoid opening their eyes to Obama being Bush II, no? The fact is he has failed to lead on this, either because he agrees that Justice, Homeland Security, etc are acting appropriately in the name of “security,” or perhaps because he’s been focused on his agenda of choice: forcing Americans into a government-run healthcare scheme that many of them don’t want. But, please, the man has been President of the United States for nearly a full term now, and he started it off with Democrat majorities in both chambers; sorry, but if you want to make this a “partisan” issue, you’ll have to work harder than the above to convince me. At what point exactly do we start holding a President accountable for what he has or has not done to advance American principles? You know, things like LIBERTY? The Hope and Change kool-aid has gotten rather stale.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Bullshit right back at you. Bush pushed a “if you’re not with us you’re against us” agenda and he and Cheney worked diligently to ensure that gullible Americans believed that anyone who opposed the “Patriot Act” (most definitely named that for a reason) was a terrorist sympathizer and America-hater. It was career suicide to openly oppose the Patriot Act, and Bush and Cheney made sure of it. They played on our irrational fears born of a horrific attack and they made the most of them, creating laws that stripped us of our Constitutional rights and subjecting innocent people to torture and imprisonment without charges. The actions of the “authorities” (and the derisive tone is deliberate and deserved) are the direct result of Bush and Cheney.
Allison
/ September 12, 2011TSA changes and the Patriot Act were begun and expanded under Bush/Cheney. Yes, they’ve continued under Obama, but they started earlier.
But you knew that.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011When I voted for Obama I did so because he promised to change this. ALL of the hideous things the executive branch did under Bush, it is STILL doing.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I hear you.
Bk4
/ September 12, 2011Photos?
Jeff Guilfoyle
/ September 12, 2011Wow. Thank you for writing this, and on behalf of your FELLOW American citizens, I am truly truly sorry that you were treated this way. Know that I, a white male, feel violated reading what happened to you. What happens to one of us, happens to all of us. A little more of my faith in this country slipped away, just as the principles and beliefs our country was founded upon have slipped away. You writing this is standing up for those principles, however, and doing so publicly would have made our Founding Fathers proud.
Zaerion
/ September 13, 2011Well said, and I too feel ashamed at what happened to you. It is disgusting and appalling. I am reminded of the internment camps that Americans of Japanese descent were shuffled into during WW2. The comparison may seem a bit dramatic perhaps, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Richard Dickson
/ September 12, 2011To cap off a day of humiliation with a line like “Being a descendant of desert people, you must be used to the heat”… Well, you’re a more patient person than I am, that’s for sure.
I’m sorry this happened to you.
Steev
/ September 13, 2011I don’t see him saying that, I see him apologizing for not having AC and she is saying she doesn’t mind because she is a descendent. Unless I am misreading it but that is my takeaway
elayne
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, I wasn’t clear on that one either – it seems like it’s her thought processes, but there are other places where quotes aren’t used to indicate who’s speaking so I’m not sure how to parse that.
Jhada Addams
/ September 12, 2011Shared in many forums to help spread the word. Thank you for your bravery. I too am so sorry that this happened to you.
Liz
/ September 12, 2011That’s incredibly sad and horrible. It is amazing the disruption and trouble, individual and social damage done by people reporting their “suspicions” and the people responding in this way?
Liz
/ September 12, 2011And I’m so sorry that happened to you– but glad you reported on it in this way to let people know.
Bob
/ September 12, 2011I am so ashamed of my country today.
And what a disgrace to the victims of September 11 that we turned it into an opportunity to strip search and manhandle random innocents.
These aren’t the actions of a free nation.
GaryM
/ September 12, 2011This is beyond outrageous. DAMN the TSA.
Ken
/ September 13, 2011It was the _pilot_, not the TSA who did this.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Where are you getting that information? The pilot detained her, cuffed her, and strip-searched her?
moondancer
/ September 15, 2011America being a white country?
Are you a ghost from 18th century or live in KKK county?
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011It was Homeland Security, not TSA. It boggles the mind that DHS would take all this preventative action, when the TSA should have already ensured she had no weapons.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States.[1]
The TSA was created as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, sponsored by Don Young in the United States House of Representatives[2] and Ernest Hollings in the Senate,[3] passed by the 107th U.S. Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001. Originally part of the United States Department of Transportation, the TSA was moved to the Department of Homeland Security on March 25, 2003.
John S. Pistole is the fifth TSA Administrator, having replaced former head Kip Hawley.[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Yeah OK but the label on the uniforms of the the thugs who illegally detained and violated her says “DHS” not “TSA”. The TSA people are not qualified to perform arrests without the supervision of other agencies. (As if one could imagine anyone less qualified than those who acted in this case.)
CW Poole (@cwpontwit)
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for your account. I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you … or to anyone. This makes me even more ashamed to be an American, disgusted and very angry. Not in my country, dammit! I sincerely hope you and everyone else involved in the “50 other similar incidents across the country” will file a lawsuit over this violation of your civil rights. This paranoid insanity has to stop or we might as well just tear up the constitution and forget about ever having had any freedoms.
Marguerite Labbe
/ September 12, 2011I’m so very sorry that this happened to you. I will be passing this along.
phyllis
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you. I can only hope that whoever cast dispersions on you and your seatmates was subjected to the same degree of humiliation and scrutiny that you faced. I would hope that there is an avenue for suspicious behavior to be reported, but that any such reporting be viewed by authorities to include all persons who may vouch for an accurate account of why you were viewed in a negative light. I hope you were compensated in some way for the frightening and pointless humiliation you experienced.
Nancy
/ September 12, 2011thank you for sharing your experience. I would have been losing it. I was screaming while I read this. The only way to fight this is to get these stories out there. (heard about it from Nick Kristof’s tweet.)
Sheta Kaey
/ September 12, 2011I’m not at all surprised to read this story in the Amerika of post-9/11. I’m sorry this happened to you, but I’m glad that you were not treated even worse — Imagine if all the officers you dealt with were as stupid and ignorant as the one that gave you a ride to your car.
I’ve shared this post on three social networks. You have my compassion and my empathy. Please never, ever stop writing of the injustices you see, even if you don’t experience them yourself, and encourage others to do the same. It’s only by spreading awareness can we hope to overcome the apathy that tells us we can’t effect any change.
Even the first black President has wimped out at ending the Patriot Act type spying by the FBI, CIA, NSA, and so on…. as well as the unjustifiable treatment of other people whose skin isn’t lily white.
Mister Aloha
/ September 14, 2011Duhhh, sorry but I’m an American not a Amerikan.
I live in America not Amerika.
Oh, and easy for you to talk cause by your photo, your skin is “lily white.”
I feel more for the ones that lost their lives in the 9-11 tragedy then her being questioned and strip searched, she is still alive, she still has her family. Those in the Twin Towers are not here, their family misses them. And there were “The Encyclopedia of 9/11. Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2819”
That’s 2,819 Americans that lost their lives cause of 4 planes that were hi-jacked…..by some of that were of the same color and race….If you ARE an AMERICAN, you will understand!
GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.
If you don’t like it, please leave, there are other countries that would love your citizenship.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Sharing an ethnic group with terrorists does not make one a terrorist.
Do not dishonor the memory of the 9/11 dead by invoking them to justify your support of racial profiling and Constitutional rights violations.
Guess what? In America, we get the freedom to question and criticize our government, and don’t have to leave. That’s actually a pretty important freedom that the Founding Fathers valued.
J.d. Bruewer
/ September 12, 2011Sorry to hear your story, but thanks for telling it. I’m a fat, old white guy from Ohio, your post gives me a perspective I wouldn’t normally see. Thanks for sharing it.
Sandie Russo
/ September 12, 2011You don’t know me. A friend of mine on Google+ shared the link to your story, and I was compelled to read it. I am outraged at the way you were treated. I am shocked that this can happen in this country. I am so sorry for the way you were treated, and I hope that you will be ok. My heart goes out to you. Keep telling your story. People need to hear this!
Buster
/ September 12, 2011I have a problem with patriotism, I find it agressive and dangerous. I have been pondering a world without it and think it would be good for all but then I’m reminded that religion is the real problem, hopefully in 1000 years the world will be as diferent then as it was 3000 years ago from now.
Toni Lupo Ruso
/ September 12, 2011Soshana, I was shocked and saddened as I read this. We have not spoke or seen eachother since high school but I remember you as such a nice and accepting person. Not sure I could have shown the same strength in the given situation. I am proud to know you and wish to help spread the word. Your friend – Toni
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Thank you Toni! Nice to hear from you.
kerry
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry you had to go through that: I would have been terrified!
Fear is such a dangerous thing. I’m Canadian and I don’t think we have the same culture of fear that’s been stewing in the States in this last decade, but I still see it and still sometimes have to actively say “no” to being sucked into a lifestyle of fear. I think we’re really being taught to fear what is different or unfamiliar … and who, I guess — religiously, ethnically, politically. Even though I know better, sometimes I have to talk myself down: “no, being afraid of people who are unknown to me isn’t helpful or true or acceptable. I will not give in to the hype and the media and the unfairness. I will not be afraid.”
I hope you are able to find peace & resolution in the wake of yesterday. I wish you blessings.
Vickie's Mom
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for writing this, even though your story makes my blood boil. Those of us who are not lily white always have that little thought in the back of our head that this can happen to any of us.
Kathryn Quigley
/ September 12, 2011Holy crap! This is awful. I send you a hug.
wallyhorse
/ September 12, 2011What happened to you is absolutely disgusting, and shows how paranoid some people really are. It shows the real problems of the paranoia people have increasing had since 9/11, something I’ve seen quite a lot of over time.
It seems some of those here would have been better used at the Dallas Cowboys-New York Jets game at Met Life Stadium in The Meadowlands Sunday night, where a man was able to get a stun gun past security and incite a brawl in the stands during the game.
There is a discussion thread about happened to you as well on the Too Smart To Fail Message Board at: http://www.toosmarttofail.com/forums/showthread.php?15546 (there is also a link from there to a discussion thread about what happened Sunday Night in The Meadowlands).
Maggie Metzger Brazeau
/ September 12, 2011Declan McCullagh shared your post over on G+, and I am so pissed on your behalf, I can hardly see straight! I’m so sorry this happened to you! My husband is of Syrian extraction and is constantly being yanked aside for “extra screening”, but he’s never been this badly mistreated.
On a different note, I read back an entry, and see that you are newly arrived to Toledo. As it happens, I live in Toledo, and except for a year and a half abroad, have lived here all my life. Toledo doesn’t seem like much to new transplants, but we actually have a lot of lovely little jewels hidden amongst the weeds here and in the surrounding areas. Pop me a note at Facebook – I’m logged in with it – and I’ll be glad to give you the low down on the Glass City.
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Will you friend me and we can chat? Thanks for the response!!–Shoshana
Maggie Metzger Brazeau
/ September 12, 2011Friend request sent! I don’t use the FB chat feature because every time I do, the whole world wants to talk, but I happily answer messages! After you add me back, I’ll send you my AIM name. Only a few people know that, it’s easier to keep up with!
Brandon Lehman
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, in Toledo there is a woman who has been talking out about these kind of incidents and has been working hard to educate the community and steer people away from blindly making stereotypes about people of Arab heritage. Her name is Fatima Al-Hayani, and you may want to look her up, I’m sure she would love to hear your story, if she hasn’t already. I haven’t spoken with her since I was a student of hers back in the late 90’s, but I do know that she is still very involved with the local Arab community. Here is a new article that she was featured in a few years back: http://www.toledoblade.com/Education/2007/12/14/Retired-UT-educator-sees-anti-Muslim-bias.html
Theresa Crater
/ September 12, 2011OMG! What an experience. And I thought I had it bad when they detained me in Denver for asking for a flight attendant’s name who’d been excessively rude so I could write a letter of complaint. You sure you don’t have a false imprisonment charge? I’m glad you’re OK, except for the emotional trauma! Take good care of yourself!
Paul
/ September 12, 2011I’d ask you to consider a different perspective — that this was not profiling, racial or otherwise, but rather the result of a *lack* of profiling. If we had real air security, instead of the theatre we engage in today, we would have professionals, trained in body language and psychology, screening people at the airport. What you experienced, which was reprehensible and inexcusable, was a result of that “report suspicious behavior” nonsense — relying on the uninformed and untrained to report things.
IncensedAndPerturbed
/ September 12, 2011Amen! But in order to get professional observations you need to spend more money. Though we could probably get rid of the NSA and spend money on this project and still have a lot left over.
Katie Greene
/ September 12, 2011I think the money spent on the resources used to tail the plane with f-16’s, fbi and local authorities can be better spent on educating/training the tsa
Melissa
/ September 12, 2011Very true, Paul!
g
/ September 12, 2011Wow. I’m speechless at this injustice… but also moved by the grace and humanity you showed throughout the ordeal.
Not to be too cynical, but I’d look into hiring a lawyer to make sure everything was on the up and up…
IncensedAndPerturbed
/ September 12, 2011Everything was on the up and up. The officers were just following procedure based on legislation that the ignorant populace allowed to be instated. We don’t need lawyers we need protests to demand change.
anon
/ September 12, 2011With this level of Orwellian insanity, it seems unwise to say anything to a police officer. Always demand to see a lawyer
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011It was not on the up and up. The two men were the suspicious people and she was an innocent bystander. The men were innocent, too, but she was never under suspicion.
Quarib Chowdhury (@quaribc)
/ September 12, 2011this is my first time reading your blog. got a twit link actually. i’m really saddened hear about your experience. Thank you for sharing your story.
Karen
/ September 12, 2011How you were treated is horrifying. I’ve shared this on FB, SU and Twitter. I just hope this is one more smack to the head of the American people – this violation of human rights and our Constitution has got to stop.
E Hunter
/ September 12, 2011What a horrible experience. Thank you for having the courage to write about this. I’m so glad you’re back with your family.
Jennifer Wright
/ September 12, 2011I saw your link posted on Missy’s Facebook page. This disgusts me, I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal. What sickens me even more is that just today, my younger brother and his new wife (both who are white and look it) travelled through TWO airports with a 6-inch hunting knife he had mistakenly left in his backpack. Security did not find the knife at the San Diego airport, nor at the Atlanta airport. Finally, leaving Miami for their international flight, it was discovered. Although I’m glad they didn’t get into trouble as it was an innocent mistake, I am horrified that a knife was brought on to 2 different flights!! They go to all this effort to harass and humiliate completely innocent people because of their race, but can’t find a knife in the x-ray machines?! It’s ridiculous.
Azazel
/ September 12, 2011Find out who reported you and sue the bastard. The only way to stop this is to make them feel some consequences.
strega42
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely. Making false terrorism reports is, in fact, a crime. The fact is there was no “suspicious behavior”; spending “too long” in a bathroom is not suspicious behavior. I would strongly suggest seeing if you can get them prosecuted for making a false report. I know there’s a procedure for that.
Tapati
/ September 12, 2011I’ve never supported the Patriot Act because racist and paranoid people can do shit like this to citizens. It’s akin to The Spanish Inquisition in that a mere accusation is enough to set it in motion. I am so sorry they treated you like this and I’m especially angry at the racist passenger(s) who instigated it. My granddaughter is half-Iraqi and my grandsons are half Mexican and I shudder to think of the bullshit they’ll encounter from people like that. Thank you for speaking out. I would encourage everyone to write to their representatives about the excesses of The Patriot Act.
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry — and infuriated — to hear of your ordeal. That’s not even an adequate word to describe it. Violation. Humiliation. Abuse.
And all because of the paranoia and hysteria that has taken over this country.
Every person who has ever defended the DHS, who has ever been an apologist for the TSA, who has ever uttered the monumentally stupid shibboleth, “as long as it keeps us safe!” is guilty of doing this to you. And to countless others.
The 9/11 victimology of this country, fed by a complicit media, has got to stop. We are on a very dark path.
Joy Dunseth Jacques
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for sharing this. I am really sorry this happened to you.
mella (@Esmella)
/ September 12, 2011This is intense. I am incredibly appalled and saddened that this happened to you. I just saw this link on my feed on Twitter. Someone had retweeted it. I’m sharing your story with my friends so that they know. I am so sorry that you had to go through this and I’m glad you’ve made it home now. No one should be treated like this.
s1ghk0mantiz
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for writing this.
Gayle Boddy Clark
/ September 12, 2011my friend also shared this on her facebook page. I am so sorry you had to deal with this.. I have also shared… I want to get the word out that this kind of thing is unexceptionable!
Pamela D. Lloyd
/ September 12, 2011Jay Smooth on Google+ shared this, and I will also. I’m very sorry you had to experience this. Fear and prejudice are bad enough on their own; together, they are a terrible thing.
elaine
/ September 12, 2011Amazingly awful story. But you tell it well and I hope it goes viral, to help people understand exactly how paranoia and racism work.
Steven Coad (@stevencoad)
/ September 12, 2011I’m equal parts amazed and horrified by this story. Thank you for writing about it. I don’t understand how anyone could call themselves an American and not be ashamed at the way we treat our own just to keep up the charade of security.
W Scott Lincoln
/ September 12, 2011Has your story been picked up by any media outlets yet?
W Scott Lincoln
/ September 12, 2011I take my comment back. A simple search led to many news articles exactly as you describe. It is unfortunate that on this day we are bound by more than the patriotism everyone espouses, but also fear. Fear that will keep us bound and overpower our belief in the ideals supposedly so important to our country that makes the patriotism worthwhile.
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Not that I know of.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011It is being reported all over because it is an outrage. You really should hire a lawyer, especially in light of the fact that it was only the two men who were under suspicion and you got taken in the kerfuffle. If it was the flight attendant who reported it, she or he needs to lose their job for being so scared of their passengers just for going to the restroom. This person is clearly in the wrong line of work.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Wait for a good lawyer. I bet they will be coming out of the woodwork to take your case.
chort
/ September 12, 2011I’m terribly sorry that you endured this. It’s unacceptable that so many people believe it’s OK to give up the rights this country was founded on to appease their irrational fears. The only thing I can offer you is my heartfelt thanks for sharing your experience in the hope that it will affect some kind of change for the better.
Blair
/ September 12, 2011Although this is horrible, think of it this way, it wasn’t Homeland Security that profiled, it was actually some paranoid passenger on the flight. You have to realize that people are going to be extra-extra paranoid especially on 9/11. Though you do have my sympathies that it happened to you, it shouldn’t have happened.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011“Extra-extra paranoid” is not an excuse. That you would even say something so disgusting as “you have to realize” clearly shows that you are comfortable with that paranoia resulting in the utter shattering of the rights that “patriots” allegedly hold so dear.
Nikhil Bagri
/ September 14, 2011Sadly America as a country has made a complete economy on Paranoia!!!
Natalie Brown
/ September 12, 2011I am so very sorry this happened to you. Racial profiling is proven not to work. The tactics that “Homeland Security” are using do not work. What is happening instead is injustice in the name of ‘supposed’ security. What they need to work on is building some trust and unity with other countries instead of scaring visitors and citizens. It’s totally disgusting how you were treated.
Judi Albarano
/ September 12, 2011And…….the idiot who reported it as “suspicious” didn’t think that two people from the same row go to the lavatory because they’re already up happens all the time!! If you have to get up to let someone out, you may as well go too so you don’t have to disturb the other passenger/s in the row again later. Fear has replaced common sense in many situations. The result is unfair treatment of innocent American citizens.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011It sounds like one was ill and gone for awhile, so the other got up to check on him. That is what papers are reporting. She stated she took photos of the commotion outside the plane with their camera because she was at a better angle, so it sounds like she had a window seat and the two Indian gentlemen were seated beside each other.
Kent
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for telling your story.
Zach Blume
/ September 12, 2011Is there not some kind of legal recourse to this? If the person didn’t report anything actually specifically suspicious, just that they were “suspicious”, isn’t that lacking probable cause, and thus false arrest.
David Reynolds-Gier
/ September 13, 2011Not really. If you had to be ‘accurate’ in every suspicion you had, that would have an extremely chilling effect on both professional law enforcement and citizen vigilance against (real) criminal activity. Probable cause is just that – not nearly the same standard as ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, which is what is required for a conviction.
The TSA officials got a ‘bad’ tip based on some racism and a lot of fear – but if they hadn’t followed up and it HAD been something, we’d be screaming just as loud.
AFC
/ September 13, 2011There was no probable cause here, nor did the government claim to have probable cause. Instead, the government claimed that its searches were on the basis of protection. SCOTUS has ruled that police officers can search you WITHOUT probable cause, in order to ensure you don’t have weapons with which to attack them.
You are certainly totally incorrect, from a legal perspective, to say that anyone’s feeling of “suspicion” constitutes “probable cause.”
You write: “The TSA officials got a ‘bad’ tip based on some racism and a lot of fear – but if they hadn’t followed up and it HAD been something, we’d be screaming just as loud.”
In my eyes, the fact that the plane landed safely at its destination without being hijacked, proves it wasn’t hijacked.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011If you had to be ‘accurate’ in every suspicion you had, that would have an extremely chilling effect on both professional law enforcement and citizen vigilance against (real) criminal activity. Probable cause is just that – not nearly the same standard as ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, which is what is required for a conviction.
The standard for law enforcement is individualized suspicion based on an objective facts indicative of probable criminal activity. The “facts” reported to authorities were that two men each spent twenty minutes in the toilet, did not reply to someone speaking to them at the door, and sat in the same row as the woman reporting her unfounded arrest, abduction, detention, search, and molestation. The power to do that is not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution.
moondancer
/ September 15, 2011I can’t believe some of you who can just dismiss it as a “little inconvenience”. Just read and think a little harder and imagine what it would be like if the same thing happened to you. You were handcuffed and carted off the plane while everybody looks at you like those who bombed the Twin Towers on 9/11. Forced to undress in front of a bunch of strangers and searched even in your body cavities (yes, your private parts). You were treated like the worst criminal on earth. You may be on FBI watch list for a long time after this (that means every time you apply for a job you’ll be question for it) Now, do you still think it as a “little inconvenience”?. That would scar me for the rest of my life. It’s important to put yourself in other people’s shoe once in a while. That’s what mature adults do.
v
/ September 12, 2011I am so glad you took the time to write this up….these sorts of personal accounts are the real documentations of history.
Prathm
/ September 14, 2011My comment was going to be exactly the same. It is SO IMPORTANT that you wrote this.
I can’t imagine for every person who writes or talks or tweets about an experience like this, how many must be shutting up!
Thank You and I will do my best to see this article is passed around in my part of the world.
Patrick O'Brien
/ September 12, 2011. . . thank you for writing this!
Leslie
/ September 12, 2011I am horrified and would like to use a whole bunch of expletives right now. Love your second to last line: “This country has operated for the last 10 years through fear. We’ve been a country at war and going bankrupt for much of this time.” I’d apologize for my “countrymen”- except, gee, they’re your countrymen as well. I hope we come to our senses one day and stop reacting to and through fear.
Margaret Helmick
/ September 12, 2011Hey, 9/11-traveler, the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on 09/11/01 don’t get to fly anywhere, anymore, ever again. And you know what? Their “freedom” is gone FOREVER, and you complain about a few hours being detained. Where have you been for ten years? Wake Up: People who look like you DID THIS to innocent people. Get over yourself. And it sounds like you are actually PROUD your husband was able to smuggle a pocket knife on to an airplane after 9/11.
My husband is a tall dark Italian man, with a beard and mustache, and he is pulled aside and gets a “special search” every single time he has flown since 10/11/01, no matter what the date is. That’s the price we all pay now for what your fellow middle eastern countrymen did on 09/11/01.
Are the authorities truly supposed to ignore warnings and then take the blame later if something happens to you or your family? Are they mind readers? And apparently you also profile people by their appearance, I lost track of all of the disparaging descriptions you lauded by describing the police officials as being fat, white, and having “buzz” cuts and then continuing to rant about how you hate country music, speedboats, shitty beer can cozies, and rednecks you mentioned. Come on, now who’s racially profiling? And guess what, those same “fat belly” police men and women will be the very FIRST people you call when you need help…
Batya L. Wittenberg
/ September 12, 2011Ms. Helmick, you wrote the words “People who look like you did this to innocent people.” Apparently you do not consider people who look like her to BE innocent people.
Be ashamed of yourself.
squiddia
/ September 12, 2011amen
Glenda Hawthorne
/ September 12, 2011It’s not even worth the time it takes to think of a response for people who have the mindset of Ms. Helmick. She is obviously bought into the whole “rule them by fear” mentality that was foisted onto the American people throughout the last decade. She is ruled by fear and hate.
Aoife O'Riordan
/ September 13, 2011This! So many times this.
Dash
/ September 12, 2011I can’t wait until they do it to you, Margaret. We’ll see how quickly you change your tune.
e
/ September 12, 2011Why would you even take the time to make a disgusting comment like this? What she was writing about here are that paranoia and hate are ALWAYS wrong, as is judging people by their appearance. Never at any point did she downplay the horrific events that occurred on that date 10 years ago. In fact, she even made a comment about how afraid she was when she thought that there was some sort of terrorist activity taking place on the plane – completely unaware that the commotion was because of her and neighboring passengers. If you actually read/comprehended this eloquent, intelligent story, you would have gathered that.
She was not pulled aside and searched in line, she was removed from a plane by armed officers, placed in a cell and strip-searched because of the color of her skin. Also, for the record, she is an American, just like you.
Kate S
/ September 12, 2011Are you intimating that she should “pay the price” of being strip searched and detained forcibly because of what she looks like? Really? Are you comparing the minor search your husband receives, and your resulting momentary inconvenience, to what she experienced? Are you aware that she, and others who have experienced this type of profiling, will now most likely have an FBI record for the rest of their lives due solely to having the audacity to fly on a plane with a dark complexion? She describes the clothing and general appearance of just about everyone involved in this incident, perhaps she was trying to set a scene and give details to bring the story to life for her readers. How dare a writer do such a thing. I applaud the rest of the people who managed to read your post and not comment, as I have no doubt you will remain safely in your hate filled little bubble of judgement and generalizations. I, for one, am sure I will regret engaging in such a juvenile squabble, but….Post comment it is.
Bailey
/ September 12, 2011Margaret Helmick, you’re an idiot.
SilenceDogood
/ September 12, 2011Here!Here!
Jan
/ September 12, 2011I can’t believe that you would write such an article merely because you were inconvenienced for a few hours. You were treated with kindness and respect by those officers. Those men and women put their lives on the line everyday to keep us all safe. Your aweful quips about their haircuts and beer bellies was disgusting. You have no idea how lucky you are to be an American. If the same event had unfolded in another country like Saudi Arabia you may well have been beaten and tortured. Lastly, you have some nerve comparing yourself to Malcome X. You are pathetic.
Allison
/ September 12, 2011And if the same experience had happened on Mars, the situation would have been totally different!
That argument is really not a good one. It happened here, to an American who was detained for her appearance only. Just because she was “only” detained, strip searched, and interrogated, and not also raped and tortured does not make it right or acceptable.
Nikhil Bagri
/ September 14, 2011Stupendous remarks Allison.
I can almost feel your emotion reading your posts
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you, Nikhil. I’m actually trying NOT to be very emotional, because I think calm logic is more convincing 🙂
Bailey
/ September 12, 2011Hmmm… yes, things might have been different if she was in Saudi Arabia. But isn’t that the point — in America we have certain freedoms and rights and this woman was not only in America, but also an America citizen. So, I think your argument is pretty weak.
Just because an officer is nice, does not justify a baseless incarceration based on racial profiling and not suspicious actions.
SilenceDogood
/ September 12, 2011Oh, boy, it looks like there’s a full moon out tonight!
Jan, I can’t believe what an idiot you are. Because someone is nice while they strip search someone doesn’t make it appropriate, or even noble, as you imply.
“Those men and women” don’t put their lives on the line, they drum up fear and ignorance in the name of 9/11 hysteria.
Let me ask you something, if you were around in the 1800’s, would you just have easily chastised a runaway slave for complaining of treatment because the nice officer who returned her to her master was so nice? After all, those were the rules!
Thankfully people eventually stop listening to dimwits like you.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011you still twitching over there buddy?
Max
/ September 13, 2011She was handcuffed and stripped against her will. How is that “treated with kindness”? That’s sexual assault.
bigyaz
/ September 13, 2011So just having skin of a different color is a good enough reason for someone to be cuffed, dragged off a plane and strip searched? In our America? No, that’s not acceptable. And you wouldn’t think so either if they started targeting stupid white people.
GrammarPolice
/ September 13, 2011It’s Malcolm X damn it!
Sarah
/ September 13, 2011You weren’t in the same situation as her. I’d like to know what gives you the authority to say of someone else’s situation that you took no part in, that they were treated with “kindness and respect”? You also can’t speak on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Have you been there? What do you know or should I say what do you think you know that can be proven by people who live there?
I live in the same country as people like you? I’m embarrassed. It’s comments like these that make me want to hide my US passport in a drawer out of shame. The next time I look at an American flag it won’t be out of pride. I’ll be shaking my head in shame thinking of how the Internet runs rampant with ignorance such as yours.
Jen D
/ September 13, 2011Jan, Shoshi never compared herself with Malcom X; she drew from his example and decided to write about her experience. Regarding the “aweful (sic) quips” – she was relating her feelings during the incident. I think Shosi has every idea of “how lucky (she) is to be an American.” She has traveled extensively and has a balanced view of the world, from my point of view.
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011You obviously didn’t read the post. Dumping an innocent person in a cell and strip searching them (violating their constitutional rights, I might add) is being treated with respect? And the only thing you’re offended by is her talking about how she felt in the middle of it?
Yeah, it would have been worse in Saudi Arabia, but I’d like to think the bar is a little higher over hear.
Summer
/ September 12, 2011A “special search”? Come back and let us know how you feel when your husband gets arrested and detained for hours for being a “tall dark Italian man.”
M
/ September 13, 2011Or shipped off to a foreign country to be brutalized by the security forces there while his home nation negotiates to get him back, a process which took well over a year.
That’s what happened to Maher Arar, a Syrian born Canadian engineer who made the mistake of talking to the wrong man in a shopping mall and became a victim of rendition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar
Sean Race
/ September 12, 2011I really hope this is not a serious comment. But, please, please do not call upon the peaceful dead to further your obviously ignorant agenda. There is a major difference between mourning the dead and trying to prevent it happening again and obstructing others’ freedoms so that a bunch of fat, white middle class Americans can feel safe when they get on an airliner.
Her rights were violated, quite clearly, only because she happens to share the same skin color as some radicals who blew up a couple buildings a DECADE ago. Hey, here’s an idea: Should we pull any poor or lower middle class white people aside because Timothy McVeigh blew up a government building in Okla. City? Or perhaps anyone of Irish heritage because they could possibly be in love with the ideology of the 60s-70s IRA. Would that make you feel safer?
I hate to say this, but you may be a racist.
SilenceDogood
/ September 12, 2011As a fat, white middle class American, I support Sean Race’s comment 120%!
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011and have no shame either. poor chap.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry, did you have a point?
Markus
/ September 13, 2011As a white, Catholic-baptised male, I can’t remember the last time I was hassled at an Enterprise because “someone who looks like me” used a rental van to blow up a federal building. I use the McVeigh comparison all the time, myself, because it perfectly demonstrates how a white man killing Americans (even the guy who *flew a plane into the IRS building* a while back) is “a nutjob” while anyone who even looks Middle Eastern is an immediate suspect.
squiddia
/ September 12, 2011Margaret Helmick, your conscience has been influenced by the fear mongering… and you are a minority here in the comments section 🙂
amanda
/ September 12, 2011@ Margaret Helmick: The terrorists have succeeded in making you as hatred-filled as themselves.
Dan Bullard
/ September 12, 2011I agree with you Margaret, this gal is a racist who hates white people, yet moved to a white country because it’s the best damn place in the world! Sheesh! How’s about this: We all segregate ourselves into nations based on what we look and act like. Then we we can trust those like us and not trust those who are different! Diversity is DIVISIVE!
GreenJello
/ September 13, 2011Huh. I was molested by 3 WHITE people growing up. My father was physically abusive to me. He’s WHITE, too. My friend was raped by a WHITE male. Some WHITE teenagers broke into my garage and stole some things.
Yeah, segregation really helps us to be able to cut down on crime and feel safe with “our own kind”. Whatever. Low-life scum are in all races, all places on this earth.
You, Dan Bullard, are a racist.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011This is one of the most idiotic posts I’ve seen on the Internet, and that’s saying quite a lot.
Andrea
/ September 13, 2011Um, Dan, this is not a white country. This country was built on the backs of black people, Chinese people, and Mexicans. The United States is the best damn place in the world because millions of immigrants and slaves generated its wealth and never benefited from their labor. Learn something about history. Further you should really examine what you mean by “white.” Who is white? Who are your people? And how do white people act?
Markus
/ September 13, 2011Is it ironic to chastise a brown-skinned woman for moving to a nation full of white people whose ancestors massacred a bunch of brown-skinned people who were already living there? Or just good old fashioned ignorant and racist?
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011You’re missing some lead in your diet. Perhaps you should take a supplement. I recommend a .45 caliber slug, taken orally.
Bhazulle
/ September 13, 2011Methinks they missed the \sarcasm \end sarcasm Dan.
Jen D
/ September 13, 2011Yo. Dan. Were you aware that Shoshi grew up in Southern California and is an American by birth? Yeah. I didn’t think so. Do some research before spouting off.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Wow I haven’t seen a site this easy to troll since like 1996. “Dan Bullard” is a spoonerism.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I tend to hang out on sites that are pretty resistant to trolls. Given that Dan’s post wasn’t too far different from some of the other posts here in which the posters (as far as I can tell) were being absolutely dead serious, I don’t think we should be condemned that quickly. I have actually seen and read comments about diversity being dangerous that are pretty close to this post and that were heartfelt beliefs.
Be gentle with us 🙂
M
/ September 13, 2011Wow, you’ve really drunk the Kool-aid, haven’t you, Margaret Helmick? We have rights in this country that were actually taken away by the USA Patriot Act – your rights too, by the way. Someone else mentioned that this was not so much an issue of profiling but of bad profiling and I agree to a certain extent. If you think the author of this blog who had the grace & eloquence to write about her traumatic experience deserves this treatment because she looks like the people who perpetrated 9/11 (who, by the way, are not her countrymen; Americans are her countrymen), then what about the two Indians sitting next to her? If you think Indians and Arabs look alike, you need to travel more. And hopefully, when you travel, you will not be treated badly for what your country (OUR country) has done to other countries.
Brent
/ September 13, 2011So by your logic every time you drive a car, you should be pulled over because “people who look like you” bombed the federal building in Oaklahoma City “to innocent people.” Every time you get near a hospital, you should be stripped search because “people who look like you” have bombed abortion clinics (still terrorism despite beliefs)”to innocent people.” Every time you are near a school you should be detained because you may be the next Anders Breivick. And you should take this type of treatment with a big fat smile on your face.
What is worrisome is that this is the current state of our Homeland Security. Racial profiling is not only a travesty because it treats those arabs and those who look like arabs as second class citizens but it makes it easier for non arab looking individuals and groups to commit terrorism (ref Anders Breivick).
To Shoshana, I am horrified by your treatment and I am equally horrified by the ignorance some have displayed in you comments. Thank you for sharing your story.
popesuburban
/ September 13, 2011Actually, you appalling troll, her “fellow countrymen?” That’s us. You and me. American citizens. You’re trying to paint her with the ugly brush because she looks different and you’ve got baggage about what happened, because if you succeed, it’s okay to be a bigot who won’t read what’s in front of her. If she’s guilty, my lily-white ass is too. And being as I’d rather stand with her than with you, I think I can make my peace with that in short order.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011Troll.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011A woman’s rights were violated for no good reason, and she reported feeling some non-charitable thoughts towards the people who were doing this to her, and the thing that offends you is that she wasn’t deferential enough IN HER OWN MIND to her white masters.
You are the enabler of fascism.
You are the enemy of liberty.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011You are an idiot. The author is a US citizen. Period. The terrorists were not her “fellow middle eastern countrymen.” The author had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. And your husband has never, ever, been imprisoned and strip searched, so STFU. YOU should leave the US, because YOU are the anti-American — as evidenced by your complete disdain of civil rights.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011You go Margaret!!!
The 9/11 passengers cannot cry out and I bet they wish they could and I bet they wish someone would have profiled the terrorists. So sad that 1 voice will be remember over the 3,000 silent ones.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Ms. Shebshi was not one of the 9/11 terrorists, nor was she involved with them, nor was she engaged in terrorist activities.
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011You don’t think extremist groups couldn’t find someone to blow them self up who looks like a Wisconsin dairy farmer?
miketherevelator
/ September 14, 2011Her fellow Mid Eastern countrymen? Margaret Helmick, your entire post is so full of crap it would take an hour to point out the absurdities in it. Some racist gets terrified because 3 dark brown people are in a row on an airplane and next thing they’ve got fighter jets scrambled, a SWAT Team waiting and after all the BS, even the FBI admits people are seeing things that aren’t there.
I mean this post was buttugly stupid but that comment about her fellow MidEastern countrymen should get you some kind of redneck award for being dumb as a brick.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011People who look like her got hauled off to death camps in Germany, too. 18% of the people who died on 9/11 look like her. She is half Jewish. Jews were targets of the 9/11 attack. Are you going to blame her for that?
Her description of people was her showing irony due to her being profiled for her looks.
Sheesh, show some compassion.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44501310/ns/us_news-security/?GT1=43001
DW
/ September 14, 2011Whoa. You’re fellow middle eastern countrymen? Please! I highly doubt that whoever you are referring to in this post associates themeslves with the radicals that started this nighmare that we call Homeland Security.
I’m as white as white can be, born and raised in the US. I’m well educated, God fearing, care about my manners, respect the law, and expect the law to respect me. I travel with my family, on business, and with friends on vacation about 20 times a year. And every time I travel I get frisked. Every single flipping time! I’m 6’2″, 250lbs, brown hair, brown eyes, no tats, one wedding ring, no record (well, I got a speeding ticket once), haven’t traveled out of the US since 9/11. I can’t even get a dark tan and pretend to be a different race! I hate beer coozies, and mean readnecks – or maybe it’s just mean people in general I hate.
I grew up the minority and was racially profiled for being white. In my teen’s and 20’s I lost jobs to Hispanics and African Americans. I was turned down for my first job as a dishwasher and told point blank, this is a job for a Mexican not you. So suffice it to say that I get what this feels – and looks like. And if you’ve never been on that end of the stick, you too (yes, even you who are married to a tall Italian) will never understand what it means to be pushed aside and/or singled out simply because of your skin. It sucks. It’s maddening. It makes you say things about people who are abusing you that boggle even your own educated mind.
seth a
/ September 12, 2011this is a direct result of american capitulation to fear and terror after the attacks. from the top (W. and Cheney) down we have failed to learn anything of significance; the aftermath should have been handled better. sorry for the horrors inflicted on you and those with you on your flight.
Lauren
/ September 12, 2011I’m so angry on your behalf. I recently re-listened to a radio show, This American Life, which detailed the bullying and abuse of a young Muslim girl after the Sept. 11th anniversary…the show is available to listen to for free here : http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/322/shouting-across-the-divide?act=1 . I’d highly recommend it, for the original author of this post and for anyone commenting on it.
What you read here is NOT an isolated incident because of the particular date. It is part of a long history of discrimination and disrespect on the part of most Americans towards Arab people, or people who look like them may be of Arab descent.
Just Some Guy
/ September 12, 2011I’m so, so, so very sorry.
We lost our collective minds sometime in late 2001. We have been acting like sociopaths ever since.
It’s no excuse.
Linda Bernstein
/ September 12, 2011Everyone is linking to this. Thank you for sharing this story. I’ve included the link in “My 9/12 Blog” on my Website, http://generationbsquared.com.
Ed P.
/ September 12, 2011We were joking about this earlier, but I am stunned after reading about you experience. I am sorry this happened to you.
Marta Layton
/ September 12, 2011Nicholas Kristof posted a link to this on FB; you don’t know me, but I am glad he did because this post affected me profoundly.
I am American-born and Caucasian, and happen to be on a layover on an international flight. I was able to go through a TSA scanner with my dignity intact and even joked about Yankees v. Mets with the TSA agent as he was processing me. I also could make the mistake of not taking my keys out of my pocket and be corrected for it, without feeling like I was being judged. That’s white privilege, and I don’t think I fully realized how lucky I am. I never thought I *deserved* this treatment, it just didn’t occur to me how real and how different the reality was.
So thank you for raising my awareness. I may also blog about this once I reach my destination (don’t want to jinx myself while at the airport, bashing the security state!). I did want to thank you for your experience. Not for going through it but for having the courage to share it, you know?
SilenceDogood
/ September 12, 2011Why in the world would you go through a scanner anyway?
Strip searches, even electronic ones, aren’t cool.
They are also totally ineffective.
dinaclare
/ September 13, 2011It’s that or get manhandled, sometimes.
Also, x-ray scanners are a different thing and will go off with keys in pocket.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011I’ve been subjected to breast fondling even after the nekkid picture, because the Rhodes scholar who read my x-ray apparently had never seen an underwire bra. So the nice TSA lady felt me up. Guilty until proven innocent, that’s the American Way.
Alice La Pierre
/ September 12, 2011Well, I certainly hope someone publishes the name of the person who reported you, so we can all have our shot at subjecting him/her to the same type of treatment.
SilenceDogood
/ September 12, 2011I hope the author gets an attorney and teaches the rest of these cowards that brown people are Americans, too!
Dave Reed
/ September 12, 2011After reading this I can’t think of the words strong enough to tell you how sorry I am that this happened to you. The burden of 9/11 has fallen so heavy on so many that don’t deserve it.
Thank you for writing this…I will share it.
Smedette
/ September 12, 2011I am so, so sorry.
FlickDude
/ September 12, 2011You absolutely MUST look to pursue this legally. From your description, your rights as a US citizen have most definitely been violated, as has your body. On absolutely no grounds other than a report from a clueless, fear-mongered fool.
Please, do not stop here. This level of xenophobia is inexcusable. We have to stop. The government has to stop before people begin to beat people in the streets for simply being “brown”.
My heart is broken for you. Thank you for having the guts to tell the story, and please don’t stop there. I have shared this as well via Twitter.
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for your sentiments. I have some people looking into it.
Rebecca (@Not_a_Criminal)
/ September 13, 2011I am so very glad to hear this. I am only a paralegal, but as I read (and cried) through your account, I mentally ticked off violations of law and basic constitutional rights and could only hope you would seek further counsel.
Like 99.9% of the other posters, I am so very sorry this happened to you – or to anyone else. I am simply stunned, appalled, nauseated, and angry that our country has turned into this police state. See something, say something has become nothing more than state-sanctioned racisim and terrorism and only the innocent have been caught up in this horrible dragnet. Soon, it won’t even be racism – anyone, no matter what the skin color, who disagrees or speaks up against the fear machine will soon find themselves undergoing a cavity search, too.
Thank you so very much for having the fortitude to write this up and post it. I’m glad you have a support system in place as you process this experience and deal with the more-than-likely fallout. I sincerely hope that this helps bring awareness of how far we’ve fallen and I’ll post this link on my FB (in addition to Twitter, etc.) to get the message out there.
Rebecca (@Not_a_Criminal)
/ September 13, 2011I am so very glad to hear this. I am only a paralegal, but as I read (and cried) through your account, I mentally ticked off violations of law and basic constitutional rights and could only hope you would seek further counsel.
Like 99.9% of the other posters, I am so very sorry this happened to you – or to anyone else. I am simply stunned, appalled, nauseated, and angry that our country has turned into this police state. See something, say something has become nothing more than state-sanctioned racisim and terrorism and only the innocent have been caught up in this horrible dragnet. Soon, it won’t even be racism – anyone, no matter what the skin color, who disagrees or speaks up against the fear machine will soon find themselves undergoing a cavity search, too.
Thank you so very much for having the fortitude to write this up and post it. I’m glad you have a support system in place as you process this experience and deal with the more-than-likely fallout. I sincerely hope that this helps bring awareness of how far we’ve fallen and I’ll post this link on my FB (in addition to Twitter, etc.) to get the message out there.
My apologies for how our country, the airline personnel, your fellow passengers, and DHS/law enforcement treated you, a U.S. citizen, and the other two individuals.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011I hope you pursue this. I believe that this is exactly the sort of situation that could finally lead to a SCOTUS review of the horrors that are being inflicted upon innocent citizens that are in complete violation of the Fourth Amendment. This can’t go unchallenged.
Michelle
/ September 12, 2011One of my friends posted this on Facebook, and I followed the link. This is awful! I hope nothing like this ever happens to you again. It’s unfair that it happened to begin with. The person who reported you is clearly pretty small minded and racist. Paranoia doesn’t excuse that sort of behavior. I’ll share this on my Facebook, too, to get stories like this out!
james graham
/ September 12, 2011I’m sorry you had to experience that but the fact that you are an intelligent, articulate and clearly loving person, and are willing to share the story is significant. Thank you for your courage.
Annie F.
/ September 12, 2011Thanks for sharing this story…I saw it on Mark Armstrong’s FB feed and was horrified reading it. Hope it’s ok if I pass it on; I feel like the only way these things have a chance of stopping is to share real stories. So glad you are safe.
Annie
(from way back at Cal Poly)
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Hey Annie! Great to hear from you. Share away! Hope you’re doing well. Thanks for your sentiments :).
John
/ September 12, 2011This is small, but I am so sorry.
Rebecca
/ September 12, 2011I don’t know what to say. A line from a song rang through my head while I was reading your story, my breath held in outrage: “Land of the free… but not me.”
Mo
/ September 12, 2011This is crazy Shoshi! Justin and I read a news report last night after we saw your 3 tweets to see what had happened. All we saw was that 2 men and 1 woman were detained. I can’t believe that was you! I’m happy to hear that you’re safe and home again, and I’m so happy that the boys weren’t with you. Stil in awe…
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Hi Mo and Justin, I am happy the boys were not there either.
James
/ September 12, 2011Thanks for so eloquently sharing your written account. This made my experience with the government tame by comparison, but I still feel violated all over again by reading this. I can sadly tell you that it’s not just darker-skinned folks who get this treatment, it’s anyone and everyone they choose. I have shared your story and hope that others will share their accounts. I am truly ashamed of the legacy our country is leaving for the world…
Jessie
/ September 12, 2011Nicholas Kristof posted this on Facebook. I wish that our country was better than this, and my heart goes out to you. I thank you for channeling your anger into this piece.
Matthew Grigajtis (@mgrigajtis)
/ September 12, 2011I was completely nauseated by the time I got to the end of this story.
May
/ September 12, 2011Wow….I’m not sure I would have been able to stay calm.
I’ve always refused to believe that I might one day be a racial profiling victim. As I travel through the US and Europe, I am mostly not concerned about being singled-out. I guess I’ve convinced myself that somehow I would get treated like any average N American. I even refused to acknowledge the fact that the only reason I wasn’t able to check-in and print my boarding pass online or at the airport was simply because I was born in Arab country. On my way to LA, I was informed that I was “randomly” chosen to pass extra security. It might be random, but now I know that if I was Kate Jones from Maryland, married to Jeff Williams, I would have been able to check-in online.
I’m so glad that you wrote this blog and that it is being shared on FB and Twitter. Maybe your story and others like it will help change this obviously flawed system that they call homeland security.
May
/ September 12, 2011By the way I’ve shared your article on FB. And so did this great NY Times journalist.
Nicholas D. Kristof also shared a link.
Say it ain’t so: A woman is arrested and strip-searched for flying while half-Arab on 9/11? http://t.co/74N8Ol9 What’s the lesson here?
jeditigger
/ September 12, 2011I understand the jumpy nature that all of the media’s cries of “potential 9/11 terror threats” instilled in us. I do. But what you suffered because of your ethnicity I find unforgivable, appalling, shameful. George Carlin once said that airport security exists solely to make white people feel safe. We need to guard our airports, sure…but we need to guard them from terrorism, not from People Who Look Like They Might Be From the Middle East, God Forbid.
You are an amazing individual for handling this disgrace with as much dignity as you have showed. I’ll be sharing your story and conveying my admiration.
Phillip Harrington
/ September 12, 2011I hate to ask, but what color was the crew?
sj
/ September 12, 2011A report of “suspicious behavior????”
Good thing some anonymous tipster didn’t denounce you as a witch.
What, we’re going to have SWAT teams deploy now every time somebody farts during the national anthem? Land of the brave, indeed.
This Nazi crap is completely unacceptable.
sj
anthony karee
/ September 13, 2011the crew was 1 black,1 hindu,3 black stewardess 1 chinese and 1 trainee who was white…anything else you need to know……
dan
/ September 12, 2011While I’m sorry you had to go through with this ordeal, I urge you to think of the reason for it. If someone had correctly reported the suspicious behavior of the 9/11 hijackers that day, history might have been quite different. Nobody that reported you knew you, or had anything against you personally. Yes it is unfair, but when people are bent on destruction and will kill planeloads of innocent civilians without thinking twice, not everything can be fair.
I think the officials involved treated you more than reasonably, given the situation, and your only beef should be with the trigger-happy person that reported you. Taking the incident beyond that seems like a stretch.
ER
/ September 12, 2011So Dan, what was it exactly that SHE did that caused someone to report “suspicious behavior?” Oh, that’s right, she sat next to two other dark-skinned individuals. On the anniversary of 9/11. Now that’s suspicious!
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011dan, you are what’s wrong with this country.
dinaclare
/ September 13, 2011Would it have really? Sounds to me like the plane landed at its final destination – if they’d let those ill-fated planes continue to theirs, I think we would have had the same outcome, yes?
It’s just security theatre.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011WHAT??!!! Treated her “reasonably”??!! Are you insane??!! She was stripped and cavity searched!!! What is WRONG with you people????!!!! Please get the hell out of the US and leave it to people who TRULY value our FREEDOM, not just our safety.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011The “authorities” were informed numerous times of the actually-suspicious behavior of most of the 9/11 bastards. If you believe the state enforcement apparatus exists to protect the average citizen, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you, real cheap.
It isn’t clear that there was actually a suspicious passenger. They certainly haven’t produced one.
IncensedAndPerturbed
/ September 12, 2011I hope, for you sake and for the sake of all humanity, that ignorance is eradicated. Was touched by your story. Sorry for what you’ve been through.
Jay
/ September 12, 2011So, wait a minute. Lemme see if I got this right:
-You are of a ethnic group that is known to be “racially profiled” because of 9-11.
-You chose to fly on 9-11, and sit alongside others of suspicious ethnic groups.
-You were “racially profiled” because people of your ethnic group blew up almost 3,000 of our people, people that never even heard of Osama bin Laden before.
-You then proceed to complain about a violation of your “civil rights” when in fact, none of them were violated. Ever travel to Israel? They go through what makes what you did pale in comparison, and they have the safest flights in the world.
So you purposefully chose to fly on 9-11, knowing the atmosphere in our great country being how it is, and ESPECIALLY on this day when we were attacked by the likes of your people and you dare to complain about the measures put in place to guard us from the likes of you? Please.
You have NO room to complain, and I, for one, am glad that I chose to report you and the likes of you. I had a safe flight, content in the knowledge that I didn’t have to watch that section out of the corner of my eye the whole flight, and wondering if this would be the last flight I ever took. You deserved exactly what you got, you sympathizer, and if you don’t like what we are doing here to keep US safe, then go back home.
-A real USA citizen
Batya L. Wittenberg
/ September 12, 2011Jay, I can’t tell if you’re trolling or if you really are this contemptible.
If the former, you are what’s wrong with the internet. If the latter, you are what’s wrong with my country.
Bailey
/ September 12, 2011Incredibly un-American comments here. A “real” American appreciates freedom and a person’s freedom to fly whenever she chooses, especially when that person is a law-abiding citizen. A “real” American does not judge an entire ethnic group comprised of millions of people based on the actions of a few. (By your logic, all Americans should be judged on the actions of Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudulph, or the Unibomber?) A “real” American does not tell a fellow American citizen to “go back home.”
Also, for the record, I don’t know how she “chose” to sit next to “others of suspicious ethnic groups” given that the seating decision is determined by the airline. And since when are Indians a “suspicious ethnic group”? India is a huge ally of the United States and Indians were not involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Donna
/ September 12, 2011What I object to is the notion that “her” ethnic group killed 3,000 of “our” people. So no people of Arab or Jewish descent were innocent victims of the terrorists on 9/11? How simple your world must be.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011The Jewish people were some of the targets of 9/11.
larsripstop
/ September 13, 2011Yes, Bailey. 100% And it’s the ignorant, hate mongers like Jay who killed a Sikh after 9-11 in Phoenix, a hard working gas station owner making a contribution in the community. They killed him in retribution to 9-11, in their complete supidity, apparently thinking a Sikh would be a buddy of Osama Bin Laden. I speak Arabic & Spanish. If everyone spoke 3-4 languages, maybe we would not be so tribal and backward in this country.
Allison
/ September 12, 2011Since when do people get to choose who they sit beside on a plan, unless they are traveling together? OHHH, you assumed that because they all have dark skin, they know each other.
News tip: she can’t “go back home.” She IS home. She IS American, as much as you would like to deny that dark-skinned people can be American.
People who look like me (and you, I’m assuming) killed a bunch of Native Americans and owned a bunch of Africans as slaves. Shared appearance is no basis on which to judge someone’s character.
Katie Greene
/ September 12, 2011Thank you, Allison. Awesome!
Maylis
/ September 13, 2011Just brilliant!!
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011What she said.
If only we could choose where airlines seat us.
Summer
/ September 12, 2011“when we were attacked by the likes of your people”?
Dear vile piece of 100% USDA American excrement,
You don’t deserve to be an American citizen. You’re a nasty, selfish, ignorant bastard who enjoys that privilege by an unfortunate accident of birth. I would trade 1,000 of you for one Shoshanna, but not before I punched you in the face repeatedly for my own satisfaction. I hope you are as miserable and unloved as you sound, and I hope you stay that way for the rest of your disgusting, worthless little life. I am ashamed to share this planet with you and anyone you may have poisoned with your ignorant hatred, and I would rather die than see my America overtaken by “the likes of you.”
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Well, while he is what you said, violence is part of the problem. Part of the privilege of being an American is freedom of speech. I don’t like what he said either, but I hope he becomes less miserable to be around.
e
/ September 12, 2011Repulsive, Jay – this country would be so much better if nobody thought like you.
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011Jay, you’re a pathetic nitwit.
Erin M. Langford
/ September 13, 2011I am a “real USA citizen” just like you Jay and I am disgusted by the behavior and sentiment you are exhibiting here to another “real USA citizen” as she practices her right to free speech after an unreasonable search and seizure which is a clear violation of her rights as a “real USA citizen.”
She has every right to complain, just like you have every right to share your racist, xenophobic comments. She was traveling in the U.S. as a U.S. citizen. This did not take place in 1984 by Orwell and this did not take place in 1960’s U.S.S.R. This happened in American, to an American and it should not have!
M
/ September 13, 2011“real” USA citizen:
You redneck idiot. It’s people like you that welcomed the Nazis in in Germany.
Are you really saying that because she looked vaguely arabic she should have forgone her right to fly, as a free American citizen, on any given day she chose to? Are you truly suggesting that she should downgrade herself because of the fears of what people like you hold?
America is in the grip of fear, and fear makes you weak … your weakness disgusts me.
Jeremy Shapiro
/ September 13, 2011Well I thought this blog post was the most sickening thing I’d read today, and then I read Jay’s response. I feel so lucky – so incredibly lucky – that I won the skin pigment lottery and thus am not the target of filth like him in my own country. Just gross, gross and sad.
To the author, for what it’s worth I asked a trial lawyer friend of mine about your experience, and he had this to say:
“I don’t really know. It’s a witch’s brew of national security, terry stops, FAA regs, and her consent. I think if she had stopped talking and asked for a lawyer things may have been interesting. Which isn’t to say she still doesn’t have a claim, but I’m simply not as knowledgeable as I’d like to be for these situations. Her tacit engagement (sadly) doesn’t help her case, but at the same time there are limits. I’d be happy to take it to court anyway and make them prove their case.”
mike
/ September 13, 2011Hey Co*k S*cker – get your facts right, it is people of your color who did 9/11 – used a bunch of sand n*ggers to execute it – so that they can get slaves like you buy into their elitist agenda of plundering the wealth of the nation and feed their greedy military industrial complex buddies – banker and the likes. You moron, today its some sand n*gger, tomorrow its us. Think you are safe, well wait till you are homeless, injected with retardation viruses (maybe also done that in your case), fed genetically modified cow dung, and told you are living a free and happy life – which you will most like believe.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011This comment made me feel literally sick to my stomach.
I’m sorry you had to go through the humiliating and terrifying experience with the DHS, and I’m even more sorry that small-minded bigots are now bashing you, here on your own blog, for speaking out against the violations of your rights.
M&M
/ September 13, 2011AMEN…….(as we say in the US!) to Jay who commented on 9/12 @ 9:07pm.
For those of you who are so sad that this happened to these people on this flight where the hell were you 10 years ago on 9/11. Have you forgotten the pit inside you? Maybe you had no feeling of sorrow for our country that day or the people who we lost. Talk about UN-AMERICAN!
Thanks to the FBI and the crew members and the Air force who were doing their jobs at keeping those on that flight and others safe.
Sweetie….Jay is right. You were born of the ethnic group that is “profiled” in this the GREAT country. Why would you choose to fly on 9/11? I feel sorry and sad that you had to go through what you went through, however….yes there are many Americans who will be on guard FOREVER because of 9/11. Sorry you are of the “ethnic group” that we are on guard from. Wouldn’t it be nice to say we trust everyone again? Don’t get this guy Jay wrong, I am sure there have been times when he has wondered if he were safe around some of the White Trash Americans too! However just a little advice in case you haven’t learned. If you don’t want to be profiled there are 364 other days a year you could fly and not have people freaked.
Un- American to be like this? No…..there are many of us who have had fear put into us forever. Say it “they win we lose”???? No we don’t lose we just won’t let our guard down anymore! If I recall right how many chants have been given by this “ethnic group” “DEATH TO AMERICA?” We have a right to be on high alert all days of the year but a stronger right on 9/11!
Good luck to you I truly hope that you have a great life and recover from your 9/11/2011 experience. You sound like a nice lady but I also hope you have a better understanding that many Americans are not over what happen 10 yrs ago and we NEVER will be. It isn’t that we are “being racial”. We are being SMART! And the next time we are high jacked or held hostage by anyone of the group the USA “profiles” and we stop and attack what will the feelings be then? Gratefulness!
GOD BLESS THE USA!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011God bless a USA that doesn’t violate the Constitutional rights of its citizens because of their skin color.
God bless a USA that doesn’t allow unsubstantiated reports of unspecified suspicious activity by untrained civilians to be followed by the violation of Constitutional rights.
God bless a USA in which people recognize that being of a particular ethnic group does not automatically equate to being a terrorist.
God bless a USA In which people are not racially profiled based on nothing of their behavior but everything of their skin color, and can fly on any goddamn day they please, because they have that freedom.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011I remember the pit inside me, yes. I remember that I though, “Shit. People are going to use this to push through crazy fascist laws. There goes my freedom.”
I was never afraid for my life. And my life was never in danger. I was afraid for my freedoms. And those have been taken from me. By people who always wanted to take those from me, because the American people, who used to prize freedom, allowed themselves to be scared into giving them up.
And now you’re DEFENDING your own cowardice? Saying that it’s okay to take other people’s freedoms because you’re scared?
Bravery involves doing the right thing. Cowardice leads to evil. Which side are you on?
Ranta
/ September 13, 2011You, “Jay” are “a real” asshole.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011So, as a US citizen of Arab descent, she has no right to travel, right? And because the airline decided where she would sit (she didn’t know the other guys, so how, exactly, did she “choose” to sit with them?), she is at fault for the fact that her seatmates were also of Arab descent, right? And being imprisoned and strip-searched is what she deserved as a descendant of a Middle Eastern lineage, right? Even though she is a US citizen and her HOME is in Ohio (that’s a state in the US, by the way, in case you didn’t know). How about YOU leave the country, since you don’t care about the freedoms upon which this once great nation was founded? Go found another Nazi or Fascist country. You’ll feel right at home. Cretin.
justagirl
/ September 13, 2011The events of 9/11 were rooted in hatred. Hatred that a VERY SMALL GROUP of a certain nationality had for a country. Hatred that ran so deep that it didn’t matter to them that the specific people they murdered in their acts were just random citizens, and not THE people they held hatred for.
They decimated people, and they decimated buildings that were the heart of America. And in the process, hatred created hatred.
Jay, your post is a prime example of this. I disagree that, due to her skin, her appearance, her ancestry, that Shebshi should have stayed home. I disagree that she should have known. I disagree that she should have to guard her every move, because someone else has let fear breed hatred and prejudice against her just because she is not white.
One of the things that North America should pride itself on most is openness, a melting pot society where EVERYONE is equal. We are not “Animal Farm” (Orwell). We should not live in a society where everyone is equal, with white men being MORE equal than others. That is bullshit, and it is shameful.
On September 11, 2001, I watched the footage unfold on my television, with a pit in my stomach so heavy it was indescribable. Ten years later, as the footage was re-played, I felt the same pit, with the same intensity. Today, reading this, it’s increased … I didn’t think the feeling could get any worse.
If we allow this hatred to infiltrate our lives, then all the people whose lives were lost, all the emergency response personnel who sacrificed theirs, underneath piles of steel that crumbled under the hatred of those select few, ALL OF IT will be for naught. And we ourselves will continue to create victims of this tragedy, by our own actions.
The thought makes me ill.
Shebshi, I don’t know you, but I’m so very sorry you went through this, and unbelievably grateful that you had the strength to share it. I hope that, even if there is no legal recourse for you, that perhaps in the sharing of your experience and the spreading of this story, perhaps there will be a way to lobby for change.
Everyone needs to step away from the hatred, else we will never be safe, and the danger will not only be from the outside, but also from within. 9/11 NEVER should have happened. But it did. So now, it’s up to us to make sure it wasn’t in vain.
Marty
/ September 17, 2011I do not men to diminish your reply, as I agree with you and it seems very thought out and intelligent, but you are misusing the word decimated (which means to destroy one tenth of something, as the prefix suggests, and has also been adapted more recently to mean destroy a large percentage of). Perhaps obliterated would have been a better fit here. Your point was not lost though, I’m just kind of a jerk sometimes. Sorry.
Jen D
/ September 13, 2011Again, Shoshi IS an American citizen, you dolt. Born and raised here. End of story. What’s your ancestry? Perhaps they will take you back?
bglick
/ September 12, 2011Thanks for sharing your story.
Kemari
/ September 12, 2011It’s a damn shame that this is what it has come to. I am so so so sorry for what happened to you. I’m severely opposed to the Patriot Act (I understand the underlying point, but I’m still opposed) and all the fear mongering that has gone on in this damn country the last 10 years. I don’t understand how we went from banding together immediately after 9/11 happened to now picking up anyone with a slight tan and throwing them in a cell for however long we deem necessary. It’s disgusting how our freedoms and rights are slowly being consumed in the name of protection, and we are forced into giving up these freedoms without question, too stunned to even begin to figure out how to fight back.
Something needs to change. We can’t go on like this, locking every person up that looks different. Eventually we’ll all be put in jail.
Dave Macdonald
/ September 12, 2011This is a disgusting display, Shoshana. I am glad you were able to recount it in so much detail.
As a Canadian, I stopped visiting the United States unless it was a matter of work or a very specific visit that I can’t avoid. These are the stories that make me wonder about what could happen to me, those I’m travelling with or the innocent people around me. Destroying individuals’ freedoms, even for a few hours, is entirely unacceptable – especially in a country where every newscast or interview with the general public includes a reference to “freedom” – whatever that is these days.
AR
/ September 13, 2011Dave,
Do you really think Canadian Officials are less racists? In Dec 2009, when I drove from NJ to Montreal. I was detained and harassed for a few hours by Canadian immigration. I was asked choice questions, such as,
“Why are you single?”
“Why do you have a laptop in your car?”
“Why do you have $200 in your wallet?”
“Why did you book a hotel in Montreal only 4 days before your trip?”
Of course, on the way back, I was given similar treatment by US immigration. They demanded why I didn’t carry another South Asian passport. I told them that the only passport I need is US Passport, which I was carrying.
Derron Borders
/ September 12, 2011I’m really sorry this happened to you. Were you not able to ask for a lawyer? I wasn’t aware that ANYONE could force you to do a strip search. This seems like it was a violation of your 4th Amendment right. You may want to contact the local ACLU about this. They may be able to give you more details, but I feel you were unlawfully searched. I don’t study law nor do I know anything beyond what the 4th Amendment says but a strip search seems “unreasonable”.
M
/ September 13, 2011You raise a good point. Unfortunately the USA Patriot Act allows this sort of thing to happen. The Act is a violation of the 4th amendment. I found this on the ACLU’s website: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-usa-patriot-act
lawmule
/ September 13, 2011There is nothing in the Patriot Act that allows this type of unreasonable warrantless search performed without probable cause. Even a “Terry stop” temporary detention only allows a frisk (patdown of outer garments) IF an officer harbors reasonable suspicion that a person is ARMED. Fear & profiling do not = reasonable articulable suspicion.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011Strip search would not fall under that act.
C W
/ September 12, 2011Your post left me in tears, and angrier than ever at all the ways 9/11 has been twisted into a convenient vehicle for people’s blind ignorance and fear. I do agree with Paul’s comment (above) that airport security needs to be run by professionals, and ignorant people (as the person obviously was who “reported” you) should not be allowed to run the show. I am going to repost this. Meanwhile, i hope you do find out who “reported” you – i would like to see them hauled in for questioning themselves. And all those officers who were doing their “duty” – at what point do they stop following orders and see for themselves what is really going on?
John
/ September 12, 2011You’re a better person than I. I would have told them if they aren’t arresting me, they’d better release me and not answered any of their questions. If they asked to see my Facebook or Twitter, they would have heard some foul language explaining to them what they can do with themselves.
Any US Citizen that thinks this is justifiable, I’ll call you a coward to your face. Liberty comes with a cost, and that cost is that you’re not safe. Safety is an illusion anyway and totally contrary to liberty.
I’m truly glad I served 8 years so my fellow citizens could just throw it all away. /sarcasm
Crystal
/ September 12, 2011Sad to know about your experience.Isn’t it disturbing how even common people have started to stereotype people on the basis of their race and appearance?Somewhere,development of this philosophy has to do with government’s actions,policies and behaviour.Even if cops are reported about any such suspicious behaviour,they need to be easy with people and behave in a better manner.And I really think we need to have officials who can actually judge the body language of a person.They did not have the right to treat you this way,right?.WRONG.They actually did,thanks to the policies of the government.What a shame.
Rich
/ September 12, 2011Hind site is twenty twenty, however you should have asked for a lawyer immediately, YOU were placed under arrest without any probable cause they committed multiple crimes against you and you should be naming names and in the process of suing them AND do not settle.
David C. Nelson
/ September 12, 2011Dear Shebshi,
I’m an airline captain. I pilot a B-737 for a major air carrier based in the United States. On behalf of my colleagues in the profession, I apologize for what happened to you. I would have been furious if any member of my family had been treated like that. My company trains us to judge passengers according to the way they behave, not the way they look.
I have not heard the other sides of the story, so I will reserve my condemnation of anyone else until I get all of the facts. However, I’ll say this: If things transpired exactly as you described, this would not have been enough to cause me to report you or your fellow passengers as a security threat. I hope that, as time passes, you’ll be able to forgive those of us in the industry who have caused you and anyone else who “looks different” unjustified discomfort. Please trust us again to safely transport you and your family.
Dave
Jeff Larson
/ September 14, 2011Mr. Nelson, the finest compliment I can pay you is that if more people had the common sense, courtesy, and decency that you exhibited in that post, Shoshona would have never had to suffer the mistreatment that she endured, and neither of us would have visited her blog today. May all your skies be CAVU.
Joan Murphine
/ September 12, 2011Your ability to write this report under your despicable circumstances is to be admired. We must work together all of us and continue to be vocal about the way we are handling “security” in the United States. It is not just and it does not make sense.
Celia Ingersoll Vasquez
/ September 12, 2011shebshi: i told myself that i would avoid my friends political posts this month because of the despair it causes me. the futility of feeling and knowing i can do nothing about my own dismal personal situation, and even less about what is happening in our national and international communities, is too depressing. i have especially studiously avoided all 9/11 remembrance propoganda, because, as our guest pastor pointed out, how much is remembrance and how much is ratings. as my first born is getting married in eleven days, i would like to harness what little spiritual and psychic energy i have, in her direction. but i will repost this blog which was shared by nicholas kristoff. and i will ask my friends to share this also. i, too, have had a run-in with d.h.s. at that point, i felt they had nothing better to do than to harrass a middle aged, high school instructional assistant. i was right. i’m sorry they put you and the two gentleman through this horrendous experience. “People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.” (attributed to benjamin franklin) GOD bless.
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Celia, I don’t know you, but I empathize and wanted to send support and hope your way. Hang in there.
Wayne Robinson (@kondro)
/ September 12, 2011As far as I am aware all these extra security precautions haven’t resulted in stopping a single terrorist action. The TSA, et. al. would jump on any opportunity afforded to them to talk-up how these security procedures have increased safety yet, they haven’t done so.
The terrorists have won. The USA (and the rest of the western-world) has reduced personal liberty in so many situations, the worst demonstrable being air-travel. This must exceed any expectations they had for the actions of 9/11.
There is no reasonably way back from this. Governments, who seize extra power, rarely return it when that power is no longer required. With everything happening in 2011, it is easy to see the end of the world as we’ve known it for the past 60 years.
aud
/ September 12, 2011thank you so much for sharing your story. i, like many others, read the AP stories but you have truly brought the “reaction” to life for us. you are a much more tolerant woman that i, i would’ve been flinging f-bombs right and left, loudly. i believe it was Paul who posted about my feelings on the subject – this theatre we call security here is beyond absurd. and i know all about their trained professionals as i have a family member who works for the TSA.
glad you are safe, and i hope you, and all of us, can enjoy traveling again someday…
william Bedell
/ September 13, 2011I would consult a lawyer right away and try to sue for as much as you can get. After all the only way these racist will learn is if it cost them some money.
Yuvi
/ September 12, 2011It’s stuff like this that makes me reluctant to come over to the US (I’m Indian). “Land of the free”, huh?
Hope your country fixes itself.
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011Yuvi, you’re wise not to come to the US. I’ve urged my friends overseas not to come either. This country has turned into a pool of hysteria and paranoia, with the complicity of millions of so-called citizens.
Miso Susanowa
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I am sorry my beautiful country has been taken over by profiteering thugs who have manipulated us into exactly what “the terrorists” want. I am also ashamed at my countrymen who would allow this to happen here and walk like sheep, undeserving of the benefits of true men and women of courage and conviction who did their best to form a government of freedom.
Please see my post Faithful To Thee, America, In Our Fashion. I will continue to speak of these matters irregardless of the consequences because that was the promise I made to this country to be a good citizen.
I am glad to know people like you understand this also. Thank you so much for posting.
Jenny Baker
/ September 12, 2011I think your major conclusion is right, fear drives so much of what we do. The question becomes, is fear ever a good motivator? By itself, I’d say no. You were the victim of a fear-based society which only brings oppression and never freedom. I’m so sorry you had to experience this. I can imagine how hard it is to process this experience. However, the strength with which you handled yourself is truly remarkable. I hope for a full healing and restoration of your soul.
Jerry
/ September 12, 2011I’m very sorry you experienced this, and I do find it terrible. BUT, calling people “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”, “white middle aged cop”‘ and generalizing hate against speedboats and country music makes your claims about what you believe in quite laughable. You had a chance to make a very powerful statement here, and you completely blew it.
Rick
/ September 12, 2011No she didn’t, Jerry.
M
/ September 13, 2011I beg to differ. I think that these things just made her statement all the more human.
f.
/ September 13, 2011Since when are people expected to be inhumanly graceful and kind while being detained and strip-searched for absolutely no reason? Something tells me you’d have a few uncharitable thoughts in that situation as well.
David Reynolds-Gier
/ September 13, 2011“completely blew it” is an overstatement, but yes, the reverse stereotyping didn’t help the article.
Heather
/ September 13, 2011Jerry- it’s called “good writing”!
She shares her honest thoughts- and if you read to the end of the article she reflects on how this experience has been divisive and affected how she also thinks about people.
I think the writer is well aware of this. Damn fine writing. Had me gripped, and I felt I was in the cell with her.
Online
/ September 13, 2011Jerry is absolutely correct.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Are you suggesting the officer did not look like Jada Pinkett Smith, or that she was not fat? Or that the other cop in question was not white, or that he was not middle-aged? On what basis do you make those claims?
As far as the question of hating “speedboats and country music”, it seems to me that those passages in her post do a very effective job of helping us understand the psychological state she was suffering under. Fact is, on the whole there aren’t a whole lot of people involved in the “speedboat and country music” culture who are arguing for better protections of civil rights, but even if you think it’s not a fair generalization, the point is to bring us closer to the moment, and it does that quite effectively.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011If the author had described a fat white woman as a “fat Celine Dion”, would that have been inherently racist? Of course not. All black women do not look alike. This particular black woman looks like Jada Pinkett Smith, except she is fat. In describing her in that fashion, the author isn’t drawing any particular attention to her race.
It is actually your racism that causes you to interpret any reference to a black celebrity as racism.
SHG
/ September 12, 2011What a crappy crappy thing to experience.
But I bet you’ll remain a citizen and resident of the USA.
A frog in warming water comes to mind.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Ignoring for a moment that the “frog in warming water” story is a myth, remaining a citizen and resident of the USA is no evidence of being metaphorically equivalent to said frog.
The frog does not have the option of adjusting the temperature of the pot to suit. A responsible American citizen absolutely does, and in fact that’s exactly what the author of this blog article is doing. Leaving the country does nothing to help the country, and in fact if every who knew better than to tolerate this sort of thing left, no one would remain to help the country heal itself.
She is doing her part to publicize the heinous injustices perpetrated on travelers in the US, and to make an effort to rectify the situation. What are you doing?
Philip
/ September 12, 2011Unbelievable. I found your link on Nicholas Kristof’s facebook acct. Thanks for sharing, and you nor anyone deserves to be singled out for the color of their skin or their attire.
And I also appreciated the fact that the only true criminal in this case was the pudgy middle aged white guy. Much love and remember that the vast majority of our country doesn’t think the way that the person who reported the three of you, does. I blame the stupid patriot act, the media for perpetuating gross stereotypes, and our crap educational system that doesn’t enable a lot of us to garner analytical thinking.
Once again, sorry this happened to you and as a fellow American, I apologize.
Gulliver
/ September 12, 2011Land of the free, home of the brave!
Tamra Mosher
/ September 12, 2011I do not know you personally Mrs. Hebshi, but please know that I, a complete stranger who lost family in 9/11, APOLOGIZE for the way you were treated. Your story shows just how far we have devolved as a country, and as humans in the past 10 years. I hope you are doing alright, and I applaud you for the grace in which you dealt with this situation and for sharing your story with everyone. Shalom.
shebshi
/ September 12, 2011Tamra, thank you for sharing. My heart goes out to your family for your loss. Shalom, Salaam, Peace.
Ursula Vernon
/ September 12, 2011Good god. That’s truly horrifying–thank you for speaking up about it, and I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that.
Angie Queen (@galaxyemptiness)
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry that you went through this. How horrible! 😦
Brandon Blackmoor, Richmond, VA
/ September 12, 2011Homeland Security — from the people who brought you “Mr. Rogers Was a Marine Sniper” and “HIV+ Blood in Pepsi Cola”.
AJ Chalom
/ September 12, 2011I would like to apologize to you that you had to go through this and that people are rude, idiots who jump to conclusions that effect people’s lives. Take care and thank you for sharing your story
Samia
/ September 12, 2011This is the sickest thing I’ve ever heard; I’m so sorry that happened to you!
Cheryl El-Sabagh
/ September 12, 2011So sorry you had to go through this. I also flew on 9/12/2011. I am home now, but as I read this to my husband, I told him this very well could have been me. I am sharing this on my FaceBook page. My daughters go through similar things when they fly as well. It is not only the color of the skin, it is what you where and what your name sounds like or looks like. It is truly, truly sad and scary. Thank you for sharing.
Batya L. Wittenberg
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry.
I’m a Jewish Orthodox woman in New York, and on more than one occasion I’ve been “randomly” picked out of airport security lines for an extra search. (Funny, it only ever seems to happen when I’ve covered my hair with a scarf instead of a hat….) I’ve never been subjected to the kind of violation you describe, but every so often it’s brought home to me how easily I could be.
I am so, so sorry this happened to you. And I echo the sentiments of those above who have urged you to take legal action if possible. This can’t be allowed to continue.
Ryan
/ September 12, 2011Thanks for sharing your story, and I sympathize with your situation, which undoubtedly turned out to be nothing more than racial profiling. However, I’m curious about something. What would you recommend the FBI do in this situation? If a report is called in, mid flight, regarding suspicious activity, can you think of the “right” thing to do? As a Caucasian, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know what it feels like to be in your shoes, but I understand your anger, frustration, and humiliation… I’m just not sure I understand how this situation could have been handled in a more appropriate manner by the FBI, given the (mis)information they were given.
Jeff
/ September 12, 2011The FBI could have reviewed the source of the information and done further checking.
For example, just recently in AZ a woman was accused by a police informant of being a drug dealer. They obtained a warrant (something that didn’t happen here) and she was brought to the hospital for a forced cavity search (all cavities). The hospital sent her a bill. Nothing was found by the way. It appears police informants may lie occasionally.
In this case, this is probably on par of “people not like me are visiting the bathroom, and look at the lady with them.” This is on par with the airplane stewardess who reported a musician reading a book about WW2 aircraft. He was taken off the plane, although he was not strip searched.
I did not hear anything in this account of being read her rights, being put under arrest, being told the charges she was being held for, or any description of the alleged activities that may have justified a strip search. This discounts the request for private information and other parts of the story (as told here) that basically put this into the 3rd world country category of “pick up a citizen, put them in a jail cell, don’t give them any rights, and harass them to your heart’s content” which is what banana republics do.
Ryan
/ September 12, 2011Okay, so the FBI does some checking. They find out the accuser is Susie Q. Homemaker with nothing to note on her record. They research the accused and find out one is a US Citizen, one is an Indian Immigrant, the other, who knows. None have a criminal past. Does that mean the threat is neutralized? Then what? “Okay, threat averted, no need to investigate further!”.
I’m just playing Devil’s advocate here, of course, but there is only so much passive investigation that can be done from a desk in Langley.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011So? The answer is that you don’t make a judgment from a desk in Langley to drag a person off a plane in handcuffs.
_Someone_ had a suspicion, based on _something_. That person is the first point of contact for law enforcement, those officers on site. They listen to whatever witness account that person has to share, and then based on a description of a _specific_ behavior that the witness felt was suspicious, they either act or they don’t.
A chain of information led to the baseless arrests of these individuals. Either the law enforcement agents overreacted to insufficient basis, or a witness was _lying_ about what they actually witnessed. There needs to be an investigation to determine at what point the people arrested were falsely accused, and the responsible parties need to be punished.
A vague sense that maybe someone doesn’t look right is not sufficient justification for being dragged off a plane in handcuffs, never mind all the things that happened subsequent to that!
Liz
/ September 13, 2011Ryan, the FBI could have let her go once they found out that she is a US citizen and she passed through TSA when boarding the plane, and perhaps done a background check on her while she was still in the air. There simply was no reason whatsoever for their actions. There was no threat, and any human being with two brain cells to rub together, let alone allegedly highly trained security professionals, would have been able to figure it out.
Rebecca Ore
/ September 13, 2011I live in Nicaragua as a resident alien. Nicaragua does grow bananas, but hasn’t been a banana republic in the political sense since 1979. I’m not sure the US isn’t more of a banana republic in that sense than Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or Panama.
This incident was pretty wretched. The US sells itself as promoting democracy (neo-liberalism is what they really promote) and freedom (for certain classes of white people).
pocketlama
/ September 12, 2011I know you mean well and I’m not attacking but I really don’t think it’s her responsibility to come up with something else law-enforcement should have done. That’s their job.
From my perspective, I have a comment on that. They regularly turn planes around or land at a near-by airport for “threats” or unruly passengers. The police then do an actual investigation and don’t do a full-on SWAT invasion of the plane. In the course of that investigation they would have figured out that Ms. Hebshi was only “guilty” of being in the same row as a sick man and let her go much sooner.
Brian
/ September 13, 2011Racial profiling is totally within the law, and if you don’t believe that, you are ignorant. I do not have a problem AT ALL with what happened. Plus, I’ll bet that other things happened that weren’t reported either. Good job FBI. I wouldn’t want that job. Every time they do something correct, they are ridiculed.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011OK, Brian, then let’s get you thrown into a prison cell and strip-searched right then and there without any cause and without any discussion. Since you’re so OK with it happening to her, you’ll be just fine with it happening to you, right? Because what happened to her is no different from it happening to you just because I don’t like you.
s.
/ September 13, 2011you may want to do some legal reading, brian. i don’t “believe.” i do this thing called “research.”
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011Ryan, “handled in a more appropriate manner”?? Are you kidding??
You think handcuffing, detaining, jailing, and detaining people is an “appropriate manner”??
Do you realize we have (or had) this thing called the Bill of Rights in this country?
Ben Trafford
/ September 13, 2011I’m willing to bet that the lady wouldn’t have overly complained if this story hadn’t involved getting handcuffed, forced to hold her bladder for hours, being shoved in a filthy cell, and being strip-searched, and (oh, yeah!) having a little racist comment snarked off at her at the end for good measure.
There’s security, and there’s security theater, and then there’s “we’re going to publicly humiliate you and act with no regard for your humanity.”
There are better ways to accomplish these goals.
Jeff
/ September 12, 2011SORRY IF REPEAT POST.
We are working to fight the TSA’s illegal and abusive practices, although your ordeal is due to sister agencies within DHS.
PLEASE consider contacting us directly at http://fttusa.org. Our website explains Freedom To Travel USA in more detail.
We are starting to work with Michigan legislators, and since this happened in Detroit, if you so choose, you can help fight the illegal and abusive practices.
PERSONAL ADVICE: I recommend you contact a lawyer. Your background is interesting – from an Arab perspective, CAIR works closely to protect Islamic rights, and I imagine the ADL might help from a Jewish perspective.
More importantly, independent of ethnicity, a US Citizen has rights.
In our examination of 4th Amendment background law concerning strip searches, your rights may have been violated. There are lots of grey areas, although most courts believe suspects need to be under arrest or in jail to be strip searched. From your account, it seems you were not under arrest.
We would look forward to having a discussion with you, if you are so inclined.
Condolences again on your ordeal.
Best regards,
Jeff Pierce
Co-Founder
Freedom To Travel USA
http://fttusa.org
jpierce@fttusa.org
ghf
/ September 14, 2011Thank you from the middle aged white man from Arkansas…sue the #$()*&$# out of existence
Peter Patau
/ September 12, 2011So sorry this happened to you, and thanks for sharing your story. People need to know when this sort of thing happens — not just the “facts” reported by AP, but the human side. Although yesterday was a solemn day of remembrance for those who lost loved ones 10 yrs ago, for the rest of us the media frenzy yesterday simply fueled this kind of xenophobic, paranoid hysteria. Ten years later, and we still have learned nothing. The Forever War, and the attitudes that fuel it, needs to end.
Mona
/ September 12, 2011I am so, so glad you wrote about this experience, and so eloquently too. This incident that happened to you is like all of our unspoken fears come to life, for my husband and myself. We’re both of Indian origin; he grew up in North America. He’s got a beard (as do many professors) but that’s the worst thing for profiling. He shaved it for the first time in his life on 9/12/01 but I made him grow it back because we can’t alter who we are at the end of the day, and shouldn’t. Like you, I would have taken the pragmatic approach to flying on Sept 11 – more security, more empty seats – but never again. One of the reasons I am so glad that you wrote about this (and in exactly the way that you did) is because so many people would be too scared to write about it, too disempowered. I really wonder what those two Indian men must be feeling right now. I am so angry and upset on their behalf. As I was reading this aloud to my husband, I felt sick to my stomach and could barely get through it. Even now, my heart is racing. Thanks to Nicholas Kristof for posting it on Facebook. I’m a total stranger to you but it would mean a lot to me if you, at some point (as you can), wrote a follow-up. But take care of yourself, first and foremost. Thank you for writing about it.
John
/ September 12, 2011The weapon of the terrorist is fear. Seems they are winning the war…
f0rTyLeGz (@f0rTyLeGz)
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry that this happened to you.
Most Americans don’t realize that we lost The War on Terror. We are terrorized… and your Kafkaesque experience is just one more proof of that. I heard that we now have a million more people on “security” payrolls since 911. All of those folks are watching US and not THEM.
Kush
/ September 12, 2011Thanks for voicing and sharing this… Very important advice for all brown people.
Roz
/ September 12, 2011How awful….i am really sorry that u had to experience that. I often wonder about how a protest could bring attention to this issue. Makes me want to organize a group of little old ladies to don headscarves & book a block of airline seats or s/t….just to point out how unhelpful it is to discriminate based on appearance alone. God bless you for your own ability to forgive your captors. That is more strength than i have.
Michelle
/ September 12, 2011I’m very sorry this happended to you. I lived in NYC for 4 yrs and can’t imagine a plane from there being detained like that. It’s such a diverse city. I hope that you are hearing a lot of the same from other people and are feeling some reassurance. Ironic too, this situation and the title of your blog (From the Heartland). In SF and NYC, we tend to think the midwest is a bit racist and backward and this doesn’t exactly dissuade from that (likely erroneous) perspective.
Stranger
/ September 12, 2011No words from me can change this or that. But from one stranger that at a glance would be more accepted in this country than you apparently are, you have my empathy.
carolyn
/ September 12, 2011please get a lawyer and see if you can sue those motherfuckers!
arielle0marie
/ September 12, 2011This is truly unnerving and it makes me so embarrassed of our country. I am so upset that this happened to you. You are so strong for posting this.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 12, 2011Get a civil rights lawyer and sue. You were detained without probably cause and handcuffed ~ possibly this means “arrested” ~ without “individualized suspicion.” Sue, sue, sue. Find others who suffered the same deprivation of your Constitutional rights and make it a class action. Let the federal government know that the people of this country are not going to tolerate law enforcement excesses like these and others.
Luke Desroches (@LTDesroches)
/ September 12, 2011Shared on Facebook and Twitter. What an awful story, I can’t imagine being treated like that. I sure hope things are better here north of the border. Thank you for sharing this.
Compassionate
/ September 12, 2011So sorry to hear! Please forgive me for being somewhat relieved that for once someone other than myself, my race, experienced what we, my race has experience and continually experience our entire life times. For once you may feel some compassion for how blacks are targeted and the prejudice we face on a daily basis.
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Perfectly understandable emotion, dear one. I have always wondered what special quality allows blacks in America to live their lives with such grace under these circumstances. This ole white lady wishes you all the best.
LaTrice
/ September 12, 2011I saw this posted on a friend’s FB page. There are no words that can accurately describe the anger and heartache I feel about what you had to endure. You handle the situation with grace and dignity.
Charlie
/ September 12, 2011That is so messed up 😦 I’m disgusted by the way the US and UK (and others) has turned out 10 years down the line.
I travelled through London Heathrow at on Sept 4th and in security something set the metal detector off. I was then subjected to what can only be described as a sexual assualt and thorough groping (although nothing like what you had to endure), followed a by a 20 minute long farcial inch by inch sweep over every part of me (head included – I mean, WTF?) with the hand held wand thing, they were satisfied that my wedding ring or perhaps a rivet on my jeans was not a threat to humanity.
Do I feel safer? Not a chance. Freedom? I don’t think so.
Dede
/ September 12, 2011Shoshana,
Am really sorry to hear about your story. I follow the link from FB and I get here. As part of “visible minority” i had to face this kind of treatment at the airport , though not with the full extent as yours. I am from west africa, far from brown 🙂 and have a “funny foreign name” and hip replacement. I get X-Ray treatment, full body search, explosive search and enhance checked baggage search almost every time i travel. And I missed some flight. I travel like 6 to 10 times a year. I end up arriving early at the airport, and keeping it cool when going during this humiliating process.
Wish you all the best and again, keep faith in this country not in the broken system
Kat (@KatWomanNYC)
/ September 12, 2011Thank you, thank you for going public with this unbelievable horror story. I’m dumbstruck. Yes, we were on edge yesterday. We’ll be on edge again. But something critical has to be done in the way of training and protocol to eliminate egregious situations like this. Wishing you all the best, and the comfort of your family and friends.
Then Again
/ September 12, 2011While I have a lot of empathy for you and what you went through I want to point out that you were not “racially” profiled it was your ethnicity (not that that makes it a happy day), no one knew your religion, anti-Semitic feelings are not a result of 9-11 and you do you own fair share of “racial profiling” about the police. I’m sure a parable about stones and glass houses or perhaps motes and beams applies here.
So Annoyed By All the Hype
/ September 12, 2011I agree with many of the points in this comment!
To Shoshana:
This line, “I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks” is racial profiling. Rednecks? Really? You were strip-searched, you believe, because of your skin color, yet you have absolutely no problem using the same tactics for stereo-typing. You’re probably doing this out of anger, but that’s me giving you the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is racist. (Even though we use that term incorrectly.)
Did the police officer who has no a/c every day at work say “but being a descendant of desert people I obviously didn’t mind the heat,” or is that you simply projecting? Some of the side comments, like this one, are over-the-top and make you out to be very hateful against anyone who isn’t you. It proves that you are no better than the person(s) who were afraid of you for what you looked like / how you behaved on that airplane. Even if you end your post with, “We should all try to get along.” The words fall flat.
I feel your rage and your humiliation, but I’ll take you getting profiled and searched any day over having something like 9/11 happen again. Oh, and I get profiled every time I go to the airport. I get the special treatment where they wipe my hands and my luggage handles / zippers to check for explosives. I am not of Middle Eastern descent. I was born in the USA. I have a boring English name. You are not the only one who has ever been profiled. I know you won’t be the last. This is the price of freedom.
Sean
/ September 12, 2011Anger is an excuse for malice, if it is temporary. But maliciousness is not acceptable as a default perspective on laws and justice in this country. I am sure if I got into a heated argument with some white redneck (Hey, I’m white too!) I would moan about how backwoods rednecks were the bane of my existence until it was out of my system. It is only human. I would eventually get over it and go back to not hating anything country or seemingly backwards.
This is in no way comparable to the passive racism that is built into our law enforcement agencies when they pull aside people for no other reason than they are brown. One is a tragedy, the other is merely regrettable (I’ll leave it to you to sort out which is which.)
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Agreed
/ September 12, 2011I agree with you 100%. She was so hypocritical.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yes, being angry and calling people names is EXACTLY the same as someone violating one’s Constitutional rights.
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011Mr. or Ms. SoAnnoyedByAllTheHype,
No, “this” ISN’T “the price of freedom.”
You need to go back to 5th grade civics.
Jessie
/ September 14, 2011Lisa you ar so right. Absolutely NOT. We do not need to accept this gross violation of our civil rights granted to us in our constitution and amendments. No where does it state on any airline ticket that you can be detained without reason and strip searched. Really people – if you are an American learn your rights. The TSA cannot strip search you or touch you unless you consent.
As far as this incident is concerned I could MAYBE see being escorted off the plane, a pat down in private by another female, and questioning – and that’s a real stretch when I say maybe. Under no circumstance was the strip search justified. Was she actually placed under arrest? If not, they absolutely violated her rights. The strip search and cavity search was uncalled for and an absolutely vile and gross abuse of her civil rights. Let’s not forget she passed through screening prior to the outbound flight – that means no metal objects detected, etc. Additionally she didn’t blow up the plane in flight. This level of invasive body search was UNCALLED for PERIOD. Now think if you would be OK with this if it was your 12 year old daughter, your 62 year old mother or aunt, your 89 year old grandmother.
People you need to wake up – we are headed towards a police state where ANYONE can be detained without reason, strip searched, locked up, etc. etc.
Will another terrorist incident occur – maybe so. I hope not, but our security, TSA specifically, is not effective. While I would absolutely hate to see anyone else killed by terrorists I hate even more the loss of our civil liberties. I want to cry about what we have become as a nation – a country willing to trample what our forefathers fought so hard for – all because we are a bunch of scared wussies.
Abhi
/ September 13, 2011Giving up your freedom and rights is the price of “freedom”? Brilliant. Do you draw a disability cheque for being retarded? You should.
What exactly do you think freedom is?
return to sanity
/ September 13, 2011Guess what? I and Shoshana and everyone else have a constitutional right to call people (yes- even WHITE people) fat rednecks. We have a constitutional right to hate speedboats and country music. Nobody has a consitutional right to detain another american without the due process of law, nor the right to strip search another american without the due process of law. Shoshana is totally within her right to call those police officers whatever the heck she wants to. They have no right to do what they did to her.
Ben Trafford
/ September 13, 2011Wait, wait. “The price of freedom” is getting dragged off a plane into a cell, stripsearched and interrogated? Wouldn’t that be the very definition of “no freedom?”
First you accuse her of lying about the last thing the cop said to her and then you accuse her of lying -again- when she says she wants people to get along. And why? Because she’s justifiably angry? Because she thought some uncharitable things, and dared to tell us that she thought them?
If you think your post was reasonable, you need to grow a clue. Seriously.
Crafty Trilobite
/ September 13, 2011I think he means that the price of HIS freedom is the loss of HER freedom, and he’s ok with that. She had the gall to fly while being brown, after all, so she has no right to complain.
Amused
/ September 13, 2011So what you’re saying is that the price of freedom is to not be free?
W. Scott Lockwood III
/ September 13, 2011As someone who has paid the real price of freedom (8 years of military service) your attitude is disgusting and unbecoming of an American. Please do us all a favor, and don’t reproduce.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011“You are not the only one who has ever been profiled. I know you won’t be the last. This is the price of freedom.” Based on your words, I don’t think you have a clue what the word freedom means. Or what privilege you soak in. Your anger is justified? And hers is not? Please.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry to break it to you, but having your hands and luggage handles wiped is NOT on par with being handcuffed, being taken to an undisclosed location, not being allowed to contact your family, being strip and/or cavity searched, and having the minutiae of your life examined for no reason at all. Not even CLOSE.
And I found her remarks thought-provoking and even enlightening: Can you not see the lesson there – that bigotry begets bigotry, hatred fosters hatred, prejudice sows and reaps more prejudice?
Had the author encountered those same officers in another setting, I daresay their backgrounds would never have registered beyond a blip on her radar. But they were abusing their authority and she was the victim based on nothing more than her appearance, and her response was to think and feel – however momentarily – along the same lines. She felt anger and disgust towards those people. She was IN that situation because OTHER people feel (ten years later) anger and disgust towards people who remind them of the people behind the 9/11 attacks. And the ball just keeps rolling downhill, picking up speed…
e
/ September 13, 2011I think you are missing the point of why she wrote these things… she was pointing out the own judgmental things that went through her mind during an ordeal that unless you have lived it, you cannot pretend to understand or imagine. Later in her story she admits making these unfounded judgments (which you’re right, we are ALL guilty of), and says that doing so is always a dangerous, bad thing. It does not make her words fall flat – it gives them sincerity. She is not being hateful or holier-than, she is being human. I would like to say that I wish some of the people writing ignorant, hurtful comments could understand that, but I have a feeling that those comments would find themselves to horrible stories like this no matter the circumstances.
How dare you or anyone else say, “I’ll take you getting profiled and searched any day over having something like 9/11 happen again”? Of course NOBODY wants anything even close to what happened on that day again, but stripping innocent people (and American citizens) of their rights based on racist paranoia and fear will not stop that. All that does is fuel more unnecessary hatred and make injustices like this seem OK. Unless you have been in her shoes, you cannot pretend to understand what she experienced because you have to have your hands wiped down before you board a plane – the comparison alone is ridiculous. And who are YOU to decide what is acceptable for another to go through so you can feel a false sense of “security”?
Also, doesn’t the irony of the “freedom” awarded by incidents like this ever cross your mind? I think any argument for “freedom” here is absolutely unrecognizable.
Liz
/ September 13, 2011No, this is NOT the price of freedom, because it DENIES freedom. What is wrong with you people who consider what she was subjected to to be mere “inconvenience” or the same as having your hands wiped?? Is it possible that anyone can be so stupid??! She was thrown into a prison cell and STRIPPED SEARCHED!! Do you not get that?? If you are willing to go along with this happening to your FELLOW CITIZENS, then you are willingly giving up the freedoms you falsely claim to cherish. This is not protecting our freedom, this is attempting to ensure our physical safety — and it is failing at that and succeeding at eliminating our freedom.
Sharroot
/ September 13, 2011Hmmm.. my dictionary defines race as “a group sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group”.
This lady was the victim – she was cuffed, dragged off the plane, thrown in a cell, stripped, and cavity searched with no explanation. If she had a negative THOUGHT about the people doing it to her and wrote about it ,it hardly constitutes as throwing stones!
Josh
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry that you went through this ordeal. I love my country (as you do), and I am extremely disheartened whenever I hear that we’re not living up to our ideals. Unfortunately, it happens more than I would like. Your story greatly personalized the dichotomy, and that we still haven’t fully worked through it yet. I hope that we do better by you, your family, and the 50 other “similar situations” that happened yesterday the next time.
Ibrahim Yousif
/ September 12, 2011I’m an Arab male, and if I was flying on 9/11 I would EXPECT to be treated that way, and be happy about it. What’s the big deal? That stuff happens ALL the time to me, and I understand. . . and I don’t feel that ANY of my rights are taken away. If you’re not doing anything wrong; they will let you go soon enough. THIS GIRL JUST WANTS ATTENTION! “Oh, I had to pee sooo bad!” . . . spoiled brat . . .
Derron Borders
/ September 12, 2011I’m sorry you feel this way Ibrahim.
Dede
/ September 12, 2011” That stuff happens ALL the time to me, and I understand. . . ” This should never happens to you. AM sorry for you Sir.
A Friend
/ September 12, 2011Really? You wouldn’t mind a cavity search? I don’t even know what to say about that. And you know, if you’re doing nothing wrong, it does NOT guarantee you will be released “soon enough”.
Lisa Simeone
/ September 12, 2011Ibrahim sounds like a plant. A phony. I don’t even believe that’s his real name.
David Reynolds-Gier
/ September 13, 2011Agreed.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry that you’ve been beaten down enough to think that your treatment is justifiable. I hope that, someday, you can value yourself enough to reject its validity.
kimberlyalohr
/ September 14, 2011Ibrahium- I completely agree!!!!!I would rather be safe than sorry- and I am so glad that you spoke out. I am appalled and would like if maybe everyone could stop the drama and focus on whats important. I would want to be stopped-Id feel better about our secuirty. I am sure if those two men were doing something..and the FBI wasnt around-she’d be complaining
Alison
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for speaking out about your experience! I was directed here by a friend and I’ve shared this with my Facebook friends. I’m horrified by what you endured and by the larger implications it means for every American.
We’ve traded our 4th amendment rights for a pottage of crap. The Patriot Act and the TSA are nothing but un-Constitutional power grabs dressed up as security theater. I’m so sorry you had to endure what you did.
144
/ September 12, 2011I’m very, very sorry this happened to you. This should never happen in a country that considers itself free. Much more should be said, but words fail me.
Jesse
/ September 12, 2011As if words could soothe you, but I want to say I am terribly sorry for what happened to you, and I hope your story opens eyes and brings about change to the Patriot laws.
Jerry Lambada
/ September 12, 2011I am sorry this happened to you, but you blew a great chance to make a statement. Calling people “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”, middle aged white cop, and profiling said individuals as ones who would have speedboats, and beer cozies does not support your claims about what you believe. Yes, you will justify it by saying you were angry about your treatment, but they were angry about 9/11, same difference. Pot, meet kettle. So, you can count 9/11/11 as not only the day you were treated poorly, but also the day you failed at becoming any kind of a credible blogger.
ralfast
/ September 12, 2011Until they strip you naked and probe your orifices.
Cori Fisher (@CoriFisher)
/ September 12, 2011I left a similar comment. Prejudice’s run rampant in all ethnicity’s.I was surprised no one else made any comments about the rude statements in this post. Saying she now hate’s rednecks and country music. Country music is one of the few genres that teach you to be kind and help your neighbors. Really she is no better herself than the cops who were forced to act upon suspicions whether they saw a threat or not.
e
/ September 13, 2011Re-read the entry and focus on her last few paragraphs. Perhaps you should pay closer attention before condemning victims. Be ashamed of yourself.
strega42
/ September 13, 2011I’m pretty sure that since I’m white, and I also hate rednecks, beer in coozies, speedboats, and country music, her dislike of those things – especially when being surrounded by references to them while undergoing a very traumatic experience – does not make Shoshana “racist”.
Further, expressing in a blog that she had thoughts about how much she disliked those things does not exactly equate to being illegally detained because the guy in the seat next to her spent too much time throwing up in the bathroom.
When she refuses to hire someone based on his dislike of country music, THEN y’all can call her a prejudiced bigot.
CL
/ September 13, 2011Oh shut up with your white, male privilege.
Thada
/ September 12, 2011This is appalling. I am so sorry you and your seatmates were put through that. I hope you find a way to prevent this from affecting your feelings of safety for too long. Maybe a hypnotherapist or an NLP practitioner can assist you to reframe this incident to lessen its effect on your well-being over time. Best wishes.
Max Voelker
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for posting this. I’ve shared it and really admire that you put this out there.
I don’t know whether to be angry at the system that did this or the extremists that made them feel they need to, but i think you summed it up very well when you said “We live in a complicated world that, to me, seems to have reached a breaking point.” As someone who just went through that and I’m sure is dealing with the anger, it’s a remarkable thing to have that perspective.
Thank you again
anthony karee
/ September 13, 2011NOT ME !!
Bailey
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you and you are a better person than me — I would be raging mad and not so level-headed. Thank you for your account of what happened.
I hope you sue to at least find out who made the ridiculous complaint and what the complaint actually was. Maybe some good would come out of this if you could sit down with the person who made the complaint so the person understands the ramifications of racially profiling. A teaching experience.
Good luck and I hope this never happens to you again!
Susanne
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you.
Ben
/ September 12, 2011I am a fat white man who likes beer and country music. I am horrified at how you were treated.
I take your story as another example of the nation I love having become a police state. This deeply saddens me. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 do NOT excuse such reactions to whatever illusions of threats the authorities can think up. (As a law-abiding citizen, I have had two of my own encounters with overreacting law enforcement in the past year.)
sue patterson
/ September 12, 2011This seems so wrong on so many levels. I hope you consult an attorney. I do not think they can STRIP SEARCH you, just because someone on the plane didn’t like the color of your skin. I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever sued anyone in my life, but if that’s the language they understand, I’d consider it.
From one American woman to another, I am so sorry you had to endure this. It’s just horrible! But I am truly grateful that you were able to write about it, so we could understand first-hand what is going on.
Sameer Shisodia
/ September 12, 2011The world over, we’re letting governments get more and more control over our lives by letting them have laws that take away our rights to exist with decency and dignity. Its sad that those that are meant to serve us are turning into our masters in the name of “protecting” us. Terrible experience – I hope you recover well enough to enjoy travel again.
Nelsene McGinn
/ September 12, 2011A nightmare experience that no one should have to endure. We are no longer free in this country and it makes me very sad. I am so sorry you had to go through such an ordeal. I will share your story in the hope that things will eventually change and we will recover our freedoms. I hate to say that I am not very optimistic.
I admire your courage.
Mike
/ September 12, 2011You feel like you have lost your freedom? You have. Welcome to the party pal
Robert Arthur
/ September 12, 2011I am appalled at this. Each and every one of us should print this posting out, and send a copy of it along with a well worded letter to our congressman, and our senators, put them in envelopes, with a stamp and mail them, demanding that this agency be defunded and disbanded. They have made a mockery of airline security, they have abused, and humiliated us with no better benefit and likely worse security than we had a decade ago. Get them out of our pants and our airports today.
Senator Levin will be receiving a copy of my letter before the close of the week.
I only hope I can respond with as much dignity and grace as you when they come for me.
Longinus
/ September 12, 2011Just wanted to congratulate you on a great blog post and let you know that you handled the situation with class and dignity. Americans need to hear that there is a true human cost to all this racial paranoia circulating around the country. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope it not only helps change some attitudes out there but brings you something positive in life. Best wishes in the future.
Kevin Slark (@greatwhiteslark)
/ September 12, 2011I am simply appalled at what this country has become. As a fellow American who didn’t do everything in his power to fight the creation of this police state, I apologize for what you experienced from the bottom of my heart.
Eric Eide
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for sharing your story.
Margie
/ September 12, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I am sharing your story with
my friends.
Ange Whoompthereitis Stiltskin
/ September 12, 2011I am truly disgusted that this happened to you. I would hope that it would not happen in the rest of the world, but it has certainly made me think twice about ever visiting America with my half Persian children and I will certainly discourage them from ever visiting in the future. The funny thing is that my children have nothing to do with their Persian father, though they share his Persian last name, and are real little Kiwis (we’re from New Zealand). This really disturbs me as I think of what could happen in the future to my kids. While everyone is so busy looking for middle eastern or dark skinned terrorists they may very well miss real threats to national security. How is it possible in 2011 for racism like this to exist? The hysteria surrounding ‘terrorism’ & ‘terrorists’ is outrageous. I hope that as many people as possible see this. So sorry that this happened to you!
Jo Garcia
/ September 12, 2011Damn.
Ain’t this Country a bitch?
I’ve been stopped for driving while brown, but I guess I can now be arrested for flying while brown.
Freedom, my ass.
Jo Garcia
Phoenix, AZ
Rabi Satter
/ September 12, 2011I am sorry this happened to you. The truly sad thing is this has happened before in American history. It was called the Red Scare and McCathyism – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism. During that era people got accused and lost jobs by someone calling them a communist. Now go back and read the link but put terrorist or Muslim in place of communist.
Russ Nelson
/ September 12, 2011I feel sorry for you, but you clearly have the confidence and mental fortitude to navigate life, so you don’t need much support. BTW you should always ask “am I free to go?” And if the answer is “no”, demand a lawyer. It’s not safe to answer ANY question.
I feel far sorrier for the COWARD who reported you. They need to grow some balls, and stop being afraid.
williamnyy23
/ September 12, 2011No Ms. Berchtold, the public doesn’t want you to error on the side of caution. It wants you to do your job without the gross violation of civil rights. There were a 1,000 better ways to handle this situation that would have served the purpose of the individual and the greater good. If this is protocol, then game over. The terrorists have won.
Jeff
/ September 12, 2011Someone turned me on to your story as I was suppose to get on that plane and take it from DTW-DEN. I am sorry for the ordeal you had to endure.
The story as TSA/Homeland security seemed to be working from was that two people in the same row both independently spent 20 minutes in both of the bathrooms. Sounds a tad excessive and suspicious to me. I know when I go into an airplane bathroom I want to do is get out as quickly as possible.
Seems like you may have just been sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Phillip Harrington
/ September 12, 2011If shitting for 20 minutes is wrong, man I don’t wanna be right.
joe dumars
/ September 13, 2011indians have terrible bowel movements (i can say this cause im indian) and americans need to be more sensitive and understanding of this
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Ha! Good stuff, joe.
ralfast
/ September 12, 2011So, if flying messes up with your bowels, as it does to me, I might as well leave my underwear of, and save the TSA the trouble?
Timothy Kephart
/ September 13, 2011Jeff your apathy is exactly how this country got to this level. Instead of being outraged and shocked by this treatment you chalk it up to “wrong place wrong time” cliche non-sense. You make excuses for the people who take power to the extreme.
brady
/ September 12, 2011I feel sorry for being an American, after reading of this event. I wish I could have been there to call the paranoids out. Too many of us have become lumps of terrified, quivering flesh, devoid of the right to be Americans.
Kaya Dasha
/ September 12, 2011Que pena lo que te pasó, I am so sorry Soshana, and to be completely honest, I do not really know what to say :S
auradis
/ September 12, 2011This is just mortifying. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Kim
/ September 12, 2011I would never have been able to have kept my temper or held myself together as you did. I don’t understand how they had the right to ask you question or strip search (!!!!!) you without telling you anything about what was happening to you or why! No lawyer??? This is permissible in this country??
I’m floored. Also shocked and sickened by this. And so, so sorry you had to go through this. : (
Charles Quisenberry
/ September 13, 2011Because she wasn’t formally arrested. Until the police tell you the charge, you aren’t technically “under arrest”. It is important to note that the police can detain you, usually up to 24 hours, without a charge. This is in order to conduct an investigation such as this. They also aren’t required to advise you of your Miranda rights if they haven’t charged you yet. If you feel that you need a lawyer before answering their questions, the onus is on you to tell the police before answering their questions… however, it can get tricky. Because you haven’t been placed under arrest, it can be considered a crime to “hinder” an investigation by not answering their questions. In order to ensure that the police can’t do this, it’s important to tell them “I have the right to remain silent”. Every question they ask, repeat that line as your answer. Whatever you do, don’t say anything snarky that the police can later claim you said to try and mislead them (that’s also a crime). If you want an attorney present, then repeat the line “I have the right to an attorney”. It’s really important though that you say absolutely nothing else if that’s the route you want to take. As you can see though… you’ll go home a lot faster if you just answer their questions. If you take the “I know my rights” route, you’re going to be in that holding cell for a lot longer (and, remember, attorneys are expensive – you need to be destitute to get a free one).
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, it’s really awful when people know their rights and say so. We should definitely discourage anyone from learning what their rights are, and if they should accidently become educated, under no circumstances should they reveal that they know their rights.
After all, we wouldn’t want to upset those law enforcement officers, would we? They can be so darn fragile!
Tammy Cravit
/ September 13, 2011A better response than “I have the right to an attorney” would be the more explicit, and more technically correct, “I am exercising my Fifth Amendment right to decline to answer questions without the advice of an attorney, and I am formally requesting the presence of an attorney.” (Disclaimer: I am a paralegal, but not a lawyer.)
However, as others have pointed out, one has to weigh the risks of making such a stand, and on balance I can’t say Shoshana made the wrong call here. Like they tell rape survivors about their decisions to/not to fight back, “if you survived, then you made the right decision.”
Chucky
/ September 14, 2011Charles, your understanding of the constitutional requirements under the “Miranda case seems somewhat limited. a person cannot be required to answer any questions when detained by the police (With or without being informed of charges) . They are supposed to be advised of their rights whenever they are questioned while being detained. refusing to answer when you are detained is a right, not a crime.
Carey
/ September 12, 2011Between your tale and the NPR story on the Mall of America – I feel like the jihad is being waged by ourselves against ourselves
ruth
/ September 12, 2011I’m very sad to hear of your experience. It’s unfortunate that three strangers with physical appearances that reveal an “other” ethnicity and happen to be sitting next to each other is interpreted by some as “suspicious.” I, too, believe that the terrorists have gained some by instilling a level of racial, cultural and religious (whether perceived or real difference) intolerance that has not been what defines the greatness of America. Everyday I hope for the day that this chapter in our history comes to a close, and the racism and intolerance that has been an ongoing knee-jerk reaction to the acts of a specific group on Sept. 11 are put in perspective…and that those who’ve been given some power and authority through public trust do the responsible things to put it into perspective and make things right. Sometime I wonder if we’ll ever learn, though, if we’re unable to look back at the nation’s past experiences – the marginalization and genocide of Native American tribes, African slavery, imprisoning of Japanese Americans in concentration camps, and so many more chosen treatments of large groups of people – is this just who we are? During the VietNam War I was born, it ended when I was 9. But even as a little girl, half-Filipino (my mom obviously full), because my siblings and I looked enough like we were Vietnamese, other kids from some neighborhoods called us “Frenchie” (for French Indochinese or VietCong). This is one of the reasons I hate war so much. For those who have the physical appearance of an “other,” you are often made to feel ugly, dirty, at fault, unwelcome…in your own home. I’m sorry this happened to you. I hope your story makes people remember who we are at our best.
JAlmos
/ September 12, 2011There’s nothing more to say than to express how sorry I am that this happened to you and that I hope every single one of our fellow countrymen will see this, know the injustice of it and seek to act on it.
David Smith
/ September 12, 2011This really bothers me. I don’t want to live here anymore. This is not peaceful or free country. What, we can be detained now, because some other person is bothered by our appearance, without evidence of any wrongdoing? Are you kidding me?
Andrew Estrada
/ September 12, 2011Queen Shoshi I have your hand prints on my driveway. Andreanna told me and sent me your blog. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. Papa Andy
ralfast
/ September 12, 2011“Walk a mile in my shoes….”
ES
/ September 12, 2011I don’t know you, but just want you to know that your friends and family are not the only ones embarrased and angered over your treatment. I’m truly sorry you had to put up with this.
Japheth Ross
/ September 12, 2011I’m terribly sorry that you have personally witnessed the indirect intended effect of terrorism. As a fellow American resident, I’m happy for the continued effort to provide protection from the Homeland Security and understand the difficulties encountered in the process but yet dismayed at the racial profiling prevalent in these undertakings. I applaud you for keeping a sound judgement in all this saga but ashamed that our freedom and security is attained by violating the rights of people such as yourself simply by their appearance.
You wrote, “You understand why we have to do this, right? It’s for our own protection,” she told me. – Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Until the day Americans are free of bigoted assumptions, the patriot act should be abolished and replaced with a humane policy that serves protection to every American equally without comprising the civil liberties of others. Until then, it would be wrong and insulting for some , to say that the Homeland Security has kept us safe since that fateful day of 9/11.
ken
/ September 12, 2011Stupid Americans.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 12, 2011Before the so-called “PATRIOT” Act, this event would have provoked rage across the country; the perpetrators would be fired and their agency sued; Congressmens’ telephones would be ringing off the hook.
But now it engenders sympathy for the victim and excuses for the perpetrators?
The terrorists ~ with a little help from bin Laden and his ilk ~ have won.
Joshua
/ September 12, 2011I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry for some people’s reactions. And I thank you for your calm, your composure, and your willingness to share. No one should be judged by their appearance, or put through what you went through. Thank you for your courage to share.
John
/ September 12, 2011Maybe I missed it, but did they read you your rights or were you not officially detained? Easy for me to say, as it wasn’t me, but you should have refused to answer until you had been read your rights and had a lawyer.
Harveen
/ September 12, 2011I’m Sikh and I wear a turban. Reading this makes me concerned about traveling to the US. I don’t think I’m going to be doing business there anytime soon.
John Hopkins
/ September 12, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. As an anglo male I’m fairly unlikely to be forced to undergo the indignities you suffered. Reading your account made me feel sick and humiliated for what my country, the “land of the free” I grew up singing about, is becoming. I wish you the best as you seek to regain your balance.
Chris
/ September 12, 2011When I hear the whole story, I’ll make a comment until then I will read the comments of uninformed idiots.
Terry (@macgarp)
/ September 12, 2011sorry to hear about this, Shoshana. I am from Metro Detroit. Most of us are pretty awesome. I have my suspicions that the person who “reported” you and your seatmates are probably not from here, because you resemble just about 1/4th of SE Michigan. 🙂 In fact, you look a lot like an old friend of mine!
I am glad you are home safe with your family and I hope you don’t think we’re a bunch of assholes.
Cori Fisher (@CoriFisher)
/ September 12, 2011I’m so sorry you had to go through that. At the same time I saw some prejudice’s of your own in your post though. You repeatedly mention how fat everyone is. Even the kind officer who didn’t want to strip search you. How you hate “rednecks” not all rednecks are backwoods racist a-holes. The term originated from men who work outside and because of that their necks are sunburned. You hate country music? Why because a few cops talked about it? I am sorry your rights were violated but that is no reason to turn that hate on others. I would be very upset in your situation also, I am Jewish on my mother’s side so don’t think it’s coming from someone who doesn’t understand at all. You are writing about equality and not judging people yet that’s what you did through your post. I’m surprised no one else noticed, I guess your right, people are blind to prejudice’s now.
Antranik
/ September 14, 2011Because hating country music and rednecks are the same as being locked up and strip searched because someone doesn’t like your skin color. Great logic CoriFisher. >.<
Eloisa Perez-Lozano
/ September 12, 2011Hi Shoshanna! I haven’t really kept in touch since grad school, but I saw this link on Patti’s Facebook and I thought it might be yours. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. I don’t know how you kept your cool through it all, but I respect you so much for all you endured. I hope you do seek legal counsel about this because this was completely violating your rights no one deserves that!!!
Ana Ramsey
/ September 12, 2011I am sick to my stomach after reading this. I want to say that I’m surprised that this was allowed to happen to you, but I’m not. And that makes me angry. This is America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Or it used to be. Now I’m not sure what we are, but Free and Brave are not it.
SY
/ September 12, 2011This sounds like the Internal Security Act we have in Malaysia, where the govt can, on their whims, jail you for years without trial. Can you lawyer up and sue the govt??
Lucas Neill
/ September 12, 2011Shoshana, I do feel sorry that you had to undergo such a terrible experience but can you actually blame the authorities for racial profiling on 9/11 when there’s so much tension in the air with talked of a credible threat? The bad guys who conducted the 9/11 murders were all ‘ethnic’ looking, UNFORTUNATELY. And, can I say, you are pretty disparaging in your description of the officers of the law even though, by your own account, they were professional and polite.
s.
/ September 13, 2011the “bad guys” who conducted the oklahoma city bombing were all “white” looking. let me know when you see the authorities profiling “white” looking people, please.
zack
/ September 12, 2011Dear Shebshi,
As a ”
I am truly disgusted that this happened to you. I’m even more disgusted to read comment by hateful & racisit individuals such as; Margaret Helmick, Jan & Jay (Mr. real American) I don’t know what that means
Margaret Helmick, Jan & Jay : as a naturalized citizen, As a law abiding citizen, as a Muslim & as a US Navy Veteran I say shame on you. I can’t believeI swore to protect racits like you
Margaret Helmick, Jan & Jay : as a tax payer, as a Moroccan Born man I say kiss my dark skin A@@
Once again, thanks for sharing your story, One of the many I hear withing the Arab community
Terry (@macgarp)
/ September 12, 2011PS I am an editor too… 🙂 for WXYZ Channel 7.
Niyati
/ September 12, 2011I’m appalled and horrified and enraged at this. Thank you for sharing this.
You’ve written such a measured, sane account of it… Salute!
p.s. I’m Indian and was profiled (not as drastically) once at De Gaulle airport; and shrugged it off… I joked later with my family that the powers that be thought that staid old boring me was a dangerous Mata Hari.
Frank Perch
/ September 12, 2011Ms. Hebshi,
I don’t know you and I can’t tell you what to do. You have a life, and a family, and you have to decide what is a priority for you. But as an American citizen OUTRAGED by what has happened to you, I hope that you, and others who are reading this, don’t let this go, don’t try to rationalize or defend the actions of the airline or TSA, and don’t stop making yourselves heard. This is how totalitarian states work. People are encouraged to report on their fellow citizens, innocent people are randomly branded enemies of the state, and everybody lives in fear of the midnight knock on the door. This is not East Berlin. This is not Tehran. This is not Pyongyang, This happened in Detroit, and that should make a difference.
a
/ September 12, 2011This story tore me apart. I am from Michigan, and knowing I could someday fly out of Detroit makes me wonder what could they think of me? Why do people plot others of a different ethnicity? You clearly did nothing wrong, but we all know why you all looked suspicious to somebody racist.. I feel terribly sorry for what happened to you, and I hope that this was not just a bad experience, but a time for you to remember that everyone is the same, someone should not be labeled by race or gender, but should be accepted just for being YOU! You seem like a wonderful person, and stay strong, and don’t dwell on the experience, just think down on those bastards who thought you were “suspicious” and hope that someday karma will come back and bite them on the ass.
someone2442
/ September 12, 2011i completely understand what you went through. I have quite a bit of Arab blood in my family and I don’t like traveling because of this. It makes it much more difficult to get on an airplane and although I’ve never been detained like you have, it’s always been a major worry of mine.
Also, what they did isn’t right. Some people just get paranoid and think they see things that don’t actually take place, and then they react on it. We can’t help it, we can only suffer the consequences.
“The fundamental cause of trouble in the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” – Bertrand Russel
Esteban
/ September 12, 2011Shoshana – this is a lucid and passionate witness to the pragmatics of fear and the shrinking of our democratic life. Sorry this happened. Thank you for sharing.
Your fellow citizen
/ September 13, 2011I apologize on behalf of our country
Forgive the person that caused you this stress and they will think twice about being so afraid next time
Katrina
/ September 13, 2011what happened to you is awful. However unfortunately people of similar ethnic background to you have been conspiring to kill innocent people, in the most cruel way. It is completely unfair on you, but you cannot blame the general public of growing resentment towards the arabs. Not only do these people kill others, they kill their own kind too.
Had there actually been 3 terrorists on the plane, everyone including you would be grateful for the action homeland security take. Terrorists dont make themselves obvious, so how do you fight an invisible enemy?! There is only one way I can think of, by assuming that all people that fit the description are the enemy. Its a case of damned if you do, and damned if you dont. Yes it violating, yes its racist, yes its not fair, but does it make us feel safer than letting possible terrorists travel around the country, i think so
s.
/ September 13, 2011are you trained in identifying terrorists? do you have any proof that racial profiling works? are you aware that many of the biggest instances of terrorism in the united states have been carried out by people of similar ethnic background to WHITE people? you appear to have considered none of these things. perhaps think a little harder before you post.
Katrina
/ September 13, 2011s., no one is trained in identifying terrorists, so how would you do it? what is the alternative to racial profiling? I think you are to quick with your insults, if I was writting an article on the topic maybe your argument would be valid, but my short post was to encourage an alternative view point, for people to see that this not just a racist attack on human rights, but the result of a serious wound inflicted on the american people, by people mostly of a middle eastern origin. I dont deny that WHITE people can be terrorists too and to consider these things in a post would result in a thesis on sociology which is not an option here. But in the case of 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afganistan and the media portrayal…. the average person cannot be blamed to be anxious in the presence of certain ethnicities.
s.
/ September 13, 2011actually, they can be blamed. we call it racism. when terrorism that has happened in our country has been conducted by both people of “certain ethnicities” and by people who are white, yet you are only anxious in the presence of those people who do not look like you, that would be racism.
as to being trained to identify terrorists, that actually IS what some people are trained to do. if we were a wiser country, we might spend more dollars on that than on scrambling F-16s every time the “average” citizen becomes “anxious in the presence of certain ethnicities.”
Katrina
/ September 14, 2011if we lived in Ireland at the time of the IRA bombings, I am sure we would be scared of white males with back backs too. And then white males acting suspiciously would be held up for questioning. Its not so much racism, its stereotyping of groups in relation to threats these types of people have caused. If it was white women that flew those planes into the world trade center, and blew themselves us in markets in Iraq, then it would be white women that are always under suspicion. Yes, its wrong to be picking on a race just because they have blue or green or brown eyes, that is a violation. This is not what are talking about here.
If a particular race is continuously responsible for certain threats, then all the people in that race will be stereotyped by their behavior, it just human mature. We are all guilty of stereotyping ie judging a person by their appearance. Unfortunately for the arabs, other arabs have inflicted serious wounds on the Western society in recent times. Until all the terrorist attacks are mostly done by whites (which is not very likely to happen) unfortunately we have to take precautions with the dangerous stereotypes.
I do think that people should not be treated like this woman has. Detain for questioning yes. Being escorted of the plane at gun point and strip searched no.
I would love to know what you solution to the problem would be. Before you start insulting people for their views, perhaps provide an alternative solution to the problem that works. I dont necessarily agree with the method, but I dont know what the alternative would be, so if its going to stop more innocent people dying, perhaps the stereotyping can be forgiven until the day that that type stops blowing people up.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yes, you CAN blame the general public. For being uninformed, bigoted, and easily manipulated into seeing all dark-skinned people as the enemy.
It may make YOU feel safer, but it doesn’t actually MAKE you safer, and it makes others feel more in danger simply for existing.
e
/ September 13, 2011Exactly, Allison. How can we pretend that what we’re achieving is “freedom” when it comes at the cost of stripping the rights of members of our country?
Katrina
/ September 13, 2011Whats your solution to homeland security Allison?
We can all preach human rights, but until we come up with a solution that captures terrorists without confusing innocent people of the same ethnic background, there is not many alternatives.
You are right, we dont actually feel safer. But at least we cannot blame them for lax security and not taking reports of suspicious behaviour seriously.
Who do we blame the general public for being paranoid? Perhaps the arabs that crashed airliners into buildings on 9/11? Or maybe the media is to blame, perhaps we have to ask them to stop showing images of the people responsible…. because thats causing racism?!
I had a similar experience. I have dark colourings and was questioned in Russia at the time arabs from Chechnya were blowing up residential buildings in Moscow. I completely understand why they questioned me and am not offended because they picked me out because of my dark hair. I totally agree that strip searching is going too far. I would prefer to be questioned every time, then have a school of children taken under siege by suicide bombers (including women terrorists) like it happened in Beslan killing 380 people, ever again!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The “we must stop anything from happening ever again!” feeling is understandable, but leads to the violation of Constitutional rights such as what Ms. Shebshi related. The fact that you personally were not offended is not a good enough justification to continue the violation of Constitutional rights that Ms. Shebshi experienced.
Sharing an ethnic background with terrorists does not make one a terrorist. If so, then white males should begin to be profiled since Timothy McVeigh was a white male, and the murdered of George Tiller was a white male, and so on.
There is a middle ground between having no security, and allowing someone’s Constitutional rights to be violated on the basis of unsubstantiated reports of unspecified suspicious activity made by untrained civilians who are then never held responsible for those reports if they are false.
EvilDevil
/ September 13, 2011The terrorists win every time we let our fears dictate our behavior. This is appalling.After ten years we have been fooled into the idea that we need to give up what makes us American to keep us safe from “the enemy”. We deserve neither liberty nor security.
James Callaghan
/ September 13, 2011I got to this from Kurt Busiek’s Twitter post (via Lar deSouza). Ma’am, I’m not American though I’ve lived here for half my life, so I can’t apologise on behalf of my country. I would if I could. As I am a white, hetrosexual male, maybe I can apologise on behalf of people who will never have to experience this kind of unmitigated nonsense. I assure you the words I want to use are far more profane and lengthily so. I don’t know if that’s worth anything, and it can’t begin to make up for what you had to endure, but it’s what I have to give. I’m ashamed and appalled that such things still happen. Not just in America, but on the planet. We should know better. I hope your eloquence here helps to bring about that awareness in others.
Austin Anderson (@globaljunkyard)
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. It’s getting some exposure. Hopefully it makes a difference. “This country has operated for the last 10 years through fear.” I couldn’t agree more.
Mark Frazier
/ September 13, 2011The paranoia and fear which has gripped this country has allowed Bin Laden to win. Those who were supposedly “protecting” citizens by this shameful treatment of this woman have played directly into Bin Laden’s hands. The question is, are we going to continue to allow fear, and Bin Laden, to rule our lives?
N. Jeanne Burns
/ September 13, 2011I am speechless and quite literally feel like I need to throw up. Thank you for sharing this story. And thanks for the link to the news story. You were also followed by two F-16 fighters. We must do something about this. What, I don’t know. But we have to do something. Because like so many others have said, the terrorists have won. They’ve succeeded in dividing us.
markkleiman
/ September 13, 2011Why you should NEVER talk to TSA, Homeland Security, or the FBI in this situation:
Imagine this: Agent #1 interviews you. You give a full account. Agent #2 interviews you. You give a full account. But some minor, insiginificant details vary, as they would because memory is imperfect.
You have now told two “different” accounts to two federal law enforcement agents. You can be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001 for making a false statement to a government official. Farfectched? Well it has happened to a number of Americans of Arab and Asian descent.
Stay put.
Stand your ground.
Politely but firmly insist on a lawyer.
DO NOT TALK TO THEM.
Marie
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry this happened to you. I will be sharing on Facebook so your story is heard by as many people as possible.
cpb
/ September 13, 2011Sue them, please.
Sue.
Please, for the love of God and the love I have for my country, suuuuuuuuuuuuuuue.
Ss
/ September 13, 2011I’m truly sorry this has happened to you , its a shame what this country has turned into.
jbk51691
/ September 13, 2011First of all, I am sorry to hear what you had to go thru. I feel like there is more to this story than what has been mentioned by you and by the news reports. There had to have been some kind of actions that would cause an entire plane of people and the crew members of this plane to feel some kind of suspicious activity was occurring by the individuals that were arrested including yourself. Also, you and your seat mates i am sure were not the only middle eastern/arab descent people on the plane so why single you and the 2 men out? On a day of heightened security, its not a good time to test the system or draw attention of any kind towards yourself regardless of your ethnicity or nationality. The crew on this plane have flown hundreds of times and with many kinds of people and are well aware of the repercussions that can occur with accusations such as this. They must have had some reason or concern to call this issue in and thus deal with the consequences of themselves and the whole plane being delayed and questioned. Its now becoming a case of he said/she said and who is to be believed? I would really like to hear what the other passengers on the plane had to say vs the words of the accusers and of the accused. The story is starting to become one sided and its hard to know who to believe anymore. I know security at airports has gotten out of control but its there for a reason. I would rather it be there than not be there and unfortunately these things are going to happen over and over again. What about the poor 90 yr old woman who was strip searched at security and was wearing an adult diaper? She wasnt profiled in anyway and I am sure what she went thru was just as humiliating and offensive. Its everyone not just you.
s.
/ September 13, 2011and so that makes it ok? prove to me that this sort of profiling and strip searching actually has a material affect on reducing terrorist activity, and then we’ll talk.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011You’re incorrect when you say “everyone.” People of a certain appearance are significantly more likely to be searched for no reason, even with the anecdotes about the 90-year-old woman.
The security theater we’re exposed to doesn’t make us safer. It makes us more fearful, especially of people who don’t look like us.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011I have often wondered if the “90 year old white woman” strip search wasn’t done deliberately, specifically for the agencies involved to be able to say, “No we don’t profile, we randomly search everyone – haven’t you heard about the embarrassing incident with the 90 year old lady? I mean, no WAY we would have selected her to search if it wasn’t completely random and we weren’t totally following protocol to the letter!”
As ridiculous and paranoiac as it is, that’s the only explanation I’ve been able to think of that makes any sense.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“They must have had some reason or concern to call this issue in and thus deal with the consequences of themselves and the whole plane being delayed and questioned”
No, they mustn’t have. THAT’S THE WHOLE PROBLEM. This story is entirely plausible without invoking some genuinely suspicious behavior.
Fact is, all three “suspects” were found guilty of nothing and released. That is, in and of itself, sufficient evidence to prove that the law enforcement officials acted in error.
“Innocent until proven guilty”. That doesn’t go away just because it happens to be September 11th, or because some overly-anxious airline passenger frightened his- or herself.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011It would be nice to hear both sides.
basspig
/ September 13, 2011This whole situation is criminally tragic.
It would not have happened if the US were the US of 1941. We would have nuked Tehran, Saudi Arabia, Afganistan and maybe Iraq. Instead, America didn’t rebuild the WTC, wallows in self-pity and “Chamberlain-esque” appeasement of her enemies. America, her last vestiges, are gone, as you have discovered. She was once the oak tree, but in the winds of Sept 11, she snapped, only to reveal that the inside was a blackened, rotted hollow.
M
/ September 13, 2011Might want to remember that when Japan attacked the US. They attacked military targets.
When the US bombed Japan–they hit civilian populations and remains, to this day, the only country in the world to use nuclear weapons against noncombatants.
The US of today might not have gone that far, but it went places that are not a point of pride, have not made anyone safer, and in fact, have done the opposite.
Many of the United States allies are now gunshy of cooperating with American security and law enforcement agencies because of the practice of Rendition. They have to weigh the chance of their citizens being arrested and deported to countries where they will be brutalized against the possibility that citizen might be a terrorist bearing ill will against the US.
It’s only a matter of time before one of those agencies withholds information that actually does turn out to be legitimate and something happens.
When it does, the US has only itself to blame for the way it’s treated innocent people.
As bad as that is, and it’s bad enough, if they’d ‘taken the 1941’ option as you so quaintly put it, things would be even worse than they are. All of those countries would be justified in taking military action against the US as would their allies.
Yeah, so much safer, really.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Well, NOBODY in WWII comes off well by modern standards. Civilian targets were the primary targets of EVERYBODY. Japan slaughtered civilians by the thousands in China and Korea, Germany rained death from the skies over London for 76 nights straight, killing thousands, the United States killed more-or-less the entire population of Dresden, and didn’t leave two bricks on top of each other, and killed even MORE people in Tokyo. It was a brutal, brutal war.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011The US of 1941 which considered Germany a “European problem” and fought against the “Lend-Lease” program as getting overly involved in an issue that didn’t involve us? The Republicans who fought against FDR every step of the way? A United States so passive and uninterested in the outside world that the Japanese government had reason to believe that they could freakin’ attack Hawaii, and, because it was so far from the mainland, nobody would really care?
In many ways, we’re better today than we were then. There was moral reason for the United States to intervene as early as 1936, certainly by 1939. And it was absolutely immoral not to do anything against the Blitz. Yet we stood idly by until we were personally attacked.
And yet, this year, we offered air support to Libya, to help overthrow a dictator, even though he was one who had been supportive of the United States at times.
We should neither over-romanticize the past, nor be too dismissive of today. To state that we are over, and doomed, is to give into despair.
Laura Cook
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, so sorry to hear that this happened to you. It’s unbelievable and upsetting that ignorance is still so prevalent in our country. As noted in previous comments, it seems that the terrorists have won, in a way. I hope that you can understand, however, that the police were (seemingly) just doing their jobs and following protocol (though they could have been more considerate). I cannot empathize, but sincerely hope that nothing like this ever happens to you again, though unfortunately, that possibility is not unlikely.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011“I hope that you can understand, however, that the police were (seemingly) just doing their jobs and following protocol (though they could have been more considerate).”
They were doing neither.
Jon Gorga
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story.
Kristen
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry to hear of the terrible situation you had to experience and I am so sorry for all of the nasty comments left on this page. Peace and love.
Alex
/ September 13, 2011I found this story on Twitter, and it really hit my heart that this happened… If you don’t mind me asking, whats your account? I’ll follow you 🙂
Jamie N
/ September 13, 2011My little Shoshi!!! Even after all these years of sporadic communication my motherly protective instinct to save my 14 year old(this is how I still see you) friend took over while reading your ordeal. I wish I could of been there for you. I wish I could of done something right after for you. I am so glad the boys were not w/ you and I am very proud of your conduct and your willingness to write about it. You and hubby will be in mine and Toms prayers for closure in this matter. I love you and miss you!!!
Meme
/ September 13, 2011I sincerely hope you can sue the everloving hell out of someone for this. .
I am so sorry, ashamed, and infuriated that this happened to you.
Aaron
/ September 13, 2011Have you heard anything from Frontier after this? At the very least, an apology and refund would be in order. Giving their employees a refresher course in what constitutes “suspicious” behavior would be a good start, too.
marlys
/ September 13, 2011Nice article. Thanks for writing it.
One little thing: Unless I missed something, I’d change “watch stealer” to “accused watch stealer” throughout. I guess watch stealers are a bit more common that, oh, terrorists but not only was he not convicted of watch stealing, who knows if there was any reason for the accusations. In most articles, the casual “watch stealer” wouldn’t matter, in this context, of course, it does.
warrenlevine
/ September 13, 2011There are a few inconsistencies here. One is crucial to the story:
According to the AP report: “Frontier Flight 623, with 116 passengers on board, landed without incident in Detroit at 3:30 p.m. EDT after the crew reported that two* people were spending “an extraordinarily long time” in a* bathroom, Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuck said.”
* Note: TWO people in A bathroom.
In addition, the blogger says that she didn’t go to the bathroom during the flight, let alone spend “an extraordinarily long time” in one.
I’d say she has a reasonable civil tort complaint against the airline for embellishing their report to include her. Or, someone overreacted and included her in out of stupidity. Don’t they need a legitimate complaint to seize and question her? Lots of troubling questions here about who gave whom the authority.
The other is, I believe, poetic license, which should not have entered the picture: Blogger says she was given her cellphone while still in her cell, but she didn’t know what time it was when she walked out of the building, presumably with cellphone in her possession.
My subconscious proofreading eye also found ” Perhaps it was two Indian man going to the bathroom in succession?” Man should be “men” — sorry; OCD.
Otherwise, this was very well-written, and definitely well enough for me to subscribe.
Joey
/ September 13, 2011Ten years later, and what have we learned? To cower as as security color warnings change? To glance suspiciously at our fellow Americans seated next to us? We were once proud to call our country a melting pot. Events like these prove that the terrified have become their own breed of terrorists.
Vivian Chan
/ September 13, 2011Well, if it was me and the same thing happened and later I found out that even just 1 of those 50 other phone calls or “shadows” proved to save the life of some others, I’d thank those people that did their job!
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011Ah, yes…the classic “if we save just one life, it’s all worth it”.
Well, bullshit. There is not enough wealth and resources on the planet to ensure the safety of every single human life. That means we have to balance cost and benefit, along with realistic evaluations of risk.
This incident came down 100% on the wrong side of that equation.
In any case, it turns out that NOT ONE of those “50 other phone calls or ‘shadows'” proved to save the life of anyone. So not only do these reactions come down on the wrong side of the analysis, they are examples of an infinitely wrong analysis based on the ratio of cost (non-zero) to benefit (zero).
kaligrrrl
/ September 13, 2011I deeply regret this happened to you. I’m so sorry.
I also would like you to think about the judgements you’re making about fat people here, which read like “fat = facism.”
it is very painful for me as a fat person to be judged because of my body.
thank you.
t
/ September 13, 2011Arrest yerself uuuuusssssaaaa…..fucking murderous assholes! 9/11….is a fucking inside job! “Can’t truss it!”-Flavor
FLAV
CJG
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for writing this and sharing your story and bringing even more light to the real human impact of our country’s paranoia and inhumane treatment Americans like yourself face in the name of “security”. My heart goes out to you.
Sharroot
/ September 13, 2011Wow! So exactly what was the suspicious behavior again? Just because some passenger with an overactive imagination says “ooo ooo I’m scared” shouldn’t mean that the authorities have to react to it! If one of my kids thought there’s was a monster in the closet, I wouldn’t t show up with a flack jacket and a bazooka to check it out. This is so sad. And definitely racist. We’ve got to get rid of the ridiculous patriot act. P.S. I’m an old white lady.
Jesse Radin
/ September 13, 2011I know the plastic seats in the back of the car too well… I’ve been unjustly put in two police cars myself, though no racism was involved in those incidents
Kiyoshigirl
/ September 13, 2011This is bullshit, pure and simple. You were targeted because of the color of your skin, as were your seat mates. My daughter, a fair skinned, girl of Irish and Polish descent has a boyfriend who is of Indian descent. He has been harassed and questioned in so many different situations it is ridiculous. I truly hate to say this, but I sometimes worry that her life will be difficult if they get married and have a family. Will her husband constantly be the target of ignorant idiots? Will she and their potential children needlessly suffer because her husband and their father is targeted? I hate this. All of it.
Ocean
/ September 13, 2011To think that we’ve been reduced to acting like this makes me ashamed for my country.
Dwain Bunker
/ September 13, 2011Shitty policy. There has to be a way to protect the liberties of people that doesn’t involve violating the liberties of those same people. It’s a brute force solution to a problem that requires not brute force but intelligence to solve.
mjay
/ September 13, 2011Everyone knows the Buckeye State is a seething cauldron of terrorism and revolutionary behavior. Witness hotspots there such as Blanchester and Piqua.
Allahu akbar!!!!!
Detroit resident
/ September 13, 2011I hope you’ve found some comfort now – with your family and friends, in the arms of your husband. Historically, Detroit has been a flashpoint for violence along socioeconomic and racial lines. This situation fits right into that context – as an arbitrary, mean, and disproportionate treatment reserved for the “hated hues.” It’s also outstanding that you cited Malcolm X, who also spent some years in Detroit, as your inspiration. Your story renews and breathes new life into his struggle and his principles. And lastly, my understanding of patience in the face of hardship has deepened because of your narrative. You’re a gifted communicator, and I hope that helps you heal not just your wounds, but the open wounds of our entire nation. Shalom, salam, peace.
John
/ September 13, 2011obviously you have never actually been in real trouble with the cops. Outrage? Indignities? Jiminy Christmas, so what, you were taken off a plane and checked out, good for the authorities that they take reports seriously. Consider yourself lucky you were held in a holding cell in America, in most other countries you wouldnt have had a toilet. After a few hours you were released. You act like this is the worst thing that ever happened to anyone. What the hell has the country come to that people are such crybabies. You werent mistreated, you were questioned respectfully, and once it was determined you had done nothing wrong you were released, and here you are acting like you are a victim of some sort. Personally I think you are blowing things way out of proportion and Im amazed at how many idiots are sympathizing with you. Wait til one of your family is ripped to shreds by a terrorist bomb and then cry why don’t ya. You want to be mad at someone be mad at the idiots who reported you, not the police who are doing a dangerous job to keep our skies safe.
Ninabi
/ September 13, 2011Lucky? Really? And if her situation- taken off a plane in handcuffs and strip searched is not considered “real trouble with the cops”- what is “real trouble”? I shudder to consider what else could be in store for American citizens who are cleared by the TSA to fly in an airplane, quietly.
Freedom in America should not be reduced to comparing the qualities our jails to those of other countries and coming to the conclusion that a flush toilet in lieu of a fetid bucket justifies the actions of the government.
I am sorry this happened to the writer of this blog. I would be feeling lasting anger and a sense of powerlessness after such an ordeal.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Just because she was in America and not in a country where being detained means being raped and tortured does not make the events in this situation right. She has every right to complain about an illegal detention based on the lying report of a bigoted person.
We have laws in this country, laws that are supposed to be some of the most cherished ideals OF this country. One of them is the freedom from illegal searches and seizures. Another is the right to face one’s accuser. Both of those laws were violated in this instance.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“You werent mistreated, you were questioned respectfully, and once it was determined you had done nothing wrong you were released”
All patently false. She was mistreated the moment that she was forcibly removed from the airplane in handcuffs, never mind strip-searched, etc. By definition, the questioning was not respectful. If it had been, it would have occurred on the airplane, _after_ the original witness had first been questioned, and before (and without) any of the subsequent harassment.
And perhaps she was released the moment it was determined she had done nothing wrong, but that determination should have come so much earlier in the process, the officers plainly fail the common-sense test that allows that eventual determination to be used as a defense.
critropolitan
/ September 13, 2011How completely disgusting, the officials responsible should be sent to prison for kidnapping and assault.
But they wont be, because we don’t really live in a country of laws.
But do the next best thing and fulfill your civic duty to deter this type of tyranny by suing everyone involved for false imprisonment.
Jack
/ September 13, 2011You should post the names of the officers who harassed you, along with the names of any of the flight crew that you can get a hold of. Ultimately its the flight crew that made the decision to have you hauled off of the plane like that. Publicly shaming these people for their bigotry is the only way to change anything.
cyborgmonkey
/ September 13, 2011I recommend this site http://1700percentproject.wordpress.com/
“The 1700% Project is conceived as a collaborative project utilizing art as intervention. Specifically, the 1700% Project strategically intervenes against the racial profiling and rise of violence and hate directed at Muslims in a post 9/11 era. The project challenges monolithic stereotypes of a “Muslim” identity while acknowledging the significance of historical persecution.”
chris
/ September 13, 2011Never been terrified of terrorists here. Never felt the need to have the government protect me. I am disgusted at the police state we’ve evolved into. I blame the American people, for allowing this to happen. YOU believe the crap that is spoon fed to you. You drooled over the lies, and disinformation spoon fed you on 9/11. Now we all must live with the consequences!
Sujay Ghosh
/ September 13, 2011Nice post let the world know. I am from India, and probably you can judge the following by reading the lines below .
I was travelling out of Wauwatosa International Airport in 2010, for my flight to India, via St. Pauls. The check in luggage had been cleared , and I was going with my cabin luggage, when suddenly I was stopped. The lady said me that my name has been picked up “randomly”, and I need a stricter security check. I agreed to that and upturned my cabin luggage, to find several clothes of mine. From that moment on, , I had thought to myself, maybe this “random” check was because I am an Indian, and this post from a US citizen, nails my belief.
I was denied a housing apartment when the house owner heard I was from India, she just hung up .
Though I am not a a Muslim, just wanted to let you know, that Muslims working on Research and Patents at Harvard / MIT need to go an extra mile ( maybe wait one to two months more ) for renewing this visa.
All of the above are my personal experiences , and I have witnessed it.
jax (@jackie_singh)
/ September 13, 2011Horrifying. I am sorry. Not all rednecks are xenophobic – Try not to let the rage of this injustice cloud your mind.
ajahenriquez
/ September 13, 2011Thank God you got through this event with out further infringement on your civil rights, although it seems people of a certain color have few whether it is 9/11 or not. How do we regain the rights that MLK died while trying to secure? Did we ever have them?
larsripstop
/ September 13, 2011So sorry for your ordeal and that it happened in Detroit. I was so proud of Detroit post 9-11. Having re-patriated from Saudi, I found my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants flying American flags and the owners reporting no abuse or drop in business. The Arab Americans in the metro area being so well established, acceptance seemed universal of these citizens, immigrants who in Detroit help revitalize. I felt prejudice against Muslims was very low compared to Phoenix & other cities. Middle Eastern restaurants went out of business in Scottsdale solely because of 9-11. A Sikh gas station owner was murdered in Phoenix by ignorant racists.
But let’s not forget “driving while Black” and the ordeals that take place there. Being pulled over on the e-way by a dozen police cars at gun point because you resemble a bank robber who is 30 yrs younger, and detained there on your knees in the heat, handcuffed, hoping your neighbors don’t drive by. Or my Mexican girlfriend going to Kinkos, having raw eggs thrown at her and the most vile things screamed at her. Many in this country are confused about ethnic groups and revel in their ignorance. Many are proud they only speak “American” and know no other languages. We have a culture that glorifies ignorance, and it is these people who cause trouble. Just like that monster in Norway who may have had a PHD, but was so filled with hate it cancelled out any brains he ever had.
Everybody join your local Kristof Reader Meetup and we try to create a world without hate.
Bryan Terry
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry. I’m so angered and saddened by what happened that that is all I can muster. I’m sorry. I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry that people continue to spread hate and bigotry on this post. I’m sorry that this is what it means to be American: to spread hate, paranoia and fear. I’m sorry. I’m going to go and hug my children and do the best I can to teach them not to hate and fear others based on ethnicity so that this cannot happen to others in the future. I’m sorry.
gamoe (@gamoe)
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry this happened to you. I am not a fan of suing people, but I think you have a real case here. This goes beyond questioning- no one should be forced to remove their clothing in the presence of strangers or locked up without evidence. If you need financial support I’d be glad to donate what I can, along with many others.
Vivian Chan
/ September 13, 2011Gamoe!!! Are you serious?
“I am not a fan of suing people, but I think you have a real case here. ”
—– Sure the security personnel for doing their duty to respond to a call. What if you had family members on one of the other planes with a similar call and nobody responded, and it DID have plotting people on it (maybe they were carry articles of a weapon to use later)
“no one should be forced to remove their clothing in the presence of strangers or locked up without evidence.”
—- What evidence would you want a terrorist to have. If there was evidence, it would be in shards strewn out along the land or injected into a building. Are you looking for a t-shirt that says “I have something hidden here” or maybe you are just clueless?
“If you need financial support I’d be glad to donate what I can, along with many others.”
—- Ahh, the answer to my previous question about having a clue has been answered in full. Nice job.
Caitlyn Kendrix-Freedman
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry. I wish folks would stop with the profiling already. And another thing, what is this with saying folks who have to go to the bathroom during a flight are possibly dangerous people? Leaves me to wonder, if going to the bathroom is also suspicious behavior, then I too should never fly again. I have a bladder disease that causes me to make frequent trips to the bathroom. I just don’t get it. How can use of bathroom equate to dangerous? It is bad enough folks have to be molested to get on board, now if they are a certain race or go to the bathroom, they are dangerous or suspicious? People need to get a grip. The problem is not skin color or place of birth or religion, or how many times someone visits the toilet. The problem is that we are a scared people that are willing to give up all of our liberties to feel safe to those that may not have our best interests in mind.
Po
/ September 13, 2011Stupid. Americans.
Bruce InCharlotte
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for this. I sincerely appreciate your relating your experience so that others can learn. It is unforgivable and you have my support. This is not the America it should be and frankly, I’m ashamed.
pussonalamp
/ September 13, 2011So an airline check-in clerk decides to seat three darker skinned people in the same row and all hell breaks loose.
Looks like the price of Eternal Vigilance might be Freedom. Now where’ve I heard that? Seems vaguely familiar – Huffington? Juffington? Hefferson …?
Sparkly Jules
/ September 13, 2011I am horrified and angry. I can’t believe that things like this happen in the USA. This is not the country I grew up in.
I haven’t flown for years, and I have no intention of ever flying in the future. I don’t want to be patted down, touched, by some stranger, or have my body exposed to a “scan” that sometimes make their way onto the Internet, I don’t want strangers going through my luggage, although that’s less offensive but I am concerned about theft. I’ll take a train or a bus before I get on a plane again.
The previous commenter is correct: The terrorists have won.
Benjamin Franklin said that “Those who would give up Essential Liberty
to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” We’re over that precipice, and it makes me ill to think of it, to live it.
Keep writing.
Jules
parker_vmg3 (@parker_vmg3)
/ September 13, 2011Great account of what happened! Makes you wonder about who is instilling terror & fear in the people. America is not a place I will visit anytime soon, it scares me. Sorry you had to endure such nonsense, Trouble is you can’t fix this shit it’s just getting worse. Feel the Love!
radiodarkness
/ September 13, 2011The fact that this horrible thing happened to you does not suprise me at all. I live in Australia and this week on television during the media build up to Sept 11, there were numerous interviews and television spots on every channel. One in particular sickened me quite a bit, a rather old senile looking ‘authoritive’ figure said something along the lines of ‘this september 11, if you even look like a terrorist – you will be investigated’ or some such similar nonsense. Immediately in my mind I thought, that any person not fitting the ‘white’ mould, was going to have a really crappy day. After reading this posting, boy was my initial feeling right – although I am truly sorry that it was. I was really sickened by what the ‘authoritive’ figures did to you and I sincerely hope you never experience anything so degrading to your person, ever again. It is stuff like this that really leaves me questioning the small minded morons of the world.
Nicolas Martin
/ September 13, 2011A grotesque injustice. It is imperative that a president is elected who opposed the Patriot Act and all of the violations that have followed from the aftermath of 9/11, not to mention the appallingly brutal and counterproductive wars. I leave it to you to figure out which candidate fits the bill.
Marc
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for staying strong and posting your story.
richs-lxhrich
/ September 13, 2011Somebody just posted a link here from Google +
I am shocked and saddened at what has happened to our society.
In Europe and the US we claim to have democracy and to be free and civilized, while attacking other countries for civil-rights abuses and and a lack of democracy. What hypocrisy. We are all being controlled, we have no rights.
What happened to this poor woman is disgusting, sickening even, in the so called land of the free. I really hope that this story goes viral. People need to see this.
David
/ September 13, 2011Very sorry to hear that you had to go through this, what an unpleasant and frightening experience.
Nonetheless, the only person that has done wrong is the passenger who, perhaps due to their own personal prejudices, alerted authorities that you were acting suspiciously.
The security response – though heavyhanded – is one that I would expect, especially on the anniversary of Sept 11 and I and millions of others are thankful that authorities take security so seriously now. Every suspicion, especially aboard a plane, must be investigated. That is simply the way of the world now and if people want to keep using aircraft they will have to put up with it.
Can you imagine if three people who really WERE going to blow up the plane were reported as suspicious by a passenger and the authorities decided not to take it seriously. And then the plane WAS blown up. The FBI and Homeland security etc would be hauled over the coals without mercy for their inaction. Their ‘ineptitude’ would be splashed across the world’s papers. They are in a no-win situation where they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.
What you went through was not your fault. Neither was it the fault of the authorities. In the end it’s the fault of terrorists, extremists and fanatics who, through their terrible actions, have created the world we now live in.
J
/ September 13, 2011One small flaw in your logic. If a terrorist had managed to sneak an explosive device on board that plane–why would they wait until the police boarded to blow it?
You could make the argument that MAYBE they were actually going to blow a connecting flight (ignoring the part where they’d have to pass through security again and, thus, increase the chances the device might be discovered) but it doesn’t seem all that likely.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“Nonetheless, the only person that has done wrong is the passenger who, perhaps due to their own personal prejudices, alerted authorities that you were acting suspiciously.”
That really depends on what that passenger actually reported.
If the passenger reported genuinely suspicious activities, then yes…they are the only one who has done wrong. And they should be prosecuted for submitting a false report to the police.
If on the other hand, as I suspect, they simply identified the three as being “suspicious” and law enforcement took it from there, then it’s very far from the truth that only the original passenger is in the wrong. The law enforcement officers involved are completely culpable, for failing to protect the civil rights of the three and for overreacting to the report.
John B. Mordecai
/ September 13, 2011So fake. Very wordy with too many “details.” FYI, no civilian officers wear fatigues.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011I think she’s looking for a book deal and will get it with so many sympathizers. And, everyone keeps telling her to sue. Well, guess whose pockets that is going to come out of. I was quite saddened to see that our local newspaper had a spread about the local Muslim’s after 9/11 (on the front page) and on the 3rd page was an article about one of the helicopter pilots that was killed in Afghanistan. So sorry, but we are trying to show the world that we love everyone, that we are forgetting about the men and women who have put their lives on the lines for us so that all of us can add our little opinions and comments to this post.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Do not sully the memory of the people who have died fighting for our freedoms by invoking them in the name of trampling on other people’s freedoms. You do their sacrifice a disservice when you do so. Our right to disagree with our government is fundamental to this country, and we don’t have to give it up because people died “for us.”
M
/ September 14, 2011What do you make of all the news reports about this incident? Associated Press reported it on 9/11 from an outside point of view, before this blog was written. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/
M
/ September 14, 2011That was to John B. Mordechai, by the way.
CNelson (NZ)
/ September 13, 2011Amazing post, thank you for writing about this in such detail; everyone should know what is going on. I am so sorry this happened to you. It breaks my heart that fear still rules. Strangely, the fear of someone on that plane (their fear of terrorism – which in their mind must look like foreigners on a plane) took precedent over the fear of you and the two men who were taken away and mistreated. Why were you allowed to be genuinely frightened, because of someone else’s fearful suspicions? This itself is proof that the world we live in is NOT ok. We have not advanced to a better place in ten years. We are all living in fear – whether a fear of terrorism, a fear of foreigners, or a fear of being abused for looking a certain way or being from a particular part of the world. We should not be segregated by this, and yet we are. Only more information and a better understanding will help – I believe your post is a part of that.
Duckie
/ September 13, 2011Reading this from the comfort and sanity of Australia, I am horrified at what you endured. The events of what happened ten years ago were truly horrible but the stories that we keep reading of the level of paranoia in the US are likewise horrifying. It makes one cautious of ever visiting the country when there can be such irrational and unjustifiable behaviour. Of course, security has ramped up here as well but fortunately not to this level. Also people are not routinely handcuffed in this country. I hope that you are able to retain your equilibrium, sanity and sense of humour after this dreadful experience.
Jack Point
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely terrible.
One more reason never to visit the U S of A.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”
(Latin: Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius) appeared originally in the Greek play Medea by Euripides.
The play describes Medea’s descent (and her awareness of this descent as it occurs) into self destructive madness where she kills her own children in order to hurt her ex lover.
America is stark staring gibbering insane.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011For the benefit of those who don’t make the jump, perhaps I should explicitly make the parallels between the play and the current situation.
America and radical Islam used to be lovers.
“During the 1970s, when the Russia was the biggest threat to America and radical Islam was not as a concern of the USA’s, the USA began funding and training Islamic militants to fight our Russian enemies in Afghanistan.
These militants, known as the mujahideen would rebel the Russians out of Afghanistan and later become the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.
One of the most prominent members of he mujahideen was a wealthy son of a Saudi Arabian businessman named Osama Bin Laden.”
http://newsone.com/newsone-original/casey-gane-mccalla/cia-osama-bin-laden-al-qaeda/
Now an insane America attacks itself and its own ‘children’ in a fight with its ex-lover. It’s on the road to nowhere.
David Jones (@Exorcist74)
/ September 13, 2011There is No greater love, than MONEY http://bit.ly/9cugDQ Estimate $3.3 Trillion
Missing From U.S. Treasury WAR is MONEY
Linda
/ September 13, 2011I got a link to your blog from one of my friends on twitter, and I have shared it on my facebook.
It is actually scary that one or two fellow passengers have that much power, that they could get the police to come, and bring you and the two Indian men into custody – without letting you know why – and strip-search you.
I am amazed at how calmly you have been able to write about this, and I think it was very good of you to share your horrifying story.
Jason
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. You are making a difference.
Vikas Tandon
/ September 13, 2011While that would certainly have been a distressing experience, Shoshana, I’m afraid I have to admit, I don’t feel great sympathy. As they say, there are 2 sides to every story, and here are some possible sides:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/delhi-high-court-blast-11-killed-76-injured_730261.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/twin-blasts-in-mumbai-15-injured/167291-3.html
What you went through, and all the attendant “ills” like the racial profiling, are an unfortunate outcome of the times we live in. And as soon as we recognise that it is only an attempt to secure ourselves against acts like the ones in Delhi and Mumbai, and Karachi, and Bali, and Kabul…we will develop a greater acceptance of the circumstances. Are these attempts perfect? No, not at all. But its funny, sitting here in India, we always quote the US example, that at least they responded with an iron fist and there has not been a single attack on the US since 9/11.
Would I like to go through such an experience? No. But is it better than being blown into smithereens, because we were not paranoid? Is it better than a child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend meeting an untimely and horrifying end, or worse still being crippled for life? Umm, let me think about that!
And so I would like to raise another question. How much of our discomfort, outrage and anger against such situations is a result of our own fragile egos? I mean, what is this american obsession with Civil Liberties, and Rights, and Freedom? All noble constructs, but are they higher than the Greater Good? Have we distorted the meaning of all these to imply a lack of tolerance of individual inconvenience? From your account, while it must certainly have been a very sudden, harrowing and uncomfortable experience, and the initial anger is absolutely justified, it does not seem like there was any intentional discomfort or pain caused, or even any rudeness or aggression on the part of the staff. They seemed to be professionals doing their job. And what is so humiliating about a strip search as long as it is conducted professionally and is deemed necessary? Don’t we comply with medical procedures requiring the same? Even if after the procedure we find it was not necessary but just a precaution? Isn’t it the same case here? Just because WE know we are not guilty, we feel outraged and violated? Wouldn’t a realisation of the reason for the same, and a tolerance for the cause of the greater good, change one’s view about this?
To summarise, all I am saying is, while we must definitely be vigilant to ensure that the precautionary/preventive measures are not being taken too far, we also have to apply a similar vigilance to ensure that our fierce protection of our individual rights are not an outcome of bloated egos and self-importance, such that they become bigger than the Greater Good. Cause, once again, THIS is the POTENTIAL other side of not doing what the FBI did that night.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/twin-blasts-in-mumbai-15-injured/167291-3.html
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011I think, Vikas, that if you consult a map of the Earth, you might notice that the logistical issues of getting bombs and bombers into Mumbai are significantly less than those involved for entry into the US.
Are you suggesting that the Mumbai bombings would have been prevented if airline crews and passengers had kept a careful note of the amount of time that poeple spent in the bathrooms?
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“Would I like to go through such an experience? No. But is it better than being blown into smithereens, because we were not paranoid?”
False dichotomy. The reaction of law enforcement was far in excess of what was needed to ensure against “being blown into smithereens”.
Your “argument” (and I hesitate to use so strong a word to describe your words) is full of logical fallacy and lacks any supporting evidence. The choice you claim we need to make is not a true one at all; it’s simply the fake choice that those in power _claim_ we must make, to justify their incremental but increasing erosion of our civil rights.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Thank you Vikas – that was great!
Nikhil Bagri
/ September 14, 2011How are the links and what you are saying even remotely relevant? I miss the connection
Are you suggesting it is perfectly ok to be hauled into a jail overnite simply because of the way you look or because someone thought you sitting with complete strangers and playing with your mobile would be treated as suspicious by a stranger?
The times are real. We as humans need to be careful and smart but that does not give us or any other individual to simply point us as suspicious and get strip searched!!!
Value of life is priceless – ask the people who have experienced the loss. At the same time the value of living a life of dignity is priceless. ask Shoshana!! Who gives the right to anyone to do what they did to Shoshana simply at the whim of a fellow passenger.
And here is the correlation – Indian Media is not far behind in pumping in Paranoia (I already sense it from you) and believe me, you wouldn’t want to be searched and thrown into a Jail in India!!!
Sebastian
/ September 13, 2011You have my sympathies; even just reading the story got me outraged, and if it had happened to me, they could have just kept me a bit longer for assaulting an officer or two.
Then again it might have been the cruel thing to do, but I’d have really gone into paranoia mode when asked about suspicious activities on the plane, especially if there was a chance that it was still on the tarmac. “Sure, there was this man who went to the back of the plane, and he looked *really* determined. Whereto? I’d guess the toilet, but who could say for sure? Oh, and there was this woman…” Yes, I suppose I’m a bastard, but it’d give a planeful of people an insight about what rights and freedoms they actually have, and hopefully taught one person in special what paranoid denunciations lead to.
Also, at the time the agents gave their goodbye speeches, I’d probably have told the next best officers that those agents had acted rather suspicious, too…
Heather
/ September 13, 2011I sincerely hope you contact a lawyer about this. At the very least, you need to know whether they violated any of your rights or broke protocol. What ever happened to Miranda? Last I heard, they legally have to read you your rights. They never told you why you were being detained or what crime you supposedly committed. They never allowed you to contact a lawyer or obtain legal council. They didn’t even allow you a telephone call. Being the 10th anniversary of 9/11 isn’t an excuse for violating your constitutional rights.
Keith Brewster
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing the story of your ordeal Shoshana. I’m so sorry that you had to go through that.
Salik Rafiq
/ September 13, 2011A shocking story really, but unsurprising given the whipping up of racism and Islamophobia by politicians and media. There was a time when simply being off-colour was enough to create suspicion. I didn’t bother going outside on Sunday.
I’m sure this will linger with you for the rest of your life. I’ve had a couple of racist attacks on me (I am south asian) and I still remember them and am wary of every young Caucasian male I see now.
This is, unfortunately, the kind of divide that the politicians and media wish to create (Bush and Blair are no friends of Muslims).
Michael M
/ September 13, 2011So let me get this straight, you decry racism and in the same comment you admit your own prejudice against white men based on two bad experiences? So all white men are racists in your mind. We will never overcome racism when the charges only work in one direction.
So I have been held up twice by young black males(once by gun point). So do I have justification to be wary of every young black male I see or is that racist because I am white?
You can’t have it both ways.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Great Comment Michael.
Sarah S
/ September 15, 2011Well, I’ve been robbed by men several times in the past. If I’m out alone at night and I see a man or a couple of men hanging out on the sidewalk ahead of me am I wary? You better believe I am! I’ll probably cross the street – just in case- and keep an eye out to make sure he isn’t following. Does this make me a man-hater? I don’t think so. I’ve got a great husband of 17 years, a wonderful father and two lovely brothers- not to mention various men friends and relatives. Do I think the man on the street should be taken away in handcuffs and given cavity searches just to make sure they weren’t hiding a knife up there- all because- based on past experience- I’m nervous of men hanging out on the street at night? No. Even if I were idiotic enough to think it would make me safer to pull random men off the street and investigating their anuses just because statistically men are FAR more likely to commit crimes than women I would fight it with all my might because THIS IS AMERICA, DAMMIT. Or… at least it was…
Janet
/ September 13, 2011So sad that this happened to you and others. We’ve become so paranoid and divided over the last 10 years.
daniele
/ September 13, 2011I really just hope that the person who reported the suspicious activity reads this post. I hope that so much.
Even some of the newspaper reporting on this makes it sound like there was actually good reason to take people off planes and handcuff them.
Ridiculous. This makes me so angry.
Also, if I were you, I probably would have been crying.
patch
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for posting this. Sorry that you were the victim of an idiot on a plane who didn’t have sense enough to recognize an innocent situation. I wish you peace.
change
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry you had to endure this, but what would you have done differently if you were the police? What if the men you unfortunately had sat between were terrorists? Would you feel differently about your ordeal if it had saved hundreds or thousands of lives? I’m not saying what they did is right – especially the strip search, and not letting you call your husband – but without detaining and questioning, how would they know? How would they have time to determine if you were bad or good. I am of Irish descent, and there was a time in this country when, because of prejudice, an Irish person would not be hired to work. (Signs saying, “No Irish need apply”.) Until we know a person, we have nothing to go on except what they “look” like. The system needs to be changed, but not done away with.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“but without detaining and questioning, how would they know?”
It is patently apparent that there was in fact no _actual_ suspicious behavior. So, “how would they know”? “They” would “know” by simply asking the witness for _specific_ descriptions of the supposed suspicious behavior, and then making a reasonable judgment based on that, rather than making the completely ridiculous assumption that a random passenger on a domestic airline flight has sufficient skill to make a judgment regarding what’s actionable and what’s not.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011What would you have done differently if you were the police?
Knowing that many people are afraid of their own shadow and see threats where none exist, and that many Americans are irrationally terrorized by the fear instilled in them by the government and media for the last ten years, and that my legal responsibility was to investigate, not react in fear, I would have noticed that the plane landed without incident, that there was no probable cause to suspect any criminal activity, possibly detained all the passengers long enough to inspect an empty plane, and perhaps had the airport authorities empty all the toilet holding tanks for inspection.
Been there, done that ~ you don’t arrest or search people without specific articulable facts constituting probable cause to believe a crime has been or is being committed. “I’m suspicious” is not probable cause.
marlee
/ September 13, 2011I experienced a pat down by an abusive female agent and was humilated and couldn’t believe that this could happen in our country.
I can’t even comprehend what you went through.
There is no longer a balance between our rights and security…our rights have disappeared. Do not tolerate it.
Express your concerns to your representatives and continue to forward these stories to social media, group lists etc!
READYdot
/ September 13, 2011I hope that writing about this helped you get over it. I could never forget something like this happening to me.
I feel ashamed of being of the same “race” known as humans. I’m ashamed of the blatant stupidity and blindness the “civilized” world is subjected to. We should never give in to our fears and angers, never.
nomatter
/ September 13, 2011It happened to so many people right after 9/11. Why should you care now? Because it happened to you?
Sam
/ September 13, 2011Sure, why not? It’s hard to believe things happen until they’re close to home. How many issues do you not currently fight for… but would the minute it affected you? Hey, do you care about bone marrow donations? What if a family member suddenly needed a transplant? Sure; then you’d care. I mean, come on. Your statement is foolish.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011How do you know she didn’t care then? Because she only wrote a blog post now? Your statement is illogical.
zZSleepyMooseZz
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing. Much blessings
Karl Lattimer
/ September 13, 2011This reminds me of this;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107207/
“We like to think we live in a fair and just society, but we can still lock a man up for 19 years and deny him the use of witness statements that might have cleared his name, you call that justice? not in my eyes” – Still Burning by Stiff Little Fingers on the Guitar and Drum album.
Tee Max
/ September 13, 2011mrs hebshi. after reading your account on the gawker.com, i wanted to say how brave and courageous i think you are. i don’t think anyone would have blamed you, for reacting angrily, either towards those who detailed you, or when writing this account. the fact that you maintained your decorum throughout this, HAS to be commended. it also shows that these measures, adopted by the powers that be, are only helping to empower those, whose acts of murder, brought us to this point. the fact that the american government, as well as a number of its citizens, haven’t grasped that reality yet, only helps to empower purveyors of terror, when what they should be drawing their inspiration from, are those who chose to put the lives and safety of others, ahead of their own. ordinary people, who became heroes, because it was the right thing to do. regardless of race, religion or creed.
thank you for sharing your account.
respectfully
tee
Laurie Mann
/ September 13, 2011I drove about 550 miles on 9/11. No problem. But while I usually fly without any issues (though, for whatever reason, I was singled out for extra searches every time I flew in 12/2001), this story ives me pause about flying. The crazy people have been in charge for over 10 years.
Andrew Davies
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for sharing this, and all the details. It’s good to get these things out in the open.
Sorry to hear about what you went through. I don’t believe it was right or necessary, and I know it’s not the kind of thing I want my government doing in my name.
gms
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for carrying through with writing such a wonderful article your horrible experience. I was amazed at your patience and ability to keep calm under those circumstances. I kept waiting to read the word ‘humiliation’ which finally came near the end, and so resonated with me. I was pulled out of line for a full body scan in London this year and was not given the option of a pat-down as an alternative – there is no choice here. I was really enraged about it, I objected verbally and loudly, demanded to see who was behind the door who would be looking at me naked and exposing me to more radiation, and was only given the choice to just not fly. That was not possible at the time. When it was finished, I ran to the bathroom and cried for 15 minutes. Reactions differ with every person’s own life experiences and psyche. You are a saint for dealing with what you faced in such a positive way. We must somehow force change to come about. They treated you shamefully, until they were satisfied you were not a threat. What you experienced was simply disgusting. May you keep up the good fight! And thank you again.
Tarah
/ September 13, 2011Wow, I’m so sorry you had to endure this. I am married to an Indian woman, whose parents live in Dubai, and I can’t imagine how I would react if something like this ever happened to her, our family on her side, or, eventually, our children. There’s a vast difference between security and reasonable protection of a society and ignorant, racial profiling based on fear and impulse. Thank you for sharing your story; I’m hopeful that each of these stories helps to chip away at peoples’ misplaced fears just a little more each time.
Tim M
/ September 13, 2011Please tell me that you’re going to sue those people. The only way they will be forced to stop this nonsense is if people stand up to their tyranny. I was afraid that this would happen on 9/11. They no doubt had a plan to harass travelers to keep the fear ratcheted up.
Governments need enemies, otherwise they can’t justify their bloated budgets and the police state dragnet we’re all under now.
DD
/ September 13, 2011I had to re read sections to be certain I had taken in the words correctly. Unbelievable. Has all common sense fled? Very sad and sobering what things have come to here. The terrorists have certainly done their work well…
Meredith Schwartz
/ September 13, 2011My god, I am so sorry.
Betsy
/ September 13, 2011I kow this is small comfort to you, but I am so sorry this happened. I certainly hope your blog entry will reach many people and spread awareness about this.
Akash
/ September 13, 2011I don’t think my comments will be liked. I live in Bombay and we have seen a whole lot of terror attacks here – both pre and post the terror attacks at the Taj hotel on 11/26.
Every time there is an attack on bombay, we keep talking about how the US has managed to prevent any and all terror attacks since 9/11. I daresay that we Indians would gladly give up some civil liberties in exchange for fewer bomb blasts.
Jeff
/ September 13, 2011It is is a tough decision. In America, over 8000 people are killed a year with handguns and 100,000 injured (I don’t know how many people die in bombings in India annually), but we choose to keep the civil liberty to allow gun ownership as is given in the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution.
There are three major differences between India (a country I like and the largest democracy in the world) and the US. The summary is:
– The USA has a US Constitution with a Bill of Rights for citizens
– We have no natural internal enemy groups in our country of any signicant size
– We do not have any close external country threats as most people who hate the US and are motivated to do something violent are living thousands of miles over the oceans. For airline threats, we have no significantly high threat from suicidal airline passengers with non-metallic bombs that 1) work and 2) cause significant damage. Contrast this with hijackings by gun which used to average 4 a month in the US vs NO airline fatal airline passenger bombings in 48 years.
1) We have a US Constitution that protects the natural rights and freedoms of individuals, in the Bill of Rights, from the Government. Power of the government is derived from the people who vote – this is peaceful change vs change at the barrel of a gun. I have not read nor am aware of what rights the Indian constitution and Indian law gives to its citizens.
2) You live in a country with relatively large pockets of unrest – look at the ethnic strife and killings, especially in what I percieve as some of the more outlying provinces. You have Muslim – Hindu issues as well that have become violent. And, on your border, is a nuclear-armed enemy country in Pakistan to go along with the disputed territory of Kashmir. I am sure you are more aware of this than I am!
The US has no natural enemy country at its borders (Cuba you could count, but it is not nuclear armed like your enemy and is much smaller across 80 miles of ocean or whatever). We have no internal ethnic strife (The Native American Indians should probably be the deepest pocket of unrest and they do not appear to have organized violence perpetrated against our government). We do not have organized religious or ethnic groups who are routinely bombing government buildings or civilians.
3) The biggest difference is we have no succesful organized terrorism threat like India, Russia, and Iraq have faced in recent years. The last successful organized attack was on 9-11-01, over 10 years ago. Since then, legal law enforcement has stopped two legitimate attacks I am aware of which was when a retail clerk reported suspicious pictures that resulted in the arrest of NJ Muslims from former Russia territories (i.e. they look white, like Eastern Europe folks for those who care) and the student in Texas. Good, legal investigative work was used and no citizens had their rights violated like what happens at the airports every day.
Many of the other plots reported have been mostly through entrapment, such as one in NYC where an informant spent several months convincing a guy who became unemployed to join in planning a plot.
FOR AIRPLANES
There is no reasonble threat to justify strip searches of passengers (the naked scanners) and touching genitals and breasts of over 1 million Americans a month.
There have been ZERO bombings of US domestic flights over the last FORTY EIGHT YEARS caused by an airline passenger using a working non-metallic bomb. The last fatality from this was in 1963 in Missouri, when a passenger used a dynamite bomb for insurance purposes.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011One thing. Pakistan has seen a pretty huge number of terrorist attacks too and we’ve lost thousands of people to bombings and extremist activities over the past ten years. We might be on good terms with India, but we are the best Ally the US has had in the war against terror.
Susan
/ September 13, 2011Thank you Akash for an honest response that really puts this in perspective. This blog is full of a bunch of ideologists who all seem to think that their personal rights are more important than safety of our people. They might think differently if they had been through what you have.
Naren
/ September 14, 2011So you guys (Akash, Susan) completely missed the point here. I’m from Bombay too, have been through the same, and make the exact same comments that US has done a great job. But that’s not the point here!!
Didn’t anyone consider the plane had already landed, and was not blown up or hijacked by our ‘terrorists’ who were sitting next to each other conspiring all through the flight. It’s not like their ‘efforts’ were prevented by anyone. But all that happened was someone reported that 3 brown people sitting next to each other, and two them probably spending a little more time in the bathroom. The ‘authorities’ themseleves said they had 50 such incidents reported through the day.
So the point is this could have been handled in a completely different way, without subjecting them to such treatment! There was no reason to put them in such a cell.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Personal rights are fundamental to the idea of this country, and were the cornerstone on which this country was founded. If we give up rights for undefined and nebulous “safety,” we deserve neither and will lose both.
Those words aren’t original, by the way. You might have heard of their original author, Benjamin Franklin. He was pretty important.
Stan Dubinsky
/ September 13, 2011I believe that this post is a (badly written) piece of fiction. The woman who was detained is Ilona Hajdar, who was traveling with her 2 1/2 year old child. Note that there is no mention of a child in all of this. Also, compare the news report timeline to this post http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/
What happened was probably bad enough without some idiot making up Abu Gharaib wet dreams about it.
Watch for the author of this blog to either delete my post, or rewrite their bad story.
Karl Lattimer
/ September 13, 2011Obviously, you’re unable to read/comprehend properly – it says the WITNESS was Ilona Hajdar, not that the woman detained was.
Here’s a pic – http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ilona-hajdar-27-charlotte-mich-holds-her-daughter-photo-023000345.html
Get some proper english lessons.
Rebecca
/ September 13, 2011Stan:
I believe you are mistake. Ms. Hajdar was simply another passenger on the plane, relating what she saw. She wasn’t detained. You might want to re-read the article. The people arrested and extensively detained (rather than questioned and released like all but three on the flight) were not named by authorities or the newspaper.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011Stan 🙂
Your comprehension skills are sub-optimal.
Read that link you gave again – more carefully this time.
“The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich., told The Associated Press.”
What this means is:
A passenger named Ilona Hajdar (of Charlotte, Mich.,) told The Associated Press that “The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman.”
Ben Trafford
/ September 13, 2011Stan, you need to learn to read. The passenger Ilona was reporting that a woman and two men were detained, not that -she- was one of the ones who was detained.
Matt
/ September 13, 2011You’re wrong. That woman was the eye witness quoted in the story not the person dragged off the plane.
marlee
/ September 13, 2011Your response is a badly written piece of fiction…
you must read the whole article before you state your ‘reality:
Ilona Hajdar was a passenger who witnessed the 3 who were forced off the plane…..
good grief!
Ellen
/ September 13, 2011Stan, when the Las Vegas Sun’s primary headlines are about Cirque auditions and Sonic carhops, you know that it is indeed a very credible and influential online newspaper.
heather
/ September 13, 2011Stan, read the article you linked to! Ilona Hajdar was a witness giving her account to the newspaper, NOT the name of the woman who was removed from the plane. The names of the people taken away in handcuffs are not reported in the article.
Rebecca
/ September 13, 2011Ilona Hajdar is the person talking to the press, not the woman detained. The Sun piece is badly written.
She who rarely comments
/ September 13, 2011Is your comment regarding this sentence in the article?
“The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich., told The Associated Press.”
I understood this to mean that Ilona Hajdar was a passenger on the plane who told the journalist what she observed happen to the men and a woman. My interpretation is supported by her statement “the three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman” which is the third person. Given that Richard Nixon referred to himself in the third person, if the woman who was escorted off the plane really was Ilona Hajdar, then maybe there was reason for concern.
I rarely post comments on blogs but I was disturbed by your comment. Please please please reread things before making accusations like this.
molly_mce (@arabica00)
/ September 13, 2011If you re-read the article, you will find that Ilona Hadjar was a passenger interviewed by the Associated Press for the story — she was not the woman detained. None of the persons detained were named in the article.
Here is the sentence that you mis-read: “The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich., told The Associated Press.”
molly_mce (@arabica00)
/ September 13, 2011Sorry, sorry! (I am redundant even in my apologies for redundancy). I originally read this article and comment a couple of hours ago, and no one had replied at the time. The window was still open, I re-read it and was really bothered by the comment, and I posted without refreshing the page. D’oh!
Leslie
/ September 13, 2011What an ugly experience. Seems like our civil rights disappear on airplanes and at airports. I know I don’t feel safer as a result of this kind of circus – merely dismayed at how absurdly hateful and pointless this so-called security is.
Meredith
/ September 13, 2011This is why I don’t suddenly get fiercely patriotic come Sept. 11th: because I’m not proud of my country yet. Yes, we were attacked that day, and it was a horrible tragedy, and I feel immense sorrow when recalling those events. The fact remains, however, that the point of this act of terrorism was to incite fear among us, and we have become so afraid that even 10 years later, we still jump at shadows and strip our fellow American citizens of the rights that make America such a great country. It’s been a decade and we are still destroying ourselves from within.
Wendy
/ September 13, 2011Meredith, I am in total agreement with you. I’m having a hard time even saying the “liberty and justice for all” part of the Pledge of Allegiance because we was not living it.
J Roycroft
/ September 13, 2011Yes you had a bad experience. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Problem I have with your post is you assume it was all about race. It was about you being with two people who were acting suspicious. Race had nothing to do with it. In fact, I am not bothered in the least that you and the other two passengers had such an experience. How many other innocent old white women, children, and others who are not of middle eastern decent have been targeted by the inept TSA? Every day American’s are put through discusting, personally invasive TSA pat downs at airports across the country. All because of political correctness. Never is it about the color of someones skin or their ethnicity. The United States has become a weaker nation because of the insensitivty of people who think they have a right to not be offended. It doesn’t matter if your an invalid in a wheel chair or a baby in its’s mothers arms. But if you look like you just climbed off a camel you get a free pass. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh, thats just the way it is thanks to political correctness. The TSA has never stopped anyone from boarding a plane in our country who had a bomb. It’s all just a big show. The cold hard truth is that profiling is the answer. Being nice and sensitive to your feelings is not.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Post some links to stories of white people being detained in this fashion (not searched at security, but taken off planes and detained, strip-searched, and interrogated), and then I’ll believe that your response has any basis in anything other than an attempt to brush aside racism.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“It was about you being with two people who were acting suspicious. Race had nothing to do with it. In fact, I am not bothered in the least that you and the other two passengers had such an experience. How many other innocent old white women, children, and others who are not of middle eastern decent have been targeted by the inept TSA?”
She wasn’t “with two people who were acting suspicous[ly]”. First, all three just happened to physically near each other; they weren’t “with” each other any more than all the other passengers were. Second, the other two weren’t _actually_ acting suspiciously. It just happened that some ignorant passenger _thought_ they were.
Finally, how does the mistreatment of all the other passengers by the TSA make _further_ (and grossly worse) mistreatment of any passenger any less horrifying?
Ethnic/racial status is not justification in any case, but certainly every other aspect of your rationalization is flawed as well.
Laura
/ September 13, 2011She was not with them. The assumption that she was is caused by racism. As for the rest of your post…. oh, I can’t be bothered.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I know, right? At some point, it’s like…oh, smh.
Jordan Gray (@jordangray)
/ September 13, 2011I wonder what happened to the person who reported you. Did they get held for questioning? How about wasting police time? Did anyone even tell them that you were just looking forward to getting home to your family and that the fear and anxiety they induced and the time and money they wasted did more to aid and abet terrorists than anything you ever did?
Or did they walk off feeling like they’d just done the nation a service by reporting these dangerous, brown-skinned—sorry, “suspicious”—passengers?
The ordeal you went through was frightful, but at least the law enforcement officials can claim they were just doing their jobs. Personally, I’m more horrified that someone took it on themselves to report you just for daring to sit on an airplane with them.
GloSeattle
/ September 13, 2011How shameful we’ve come to this! I feel horrible for you, this is not how everyone is. But, unfortunately there are too many.
DJ
/ September 13, 2011Wow. I’m so sorry this happened to you! As I read your blog, I was reminded of a book I recently finished reading called The Hiding Place. It’s about the Nazi takeover of Holland. The armed guards, the refusal to answer your questions, the racism, and the interrogation was all the same. God forgive us for what our country has done and where we are going.
John C. Welch
/ September 13, 2011Seriously? People are saying that because you didn’t react with perfect calm and understanding that your entire argument is invalid.
Ye.
Gods.
It’s so much fun to watch (supposedly) grown adults use 7-year-old logic in their arguments.
Neil Klassen (@neilklassen)
/ September 13, 2011I wish I could say this story is unbelievable.
Martain Chandler (@martchand)
/ September 13, 2011Thank goodness Obama said we won’t be terrorized anymore.
Our country is composed of idiots.
dimackey
/ September 13, 2011I remember reading this article a while back and thinking it was a mistake … it is the horrendous tale of a Roman lawyer who was detained on arrival in the States. In a way, you were lucky … he was shackled, in prison 10 days, and very well-connected Americans couldn’t get him out: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/us/14visa.html
Anon
/ September 13, 2011“I believe that this post is a (badly written) piece of fiction. The woman who was detained is Ilona Hajdar, who was traveling with her 2 1/2 year old child.”
Hajdar witnessed the incident. SHe was not the woman who was taken away. Reread the article.
Blur
/ September 13, 2011“I hate rednecks”. Well, now that ain’t really fair.
I can see how the whole ordeal would make you mad. It would make me mad, too. (Fortunately for me, I’m a hated redneck… just not an idiot, they aren’t synomonous.) But the real one to blame here is whoever reported your row to the police. The authorities only did what they’re instructed to do. Whoever reported your row was probably eyeing everyone with darker skin. It’s a shame, really.
However, maybe it would be best if you stay grounded on future 9/11 ‘s. It ain’t right, but unfortunately it’s the way it’ll have to be. The terrorists succeeded in what they aimed for: They spread terror throughout the USA.
Cat
/ September 13, 2011The two gentlemen were reported because they not only spent 20 minutes in the bathroom but wouldn’t reply when plane staff knocked on the door & inquired. They were also asked to leave the bathroom & did not reply. (that’s the story I got)
It was a mistaken assumption that she was with these gentlemen when she was removed from the plane with them.
Since most of my family is made up of rednecks I felt this was unfair profiling on the authors account as well.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I love watching privileged white people get pissed off when a person who’s undergone a multi-hour ordeal due to racism uses an insult against the peole who are causing the ordeal.
Tracy
/ September 13, 2011Are all white people privileged? If so, what is it that makes them so?
s.
/ September 13, 2011i’m going to venture a guess that you’re white, or otherwise of some majority-group ethnicity wherever it is that you live. if you weren’t, you wouldn’t need to ask this question.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011All white people are privileged. Because they will never be arrested for driving while black or detained for flying while brown.
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Absolutely right. I was in my splattered painting clothes at the grocery checkout , and they took my check (yeah, I’m old – get over it) without even asking for ID. The black lady behind me who’d obviously just come from church got put through the mill to get hers accepted.
Another time I was speeding more than 10 over, saw a patrol car in my rear view and started to pull over to accept my ticket. He flew by me, though! I know the car he pulled wasn’t speeding, because I overtook them almost immediately. Yep, black couple and their baby.
A local cop who handymanned on the side actually bragged about stopping Mexicans for nothing and dragging them out on the ground. At least this time I had the guts to object and fire him. Shoulda called out the grocery clerk and stopped to watch the traffic stop, too. Self-preservatory instinct, and wrong as hell, because it just lets things escalate.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011White Privilege 101: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/whiteness05.htm
It’s part of critical race theory.
Susan
/ September 13, 2011LOL, Allison-what are you….an aspiring lawyer? a student? What’s with the ‘White Privilege 101’???? I know you would love a platform to enlighten us on your vast knowledge of ‘critical race theory’ but please spare us the pain (I would rather have a cavity search!)
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I’m a professor, actually, and i felt that if people were going to comment on something, or criticize it, they should probably understand it.
I know, I know, I’m weird that way, wanting people to be all informed and educated.
Jay
/ September 13, 2011Maybe there should be a cost for people who make reckless and unfounded accusations or reports. At least they should be ashamed of themselves.
lakshmistar
/ September 13, 2011i am shocked by this story, as i always am when i hear of atrocities that shouldn’t happen in our modern and ‘enlightened’ age and very sorry that anyone should have to go through that.
it is such a conflicting issue and there’s times when it’s easy to see and understand both sides, and times, like this, where it seems cut and dry.
we are so quick to be so extreme about our opinions – there’s either the super patriotic response (that led to the patriot act, etc), or the ashamed-to-be-an-american response. and both sadden me, especially as an american living abroad…
i’ve read through some of your other posts, and it doesn’t seem to me that you are making this up (as much as you can judge someone’s character by their blog, i suppose), as has been suggested above. but i am interested in the questions raised about the inconsistencies between the article you link to, and hope that you address them. but that, like everything, is your prerogative…
either way, i’m glad that your post was freshly pressed, as it definitely was another perspective amidst the 9.11 remembrances.
lakshmistar
/ September 13, 2011never mind – i reread the article (as was suggested to the commenter who originally questioned you) and i see that i was mistaken, and i apologize. being questioned for your veracity is probably kicking you while you’re down. not cool of me.
however, i will say, in my defense, that that article was poorly written and confusing about that point.
Melanie
/ September 13, 2011It’s disgusting anyone would be treated like this with no evidence, and it is especially disgusting an American citizen was treated this way. I am not, however, surprised. 9/11 gave paranoia, racial profiling, and seizing of civil rights a free rein, wrapped up in the flag.
I shared this on my Facebook, where I know others will also share it.
Karthik Murali
/ September 13, 2011I don’t believe what happened to you was really that big a deal. And it doesn’t sound they did this to humiliate you. You should be glad your government cares for the safety of its people.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Oh. My. God.
This has got to be one of the most vile comments I have read in response to this posting.
You, sir, are an idiot.
A government that “cares for the safety of its people” doesn’t terrorize them by stoking fear and strip searching them. North Korea cares for the safety of its people, and they are very safe. Sadly, America is sliding closer and closer to a government of “safety”.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Really? North Korea? Please people. Sadly this country has gotten to the point where we have to be this reactive Is it good? No, but would you be happy if you lodged a complaint while flying and for whatever reason felt unsafe, and NOTHING was done. I am an ardent young conservative and have a brother working for Homeland Security, if you people had any idea how many threats are thwarted every day, you would not complain about a few hour delay before your drive home to Toledo, you and everyone on your flight should be happy that people take a possible threat seriously and ensure YOU and all of those on the plane are safe, next time, Drive.
s.
/ September 13, 2011in this country, we have this handy thing called a constitution and a bill of rights. you may want to familiarize yourself with them. we do not set them on fire around here in the name of “caring for the safety of our people.” when we do, the terrorists have won.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011SilenceDogood , you are one of the most ignorant wastes on here. You call people and their comments “vile” and “disgusting,” yet offer absolutely nothing in return. If the law enforcement officers were “stoking fear” they would have shot them in plain view of the passengers, as they would in North Korea. If they were stoking fear they would have at least conducted the search in plain view of the passengers. The very fact that those concerned were moved to an isolated location shows that they were actually trying to avoid the stoking of anything. Though, you’d have to have a rational mind to see that I suppose. The number of irrational people that fail to understand the simple logistic of a situation in favor of knee-jerk emotion explains so much about our society. It’s why we elect who we elect, it’s why they make these rules, and it’s why you bitch and whine about falling under the jurisdiction of those rules while completely failing to understand why. I’ve never seen such a flood of simple ignorance as I have in the comments here.
Someone claimed two men were plotting something. This woman happened to be sitting with them. If you were a police officer, what would you do? Keep in mind, you don’t know if she’s a soccer mom or a terrorist. She might have a bomb up her ass, or she might just constantly bitch about not being able to update her twitter account. This lady here doesn’t say if she was the only other person sitting with them or not. Leaving out that very basic piece of information (the only thing about the situation leading to her detainment that she she know to be a fact) tells me that even in retrospect, she’s as clueless as the rest of you.
Tell me, was she potentially 1/3 of a terror plot, or 1/6th? How many people were sitting there. It’s a big difference if you’re gonna play the race-card while stereotyping fat people and rednecks. This lady’s statement here are insufficient as fact at best, and hypocritical diatribe at worst.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry, I got lost in your long-winded diatribe somewhere. It seems you are railing against “knee-jerk emotion”.
You mean kind of how some bedwetting pansy on this flight reported people for using a bathroom? Is that the kind of “knee-jerk emotion” you were referring to?
Because it seems to me that if someone is so afraid that a plane is going to blow up, they probably shouldn’t get on one in the first place. That would save a lot of people, like everybody on this flight, from the terror of such “knee-jerk emotion”.
Steve C Sullivan
/ September 14, 2011What would you suppose we do? In terms of safety I mean?
Silver Fang
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, contact the ACLU, get a lawyer and sue every government agency involved. Your rights were violated and you must seek retribution against the swine who stomped on you.
Daniel
/ September 13, 2011Your rights have been clearly violated. I encourage you to find an attorney who specializes in these things. These procedures and the people who do them have been treated like “sacred cows” in many ways, and they are above the law only because there has been no well-publicized legal challenge. Do not be intimidated by bullies – it only encourages them. Only a well-orchestrated legal challenge will restore procedural justice.
The terrorists have won. I want my country back.
rae
/ September 13, 2011homeland security is a farce…it’s a case of “give a person 1 inch of power and they think they are gods.” It’s too bad this happened and I certianly feel for this lady…..it seems that common sense goes out the window sometimes. The lady who called in and complained or whatever it was she did, should be given the same treatment. More and more I say, God help America
Al
/ September 13, 2011Stan Dubinsky, you’re wrong. Read the AP story you linked to again. Ilona Hajdar was another passenger on Shoshana’s flight who was not arrested.
To wit: “The Airbus 318 taxied to a pad away from the terminal, and police took three passengers into custody, Kowalchuck said. The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich., told The Associated Press.
She said she realized there was a problem when the plane’s bridge didn’t extend at the gate. The plane then rolled to a remote spot on the airfield. After about a half hour, police SWAT boarded.
“Everybody, put your hands on the seat rest in front of you. Don’t move,” they said, according to Hajdar, 27, who had been asleep for most of the flight and on board with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter.”
Dave Jones
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, Your a brave girl, telling it as it is, One day America will be free again, fear breads fear and until the American people open there eyes and see, there will be no Freedom, its like talking to a rabid dog, The only cure is to put it down.
All this because of GREED for money, money controls the world,Freedom is the price everyone has to pay.
Steve C Sullivan
/ September 14, 2011Dave, you have some good points, but I don’t totally agree with you. Money does not control everything…I work diligently every day as a government employee and I do so because of the freedom I have, and appreciate the opportunity to give back to my country, “The People”. If I see something I disagree with, I speak up and say something…I am sorry you no longer have faith in your government. I have faith in people and believe they will make the right choices, as I do.
Carol
/ September 13, 2011It’s appalling that this happened to you. I would not have been so inclined to give the “authorities” what they wanted. I’d have demanded a lawyer and invoked the 5th amendment the minute they got the cuffs out. People should not be treated the way you were.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011I’d have demanded a lawyer and invoked the 5th amendment the minute they got the cuffs out.
When you’re handcuffed, you’ve been arrested in fact. I’d be interested to see whether the courts agree ~ that is, I’d be interested to see whether the court are going to further degrade the Constitution as previous Supreme Courts have done. See http://www.muslimamerica.net/mp/newfirst.htm The New First Amendment for one small part of the history.
Imdad Hussain
/ September 13, 2011Thank for writing you
ngwhoayourface
/ September 13, 2011wahh, typical american spoiled brat.
Sam
/ September 13, 2011Wow. Intelligent argument. Great points made. *rolls eyes*
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yes, we are spoiled in America. We have these things called Constitutional rights and civil laws. They are supposed to prevent things like this from happening. Shame on us for wanting the rights on which our country was founded.
David Jones (@Exorcist74)
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, Your a brave girl, telling it as it is, One day America will be free again, fear breads fear and until the American people open there eyes and see, there will be no Freedom, its like talking to a rabid dog, The only cure is to put it down.
All this because of GREED for money, money controls the world,Freedom is the price everyone has to pay.
OldCop
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, I’m sorry that you got caught up in this. It is a shame that people get nervous when they fly.
But, you seem to be very angry at the law enforcement folks. They did not “profile” you. Some passenger on the plane did. They simply did what you would expect them to do. Yes, they cuffed you and put you in a holding cell. From your post it sounds like they were curteous, did not abuse you, nor did they violate your rights. They have the right to detain you for up to 24 hours without a hearing while they investigate the incident.
What I find interesting, is that while you rail against “profiling” you talk about how you hate country music, beer bellies, rednecks, etc; just exactly what you say the “cops” did to you; judge you by the way you look. How is this different?
The fact of the matter is that there are people out there that want to kill us. Recently, they have tried to do it with planes. And they happen to look a certain way. If they all had purple hair, would you expect folks to see purple haired passengers and NOT react?
For those that posted that they were not proud of our country, Please fly one last time. To somewhere else. One way. Are we perfect, no. If you find a better place to live please go there immediately and STAY.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Oh, OldCop, the usual “If you don’t like it, leave” argument. Well, here in America people don’t have the right to go around screaming, “9/11! Save me from another 9/11! There are brown people who want to kill me!”
So, if you don’t like it here, hows about you take your own advice and move to a country where illegal detainment and torture are acceptable ways to deal with “others”.
You are disgusting.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011OldCop, you couldn’t be more right. SilenceDogood, your post doesn’t reference one single point OldCop made. You irreverence invalidates your opinion of anyone being “disgusting.” Instead it paints you as a knee-jerk ass. Literally nothing you said in your post is even vaguely relevant to anything whatsoever. He never said “If you don’t like it, leave,” even though you put it in quotations as if he did. He merely pointed out that the law enforcement officials acted exactly how we would like them to. They operated within their rights, respected hers, were more courteous with her than I would have been (cops deal with loudmouths ALL THE TIME).
The fact is, no one but the accuser and the two men know what happened. Maybe they were making a joke, and it was misunderstood. Who knows? Most cheap sets are aisles of three on each side, which would have made it very easy to assume she was with 2/3 of that section. Were there more seats? Was she in the middle? We don’t even know that. This lady doesn’t actually provide any information because she doesn’t know anything herself. This lady surely doesn’t. What she apparently does know is that she won’t be mocking the reality of airport security anymore… though I think she’ll probably continue stereotyping people while claiming she was racially discriminated against.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Fry, you have a serious reading comprehension problem.
OldCop said, “For those that posted that they were not proud of our country, Please fly one last time. To somewhere else. One way. Are we perfect, no. If you find a better place to live please go there immediately and STAY.” Which is the same thing as saying, if you don’t like America, leave. So, indeed, yes, I did actually address every single thing OldCop said.
Additionally, the story is quite clear that the author was sitting in the window seat, but you somehow missed that.
Let’s be clear, people like you who are so afraid of the terrorists around every corner that the sort of behavior exhibited in this posting, and at airport checkpoints everyday, is acceptable, don’t belong in a free society.
David Jones (@Exorcist74)
/ September 13, 2011would the call have done the same if they saw 3 white people doing the same thing on a plane… I don’t think so…. Government Social Indoctrinate
Fry
/ September 13, 2011well, you don’t know what the passenger heard to accuse the men now do you? Neither does this lady, even though she acts like she does. Can we just say that when you say “think” you actually mean “assume?”
David Jones (@Exorcist74)
/ September 13, 2011Fry
The same is said for the passenger who made the call,they “think/heard ” and naturally “assume, and why, because Americans are brought up to believe that all dark skinned people are potential terrorist.
What happened to, Innocent until proven Guilty…..would this have happened before 9/11. What happen to the rights of the 3 persons arrested.
Would you see the funny side, if this happened to you ?
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011OldCop
“They have the right to detain you for up to 24 hours without a hearing while they investigate the incident. ”
And there you have identified a core issue.
Under the Patriot Act, they have a right to …… do lots of stuff. What they don’t seem to have is is any option to apply common sense to a particular situation.
Some bureaucrat has written a “one size fits all” list of procedures. They have to follow the procedures to the letter, even if people on the ground can see that it’s nonsense in particular circumstances.
The primary aim is pure ass-covering. Nobody is going to risk their job by exercising judgement. The people do not matter. They are just ‘things’ in a procedure. The procedure is all that matters.
There was a similar situation on a flight from LAX to JFK on the same day.
This link: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PN2D400.htm describes both.
In the JFK case, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said the plane’s captain never declared a security threat and never asked for law enforcement help. A “security concern” was brought to the airline’s attention and the crew used “normal procedures” to assess the circumstances, he said. The plane landed as planned. “In our eyes, it’s a big nothing,” Smith added.
It seems that someone got nervous because a passenger was spending a lot of time in the bathroom. The raising of that concern trigged a procedure. Despite the pilot consciously not calling any sort of emergency or assistance, F-16s were scrambled and a pantomime awaited the arrival of the plane at JFK. Swat teams, handcuffs, sniffer dogs, yadda-yadda. That’s insane.
As for the Detroit case, “The FBI said the three didn’t know each other. One man felt ill and got up to use the restroom and another man in the same row also left his seat to go to the bathroom. The FBI said they never were inside together. “At no time were the three individuals uncooperative with the flight crew,” the FBI said.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“But, you seem to be very angry at the law enforcement folks. They did not “profile” you. Some passenger on the plane did. They simply did what you would expect them to do.”
No, they didn’t. I would expect them to ask the witness to describe what they felt was the suspicious behavior on the part of the three. To justify the detainment described here, that description would have to include _specific_ details of actions _each_ person detained engaged in that are clearly suspicious, justifying further investigation.
Not that spending a long time in the toilet is actually in and of itself suspicious, but the author of this article didn’t even do _that_.
Unless the witness actually lied to the police, the “law enforcement folks” are at least as guilty of wrong-doing, and likely more-so.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011You seem to be very angry at the law enforcement folks. They did not “profile” you. Some passenger on the plane did. They simply did what you would expect them to do. Yes, they cuffed you and put you in a holding cell. From your post it sounds like they were curteous, did not abuse you, nor did they violate your rights. They have the right to detain you for up to 24 hours without a hearing while they investigate the incident.
There was no “incident” ~ the “authorities” created an incident.
They violated her rights when they put handcuffs on her. Period. “Detain” is one thing ~ putting handcuffs on someone is not a mere “detention,” it’s an arrest ~ in this case without the least shred of probable cause to believe anything illegal had happened or was happening.
It’s comforting that you call yourself “oldcop.” I assume that means you no longer have a license to “detain” people. Now if you’ll just go back to where you came from, America would be that much safer.
J Roycroft
/ September 13, 2011You do not know what you are talking about. Putting handcuffs on a person during an investigation does not automatically create an arrest. What rights of that lady did the law enforcement officials violate? You sit here and preach about a womans rights being violated and at the same time you are involved in a religion that treats women like dogs and does not recognize them as having rights. Now how about you go crawl back into your cave and stick your nose back into your wonderful peaceful religion of islam. You sir are an idiot!
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011You do not know what you are talking about.
Oddly enough, the courts before which I practice law think otherwise.
Putting handcuffs on a person during an investigation does not automatically create an arrest.
The issue is whether the individual is free to leave. Handcuffed, she was not free to leave. That’s an arrest ~ in this case, a false arrest.
What rights of that lady did the law enforcement officials violate?
Several.
You sit here and preach about a womans rights being violated and at the same time you are involved in a religion that treats women like dogs and does not recognize them as having rights.
Your utter ignorance is showing. Men treat women like dogs and do not recognize them as having rights. Islam, however, established most of the rights that you enjoy ~ including the right to own private property, the right of due process and freedom of speech, religious liberty, political enfranchisement, and the rights that men too often do not grant women: the right to be protected and supported, the right to be represented and the right to participate on an equal footing, the right to own property in their own right free of any claim by a husband, an absolute right of divorce unencumbered by any demand for “cause,” the right of inviolate privacy, and so on. It has been men who have denied these God-given rights of women, not Islam.
Now how about you go crawl back into your cave and stick your nose back into your wonderful peaceful religion of islam.
I fully intend to do just that as soon as the Washington State Supreme Court ~ or the U.S. District Court, or the U.S. Supreme Court ~ tells this Town that we have a right under both State and federal law to provide housing for indigent homeless people in our buildings despite their notions about their building codes (that they had no authority to enact or enforce), just as Christians are doing all over the country.
You sir are an idiot!
Trying to inform you would certainly be idiotic, but I’m replying for people who can read and think for themselves.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011Nice reply ya Sheikh.
Michael M
/ September 13, 2011I am truly sorry for your experience. I am sure it was terrifying.
However, I take issue with this statement.
“sure that I was taken from the plane simply because of my appearance.”
So it had nothing to do with fact you were seated between two bad actors? So ALL the brown people got arrested on your plane, because appearance was the ONLY criteria? Please, anybody in that seat would have been implicated. Crappy things happen to people every day, even white people. We just can’t blame racism.
That said, DHS and TSA need to get over themselves and quit the SWAT tactics for every little incident. There is no situational analysis anymore. What could have been handled by a pulling the gentlemen(and you), aside after you deplaned, turned in to a paramilitary exercise.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Nevermind the fact that this incident proves TSA can’t be trusted to keep contraband off of planes. Why else would people need to be strip search ON ARRIVAL?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011So it had nothing to do with fact you were seated between two bad actors?
What “bad actors”? Failing to open the door of a toilet is “bad acting”?
From “oldcop” we can expect the mindset that everyone who is not a cop is a “bad actor.” What’s your excuse?
Mark D. Bershad
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, that was an eloquently written piece of journalism. It truly was compelling, like a good spy novel. However, I have to take issue with your use of demeaning generalizations. While comical, your use of them, despite your justified anger, demonstrates the difficulty we all have at times in being non-judgmental and fair. You fell victim to the very forces you were railing against. Nevertheless, I am anxious to read more of your thoughts and perceptions. Please share them with us, because I, like many of your readers, I’m sure, would like to get to know you. Thanks for your intelligence, honesty and sincerity. Next time, however, sharpen that editing pencil!
Vanja
/ September 13, 2011This is spreading like wildfire on facebook, currently sweeping across the Swedish community where I’m doing my small part in sharing. It’s a dreadful story that should be read by everyone.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011Wow, what a blowhard. Just like Malcom X huh? You’re few hours of inconvenience is easily comparable. Maybe next time you won’t mock the brevity with you husband of just why the heightened security (especially on 9/11) is there in the first place. Another note, you take the time to point out a few stereotypes against rednecks. Guess some blowhard didn’t learn anything from her experience huh? You might not know this, but every species on this planet discriminates against those not of their own kind. It’s why you don’t have a bird singing on your shoulder right now. It’s instinct, and as beneficial for a group’s protection as it can be destructive in scenarios such as these. Had you not had your head so far up your righteous ass you might have understood this… and not thought were being dealt a great injustice similar to Malcom X. Someone in your row did something to scare someone else, and it was probably more than just the color of their skin… however misunderstood the action might have been. You fail to understand this because there is no way way you could possibly be capable of understanding it. You weren’t the one that was freaked out. You weren’t either of those men. You just know what happened to you, and like every other self absorbed person who believes the world is inconvenienced by their inability to update the social networking statuses, you wrap yourself only in those things that you do understand… you, you, you.
What really gets me though is that some coward on the plane noticed something that he/she felt was threatening the lives of everyone on board… and did practically nothing. If there was a bomb plot, the bomber wouldn’t have waited for the plane to land before detonating. I hope that coward was as inconvenienced as you.
Finally, from the events you described, you were taken in because of where you sat. It sounds like it was the two men they were concerned with. So you experienced racial profiling by proxy. You know, just like Malcom X.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Is there anything that the authorities could have done that you would think would NOT have been forgivable? Or do you just assume that, if someone wearing a uniform does something, it’s automatically justified?
Because the word for “believing that anything a person wearing a uniform does is justified” is “fascism.”
Rick
/ September 13, 2011Fry, it’s the fact that you (and so many other right-wing apologists) just don’t get it that makes me sad. That we, as Americans, view this as just a minor “inconvenience” to this woman, as “the price we have to pay” for security. Liberty and freedoms aren’t usually taken away all at once — they are given up, slowly, until we have none left. Reminds me of the post-Nazi thought about “First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Finally they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
So I speak out — against this, and against you and other apologists for seeing nothing wrong with this loss of personal liberty.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011What exactly is it you would have wanted the “coward on the plane” to do – tackle and choke the “suspicious” folk to death before they had a chance to do anything, just in case?
I agree with precisely one of your points: If there was a bomb plot, the bomber would have detonated, or attempted to detonate, BEFORE the authorities boarded. The fact that the three “suspicious” people were not behaving, um, *suspiciously* should have been enough of an indicator for the supposedly highly-trained response unit to realize that this was a non-issue, and nip it in the bud without the need for the high drama.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011The fact that the three “suspicious” people were not behaving, um, *suspiciously* should have been enough of an indicator for the supposedly highly-trained response unit to realize that this was a non-issue, and nip it in the bud without the need for the high drama.
No “supposedly” involved here ~ they were highly trained to do exactly what they did: terrorize the people on the plane and accustom the public to the loss of their freedom of movement and personal security.
This kind of thing is happening across the board ~ Gibson guitar company raided by a SWAT team because some Rosewood was allegedly mislabeled in violation of customs laws, farmers raided by armed gangs in uniform for selling raw milk, ABCNNBCBS terrorizing the population 24×7 while the DEATFBIRS breaks down doors in the middle of the night and City police put seventeen bullets into the back of a guy reaching into his pocket for his house keys, or a teenager holding a cell phone ~ it’s been going on for a while now, folks, and apologists like “oldcop” consider it just fine and altogether “American.”
I pledge allegiance “to the Republic for which it stands” ~ has anyone seen that Republic lately?
Cat
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry you had to go through that. It seems you were grouped in with the gentlemen you were sitting with, which is unfortunate. The story is that not only 20 mins in the bathroom, but when staff inquired, no reply. When asked to exit the bathroom, no reply. That’s what made it suspicious.
I’m glad your okay & I’m glad your letting everyone know what that was like for you. I’m going to share this on facebook as well, so people can see how paranoid reactions can effect everyday people.
Yes, it was ignorant of the officer giving you a lift to say something about you being a descendant of desert people. But don’t you think your leaning towards that yourself with comments about over weight, country music loving white men? Commenting that the guy who stole the watch “didn’t look too different from some of the officers”?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all stop profiling each other and start looking at each other as people?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 13, 2011The story is that not only 20 mins in the bathroom, but when staff inquired, no reply. When asked to exit the bathroom, no reply. That’s what made it suspicious.
That does not begin to approach “probable cause to believe a crime has been or is being committed.”
James
/ September 13, 2011Wow. Go see a civil rights lawyer. Now.
Subhash
/ September 13, 2011Oh my..what an ordeal!
Debra
/ September 13, 2011I agree it was awful. Sadly your continued put downs and focus about the officials’ physical appearances bothers me almost as much. As someone targeted for looks, all you seemed to focus on was their stomachs and looks. I guess if you hate “fat bellies and rednecks” it’s okay. Your prejudices and comments on them dramatically decreased my empathy for you.
For the two Indian men I am horrified. It is terrible that out of fear we have given up so many rights. It is unbelievable that we took 9/11, a crime of racism and hatred, to perpetuate hate against Muslims and everyone that might LOOK Middle Eastern.
But your bigotry, though much less traumatic, is also sad. You want people to look past your looks, yet you can’t do it yourself.
Carol
/ September 13, 2011Re: Old Cop’s comment- what exactly is “courteous” about strip searching someone? Hiding behind protocol doesn’t make wrong right, doesn’t make rude polite.
How many people would be disinclined to sit next to a (perfectly innocent and harmless) international traveler whose skin was brown or anyone who looked foreign after reading this?
Two passengers did something – go to the bathroom- that other passengers thought was suspicious. 3 passengers were put in handcuffs and taken to a holding cell. That seems like a huge problem right there.
Would a white American businessman seated in First Class, wearing a $1,000 suit and gold watch, have been handcuffed if the Indian man sitting next to him were deemed suspicious? Doubt it. Seems to be as much a social class issue and how much the police think they can get away with as it is profiling, maybe more so.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011Yes, if a white woman had been sitting with two men who had been accused of suspicious behavior on a plane, she would be detained and questioned as well. What’s wrong with you people? This lady wasn’t sent to Guantanamo. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It just so happens that she’s a self-righteous blowhard. She not only fails to understand this simple fact, but she engages in the same stereotyping that she accuses others of doing, “…and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.” Um, wait, did she ever mention that the guards were talking about country music? Did I miss that? Where did sudden little rant against rednecks come from?
norman trabulsy
/ September 13, 2011Fry,
Great comment, just lacking any thought. It seems you’re one of the reasons I can’t live in the US any more. Too many ignorant assholes.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011You see, Fry, the problem isn’t that so long as it happens to everybody else it’s OK. The problem is that it happens AT ALL.
There are spineless ignorant people in this world, like Fry, who are just fine and dandy with whatever is doled out because it happens to everybody, just wrong time, wrong place, oh well. So long as it happens to them, I have no problem with it mentality is going to backfire on you someday, Fry.
Dodie Marie Miller
/ September 13, 2011One of my friends reposted this on Facebook. This sucks, but this is how a lot of our uniformed “friends” behave. I think there is a rule that when multiple people of color book a flight and sit together, they should be checked out. My brother and I were selected for “special screening” flying from Indianapolis to Las Vegas in 2008. It never happened to me alone, and it never happened to him flying with his white wife. We are black Americans. When I complained to people at home, a relative said, “Well you kind of look Middle Eastern.” What the freak? The system is definitely broken, and we are not safer.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011It’s not broken. It’s an understandably reasonable for people to react towards a supposed threat that almost unilaterally shares a similar characteristic. It’s unfortunate, but to be expected, all things considered. It’s why wild animals don’t warm to people. Fear is primal, and at that level we’re no different than animals.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011What sort of “threat” is there you boneheaded idiot?
Every single one of these cases from yesterday. Every.Single.One. turned up nothing.
What are you so afraid of? I worry for your mental well being.
daleok
/ September 13, 2011This isn’t really any different than the Americans, of Japanese descent, who were placed in concentration-style type camps at the beginning of World War II. There was just as much paranoia then as is there is now. Just different players and different government named departments. We haven’t learned much since that time until now.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011No, there’s a huge difference. I know you’re just being sensationalistic… or you’re an idiot.
Guest
/ September 14, 2011The Japanese-Americans were NOT placed in concentration camps. They were internment camps. Read more about that here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment
Isaa
/ September 13, 2011Freaks!
personne
/ September 13, 2011Shallow criticism for the overweight officers, then chauffeured to one’s private vehicle at the end of a disruptive but civil detainment. And the world keeps spinning.
Dan Hill
/ September 13, 2011Civil? You call that civil? Hope you’re subjected to a totally unwarranted detention, handcuffing and cavity search in the near future.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011She was sitting with two people accused of something. That warrants questioning. the law enforcement doesn’t know if it’s case of “wrong place/time” or if she has a bomb hidden up her ass. It could be anything in between. Is EVERYONE on here completely irrational?
suresh
/ September 13, 2011Taking your logic further, everyone on the plane should have been handcuffed, strip searched and questioned. There is no reason that terrorists will choose to sit next to one other. Indeed, one might reasonably think that they would try and avoid that possibility (by traveling on separate tickets) to deflect suspicion. However, from the reports, while all passengers were questioned, only Ms. Hebshi and the two Indians (“suspects”) were subject to special treatment. Why?
Looking forward to the next round of spin.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Hi Suresh:
I just wanted to point out that on one of the flights that hit the trade center, 2 of the hijackers were sitting together. This was reported on a special they were running on television prior to the 9/11 anniversary.
suresh
/ September 14, 2011Dear Fry,
I just wanted to note that while terrorists are (arguably) mad, they are not stupid. They are also capable of adapting. The department of homeland security is being silly if it thinks that they will use the same tactics that they used ten years back. I therefore think that once some passengers came under “suspicion”, then everyone on the plane should have been treated as potential suspects. In my opinion – and you are free to disagree – the reasons given for singling out Ms. Hebshi don’t make sense.
Look, I think airport security anywhere in the world have a hard time. If something does happen, then they are sure to get blamed. But they also get flak for the inconveniences they impose on passengers. It is a difficult balancing act and I think Shoshana’s complaint is not that they singled her out but the way they went about their job. As someone who’s been at the receiving end of such procedures in both the USA and Israel — I’m Indian myself — I do have a lot of sympathy for anyone who goes through similar experiences. I have to say, though, that Shoshana’s experiences are a lot worse.
Erin
/ September 14, 2011She was more than just questioned; she was detained, strip searched and had her body cavties searched. But had she been blond haired with blue eyes and ivory skin, she would have never been suspected of being in league with the men excessively using the restroom. And therein lies the problem.
personne
/ September 13, 2011I have been subjected to something similar. It’s part of the return on shallow name calling and absurd resource consumption.
Lindsay | The Daily Awe
/ September 13, 2011Oh my god. I’m sitting here wiping tears away from my cheeks, trying to imagine all you must’ve felt and gone through. I am appalled that this fear-mongering has gone on for as long as it has and that racial profiling is still happening. It breaks my heart that just because of the color of your skin, you had to endure this.
I hope one day this all changes. But if not, come on up to Canada. I think it’s a lot friendlier here and multi-culturalism is respected and honored. I’m an American living in Canada and I can say with confidence that Canada is a much better place for racial minorities – or anyone, really – to live.
Fry
/ September 13, 2011Um ,it wasn’t because of the color of her skin. She wasn’t accused of anything, she was questioned. She happened to be sitting among two people who were accused. We don’t know why. She doesn’t know why. Dry those tears, you’re overreacting to such little information I’d hate to think that anyone relies on you for anything important.
M
/ September 14, 2011Don’t be rude, Fry. She wasn’t just questioned, she was strip-searched and not given any explanation. And she does know why. You just don’t agree, that’s all. Leave Lindsay alone and learn some empathy from her.
Kate
/ September 13, 2011This is such an ordeal, and shows the absolute systemic racism that people experience on a daily basis. Going to the bathroom in succession is what considerate people do when not sitting in an aisle seat and something that I know as a white person would never be used to judge my character or pre-e,pt my actions.
While I don’t want to detract from your post, I found myself cringing at your constant reference to the weight of people as though it were a judge of their character and their actions. Perhaps I’m being overly sensitive when your point may be that their weight should hold no consequence to how we perceive them as other factors should not.
Regardless of that, you have used your greatest weapon here – your words and your account. This is a reminder of the perceptions of a lot of people – a person of colour or a certain religion evokes panic and unease in people in all situations, but on a plane, their fear is something that can be instantly acted upon publicly in the most shameful of ways.
Patrice Kyger
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, I just read your account, linked by Slate. I’m so very sorry this happened to you, as are all people of conscience. Perhaps we will never know whether it was proximity to the two men beside you or skin color profiling that led to your arrest, but the arrest was wrong no matter what initially impelled it. I hope your family and friends are giving you lots of cherishing… you deserve care and comfort.
Nastasja
/ September 13, 2011Hello!
And to be honest, I feel for you. I am, every time I fly, in the same situation. There is always someone telling me “please, take off your clothes and shoes, it won’t take a minute”. In order to make it better for me for I am sitting almost naked in place where people can walk by me and see me this way, I always say to myself “at least they said please”. To make it clear: I am Serbian, nothing special actually, and yet I probably look so evil and mean. God knows. Of course, compared to your experience these small undressing actions are nothing. And I still cannot think why.
I must admit, I wasn’t that shocked; it was somehow expected to happen
People are changing, the world is changing. Even we in Europe have our news with disasters and somehow media is scaring people about this 9/11 day. It wasn’t nice, I am sure about that, but every year on the same day it is worthless. If someone would like to attack us or any other country, this would have been done by now.
I hope you won’t come again in any situation even closely similar to this one. Once was one time too much, as we say in Germany 🙂
Greetings!
natasiarose
/ September 13, 2011That’s disgusting and incredible. Yes, 9/11 happened but that’s no excuse to treat certain people like criminals. Thank you for telling your story.
pkkid
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry. I keep hoping that we will learn to look at each other and really see each other rather than seeing merely ethnicities, religions, skin colors… One day…
s.
/ September 13, 2011have you considered contacting your local aclu affiliate? they can advise you as to whether your rights were legally violated post-patriot act, if you feel you want to explore additional avenues of redress.
thank you for sharing your very powerful story. i’m so sorry.
hasukumori
/ September 13, 2011@ OLDCOP” They did not “profile” you. Some passenger on the plane did.”
You make many assumptions that she was profiled by a passenger and not a member of the flight crew.
My problem with this incident is that the plane landed fine, and she just wanted to DRIVE HOME. She wasn’t getting on another plane, she was leaving to be with her husband and kids. that makes the authorities who conducted the search with out asking the preliminary questions, dumbasses of the greatest degree in my view.
HoaiPhai
/ September 13, 2011Have you thought about a class action suit naming the person who thought you sitting on a plane was a suspicious activity? There was no probable cause…it’s one thing to agree to submit to security sceening in order to fly but for three people to be held without counsel and not being allowed to contact your family is unfair. So much for constitutional rights.
Jennifer Homsher Lewis
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry you had that experience. Thank you for writing about it. I wish more people such as yourself would write about their experiences with the after effects of 9/11 and show what our fear as a nation has manifested. I hope that your story will help to change our national trend of fear and paranoia that our current media loves to blast at us.
Gena
/ September 13, 2011It is very upsetting that this happened to you, and I am sorry for what you had to go through. I’m afraid I wouldn’t have kept my cool as well as you :). The amount of fear mongering by politicians and the media has lead to this sort of narrow-minded and paranoid situation. It just reinforces to me a few phrases that we should all remember:
“Am I being detained or am I free to go?”
“I invoke my right to remain silent”
“I would like to speak with my lawyer (before answering any of your questions)”
“I cannot be compelled to give you my password”
I agree with many here that your rights were violated, and although I am not a litigious person, you (and probably your fellow seat-mates) probably have good reason to be looking for something.
The level to which our country has slipped is embarrassing to me, and I am sorry you had to endure what you did.
gamercameo
/ September 13, 2011It’s a thing we must face.
loosethoughts
/ September 13, 2011Several things didn’t make sense to me, and her writing is comparable to a soccer player attempting to fake an injury in order to get a penalty shot. This journalist may hope to have this story be another great additive in a secession of embellished stories.
She feels like Malcolm X, but Malcolm X was subjugated to way worse an incarceration.
She couldn’t relate to her fellow captives, even though they do actually share something in common; They were both restrained for no reason.
She also refers to herself as Arab/Jewish, as if to try and play on sympathies from the opposite sides as well as the neutral parties in between.
Finally, this is nothing compared to what certain people have had to endure throughout the histories and even today on an everyday basis. SHe just happened to take a flight during 9/11, which even I as an Brown Canadian would not even do.
Journalism like this is dangerous, as it is the stuff Fox and CNN is made up of!
elayne
/ September 13, 2011You’re hilarious.
I refer to myself as a white female, as if to play on sympathies from the… oh wait, no, I do that because I happen to, in fact, BE a white female.
And you may be right when you say “this is nothing compared to what certain people have had to endure” but let me ask you this – how do you think it all STARTED, what those certain people had to endure? Do you think that, just maybe, it started with a slow erosion of respect and human decency, by people being suspicious of and hostile towards other people because they were different in some way? Do you think maybe it might have started out JUST LIKE THIS?
Peter de Jager
/ September 13, 2011Land of the brave… Home of the free. V2.0
Time Cube
/ September 13, 2011So the appropriate response by the authorities would have been to disregard the situation? Yes, this is an unhappy and unfortunate situation- but to work under the illusion that it’s somehow avoidable is nonsense. You see what you think is a drug deal out your window..someone in a hoodie passing something to a car. You notify the authorities. They pick up the perp..he looks the part, heck he even has prescription drugs in his pocket. Turns out all he did was pass a note and they were really his legal prescription meds, totally unrelated to the case. Innocent person justifiable withheld briefly and then let go. Its how the world works people..not just because of the fear or terrorism. The fools know not they are the fools..
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“So the appropriate response by the authorities would have been to disregard the situation?”
Depends on your definition of “disregard”. It’s worth having a conversation with the witness, but beyond that? Yes…they should have disregarded the situation.
Even in your contrived example of someone picking up a note from in their car (yeah, that happens all the time), there was some specific _action_ that could be described and conceivably construed as being an illegal act. Nothing of the sort occurred here.
Laura
/ September 13, 2011But what situation? Nothing happened. The most that happened was that someone had to wait too long for the bathroom, as far as I can tell.
Sophia Morgan (griffinspen)
/ September 13, 2011How terrible! I’m so sorry about what you had to go through! Reading this made me drop my jaw in astonishment. It angers me that some people judge people only because of their ethnicity. I guess the lesson learned here is … never fly on 9/11.
Starbuck
/ September 13, 2011I there “shebshi”,
I feel so sorry for these people who got caught in that permanent sense of fear. They hurt other people’s life day after day and won’t ever take two minutes to just think about their acts. Objective reached, as some would say…
I wish you all the best, and may your mind return to peace as soon as possible.
Amedee Van Gasse (@amedee)
/ September 13, 2011Is one of your Twitter accounts @orionblu1 (linked from this WordPress blog)? It seems to be suspended…
I don’t want to go all conspiracy theory, but that is probably due to “suspicious activity”: because of your story, you probably got a lot of followers and retweets in a very short time, and Twitter’s standard policy is to temporarily suspend such accounts, because they are in most cases spam accounts or hacked accounts. Yours obviously isn’t, but that isn’t something that the auomated tools can see. A real human at Twitter HQ will have to take the time to look at your account and enable it again.
Your other Twitter account, @ShoshanaHebshi, doesn’t seem to be affected, because it is not linked from this WordPress blog.
heather
/ September 13, 2011i think it’s insane that this was allowed to happen to you. i highly doubt any suspicious “white” people were detained on sept 11/11. you are strong, smart, and well written. use your words to make change in your country. i thankfully am a canadian, but, we have experienced some of these issues (eg: G20 toronto 2010). everything changed on sept 11/01, but i just wish people would realise that it doesn’t have to be negative change. less war…more peace. thank you for your words, even though i cannot stop crying. no innocent person deserves to be violated the way you were.
MhD
/ September 13, 2011Being overweight is, accept for a very few, a choice. A choice based on behavior Her comments are relevant because being overweight suggests a weak mind. A weak mind doesn’t have the ability to think critically of the situation at hand. Perhaps if someone amongst the authorities were able to think more objectively, they might have come to the conclusion that folks were ‘seeing ghosts’ before the handcuffs. Certainly before the strip search.
Besides, this is exactly the net affect of our hardline policies in the wake of the 9.11 tragedies. No doubt, there’s a threat and I believe Gen. Clarke when he predicts that there will another attack. It’s so unfortunate that religous zealots have demonized the United States. But our best response is our principles; liberty and justice for all. This hardline quasi military state we seem to be heading towards only creates resentment and fodder for the zealots to recruit.
Someone somewhere should be putting these officers to the test – if you are going delay a plane for 6 hours, pull a citizen (or anyone) off a plan, cuff them and strip search her/him you had better be damn sure there’s a reason. Passengers ‘seeing ghosts’ doesn’t quality.
Maria
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you (and to all the people in those 50 similar incidents). Thank you for sharing.
Shapeshifter
/ September 13, 2011It’s a tricky thing… either we comply letting our own government who is supposedly there to ‘protect’ us and to serve us, based on what we have voted for, because the system is a series of laws and rules that were defined by US, or we can decide that we don’t agree with these laws, that the lawmakers have taken over and decided them without our consent and we then feel violated – the next step I’d say is a revolution. But who is ready for that?
kyotoredbird
/ September 13, 2011You should have demanded a lawyer immediately. You have that right. (Did they give you the Miranda Rights schpiel when they arrested you?) If they have no evidence against you except one white person being spooked by seeing thee non-white people on a plane, then they had no cause to detain you. You need to file a suit for wrongful arrest and racial profiling.
I live in Michigan. My taxdollars should not be paying for the harassment of innocent citizens. Know your rights. You are entitled to compensation.
Kathleen McGinty-Johnston
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you. If it’s come to the point that anyone can report ‘suspicious behavior’ simply because of that person’s appearance AND THAT REPORT IS TAKEN SERIOUSLY, then I’m not sure that I and our government are even using the same book anymore, not to mention being on the same page.
I wish this hadn’t happened to you, but I’m glad you’re speaking out about it. There’s no excuse for what happened to you and (probably) hundreds of others this weekend. I’m so sorry.
Kathleen McGinty-Johnston
/ September 13, 2011Let me alter that to ‘TSA officials’, because i do support much of our government endeavors…I’m just not sure that overrreacting to Arabic-looking people is how our country should be addressing the issue of terrorism.
Genny Hempstead
/ September 13, 2011I am shocked that this is what our country has come to. The truth is you & me & every other citizen only has conditional rights now. They are conditional as long as we are not suspected or accused of being “wrong” in some way. As soon as “the authorities” are told we are suspicious, those American rights and freedoms that we all so enjoy, are lost. Thank Homeland Security for that. Thank President Shrub Jr. too. He put those laws into place. Thank Dick Cheney too. He had a big, fat hand in making that happen as well.
I agree with you. Until Americans wake up to what is going on here & realize that we are being controlled by fear, more incidents like this will take place. Conditional Freedom is not real Freedom. It is freedom as long as you do not look or act “funny” or “strange” or “different.” It is the appearance of freedom without the actual existence of it.
I fear. I fear that we are becoming a country where we are always looking over our shoulders for the “bad guys.” I fear we are becoming a country where “the authorities” have become the “bad guys.” I fear we are becoming a country where our armed forces, police and other government agencies are becoming the American Gestapo.
If the government has the power to detain any American citizen based on any silly suspicion out there, then our government has become no better than Germany’s government during WWII. Our “little Hitter” aka George W. Bush Jr may be out of office now but the damage he did to this country over his 8 years in office is still reverberating through the country and what happened to you is just one terrible but true example.
Until laws are changed & freedoms & rights returned, we will continue to see violations of this sort. Because the are not violations against our freedom anymore. We don’t have such freedom anymore. The government has the freedom to do whatever it wants to any citizen at any time just based on a suspicious mind.
Actually, I am also reminded of the Salem witch trials, which also happened because of some silly people and their silly, unfounded suspicions. If we are going to see “ghosts” everywhere, every time this date comes around again and perhaps many times during the rest of the year, then ten years ago those suicide terrorists won.
They won because they succeeded in turning this nation into a terrified nation instead of a strong nation. They won because they succeeded in turning this nation into a divided nation instead of a nation of unified hearts and minds. They won because they succeeded in forcing our government into gut-reaction anti-freedom laws that took away all of Americans civil liberties. They won because they succeeded in sending us into two wars, with Iraq and Afghanistan, against innocent people that do not even know about the terrorist attacks ten years ago!!!
And our government lost. They lost their citizens trust in them. They lost their citizens belief in the government’s sense of right & wrong. They lost their citizens belief & faith in the American government.
And there is a long road ahead before enough reparations are made to regain that trust, belief & faith in the American government. As government agents continue violations like they did to you, they are only digging the hole of mistrust & lost faith deeper for every American citizen.
Thank you for writing this blog about your experience. It is through freedom of speech (the one freedom that has not been totally violated YET) that we will begin to regain the rest of our Constitutional freedoms and rights back again. It is by shining a light on such atrocities that the world and our country will begin to see.
Inquisitor Malakai (@Rliyen)
/ September 13, 2011Reason #786 I refuse to fly until this type of BS ends… I am so sorry, ma’am, for that ordeal you had to go through.
Louis D. Nettles
/ September 13, 2011I have to think that Todd Beamer would be ashamed of the way you were treated.
Ishtara
/ September 13, 2011This is quite shocking and outrageous. I don’t think I can remotely imagine what you’ve been through, but what little I can imagine is horrendous enough.
I have once been strip-searched and held for questioning at the Dutch-German border for hours, back in pre-EU days (I live in Germany). Apparently, the border police thought that I and my friends were smuggling drugs, which wasn’t the case. I found this experience quite threatening and kafkaesque, and yet it didn’t come anywhere near your ordeal. I wasn’t handcuffed or thrown into a jail cell, nobody yelled at me, and most importantly, I wasn’t haunted by mental images of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
Still, it was very degrading and humiliating, especially the strip search. Nobody should ever have to go through something like this without reasonable grounds of suspicion. If upstanding citizens are handcuffed and detained based on a mere hunch of and denunciation by a fellow citizen, you don’t live in a free country anymore. And if you are treated in this way based on your “race” — it’s an outrage that Americans still use this term and officially profile people based on what amounts to scientific racism, just like the Nazis did — you are also not living in an equal society. People of color have again become second class citizens in the USA.
What disturbed me most when I read your article was the fact that the people who robbed you of your freedom and stripped you of your human dignity — for no reason other than your “suspicious” appearance (in the eyes of a xenophobic white person, that is) — told you that these drastic and arbitrary measures were for your own protection. I bet that is exactly what German Jews were told after being arrested by Gestapo officers. One doesn’t detain, abuse and humiliate people for their own protection. One can’t fight terror by terrorizing law-abiding citizens. Being an Americanophile, it deeply saddens me to see that the USA has in fact become a terror regime under the Bush administration, and that Obama hasn’t done anything to rectify this intolerable situation.
What’s even more disturbing though are some of the pro-TSA comments here. I can only assume that people who deem these extreme measures a reasonable precaution have never been subjected to a strip search themselves. Nor are they able (or willing) to empathize with socially anxious persons, former rape victims, or religious people with a very strict moral code that forbids them to undress in front of strangers. Above all, they seem to be unaware that this insufferable loss of civil liberties does very little to prevent plane jacking or acts of terrorism. It’s simply too high a price to pay for the erosion of constitutional rights and the loss of freedom.
Nani
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana , thank you for sharing your story. It makes me sad that any of us can be subjected to what you had to go through. The anger I share with many of the comments here is just beyond words.
I’m originally from Detroit, in Ohio now, and the daughter of an immigrant, but not the “wrong” kind of immigrant in the eyes of the naive and paranoid. My father was European-born, so I don’t have “the look” that gets profiled, but how am I different from you? Truth is I’m not. Not one of us in this country is any different, but idiots with little brains and big mouths can make their own prejudices the law of the land and they get away with it. It’s just pathetic and shameful.
I posted a link on my own facebook and blog to this entry. I encourage others to do the same. We can’t change the law of the state, perhaps we shouldn’t, but we can change the power of the simple-minded who use that power for their own brand of evil.
A.
/ September 13, 2011i’m a singaporean muslim of arab/indian ethnicity, and i greatly emphathise with americans for 9/11, but in response to your complete erosion of civil liberties and blatant racism (let’s face it: indiscriminate racial profiling is racism), i will happily take my money, freedom and self respect to any other country on earth, where i can be assured of being treated with dignity.
it makes me ineffably sad, because i have loved ones and 2 lovely nephews in boston, but i will not set foot in the US til the war against common sense and decency ends.
to those being discriminated against: why remain with the country that treats you like 2nd class citizens? they don’t want you, someone else will.
Tristram Vahan Draper
/ September 13, 2011This is disgusting. I am embarrassed for this country.
Fred Beloit
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry you used your phone inappropriately and so got into a lot of trouble. It could happen to anyone. It is also too bad some religious nuts, the majority of them Saudis, decided to suicide-attack New York.
However this statement of yours that I will quote is untrue. President Bush’s speeches after the attack went a long way toward preventing what you claim happened from happening.
You wrote: “When the Patriot Act was passed after 9/11 and Arabs and Arab-looking people were being harassed all over the country, my Saudi Arabian dad became nervous. A bit of a conspiracy theorist at heart, he knew the government was watching him and at any time could come and take him away. It was happening all over. Men were being taken on suspicion of terrorist activities and held and questioned–sometimes abused–for long periods of time. Our country had a civil rights issue on its hands. And, in the name of patriotism we lost a lot of our liberty, especially those who look like me.”
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Are you some kind of idiot?
How is using a phone on taxi, or while on airplane mode to play games in the air, inappropriate? Have you not been on a plane in the last 5 years? Everybody does it. Brown people. White people. Rude people. Nice people. It’s neither inappropriate, nor germaine to the discussion.
And, in fact, yes, a number of Arabs and Arab-looking people are being questioned, and falsely accused, of terrorist activity. The fact that you don’t see it is exactly part of the problem.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011Really? Used your phone inappropriately? Please just stop and think about that statement. Please.
M
/ September 14, 2011Funny thing is that my husband who is Indian-Canadian was about to turn on his laptop on a recent flight and I found myself looking around to see if anyone else (ie, white people) had their laptops or electronic equipment on. The captain had long before said it was ok to turn on electronic equipment so that wasn’t the issue, but I just didn’t want him to be the first to do so! Paranoid, you could say. But when you see the look of fear on people’s faces when you as a brown-skinned person get up to stretch, or to go to the bathroom, or even talk to a flight attendant, and it’s different from just a look of curiosity, you know that all eyes are on you and that switching on a laptop could result in nastiness. I just never thought it through to actually define what that nastiness is. It’s what happened to Shoshana and countless others who don’t write as eloquently as she does.
Bharat
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for sharing, really saddened by this.
Sonoran Supposition
/ September 13, 2011Let me just add another “I’m so sorry” to this already long list of comments. This is not what America is. This is not what its citizens should be. This makes my heart ache.
Cai
/ September 13, 2011Geez. Sorry you had to experience all of that. I’m glad you weren’t physically harmed.Our country was built on the foundations of fear and I hate how in this age we still let the media control us through fear and change us for the worse. Is there anything you can do to put a silver lining around this cloud? can’t you sue the airlines or something?
I could understand if it was just a simple “throw you in a cell for a few hours” but they put you through the whole ringer and you deserve some sort of compensation for that other than a “sorry, some cowards thought you had a bomb. My bad.”
Taza G.
/ September 13, 2011“holding my tongue to not let out a snarky response”
at a party a couple of Decembers ago, the cops came b/c neighbors complained about noise. my snarky response to one of them led to my being roughed up, handcuffed, and questioned by an overzealous rookie. i’m a white lady in my 50’s.
eventually he was docked half a week’s pay for his behavior, but only after calm, patient and thorough follow up on my part for several months. this is not even the tiniest part of what happened to you, but i’m in solidarity with you.
Danny
/ September 13, 2011How can this country survive any longer? The hate is getting worse all the time. Gays are blamed for natural disasters and war. Minorities are bullied and wronged at every turn. I’m a middle-aged, gay, white male. I’m lucky enough to be able to hide my life. I shouldn’t have to, but it’s for my own safety. Racial Minorities don’t have that luxury. What’s the solution? I’m sick of violence; I don’t want to resort to it. What else is there?
Délawen
/ September 13, 2011Emigrate. It’s not that bad at this side of the ocean, you know 🙂 Old Europe will gladly receive a middle-aged white male. Or whoever wants to come.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011Which country? I’ve been looking into immigration policies for several countries, and have not yet found one that seems likely to accept my non-college-degree-having, non-specialized-job-doing, only-English-speaking self. Very serious about wanting to know which countries might have a more lenient policy..
Délawen
/ September 13, 2011As far as I know, you can find this English-only jobs on Spain (tourism-related, mostly). Although we are not the best country to look for work right now…
Have you thought of England? English-speaking and so on…
elayne
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, England and Canada were my first searches, followed by Australia and New Zealand, then some of the Scandinavian ones. The frustrating part is, I can do my job that I have right now from anywhere in the world, so I wouldn’t need to take up a job in the local job market, nor need to qualify for a high-demand job in another country… Oh well, this is not the place for that discussion. Thanks for replying, though!
M
/ September 14, 2011FYI, I’m an immigrant from India living in the US for the last 23 yrs and I lived in Germany in 2007 and traveled around Europe extensively. I have to say that as racist as the US is, it’s still the most welcoming place to visible minorities. I knew within months of living in Germany that I would never have gained my sense of self or have been able to find my way professionally if I had lived all along in Germany instead of the US. Here in the US, thanks to the civil rights movement and that particular history, there is a national conversation about race. Perhaps it is not at the level we’d like it to be at but we do talk about it and we do constantly acknowledge that this is a country that was built on immigrants. I have the sense that any white person such as yourself who cares about the way his/her fellow citizens are treated, would not be happy living in Europe where they keep minorities down. I visit it every year and wish that we had so much that Europe had (natural food, for one!) but the state of race relations there and class distinctions too is enough to make me want to come running back home to the US. Good luck in your search though. It’s something we too think about but I know we’ll stay here and continue to participate in this and other national conversations.
Scott Walters
/ September 13, 2011As a white male, and fellow American, I am sorry this happened, Shoshona. There are many things going on in this country right now that are downright embarrassing, and the mouth-breathing “git-r-done” ignorant redneck attitude is out of control. You should never have had to deal with this.
Guest
/ September 13, 2011It’s a travesty that government agencies like the TSA and the FBI can so freely violate our civil liberties without any kind of consequence. I’m appalled by what happened to you on that flight. This is exactly why our government needs to change radically. If you don’t know much about Ron Paul I urge you to research him. He is the only candidate who will implement real change and free us from the tyranny of over-powered agencies like the TSA. Please look him up. I know that his election won’t automatically fix all of our country’s problems, but it will be a start. Thank you for sharing this story, people need to know that things like this happen and that we cannot accept it.
anne mitchell
/ September 13, 2011FBI Detroit spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said … “The public would rather us err on the side of caution than not.”
That’s a lie. I am horrified that this outrage would be couched in terms that somehow “the public” supports it. I most certainly do not. I respect your bravery and thank you for your report. I hope it shines a light on this horrible, disgraceful era of fear and prejudice.
Richard
/ September 13, 2011I say sue the shit out of the country and bankrupt the nation even more, this kind of shit makes me so pissed off it is getting old already!
Stephanie
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry you had to go through this ordeal. The kind of ignorance that surrounds us never ceases to shock (and anger) me. Thank you so much for sharing this story!
Laurel Watson
/ September 13, 2011SO sorry this happened to you. I was beaten and falsely imprisoned 20 years ago for 8 hours before they determined I was innocent and let me go (in a bad neighborhood at 11:00 p.m.) and I have suffered chronic PTSD ever since. I hope you sue their pants off and that it doesn’t ruin your life. You don’t say how old you are; I was young and naive and my whole worldview was shattered. Please accept my sympathies/empathies and don’t let these bastards get you down!
talesfromthemotherland
/ September 13, 2011I have read many of the comments and agree quite a few, who express their outrage at your treatment… AND agree with some who express, reasonably, why this happened. The point Dallas makes is truly compelling. We have been deeply effected by terrorism and that stain, clearly remains. The comments by Margaret, that brought so many responses, while offensive to me (in her mocking tone and lack of any compassion), also hold some truth. We are not the same since that fateful day.
I watched a compelling CNN report on 9/11 about the people who were inadvertently involved in 9/11 because of their jobs. Two airline agents (yes, those people who merely check you in) who both felt uneasy with the behavior of two of the passengers that day. They went so far as to tell gate agents and flight attendants. BUT, at that time there was no protocol for questioning someone with no “good reason.” To do so would have smacked of racial profiling, and in the post Rodney Kind years, that (then) on a flight would have been truly impossible. Those two men were two of the confirmed terrorists who helped kill nearly 3,000 people, and those two agents have spent these 10 years unable to shake the sense that they too helped kill 3,000 people.
I cried for you, Shoshanna, and felt a deep sense of shame and sadness that you were treated in such a manner because you are not white and “American enough” LOOKING. What defines us as Americans is so diverse and complex and that has been lost in these 10 years, because we no longer can trust our eyes or our senses. It does seem reasonable that a simple background check would have saved you much humiliation and hurt. Those who noted your derisive comments about how the agents/police looked make the same point you and others make in your defense. No one should be judged by their looks and our internal prejudices about those looks. Having raised 3 Jewish children, I am well aware of how hurtful and cruel anti-semetic comments can be. But would the children of those “rednecks” feel any less humiliated to read that of their parents, or feel that judgment personally?
Your piece is compelling and powerful. I have re-posted it and sent it to several people. Congratulations on being FP’ed, it has clearly helped bring this story to the forefront. (I could not get the AP link to work, and that would be helpful). I am sorry for the pain you suffered and in sharing your story you have clearly stirred some potent dialogue.
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Had our government let us know that terrorists might be planning to use airplanes as missiles, these hijackings would never have succeeded. We all thought hijackers wanted a ride to another country, or a hostage exchange. The airplane-as-missile plan will never work again – the passengers won’t let it.
We have to face the fact that any one of us could die in a terrorist act, and welcome helpful intelligence information to guide our actions. And each of us must be willing to die for the freedom we want. Otherwise we put a dangerous amount of power in the hands of those we beg to protect us.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“Two airline agents (yes, those people who merely check you in) who both felt uneasy with the behavior of two of the passengers that day. … Those two men were two of the confirmed terrorists who helped kill nearly 3,000 people, and those two agents have spent these 10 years unable to shake the sense that they too helped kill 3,000 people.”
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day. Just because of all the times the agents “felt uneasy” it turned out once they actually happened to be right to, that doesn’t make it okay.
More to the point, we have so many people “feeling uneasy” all the time now that it’s bound to happen that eventually someone will “feel uneasy” just when it turns out someone actually needs investigating.
But guess what? That doesn’t justify going around mistreating people every time someone “feels uneasy” about them. If it did, we could solve our crime problem just by locking everyone up, secure in the knowledge that since we locked everyone up, that must include the criminals too.
It’s unfortunate if anyone feels guilt for the 9/11 attacks other than the people who actually perpetrated the attacks. Even the law enforcement agencies who failed in their duty to coordinate and take advantage of actionable intelligence they already had, at worst they should learn from that mistake. It’s not their _fault_ the attacks happened; it’s the fault of the terrorists. Only they are to blame.
But in any case, it is not reasonable to give up freedom for the pursuit of security. As a wise person once said, doing so leads to gaining neither.
“What’s the difference between 9/11 and a cow? You can’t milk a cow for ten years straight”.
Native American JD
/ September 13, 2011This is what is wrong with America. Not only did all those people die on 9/11/01, but so did our liberties, our decency, our open society, our values.
This is not America. This is what we’ve become. Al Queda won.
GrammarPolice
/ September 13, 2011I wonder if advocates for small government and critics of wasteful spending would like to know how effective TSA screening is.
jacky
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. I was shocked. This is madness. Happy you are home safe. Keep speaking up.
Mari
/ September 13, 2011I am sickened by the trauma caused to you. You went to school with my children at Helix. I keep hearing that if our lives have had to change after 9-11, that the terrorists won….I guess they have won in too many ways. God bless you.
melissakoski
/ September 13, 2011Oh I’m so sorry that happened to you. It all sounds horrible and I don’t think it’s right. Our local news report (Grand Rapids, Michigan) stated three suspicious people spent almost the entire flight in the bathroom. Nothing about your story is funny (minus the “I’m an American citizen asshole”), but as I started reading and realized you were in fact one of the people detained I was sure to read you had a terrible flight filled with bathroom type problems… never got up though huh? Hugs to you!
Dewey Hulsey
/ September 13, 2011I’m actually really glad this happened to you. The fact is, this sort of profiling happens all the time – and it is a terrible thing. This time, it happened to someone who has both the strength and elegance to report on it form an informed and well-tempered mindset.
I’d like to thank you for writing this and for doing so with such temperance. I believe no person can question your honor when reading this and this is exactly the kind of thing that all of us need to read, if not to simply keep ourselves in check.
The accuracy of your Malcolm X analogy is terrifyingly realistic.
Thanks for sharing.
a_random_guy
/ September 13, 2011“I’m sorry you had to endure this, but what would you have done differently if you were the police? What if the men you unfortunately had sat between were terrorists? Would you feel differently about your ordeal if it had saved hundreds or thousands of lives?”
Here’s the thing: this country is supposed to follow the rule of law. We are supposed to have certain basic rights. One of these is the right to be safe from unreasonable searches – searches without probable cause. By well-established precedent, strip-searches fall into that category.
If there was probable cause, she should have been formally arrested, given an opportunity to contact a lawyer, etc.. Instead, she was taken off the plane (apparently never formally arrested), intimidated, strip-searched, interrogated – and at the end? “Oh, sorry about that, it was a false alarm”.
Those are police-state tactics. This is not the America of the history books, this is the distopian Amerika of the 21st century.
Matt Dominianni (@mattbrooklyn)
/ September 13, 2011I hope the idiot who reported your “suspicious activities” reads this post. Thanks for writing it.
Morning Di
/ September 13, 2011As a fellow American and a 68 year old white Anglo-Saxon woman, I read your personal story with horror. We all knew, of course, that this was happening in our nation, but to actually know about it from one American’s own experience somehow makes it real in a way it was not before. The right-wing screams about “freedom and liberty” and yet supports these actions. Shame on all of us. Freedom and liberty are truly disintegrating in America.
Chaser
/ September 13, 2011There’s not much to add after all the comments made so far but I just wanted to let you know I’m pretty sure your incident was referenced on the Colbert Reports second segment on Mondays show. He said one of the “suspicious behaviors” was “three passengers who made repeated bathroom trips” when talking about terrorist treats on 9/11.
GreenJello
/ September 13, 2011McCarthyism? Witch hunt? How is this any different?
History repeats itself. We have learned nothing.
Délawen
/ September 13, 2011Yes, we have learned not to trust our governments. Sad.
Kent Borg
/ September 13, 2011Wow.
Thanks for writing this.
Small consolation: 10-years ago didn’t people in similar circumstances get disappeared for weeks or months? Small consolation.
I hope those who turned you in are having second thoughts. Maybe will write their own description.
Gem
/ September 13, 2011What happened to you is egregious.
If, however, you really believe in tolerance and acceptance, you might want to check yourself on your apparent loathing of fat people and “rednecks.” I hesitate to share your post, even though I think people need to know about incidents like these, because I find offensive in these respects, as would others I know.
thejerseywife
/ September 13, 2011This brought me to tears. It is so extremely sad that prejudice & racism still run so deeply in a country that has been known as the land of the free. I am so sorry you had to go through this humiliating experience. It is my hope that your story will open those minds that are closed.
Though I understand the need for security in our country the “overkill” reactions by people who live in fear from those who “look different” is pathetic. Apparently people forget about Timothy McVey. People need to stop assuming that the faces of terrorism are those of a certain ethnicity. Terrorism is the face of evil incarnate and that face can be any color.
Rajesh Sharma (@raj3shsharma)
/ September 13, 2011You did awesome under the circumstances. As a brownie I can only say that if I ever get into a situation like yours (which is highly probable) then I’ll think about your experience to draw strength and keep my sanity. The way you handled the whole situation and came back determined to write this post is nothing but heroic in my eyes.
Agniflower
/ September 13, 2011Wittily told inspite of your predicament. We empathize with you. After millennia, we have not learnt that we are of one blood, and we should treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves. However, the wheel of justice (not man’s if he knows anything about that) will recompense you somewhere, sometime, in this life or in some unknown future, if that is a consolation. Just imagine, what would you do if the tables were turned, but you had absolutely no recollection of this event. Would you follow orders? Or change jobs? The choice is always ours but never easy. He might test you someday!
Petro
/ September 13, 2011I’m late here, but I felt I had to add my sympathy and outrage for your ordeal.
Cecil Hearndon
/ September 13, 2011That is just horrible that something like that happened to you or anyone else because someone felt like there was something going on.
NTTAWWT
/ September 13, 2011security theatre at its finest. funny that you still believe in an abstract authoritarian concept like “national security.” some people never learn. have fun at your next state-sponsored mugging.
Dan Johnson
/ September 13, 20119/11 was used to implement policies in the United States that have taken away basic freedoms. Laws like the deceptively titled “Patriot Act” were designed to give government officials 24/7 access into the private lives of Americans. The indignities that happened to you could happen to any of us under the right set of circumstances. Thank you for documenting your story so we could all bear witness to inequities that still exist in our “justice” system. I’ll be more than happy to call my attorney for you! 🙂
Jonathan Hirsch
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I was moved to tears by this account: tears of sadness at the loss of our rights and our mutual personhood. tears of frustration that our citizens are so quick and willing to give up their basic rights in response to a climate of media perpetuated fear. and tears of anger at a system so fraught with waste and mismanagement. Please know that I, as a fellow citizen (and former Iowan), having never met you; respect you, and recognize you as a human and fellow american.
Emily S
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for writing this – I felt connected to your story even though my appearance is the norm for this country. Very well written and while I am sorry for your experience, I hope that some good may come out of it – perhaps a few people will see how their jaded perspectives affect others.
Délawen
/ September 13, 2011Since 9/11 I am afraid of travelling to USA. I am white (Spanish) and shouldn’t be worried but it’s simply that… I am more afraid of travelling to USA than travelling to Turkey. And not because of “terrorists”.
How did the USA come to this?
sahyder1
/ September 13, 2011I applaud you for getting your story out there. It is important that stories like this be shared. There are far too many bigots out there and for some I think just reporting “suspicious activity” a.k.a flying while brown is a game.
popesuburban
/ September 13, 2011Jesus. I’m appalled and frankly incredibly pissed off right now. I’m also feeling pretty lucky that I can pee on an airplane and do pretty much anything else I want without anyone saying boo, because I know I wouldn’t handle it nearly as well as you did. I would have been madder than hell and showing it, even though I know as well as anyone that’s not a great idea. I really hope you end up with some legal recourse here because it’s really not okay that someone with a squeaky-clean background could be treated like this just because some yahoo flipped his/her lid. If nothing else, I hope the bad press makes some strides. I’m sorry it happened and I hope it never does again– not to you, not to anyone.
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
/ September 13, 2011I was pointed to this post by a friend on Facebook and I just wanted to say that I am so sorry that this happened to you. I’m appalled and embarrassed on behalf of our country. I wish you all the best.
Rhonda Barkley
/ September 13, 2011This is unacceptable – to be treated like criminals in your own country.
Patrick
/ September 13, 2011I got four words: Cry me a river. When your Arab friends decided to attack us on 9/11. This is a result. No go cry some more and have a nice day.
As for your comments about Fat White Rednecks; as someone who is one of this background, I got two words for you —- you Jewish/Arab half breed bitch:
FUCK YOU!
That is all…
joaquinbarroso
/ September 13, 2011Sheesh! What the hell is wrong with you?
Compassion
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry you are so angry.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Apparently this idiot has never heard of Timothy McVeigh.
Based on Patrick’s rantings, it is now also appropriate to detain, strip search, and otherwise harass and intimidate low-life rednecks, as well.
Well, look at that, Patrick, you’re in great company. Moron.
Contre Jour
/ September 13, 2011wow. I cant believe in this day and age, people like you still exist.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The 9/11 terrorists were not friends of hers, unless you are making the statement that all people of Arab descent are 100% in agreement on everything, by which logic you, being white, are in 100% agreement on the genocide of the Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans.
I love watching privileged white people lose their minds when someone whose Constitutional rights have been violated insults them. It’s like they can’t stand the idea that somebody, somewhere, might possibly think that white people aren’t the center of the Universe.
Fionn Jameson
/ September 13, 2011I hate that Americans, more than any other country, especially have to be so damn PC all the time. Half the people I know don’t even know what to call black people to their face.
Anyways…
What’s wrong with calling someone a fat redneck (I’m excluding the word “white” since I feel the two words are redundant) if they truly are a fat redneck?
…as I can see from your website that you are, so I can only assume you took that certain bits of the article to heart. Good for you, dumbass.
Her Arab friends? She’s an American citizen who just wanted to get home to her family, who was egregiously mistreated and treated like a common criminal. How is that right in any way?
It’s people like you, yes, you fat, uncouth redneck bastard, who make me lose hope for this country.
Harman
/ September 13, 2011its not gator season yet, craw back into your hole
Délawen
/ September 13, 2011Not sure if trolling or just plain stupid…
Lydia C.
/ September 13, 2011You are exactly the dirt we speak of. Mutt of America, made up of spam and over-processed, artificial ingredients without a soul and most certainly devoid of education and good breeding. It’s what happens when your mother is also your cousin. I’d say F.U. too, but it sounds like your’re already f’d! Peace.
e
/ September 13, 2011I’m sad that hate-filled, putrid people like you exist, Patrick. You are disgusting.
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011So you’re the reason why so many around the world hate Americans. Do the rest of us a favor and get an education, learn some grammar, and get a life.
nana1954
/ September 14, 2011I am saddened that so many people in our country carry so much hate in their hearts. It must be very stressful to not “love your neighbor as you love yourself (Mark 12:31). Matthew 7:1-2 states: “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged….”
fornormalstepfathers
/ September 14, 2011Patrick – isn’t it a typical Irish name?
Please keep in mind that extremists (very unfortunately!!!) exist in every nation and religion – they are nobody’s friends, neither yours, nor hers, nor mine.
Cheers!
Sally Strange (@SallyStrange)
/ September 14, 2011You’re not fit for civilized company. You probably think that’s a virtue.
DW
/ September 17, 2011Bitter, party of one! Or maybe just someone looking to get their jollies watching people respond to their lunacy? Hmmm? Maybe?
At any rate – be it clear that just like all Arab people aren’t her friends, all white people aren’t yours. I’ll happily stand in the line that marked, “Not Patrick’s Friend”. So please, if you really believe what you say, find another country with a dictatorship that supports your aparant belief that segregation and discrimination are okay – and move there. I’d suggest Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan as good places to start your search.
Safe travels!
orangecountyresident
/ September 22, 2011Patrick, after reading your post and seeing that you have the U.S. flag and the eagle as your avatar, I decided to get myself my own U.S. flag so I could set fire to it. The only way I could ever be patriotic and love America will come when the day comes that people like you cease to exist. Fuck you and fuck your brand of patriotism, you worthless jingoistic jack-booted white trash piece of shit racist American thug. People like you ensured that I didn’t watch any 9/11 tenth anniversary specials on TV that day.
scalesoflibra
/ September 13, 2011I think the things that are being done to people in the name of that horrible law are awful, and I wish it would stop. But like others have commented before, when you start talking about the agents’ girth, which is completely irrelevant to what they did, it takes the power away from the whole “we shouldn’t judge based on appearances” thing. If the people who been judged by their appearance and experienced how awful that is, themselves use that as a weapon against others, what hope is there for eliminating that tendency?
Patrick
/ September 13, 2011Now watch this damn ass woman not approve my comments, like the little whiny assed liberal fascist that she is.
Vanessa
/ September 13, 2011Oh look, you’re post is posted. Please consider being more thoughtful in the future. You paint yourself as a moronic twit with a considerable lack of vocabulary and class. Hardly an authority to be listened to.
Mike
/ September 13, 2011awww. poor guy.
Heather
/ September 13, 2011Patrick- you are a sad sad person living in hatred. Must be a nightmare to be you.
Please – Take care of your mental health- you’re a danger to civil society. There’s a kinder world out there.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Your hatred was posted. I’m glad, too, so that the world can see the ugliness that hides in the hearts of people.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011Patrick, I’m so sorry about your penis.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011I rarely write “LOL”, because I only write “LOL” when I actually, genuinely do laugh out loud.
LOL.
orangecountyresident
/ September 22, 2011Patrick, whether you want to admit it or not, worthless jingoistic jack-booted white trash piece of shit racist sexist American thugs like yourself are also known to have closet homosexual tendencies. Which I’m sure disgusts you, so you lash out at other people to make up for your lack of manhood.
blackwatertown
/ September 13, 2011What a horrible ordeal for you.
Marion
/ September 13, 2011I was on a plane leaving from Detroit during that time. We were unable to leave during that time but they wouldn’t tell us what was going on. All they told us was we were waiting for a ground crew to load the luggage. Apparently they were being held up at another gate. Now knowing the truth that your plane was the issue(for stupid reasons) I wish they would have at least said something to us on the plane, other than a lie about our luggage.
Hockey For Hope Detroit
/ September 13, 2011You were spot on with this sentence > “The real test will be if we decide to break free from our fears and hatred and truly try to be good people who practice compassion–even toward those who hate.”
I extend kind thoughts to you for terrible experience you were forced through, I think we all appreciate this post and seeing the story from the eye’s of a victim of racial prejudice.
Mere Diamante
/ September 13, 2011Thank you so much for sharing this. I deeply respect and admire not just the way you handled yourself in the situation but your reflection on it and your commitment to share it. I share your rage, pain, sadness, disappointment, and shock. As much as I see these things happen or experience them, which is a lot, they never fail to shock me on some basic human level, because there is part of me that can’t or doesn’t want to accept this as the norm of what human beings subject each other to, here and now. But it is.
To those who have criticized this woman for her supposed compliance with the authorities: I would not call this posting an act of compliance. There are different ways of resisting and fighting against injustice; just because she did choose the method you might favor does not necessarily make her form of protest any less important or powerful.
Look at the response to this posting. 574 responses (575 with mine) as of the moment in which I started writing this comment. I found my way to this story because two friends of mine posted it to their Facebook. None of us have ever met this woman. Have you? Have the vast majority of the people who left comments? And not even a full day has passed since she posted.
She is getting the word out, she is making countless people take a look in the mirror, and examine what they see both in their country and in themselves. She is refusing to remain silent or “go along with things.” Moreover, she is doing so in a respectful, intelligent, thoughtful, well-reasoned, compassionate, and, I would argue, fair way.
It’s people like her who get people of different backgrounds and opinions to listen and think about the issues she brings up. People who might be unsure of how they feel about scenarios like this one, people who might might feel alienated by more bombastic accounts and thus disregard the content or message of those stories, or who might not think twice about an act of civil disobedience because it came from a person they’ve never met, with a totally different background from their own, and they don’t know anything about the activist’s thoughts, opinions, and feelings; they can’t relate to an act, but they can relate to this. Every form of protest is important and has its place.
Moreover, I do not feel it is my place, nor anyone else’s, to criticize this woman for refusing to martyr herself. She is a person, just like you or I–as she says here, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a friend, etc. If you are going to charge her with the responsibility of taking this kind of stand, then the finger you are pointing points back at you. What radical acts of martyrdom are you committing, if you believe they need to happen?
The person who called in the threat, the police officers and DHS officials who participated in this process–they all made her bear a burden she should never have been charged with, for things that were unjust and beyond her control.
To then charge her with the responsibility of sacrificing her personal liberties for the very same reasons–because of things that happened that were injust and beyond her control–to criticize her for not martyring herself is, to me, a different version of the same thing. Maybe even worse, because it is a move to divide the very community of people that should be supporting this woman.
Real change will come not from divisive criticism, but from solidarity, from acts of bringing together, of collaboration. MLK Jr. and others have taught us this. And that is what this woman is doing.
Cherisse
/ September 13, 2011Surprise surprise… a seat row of people all of middle eastern extraction fly into Detroit, DETROIT fer chissakes! What a bunch of dumbasses.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I’m not sure I understand your post. Would you like to elaborate?
JL
/ September 14, 2011Cherisse, it appears, is pointing out that the metro Detroit area is home to large numbers of people of both Arab and South Asian descent. A row of three such people would most likely be flying into Detroit because they live there.
Laura
/ September 14, 2011Well, I think Cherisse is saying that there are a lot of Middle Eastern people in Detroit.
M
/ September 14, 2011Cherisse: The two INDIANS she sat with are “of Middle Eastern extraction”? Please look at an atlas. An atlas is a book of maps, in case you’re wondering, and it shows you where places in the world are. The Middle East may not be labeled “Middle East” in the atlas since that’s not a country but a region of the world but it’s where Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, etc. are. Now look east (ie, to the right) of there… keep going past Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (yes, they’re larger than I imagined too. Asia, which is what the whole continent is called, is really large and really diverse)…. and you’ll come to a peninsula (that’s what they call a piece of land jutting out into the sea) that is “V” shaped and that’s the country called India. It’s about 2500 miles from Jordan in the Middle East to India. That also happens to be about the same distance from Jordan to England (I was going to say the United Kingdom but didn’t want to confuse you). Would you say that the pilgrims sailed to Plymouth Rock from the Middle East? You might, but you’d be wrong because they came from England, and England and the Middle East are two different parts of the world, separated by 2500 miles. Just like India and the Middle East.
Gino
/ September 13, 2011It is good to hear that you were not put through any physical violence. It would have been ideal if the authorities had explained why you were detained, but your tact in cooperating was a case in taking the higher ground and is commendable. Although it would be too much like correct, the person who thought he or she saw you and the other two men doing something suspicious owes everyone who was taken off that plane an apology. Fear or mere ignorance? No one can say, but things have diminished to the point where shouting terrorist based on small thought is the new way of shouting fire in a crowded theatre. It is wrong at base.
abandonculture
/ September 13, 2011Don’t worry, soon they’ll be targeting everyone.
By the way this is the reason why you had to go through that ordeal.
Actually to be strictly accurate the fact that we all believed this is the reason why you had to go through hat ordeal.
Apparently we all had better things to do than researching stuff for ourselves … like watching moronic TV shows, shopping in the mall, playing computer games, trying to find that perfect pair of shoes, tweeting what we had for breakfast, being self obsessed, learning all about celebrities, watching sports games etc
We are ALL guilty and we ALL need to grow up fast. And learn to trust ourselves and each other again. And stop believing what political people and the mass media tells us unquestioningly.
Eric
/ September 13, 2011Weird. I sound EXACTLY like you around my house and my family when we get together for a poker game. Of course, they try to redirect my point by telling me that I haven’t firm ground to stand on, that I purchase stuff from the mall or supermarket or online or whatever. My response is usually “Well, sure. I have to survive! What you’re trying to do is nick-pick me into a corner, where I refuse to go with this.” ANYWAY, they act like I shouldn’t complain about ANYTHING, that I should do what they do, go along with the flow, accept my caste in life and so on. What a bunch of sheep. Later.
Ellen
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story – please please don’t be discouraged by the hate in the comments from some in reaction (not thoughtful response) of this post – sadly so many people do operating under the rhetoric of fear being blasted through our country. I am so grateful for you sharing this post and I have shared it with my networks. I wish you healing and strength and the ability to forgive when you are ready. My thoughts are with you, thank you again!
Ken Carter
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, I was so moved by your words. I feel shocked by how you were treated. I wish there was something I could do to change this paranoia in our country. I’ve sent links to your story to my Senators and Congressmen telling them we need to quit this behavior. I even submitted it as a news tip to the various media outlets here in Denver – I hope your story gains the attention it deserves!
Thank you for speaking out.
liathglas
/ September 13, 2011I think it’s easy for many people to forget that thing is still going on.
finette
/ September 13, 2011LOL Patrick, you’re really making a strong case for respecting your point of view there.
myaphotoblog
/ September 13, 2011omg. Just reading this post, my heart was thumping so hard. That is a horrible ordeal you had to face. I am glad to hear that you got out the same day and the people with you did too.
Jacqueline
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, this is outrageous to say the least. You and two others should consider a lawsuit, not to gain money but to show that this type of racial profiling must be stopped. If not through litigation, I hope this story goes viral. Thanks for your courage and speaking out.
Meagan
/ September 13, 2011I agree completely. I don’t see this type of racial profiling stopping. File a lawsuit. It’s not ok what happened, and people need to be more aware of this. At the very least, it would make the next ignornant person think twice if they learned your story.
CarMartWeek.com
/ September 13, 2011thats right ….
i like google +
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Guess you told her, my big ole brave hero.
joaquinbarroso
/ September 13, 2011Damn! And I thought I was having a shitty day! really! You are an american citizen, now imagine how I feel (a Mexican citizen) about flying to/through the US.
Thanks for being brave and share your story in such a compelling way, this is one more effort in ending hatred not only in America but in the world. May we get to see a hatred free society.
droplette
/ September 13, 2011Dearest Shoshana, I’m so sorry this had to happen to you but thank you so much for telling your story. This has been an eye opener to me.
I had no idea such events had happened on 9/11 because they shouldn’t. I sure want to see them take white people off a plane because they are acting suspicious, but that won’t happen that quickly I think.. (‘they are one of us, why would they look suspicious?’)
Stay strong!
Nick
/ September 13, 2011I am sure any of those thousands of people who DIED on 911, or all the thousands of innocent people including children who have died since at the hands of ISLAM people would gladly trade places with you and endure your ordeal instead of death. So maybe you should take that in consideration!!!
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Oh, good grief. Get a grip.
There are more deaths every month due to car accidents than were attributed to 9/11.
While 9/11 was a horrific day, it is no reason to act in the way this woman was treated.
Grow a pair and stop being so afraid of your own shadow.
Nick
/ September 13, 2011So you are saying that its OK that thousands have died on 9/11, thousands more in the underground bombings in London, and thousands again in Madrid in the train bomb? Its OK because more people die in a car accident each year? You must be one very sick person.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Stating that 9/11 was not an acceptable reason for this woman’s treatment is not the same thing as stating that 9/11 was “OK,” or that the London bombings or Madrid bombings were “OK.” There are ways to handle the threat of terrorism without racially profiling innocent people or violating people’s Constitutional rights.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Wow. No, he’s not saying that.
He’s saying that the fact that people have died doesn’t justify mistreating others.
By the way: 52 doesn’t equal “thousands”, and neither does 191. That doesn’t mean that killing fifty-two people, or one-hundred-ninety-one people, or 167 people like Timothy McVeigh, or 77 people like Anders Behring Breitvik, is okay or anything, but it’s worth pointing out.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011By the way: 52 doesn’t equal “thousands”, and neither does 191. That doesn’t mean that killing fifty-two people, or one-hundred-ninety-one people, or 167 people like Timothy McVeigh, or 77 people like Anders Behring Breitvik, is okay or anything, but it’s worth pointing out.
I suspect he thinks that killing scores of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq is okay.
waldy
/ September 13, 2011I’m absolutely disgusted by what happened to you and your fellow row-members.
Thank you for sharing your experience though, it provides enlightenment on the true state of the country- and how you can never be a ‘real american’ if you have a different skin tone.
Kenny
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for telling your story. Hopefully it gets disseminated far and wide. People need to know what is happening. As one American to another, I am ashamed that this happened to you.
As for Patrick above, I think it’s important that his post remain as an example of the fear and hate that still needs to be overcome.
melissakoski
/ September 13, 2011Well said.
Stan Brewer
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana – This is absolutely horrible and I can only hope that you will be okay. I’m very sad that this happened to you. I sent you an email earlier about the two media outlets who contacted me today; msnbc.com wanting a picture of you (the one I always ran beside your columns) and the Des Moines Register wanting to write a story about this. In case your email has changed since we were last in touch, I’m leaving a note here. Just let me know what you would like for me to do and I’ll take care of it. My email address is still the same, and I put it in with this reply. All the best. Your friend, Stan Brewer
momsomniac
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing this. I have a cousin who has been through this many times – and for similar reasons. She was strip-searched with her children present more than once. It’s all too easy for people like me – who are unlikely to be profiled – to pretend this isn’t happening. But it is.
I can only think that folks upset about your snarky descriptions of the men detaining you are not reading this as REAL. While I would normally not be OK with such comments, a little lashing out is completely understandable. You are human, after all! The expectation that you not be a WEE BIT angry after such an ordeal is, in and of iteself, offensive.
I am bewildered why anyone would call you a “fascist” in these comments. To whit, Fascist governments forbid and suppress opposition to the state. Maybe somebody missed that class.
I wish you well. I am glad you are back safe with your children.
Alessandra Pollock
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing the story.
Mike Kabongo (@onyxhawke)
/ September 13, 2011Sorry this happened to you and to the two men with you. I grew up with excess suspicion based on melanin level, it isn’t something you ever forget and sadly it is something you do sometimes have to compensate for. Good luck, I hope you and yours go forward well.
msmeasy
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry to hear what happened to you. How disgusting! This is not what America is supposed to stand for.
Fr. John+
/ September 13, 2011Gee, now do you think you understand how the Palestinians feel at EVERY encounter with the Israelis?
And why are you, half-arab, half-Jewish, living in the USA, anyway? Go back to your homeland of origin….and leave this land, ‘for US and our posterity.’ One has to, is now forced, to ask that question as the fallacy of ‘post-racialism’ is plummeting as fast as Obama’s ratings; and the decades of BRA [black-run Amerika] are now over, even with the ‘magic Negro’s Executive Orders right and left, trying mightily to thwart the will of the people- and even the fallacy of the ‘approved’ Republican candidate is not even holding water, with MSNBC’s 57% approval of Paul over Romney’s 14% – clearly showing we’re not going to take it any more…..
Of course, if liberals and loonies, and latke-eaters had not wanted a police state, they never would have listened to the ADL and the SPLC in the first place back during the days of Bush’s neo-conned cabinet- for it is they who’ve been training our own military and police forces in Israeli/Zionazi tactics, from the start. And Obama’s just the ‘house n*gger’ to his ‘International Bankers’, as the bailout of 2008 proved to everyone’s satisfaction, even as he destroyed the US’ infrastructure. We didn’t want war with Arab states or Muslim states… but the Jews sure did, and USED us for their own advantage. You’re just reaping the bitter fruit of that wonderful ‘diversity’ Bill, Hillary, and Barack think still operates, post 9/11.
I don’t pity you. I don’t even feel for you. And, Lord knows, I’m not going to pray for a heretic or a Jew, either. You’re on your own, babe.
wonkspace
/ September 13, 2011Now THIS is what merits a call to the FBI – it’s required speech for membership in a group that actually advocates the murder of those he mentions, as well as overthrow of the US government.
I’m serious, folks.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011There’s so much wrong here, LAYERS of wrongness, I don’t even know where to begin. I had no idea that real people and not racist and anti-Semitic caricatures even thought like this anymore.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011Y’all can make out a call to arms and layers of wrongness? I can’t make heads or tails of anything he said in the two middle paragraphs. Each of the individual words makes sense, but when I try to string them all together…
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I know, it reads like the Time Cube guy. But I can recognize layers of wrongness when someone uses a phrase like “Black-run Amerika.” That phrase itself has, like, five layers of wrongness in it.
elayne
/ September 13, 2011yeah, I can suss the overwhelming wrongness (a blind man could), but I guess there’s too much of it, and that too muddled, for me to make any sense of it. (I had forgotten about the Time Cube guy!)
Allison
/ September 13, 2011It is, truly, an avalanche of WTF (it being both the post to which we are responding, and the Time Cube guy). Your time would be best spent in productive pursuits, such as counting the number of hairs on your head and then dividing by pi.
Sean
/ September 13, 2011Really hope that the FBI starts a file on you, Mr. Grand Dragon. It is people like you that are an actual threat to our democracy with your racist cronies and backwoods idiocy.
Yours truly-
/ September 14, 2011Looking at the cross beside your name, and reading your comment, you must pretend to be a preacher of some sort. Most likely to uneducated people like yourself, deep in some back woods some place. You need to go back to school, read lots of books, and educate yourself before you speak in public. It is so sad, when people are so ignorant that they don’t even know it.
Jen D
/ September 14, 2011Troll
CC
/ September 13, 2011I’m originally from Detroit and truly love the multiculturalism and different viewpoints of the city. I’m a very visible Jew and did a lot of volunteer work and immigration clinic work (I went to law school) in Dearborn … never had a single bad experience, despite my obvious Jewish faith.
Like so many, I’m also disgusted by what you went through … while I don’t appreciate the snark about fat people, I think for the most part you’ve crafted a compelling and powerful piece of writing about just what is wrong with our country today. I hope you have it within you to be the bigger person and forgive, to rise above these sad, pathetic people feeding on fear.
Though I will add, for all those going “Don’t like it, move” … it’s not that simple, geniuses. For the overwhelming majority of countries on earth, you actually need either family or a job in the country in order to move there. You can’t just pick up and move … though I genuinely believe that if things keep going this way, Americans will be able to apply for political asylum in a lot of countries. Ideology is a ground on which you can claim refugee status in a lot of countries.
Gil
/ September 14, 2011CC,
I admire you and those like who who have dedicated themselves to ensure that the laws are upheld and justice is fairly granted and distributed in an equitable manner.
However, this care clearly illustrates that we have a long, long way to go still.
Mark Elham
/ September 13, 2011Please tell me that you are going to sue these assholes.
I’d would advise you to get in touch with the ACLU or some other civil rights-focused group. I think your best claim will probably be against the airline as well as the arresting agents/ agencie(s).
rachelcoles
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, I’m really quite shocked that it was Frontier. They have been so good in the past about a lot of things. I’m going to think twice about giving them my business now. In fact, I’m going to write the airlines and tell them that this kind of nonsense is not what passengers want, and doesn’t make me, at least, feel any safer.
One of them
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry for your terrible experience. My heart goes out to you. I am saddened that you now feel you hate chubby rednecks who listen to country music, for I am one. I hope that someday you can recover from these emotional injuries that were so unjustly inflicted on you and the other two, as well. Please know that as I have worked not to fear those of you who look like you do, that you do not have to fear all of us who look like we do. Let us all look forward to days of peace and understanding.
Ajay
/ September 13, 2011I am brown and well educated. My first reaction when i come to know a southern white conservative/wingnut/redneck/patriot/FlauntngXtian is to get away from that human filth for my own safety. Thats a natural instinct.
Does it mean they all are like that. Absolutely not, but over time it only gets reinforced, especially if you are a victim like the blogger.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011I am brown and well educated. My first reaction when i come to know a southern white conservative/wingnut/redneck/patriot/FlauntngXtian is to get away from that human filth for my own safety. That’s a natural instinct.
No, it’s your misconceptions about human nature.
Does it mean they all are like that. Absolutely not, but over time it only gets reinforced, especially if you are a victim like the blogger.
As long as it keeps you away from corrupting them with your conclusory and uninformed mindset, that’s fine. Their ignorance can be remedied ~ yours can’t: you’re already “well educated.”
Dawud Ahmad, M.S.J.D.
Ajay
/ September 14, 2011> Their ignorance can be remedied
Thats a deep thought which comes from not knowing Americans in general. It can only get worse.
> yours can’t: you’re already “well educated.”
I believe in facts and change as/if needed. You dont know me or my education and have no basis for any conclusion. Hint: Education has nothing to do with it.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011> Their ignorance can be remedied
That’s a deep thought which comes from not knowing Americans in general. It can only get worse.
My American lineage goes back seventeen thousand years. I know Americans a lot better than any Johnny-come-lately whose “knowledge” has Anglo-Saxon, Roman, Greek, Aryan, or Hebrew roots.
> yours can’t: you’re already “well educated.”
I believe in facts and change as/if needed. You dont know me or my education and have no basis for any conclusion. Hint: Education has nothing to do with it.
Your words disclose your ignorance, and you’re the one who claimed to be “well educated” to attribute credibility to your words. Your use of the phrase “human filth” reveals the origin and character of your “knowledge.” Humans may be filthy, and most certainly many human hearts are filthy; but there is only one mindset that conceives of humans as “filth,” and that is your Conviction. Your own words are conclusive.
Ajay
/ September 14, 2011Thanks for the laugh.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011You’re welcome. Thank you for making yourself known.
anon
/ September 13, 2011So much for the land of the free. Seems more like the land of social injustice, racism and paranoia.
Asma Khan
/ September 13, 2011Utterly horrified to read your story. I am a pakistani woman with a canadian passport and God forbid if I have to go to the States, I wear the shortest skirt to look “assimilated” enough after having been interrogated once by american customs for a gruelling 6 hours. I’ve missed best friend’s weddings, births/ death in the States because life is hard enough and I don’t need the humiliation of crossing the border. And the worse part is that the way American Custom officials establish authority over you physiologically, you FEEL guilty, wrong and small.
Brian Gerald
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing. Forwarding widely. I am glad you are brave enough to speak the truth of your experience.
rachelcoles
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for telling your story. Taking the time to do that is the only thing that is going to get it to stop. It probably won’t happen for a while, but cumulatively, people will look at stories like yours and eventually get disgusted enough to do something and refuse to put up with that. I’m going to write my representative, with this story. I don’t have any real delusions that it will have any effect, at least not yet. But it’s better than sitting around assuming ‘Wow, that sucks, but it can’t happen to me…” I think that’s what a lot of people do. That must have been a very involved and emotional post to write. I find that when you write about something, you experience it again a little. Thank you again for taking the time and work to write this.
i'mtorn
/ September 13, 2011I am really torn by this, on the one hand, I am appalled for you, you sound like a gentle soul who may well be scarred by this for quite some time and that’s a darn shame, and yet I too am fearful when I see “arab” looking people traveling together especially to fly. I hate that I am afraid, I hate that I mistrust everyone who looks middle eastern, I hate that from this standpoint, as many have said, that the terrorists have won, they divided America and Americans, a racial and religious divide that always existed has now become a huge gulf. So, can you tell me, can anyone tell me, at what point is America no longer at risk? At what point do I not have to be afraid anymore? Who can I trust? And what lengths are permissible to ensure safety? At what point do individual rights outweigh or take a backseat to say, the rights of a plane full of passengers who may or may not feel threatened? Clearly someone felt unsafe, rightly or wrongly. What amount of risk is acceptable? I know that I would do anything to avoid humiliating or degrading an innocent person, but how do you do that without potentially compromising safety? Is there really never a value in racial profiling? I do not ask this lightly or sarcastically, I truly do not know. But I can say this, I am profoundly sorry that you experienced this nightmare. I wish we lived in a different place and time. I wish I wasn’t afraid, too. I live near the Pentagon, 9/11 happened in my backyard, I have friends who worked there then and continue to work there now. I don’t know that I will ever not be afraid.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011At what point do you not have to be afraid any more?
There are two possibilities. You can stop being afraid when you chose to stop being afraid, or you can stop being afraid when you are dead. No amount of “security” is going to change your fear.
It’s easy to point out, over and over again, that you are in more danger when you are driving, than you are in more danger when you are in the shower, than you are when you are flying. That “death by terrorism” is just not a statistically significant thing to worry about. That flying is no more dangerous now than it was on 9/10/2001, and WOULDN’T be even if we’d made no changes in security policy.
What should we be scared of? Leading causes of death in 2007 in the United States, according to the CDC:
1. Diseases of heart (heart disease)
2. Malignant neoplasms (cancer)
3. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
5. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
6. Alzheimer’s disease
7. Diabetes mellitus (diabetes)
8. Influenza and pneumonia
9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis
(kidney disease)
10. Septicemia
11. Intentional self-harm (suicide)
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13. Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease
(hypertension)
14. Parkinson’s disease
15. Assault (homicide)
And most of the deaths in #1 through #4 could be called “death from old age”. Certainly, there are kids who die of cancer and heart disease, there are thirty-year-olds who die of strokes, but, mainly, in the United States, people die from getting old.
After that, accidents. Mostly car accidents. 44,000 people a year.
The CDC DOES track terrorism-related deaths. There weren’t any in 2007.
You can be as scared as you want of whatever you want to be scared of. Forty people died of bee stings in 2007; feel free to be scared of bees. Of course, you should be a thousand times as scared of a car as you should be of a bee.
What are the dangers in our country? Well, dying at a ripe old age after a long life, mainly. Other than that, cars.
Those are the dangers to our lives. But what about the dangers to our freedom? THOSE are the things that scare me. The idea that our security forces have the right and ability to drag me off a plane in handcuffs, throw me in a cell, strip-search me, and keep me there for six hours, for absolutely no reason? That’s a MUCH scarier thought than terrorism is, or even bees.
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011Your comments in this post have been spot-on.
Asma Khan
/ September 13, 2011i’mtorn: Being “one” of them (I’m Pakistani), I find your honesty not only refreshing but it gives me courage to be more honest with myself and others. I am Pakistani and was flying back home with my jewish boyfriend at the time. Next to me was a bearded man who kept reciting stuff under his breath while fidgeting a lot. While I was reciting the same prayer for a safe journey, I was afraid of him. Later I found him crying (and I thought this is it, he’s about to blow us up) and found out that the poor soul for flying for the first time and was scared shitless. I realize that fear begets fear. We have to actively fight the whole CULTURE of fear that we live in. The first step is to kill all the fear that lives within us. I cannot remember a single time in my life when fear served me well. Wishing a better life for all of us.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011I am really torn by this, on the one hand, I am appalled for you, you sound like a gentle soul who may well be scarred by this for quite some time and that’s a darn shame, and yet I too am fearful when I see “arab” looking people traveling together especially to fly. I hate that I am afraid, I hate that I mistrust everyone who looks middle eastern, I hate that from this standpoint, as many have said, that the terrorists have won, they divided America and Americans, a racial and religious divide that always existed has now become a huge gulf.
You eloquently express feelings that afflict many Americans, but many more have crossed that “racial and religious divide” and no longer suffer. After 9/11, Christians, Jews, Hindus and atheists across the country descended on the mosques in droves, to protect the muslims from the backlash that the architects of 9/11 hoped to spark. And since 9/11, the population of indigenous American muslims ~ with no ethnic heritage of Islam and not caught up in imported error from the terminally-collapsed millennial muslim world ~ has more than doubled, opening a new chapter in the history of Islam in America and in the world. The backlash backfired.
And despite such events as these conversations have been discussing, the FBI has prevented scores of deadly attacks on innocents, over 40% because muslims have reported the plans of would-be terrorists. The idea that “most” of the world’s terrorist events come from “Islamists” is false ~ deranged muslims have accounted for less than five percent of such events since 9/11, according to US Government analysis.
The fear ~ today ~ is generated by a few people, and amplified by self-appointed “experts” and the media. The Southern Poverty Law Center identified fewer than twenty people from whom most of the fear-inducing propaganda comes, and their financial backers and media supporters. The Center for American Progress published a similar report ~ at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html ~ that goes into more details. The perpetuation of terror in America is not rooted in 9/11, 9/11 has become the center-piece of American-generated terror perpetuating American fear that was already well-established long before 9/11. “The terrorists, with a little help from bin Laden, have won,” is an accurate statement about the condition of America today ~ at least, among those who get all their information from the mainstream media and the government.
The American Right and the American Left are being herded toward revolution by cadres of “revolutionary vanguards” who have their hands on the levers of power in America and have installed themselves as our new masters, with a plan to increase their control. I’ve watched the agenda I studied in the Sixties proceed for fifty years now, and it has only moved forward with 9/11, economic collapse, and incessant propaganda. Those movements are much more to be feared than terrorists unable to move without being seen and stopped.
So, can you tell me, can anyone tell me, at what point is America no longer at risk?
“Almost all of the world’s armed conflicts involve muslims” because American bombs are raining down on muslim-majority countries, most of them ruled by Western-supported tyrants installed by the Western powers after World War I or II or their successors. America has been exporting terrorism to the Middle East for nearly a century, and boasts today of being the world’s only remaining “superpower” empire. And we are watching on television as America is falling into a ruin second only to that we are inflicting on the eastern hemisphere.
But this, too, will pass.
When today’s America has been utterly humbled, and American conceit, arrogance, hubris, elitism, and delusions of grandeur and superiority have been thoroughly eradicated, the real America ~ you and those like you ~ will rise as a light for the nations and a beacon of the truth of human nature. America will again be a true light of liberty, accessible this time to everyone, and not an incandescent or neon artifice born in the bowels of the bomb-makers.
Then ~ and only then ~ will it no longer be at risk, when reason, faith, and humility reign and the rule of law is restored.
Man can set the world on fire, but cannot extinguish the Light of God.
And the sun is rising, here in the West, on a new Dawn in America.
M
/ September 14, 2011To i’mtorn: your honesty is refreshing. Thank you for posting. And for generating an equally honest, equally thought-provoking post from Asma Khan. Thank you both. This is where a conversation can begin to happen, when there is honesty on both sides instead of posturing.
TakeBackMyBirthday
/ September 13, 2011I am so so so so sorry that this happened to you. How horrifying and scary. I really have no words that can convey how sick I am over this.
michaelfury
/ September 13, 2011Where was the “well-dressed man” when you needed him?
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/points-of-failure/
All County Insurance - Brea, California
/ September 13, 2011Incredible story. Thank you for sharing as it’s very personal and probably took a lot of courage to do. I’m glad you’re safe and were able to get back to your husband and kids. I hope you never have to go through such an experience again.
Cheers!
Sasha Calegare
/ September 13, 2011I feel for you. This country has some truly despicable policies, and it’s unfortunate that you fell victim to them. The Patriot Act violates many people’s rights and should be made illegal. When individual freedoms are sacrificed in the same of “security,” you end up with neither.
Ted Gutsche
/ September 13, 2011I flew back on Sept. 11, too. But as a White American, my experience was much different. The only questions I got when I landed in Dallas from the UK was when the customs agent asked how long I had “been” with my wife and when our wedding date was. I smiled a good American Smile: “That doesn’t seem like a customs questions…” He laughed. My wife was standing behind me. What a good old joke. It’s sad, now that I think about it, because who knows what you were doing at the same time when I was “questioned” on my return to the U.S.
Bob
/ September 13, 2011I flew back on September 11, as well. At customs, unfortunately, my experience was much different. The Indian-American businessman in front of me was screamed at for several minutes by the “officer” because he reached into his briefcase for a form during their conversation. The “officer” continually shouted about IEDs — asking “don’t you know what an IED is? Don’t you know what day this is?” It was absurd and intentionally belittling — the businessman clearly hadn’t flown 3000 miles with an IED in his briefcase to blow up Customs. Rather, the “officer” simply wanted to be abusive — and there is no check on doing so in our current system. In our system, we are offered no choices other than to take whatever humiliation is offered up — and that’s just wrong.
(He was extremely rude to me as well, but no screaming. I guess because I’m white.)
fritz365
/ September 13, 2011I was seriously touched by your writing of this. I don’t know how you wrote about it without anger and bitterness hanging off your sleeve. Makes me turn a jaundiced eye to my own writings. I work in aviation, and since the whole Homeland Security reality, I have stoutly refused to fly commercially. If my company wants to send me jumpseat somewhere, fine, but not on an airline. Bless you for your attitude.
PaxRyan
/ September 13, 2011When are people are having their orefices forcibly searched because of a random civilian’s idea of something so subjective and meaningless as “suspicious behavior,” there no longer is any freedom to be defended.
Journalism
/ September 13, 2011I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they would just randomly pick out some people and arrest them. That just doesn’t happen these days. So searching the parent article from AP I found:
“Frontier Flight 623, with 116 passengers on board, landed without incident in Detroit at 3:30 p.m. EDT after the crew reported that two people were spending “an extraordinarily long time” in a bathroom, Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuck said.”
So unfortunately the flight crews are now profiling people for joining the mile high club! Shame on them…
MJ
/ September 13, 2011Writing from north of the border to tell you how sorry I am that you and apparently at least 50 other people had to go through that on Sunday. Your account brought tears to my eyes. I can’t imagine the fear and the humiliation you must have felt.
It is a sad state of affairs when people need to be afraid of their government, and of their fellow citizens, afraid of a monster in every closet.
It’s easy to see that there doesn’t need to be another terrorist attack. The collective imaginations of masses of people is creating a self imposed terrorism in the United States, and to an extent here in my own country. Any group with ill wishes simply has to utter a hint of a threat, and kick back and relax while we scare ourselves.
I admit that I have flown to the United States only once since 2001. Not because I am afraid of what the terrorists might do to the plane I’m on, but because I was uncomfortable with security, the requirement to remove articles of my clothing, to lift my shirt to have my belt buckle and the fly of my pants inspected by a stranger in front of other strangers with little to no communication. This of course was nothing compared to what you and those other people went through on Sunday, but given how upset and uncomfortable I was with that, I can’t begin to think how I would react if I had to go through what you did. I commend your composure and I thank you for sharing your story and being honest about your feelings, even if some of them weren’t popular with other commenters.
Kim
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing this, Shoshanna. I don’t know you (obviously), but I never would have heard more about this story than the passing NY Times headline in my Twitter feed had you not written this. It’s so important to hear personal stories like this, so we can be reminded of how policy affects real people. Especially as we approach another election year and choose another batch of leaders who will create laws like this. What are our priorities? We have to choose peace and compassion. It’s overdo.
hierath
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry to hear you had to go through this. A good friend of mine, who happens to be transgendered, was deported from the USA (for no good reason beyond the fact that she was travelling there too often, and it was deemed “suspicious”) and the TSA treated her in much the same appalling way that you were treated. It’s disgusting how much of our civil liberties we’ve had to give up in the name of “freedom”.
Sheena
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for telling your story. I am sorry for your treatment, but grateful for your courage. Stay strong; stay beautiful.
Love from Canada.
Donna
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for clearing this up. I live a couple of miles from Detroit Metro. At that time I was at my grandsons baseball game when my son suddenly said, “there are no planes in the sky”. (There are always visible planes in the sky) Next we heard the sound of the F-16 fighter jets, but couldn’t see them and couldn’t really follow their sounds, my son thought they were circling the airport. When I arrived home Newsflash on TV, with crazy, wild stories. My hubby went a little? wacky closing the side door that faces the airport in case a plane was shot down. It saddens me how events gets blown out of proportion.
Steve Barbaza (@sbarbaza)
/ September 13, 2011For all of you who think this was an “injustice” What would you like the feds to do? They got a report of suspicious activity on a flight where less than two years ago a man tried to blow himself up in the same city (Detroit) Oh did I mention it was 9-11. I’m sorry you had to go through that as an American citizen but these are the times we live in. It is a good thing the feds came out and investigated the situation. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the person who reported you. The feds were responding to a call they received, they have to respond in this day and age, it was their duty. Add that to the fact that the US had credible evidence that 3 people were going to make an attack. You happened to be the third person there. You also were not the only one who had feds meet their plane yesterday, it happened in Boston. Although frustrating, you were let go and sent on your way after the investigators did their job, which by the way in America, unlike other countries you are innocent until proven guilty and once they figured out that you were not at fault, they let you go. Do you think that would have happened anywhere else? I am not taking away that the passenger that accused you of something may have jumped the gun and may have been paranoid but the main point i am trying to make is that the feds and police did their job.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Perhaps we would like it if white passengers didn’t automatically assume that everything that non-white passengers do is “suspicious activity” by definition. Perhaps we would like it if Homeland Security would not violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens simply because those citizens have dark skin. Perhaps we would like it if the reporting passenger was punished in some way for being a bigot.
Perhaps we would like it if people were not judged by their skin color.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Just want to point out that this whitey (and several others I know) are as sick of this BS as you.
Girl, most of us are behind you 1,000%. Sadly, there is a very vocal minority of sad, spineless sheep bleating “Save me! Save me!”
We’re doing all we can to shut them up. Sorry.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I’m a whitey, too. Whiteys United for Justice.
It’s sad, though, that the only way this is taken seriously is when us whiteys do get involved. It’s only then that concerns are addressed, which is part of that insidious white privilege that we carry around with us.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011I know it’s been a couple of days. Sorry, it’s busy around here.
I totally misread the original post I responded to. Sorry about that.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I’m a whitey, too. Whiteys United for Justice.
It’s sad, though, that the only way these concerns are taken seriously is when white people express then and when white people get involved. Otherwise, it’s dismissed. Just another insidious part of the white privilege we carry around with us.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011EEP. Sorry for the redundant post – I didn’t think my first one went through.
Saul
/ September 13, 2011>> They got a report of suspicious activity on a flight
>> where less than two years ago a man tried to blow himself
>> up in the same city (Detroit)
So what? What difference does it make that two years ago there was another lunatic that happened to be landing in the same city? By your logic, all van drivers in NYC and in Oklahoma City should be also pulled over and strip-searched. After all, bombers struck those cities too in the past twenty years, so you can’t be too careful.
>> Although frustrating, you were let go and sent on your way
>> after the investigators did their job
Easy for you to write, when you were not the one who was strip-searched and held in a jail cell for several hours. Why could not the cops have taken the three passengers off the plane, interrogated them (along with the passenger or flight attendant who called in the suspicions), determined there was nothing amiss, and sent them on their way? Why the strip-search? Why the jail cell? Why the several-hours detainment?
>> Add that to the fact that the US had credible evidence
>> that 3 people were going to make an attack.
It’s becoming increasingly clear this this “evidence” was nothing more than an excuse for police to show off their weapons and to keep the population in fear. A fear that is so clearly expressed in your post. A fear that is shredding the Constitution a tad more each and every day.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Although frustrating, you were let go and sent on your way after the investigators did their job, which by the way in America, unlike other countries you are innocent until proven guilty and once they figured out that you were not at fault, they let you go. Do you think that would have happened anywhere else?
Um. Yes? EVERYWHERE else? Like, EVERYWHERE on the planet? Even in horrible fascist dictatorships, they do that. Seriously. Listen to some of the stories of dissidents in repressive regimes. That’s what they do — pick them up, hold them for a couple hours, never charge them, strip-search them, then let them go.
Now, the REASONS for this may be different, but, c’mon, man! Do you seriously think that the United States is the only place in the world that lets people go if it figures they’re innocent? Seriously?
And nobody’s saying that the feds and police didn’t do their job. What people are saying is that their job was wrong. That, yeah, they did their job — and the job they have is one that is inconsistent with a free society. The fact that their job INVOLVES holding and strip-searching innocent people is something that doesn’t HAPPEN in a free society.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“What would you like the feds to do?”
Their jobs, and nothing more. That means investigating tips first before acting like there’s really something to them.
“They got a report of suspicious activity on a flight where less than two years ago a man tried to blow himself up in the same city (Detroit) Oh did I mention it was 9-11.”
So what? That in no way affects the rights of travelers.
“…The feds were responding to a call they received, they have to respond in this day and age, it was their duty. Add that to the fact that the US had credible evidence that 3 people were going to make an attack.”
Credible evidence? Credible evidence is actionable, leading to actual suspects.
There certainly was no credible evidence that _these_ three people were in any way doing anything genuinely suspicious, never mind that they were in any way related to the so-called “credible evidence” published earlier.
(And that assumes that the “credible evidence” was in fact just that, rather than the usual fear-mongering that law-enforcement engages in regularly in order to justify their ever-increasing violations of our civil rights).
Frank S.
/ September 13, 2011Believe me, you would not be so certain in your opinion or one sided if this happened to you. I once held your view that law enforcement are doing their job (and they do do a great job, don’t get me wrong), until it I was treated as such. Trust me, not a great feeling and it certainly changes you when you are not a criminal but are treated as one.
Melissa
/ September 13, 2011Your Miranda rights were tossed aside, so I suspect they didn’t have a warrant for the cavity search either?
In any event, this sounds like good, solid, lawsuit material to me. I’m sure you could get pro bono representation or donations for a legal fund to cover expenses.
donationcan
/ September 13, 2011She was held in a cell, searched and questioned for a few hours. She did not mention any abuse or mistreatment. I’m sorry that she was frightened. However, I think of my brothers and sisters deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for 12 – 18 months at a time. They miss the birth of children and some never make it home to meet their children. I think about the double amputees I see doing PT on post. If she was inconvienced for a few hours for the safety of our country, I don’t think what she went through is too much of a sacrifice. Just my opinion.
Nick
/ September 13, 2011Well put donationcan. Innocent people have lost their lives in bombings around the world. Soldiers have died to protect the very basis of our civilisation, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Reading all the comments on this blog I am amazed and upset at the fact that the people that DIED have been forgotten so easily because of the ranting of this woman.
tsaoutofourpants
/ September 13, 2011Are you guys fucking kidding me?? What do you think those people DIED FOR?!
Our freedom. The same freedom which was taken away from the OP.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011You know, people can be concerned about soldiers deploying and the deaths of 9/11, and at the same time horrified at the treatment of an innocent person. Most people are capable of holding more than one thought in their head at the same time.
Innocent people should not have to sacrifice their Constitutional rights just because soldiers are deploying in wars. There’s no logical connection there.
What To Do?
/ September 14, 2011Allison: I’ve read your comments over and over and I’m a little tired of you trying to negate what others post. This time it is quite personal because it appears that donationcan is one of our military – one of those individuals who gives us the right to poste these comments. Although I appreciate your empathy for one innocent person treated unjustly, I would remind you of the thousands in the military who are treated unjustly and see injustices directly day after day. My newphew was deployed to Afghanistan and he is defending your very freedom.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I’m not sure what you mean by “negate what others post.” I’m disagreeing with what others post. I’m arguing with what others post. I’m asking for evidence of what people are posting as statements of fact. I’m not removing their posts, because all of the posts are still available for everyone to see.
Your nephew’s admirable service is what allows me the FREEDOM to do so. And with all due respect to him, he voluntarily signed up for military duty (and that’s an admirable decision). Ms. Shebshi did not voluntarily sign up to have her Constitutional rights violated.
Donationcan has the right to post his/her thoughts. I have the right to respond to them, EVEN WHEN AND IF I DISAGREE WITH THEM. That is the nature of open discourse in a society that allows freedom of expression.
Because your nephew and donationcan have fought for my freedom to post, I should…not post? That’s contrary to what they’re fighting for, and I assume that both of them understand that democracy is a difficult idea, which requires that one allows the expression of views with which one disagrees.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011That’s right. Soldiers have died, and are dying, to protect the basis of our civilization, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. You’re absolutely right.
Which is why it’s so horrific that their sacrifice is in vain. They are dying, today, to try to PREVENT exactly the sort of thing that happened to Shebshi. They are over there trying to protect us from being grabbed for no reason, and violated. They are fighting and dying for our rights.
And then, our OWN GOVERNMENT, our OWN security forces, go and do THIS? They go and MOCK the sacrifices of our men and women who are sacrificing, suffering, and DYING to attempt to protect our freedoms, by SPITTING ON those freedoms?
Doesn’t that make you sick? Doesn’t that just make you want to throw up that there are people in the FBI and the TSA who so disrespect the sacrifice of our men and women?
Nick
/ September 13, 2011Ian, I disagree. You are forgetting that the ISLAM is discriminating against the entire western people. The countries that have accepted them and in many cases even allowed them to settle in the West. Now, faced with so much violence and thousands of innocent people dying at the hands of their religious extremism, which is wide spread within the arab countries and which has been going on for thousands of years, people are getting un easy and yes, maybe a little bit angry.
And so people in that plane reported suspicious behavior. Maybe if those people that reported this had been on those planes that flew into the twin towers 10 years ago, thousands of people had been saved today.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Lemme tell you something. I’m Jewish. And we Jews have a pretty long memory. And, as much as there’s a bunch of tsuris between mainly-Muslim Palestinians and mainly-Jewish Israelis, on the whole, when I think about Jews and Arabs, and Jews and Christians, I remember that, BEFORE 1492, Jews had jobs and nice lives in Spain, and AFTER the Reconquista, we had the Spanish Inquisition.
See, on the whole, Christianity has given a lot more shit to Jews than Islam has. So my bullshit detector starts pinging hard when someone starts talking about “thousands of years of ISLAM”, because, well, first, Islam isn’t thousands of years old (started in 570, so it’s only about 1440 years old), and then, I compare it historically to Christianity, and, from my perspective, Christianity doesn’t come out so good.
And then I think about my Muslim friends, and realize that, y’know, they’re not like what you’re talking about. And, in fact, there are a good number of majority-Muslim countries that aren’t like that, like, for instance, Morocco, and, in fact, the entire Maghreb region — even INCLUDING Libya. That the Arab Spring uprisings have generally been overthrowing dictatorships and bringing in more pro-democracy governments. That, in fact, the world NEVER really looked a WHOLE lot like that, and it’s looking less and less like what you’re saying every day.
So, y’know, Islam, Christianity, mote, log. At least, long term. That’s what I’m saying.
CHlSTIAN
/ September 14, 2011How easily you “forget” the asylum Spain gave to Jews in WW2 shielding them from the german atrocities, how easily you forget how the CHRISTIAN NATIONS of WW2 gave your “country” back even tho the “arabs” constantly attack you. How easily you forget how the “christian nations” gave you armament to defend yourself from people like bin laden.
Nice “memory” “you jews” have, Let me correct yourself.
Ian wrote: Hi, I call myself Jew and I have no idea of history hence i spit half learned ignorance.
doctorbabaguy
/ September 13, 2011Nick, you say “ISLAM is discriminating against the entire western people”.
For your information, Islam is a religion, which cannot discriminate against any people more than any other religion such as Christianity can. While some people who might have been followers of Christianity actually ran Apartheid in South Africa, slavery in the US, or killed Jews and Romani and communists in Nazi Germany, these facts do not imply that Christianity is a religion that is against the entire non-western people. Please try to have a reasoned perspective.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011ISLAM isn’t doing anything. Some FUNDAMENTALISTS within Islam are following an interpretation of Islam that is not shared by everyone of that particular faith. Somewhat like some FUNDAMENTALIST Christians are doing things like shooting abortion doctors in the face while the doctor is in his church on a Sunday morning.
DO NOT sully the memory of the victims of 9/11 by invoking them to justify this violation of Constitutional rights.
When we default to reports of “suspicious behavior” from completely untrained civilians, which are subject to all the biases and stereotypes and prejudices of that civilian, without the responders at LEAST questioning the reporter to determine if the report has any validity whatsoever, we have created a state in which anyone, anywhere, at any time, can say anything about another person and be automatically believed. I don’t believe you truly want such a situation to occur.
Loren
/ September 13, 2011Spot on! “DO NOT sully the memory of the victims of 9/11 by invoking them to justify this violation of Constitutional rights.”
mike
/ September 13, 2011You claim that Islam discriminates against an entire people as if the Bible doesn’t discriminate against all the Eastern people? Are you familiar with the term Philistine? Wake up or go back to sleep.
darrel
/ September 13, 2011No, soldiers didn’t die for whichever specific right is of most interest to you. Soldiers died for the whole set of rights enshrined in our constitution. VERY HIGH among these rights are protections from unreasonable detention, search and seizure. And both explicit and implicit in these rights is the right to be treated as an equal human being, not an object. The kind of treatment described here –which I mostly blame on the callous behavior of individual officers and the system in refusing to explain what was going on or even to acknowledge the questions of the suspect– is a real rights problem. It is a stain on this country and the memories of those who fight and die for it’s ideals.
I was arrested once driving on my way to work for unknowingly driving on a suspended license. It was suspended because I failed to notice or respond to a random check for car insurance mailed by the state of Ohio (I had insurance, I was just lax in sorting my mail assuming it was an ODOT license plate renewal). Because they had a prisoner transfer going on, I ended up being held for 16 hours. I was never mirandized, never informed of any of my rights, never informed what the process would be, never allowed to ask any questions, never allowed a phone call, nothing. Just stripped to one layer of clothing, no belt, no shoes, and left to sit and stand around all day on cold concrete and stainless steel. All this despite there constantly being 2-3 people within 15 feet of me lounging contentedly who could easily answer questions. “They’ll let you know…” or “They’ll get to you…” was the best I got. People who haven’t experienced it cannot imagine the way it messes with your head to see a reaction you know is completely out of proportion to any real threat or offense. Your brain starts working on you. If they’ll disappear a guy from his workday for 13 hours for nothing, not look at clear proof of a mistake right there in his wallet, not allow him to notify his family or lawyer, not ask if he has children that need to be picked up from school…not grant him the decency of any response at all…what does this mean? What are my rights? Do I have any? How much money are these people making doing this? Do any of them care the least whether I am innocent or guilty?
I’m not sure people can understand this until it happens to them. It isn’t the hours lost or the inconvenience…it’s just being exposed to a system that treats you really as sub-human, and not understanding where it begins or ends.
Harman
/ September 13, 2011so trade places with her and then post your idiotic comments, not sure what your definition of mistreatment is but that pretty much qualifies in my book. As for your brothers and sisters in foreign land, thats pretty much that “your brother and sisters in someone else’s land”
Ben Trafford
/ September 13, 2011You’re both missing the point.
Losing the core of what made America great (its freedom and stalwart support of human rights and decency) mocks the sacrifices her soldiers make every day.
Winning the war against terrorism isn’t just about saving lives. It’s also about saving America’s soul from the fear.
PS: If you don’t think a strip search, with someone shoving their finger up your ass, isn’t mistreatment, then you’ve obviously never experienced it. Moreover, I will note the comment the cop made to her at the end about being tolerant of the heat because of her “desert ancestry.” Sounds pretty racist to me.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011To be completely fair, I think the comment wasn’t made to her, but was her own thought process about herself. At least, that’s the way it read to me.
The rest of your reply is spot on.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“She was held in a cell, searched and questioned for a few hours. She did not mention any abuse or mistreatment.”
I’d say those two sentences are contradictory.
Holding a person in a cell and doing s strip-search is reasonable only when there’s some cause for doing so. Otherwise, it’s exactly what I’d call “abuse or mistreatment”.
Hint: just because some nervous-nellie is scared of you, that’s not “cause”.
Jamie
/ September 13, 2011well said donationcan. it’s not great what she went through, but unfortunately this is what it’s come to, I can only imagine the people they have pulled off that have been up to something however that doesn’t get reported, the media just loves to create melodrama.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011In this time of media-created and government-fueled fear, if someone had been detained with a credible plot, it would have been all over the news. In fact, there have been NUMEROUS stories posted about people who were either caught before boarding, or discovered prior to flying.
What’s NOT reported is what happens to the ones who are racially profiled by untrained fellow passengers based on the color of their skin, which is what Ms. Shebshi’s blog post is all about.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Excellent point.
And what people like Jamie miss is that they aren’t going to trot out these, “Oh, we interviewed a bunch of people and nothing happened” stories and then be completely silent about some growing group of nefarious ne’erdowells they put away.
Speaking of, shouldn’t those people be on trial? So, Jamie, what trials are there of actually guilty people caught in this manner? Oh, right, none.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yea, I think the people in GitMo would like to have a word about that lack of trials thing.
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011That’s really easy for you to say, because you simply have no idea what she went through. I’m assuming you’ve also never had to be subjected to a strip search. Soldiers are fighting for our freedoms so that we shouldn’t have to be subjected to such treatment just based on race and ethnicity.
Howard
/ September 13, 2011Your priveleged opinion is insensitive and arrogant.
Ann
/ September 13, 2011In total agreement, donationcan. Read several replies,,,, sadly most turned into “racial” comments/conversations. Must have missed any mentioning the fact that this woman was seated between men who appeared “suspicious” – due to the fact that it has happened before. I am sorry for her experience, but will never apologize for those who serve to protect our country! It has come to this, because there are many among us who aim to hurt American citizens of all races.
ming ding xiong
/ September 14, 2011Let me put this bluntly: I don’t give a flying fuck about your brothers and sisters deployed overseas. That there are soldiers deployed overseas has nothing to do with whether human rights are respected within the United States.
To wit: I can’t believe you can care about employed people eating three square meals a day in air conditioning when there are people starving to death in Somalia.
DW
/ September 17, 2011Thanks for using your talents to help people who VOLUNTEERED to help our country. That’s right, they volunteered. And I’m so glad they did. Not everyone can dedicate themselves the way hour military personnel do. And we should be grateful for their service.
This woman paid for seat on a plane to get home. She didn’t pay to be falsely accused, detained for any amount of time, and she certainly didn’t pay to be strip searched! If that’s your idea of being inconvenienced then I’d hate to be in your proximity when you feel like you are being truly accosted. Anyone within 10 feet of you in that moment would also be in danger of being hurt.
Jebus Christo (@christ_sux)
/ September 13, 2011For better or worse, the solution once again is Internment Camps. We’re already doing it somewhat for the blacks (being from so-called Detroit – which usually means 50 miles outside of Detroit – you know this). White people are the least threatening to other white people, so most of the whites that haven’t actively committed a crime will be free to walk around in this new system. For everyone darker (that includes fake “white people” like middle-easterners and south americans) we need to camp ’em. They can walk around during certain hours, but they will have identity papers issued by the camp and their movements will be monitored so that if they need to be vouched for, they can be. You won’t have any of these “I didn’t know if they were dangerous or not incidents” – except occasionally with white people, but that’s normal. If you’re dark, everyone will know that you’ve been checked out.
The darker the person is, the more restrictive the camp rules, again similar to what we’re doing now. And the camps don’t have to be like prisons, either. Just a cordoned off neighborhood or block of high-rise buildings, etc. Probably nicer than how some of these people live now. How would you feel if you accidentally scared someone? Probably some remorse, probably want to make amends even if it wasn’t your fault right? What if the person you scared was an innocent little blonde-haired white girl? And she was hysterically crying and pissing on herself out of abject fear? Wouldn’t you be willing to sacrifice anything so that didn’t happen to her again?
elayne
/ September 13, 2011can’t tell if trolling or just terrifyingly twisted in the head.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Troll. Surely it’s too over-the-top to be a valid post. Surely?
Please reassure me. 🙂
MelissainMO
/ September 14, 2011There were camps established in Louisiana for Arabs and Arab Americans. That was shown in papers released in the last 80’s. Look for “Camp Oakdale” .
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Militia conspiracy theories aren’t really relevant here.
MelissainMO
/ September 15, 2011I wish it was just a theory. It was a document prepared by the INS entitled “Alien Terrorists and Undesirables: A Contingency Plan,” This was leaked to the Los Angeles Times in 1986 and was brought up in congressional hearing. I am trying to find the original source online to link. I don’t have an account for HeinOnLine which has several links.
MelissainMO
/ September 15, 2011Ok, found the article in the LA TImes archivers. You can search it yourself, but here is the link I have.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58236003.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+7%2C+1987&author=RONALD+L.+SOBLE&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=31&desc=INS+Labels+Terrorist+Emergency+Proposal+Just+%60an+Option+Paper%27
and the article is entitled INS Labels Terrorist Emergency Proposal Just `an Option Paper’ by Ronald Soble.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Perhaps some misunderstood sarcasm?
After all, I believe that’s exactly how the Germans got their start. It could never happen here. Right? Right?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011ROFLMAO! And while we’re at it, let’s lock down all those blue-eyed, blonde-haired, forked-tongue, firewater immigrants we welcomed five hundred years ago, and send them back to where they came from.
Nikolas
/ September 13, 2011What an amazingly clear description of what happened while not being clinical. You should be a journalist.
The response that I would like to write would probably be longer than your post so I will limit it. I am horrified at what you went through. I don’t like hyperbole or “impact statements” so I’m not using that word loosely. I felt an actual tightening in my stomach as I read. It really does feel like we are at a tipping point as a country and the optimistic in me hopes that it tips back toward the way it was, or more appropriately, towards a better future with a freer, more open society. But the backlash is strong and fear is a powerful motivator.
Thank you for sharing your story in such a… straightforward way. That in itself is part of a solution.
livinginobscurity
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry for your experience. Will you forgive the fear and ignorance of others?
lc
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, I am so sorry you had to go through this. As we all know, it’s against the law to file a false police report, which is essentially what the party/parties who fingered you did. The time has come to extend penalties to anyone guilty of making false accusations of terrorism which result in harm to those wrongfully accused, i.e. yourself. Perhaps a lawsuit against the airline might uncover the guilty party/parties here. Perhaps some of the innocent individuals unfairly victimized in the other fifty (fifty – unbelievable paranoia, huh?) incidents that the officer mentioned might interested in joining a class action. Strength in numbers!
Alan
/ September 13, 2011I am in total agreement with this!! This isnt something that is forgotten overnite! Its a life changing incident for her. Never will she see the world in the same way. The people who decided this was something that required these people to be arrested should be put on administrative leave until the facts are known. The only reason the other people from the plane were brought in for questioning was to cover up the over reaction to the innocent 3. Easier to find others that will say yes they were acting suspicious.
I am sorry for your abusive treatment Shoshana.
cparker15
/ September 13, 2011You and the way you’ve handled this situation are a pristine example of what is right with humanity today. If this had happened to me, I’d be seething; I certainly wouldn’t have had the composure to write about the experience so eloquently.
People like you renew my hope in my neighbors of the world and my resolve to stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed daily by figures of authority simply for being who they are.
Thank you for sharing your experience with the world.
fonsmoonen
/ September 13, 2011´ What is the next step? `
Let the next step be done in that united states homeland, and stop playing for that god damn democratic policeman all over the world.
rachelcoles
/ September 13, 2011I have written Frontier Airlines with a complaint about the quality of their customer service toward you. Even though it was not my experience, I believe you. And if other people who have been paying customers start objecting, it’s possible that the airlines will respond out of fear of loss of business. Frontier has always been good in the past. Hopefully they will be responsive to you, if you should wish to lodge a complaint. Here is a copy of the email I sent:
I have always been a Frontier customer by preference. Whenever there was a choice of good rates, times, and places, I always chose Frontier because of what I had experienced as being great customer service. So now I read this blog by a woman who was racially profiled in a frankly ludicrous and disgusting manner, and I am dismayed to the point that you may have lost my business.
https://shebshi.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/some-real-shock-and-awe-racially-profiled-and-cuffed-in-detroit/#comment-938
I also read the AP account of this event: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/
If this AP account is accurate, then I am appalled, that it was Frontier crew who reported people being in the bathroom an “unusually long time”. Ever heard of traveler’s diarrhea? I understand that people were nervous about it being 9/11. And I understand that you want to be diligent to your passengers if they report a concern. But there is a difference between being diligent and catering to racism. These folks were obviously Middle Eastern looking, and your crew basically either panicked themselves, or allowed a passenger to open a can of worms that could landslide into any passenger who doesn’t like another one, claiming ‘suspicious activity’. Regardless of the delay to themselves, there are people who are that racist and petty.
And if it was a simple case of jitters because it was 9/11, if someone is that scared of terrorism on that date, then they shouldn’t be flying on that date, instead of freaking out on the passengers who look ethnic, and wasting everyone’s else’s time and violating other peoples’ dignity. Their jitters should not be carte blanche to victimize other passengers. You wanted to protect your passengers, but instead you either allowed or facilitated three of them becoming victims.
The fact that your airline appeared to contribute to this debacle, not just cooperated, was unacceptable. As a passenger, do I want to feel safe? Of course. But reasonable measures are all I can expect. What happened here, beginning with a report of being in the bathroom a long time, was not reasonable. If someone had been worried, why not start with asking them why they were in the bathroom so long? Maybe they needed pepto bismol?
The point is, there is no such thing as complete safety, and if I’m going to be that worried about terrorists, I’m going to be just as worried about the disgruntled unemployed Caucasian guy down the street, as I am on a plane. What happened to this woman was far beyond what a passenger should rationally expect to encounter, and beyond what I, as a fellow passenger, would expect to be done ‘for my protection’. And I know that some of this has to do with law enforcement’s methods which you have no control over. But you did have control over the initial situation, before it turned into this accusation. Your crew was involved. And that makes me wonder, since I am also Semitic and my husband is Native American, and together we could pass for Middle Eastern, if we will be similarly targeted if we fly on your airline.
Please explain this situation further so that I have some confidence that your ethnic-looking passengers are not at such easy risk for being mistreated at the whim of another passenger.
tsaoutofourpants
/ September 13, 2011Hi Shoshana,
So sad to hear your story. We all need to fight this terrible injustice.
Can you clarify a couple of things for me?
1) The men with guns… do you know what agency they were with? You mentioned DHS and FBI, but were they the people that arrested you?
2) You call it a strip search, but the end of your discussion on that makes me think it was a cavity search. I know it’s hard, but can you explain?
Thanks,
–Jon
Courtney
/ September 13, 2011I just came across this, and I am physically ill from reading it. I am so sorry that this happened to you. I don’t even know what to say.
wonderlandnovel
/ September 13, 2011A friend of mine, an Arab woman, had the same thing happen to her coming back from her Anniversary trip to Canada with her husband, who is also ambiguously ethnic, though not Arabic. They were detained for close to 24 hours and questioned, presumably because someone thought they looked “suspicious”.
Sadly, I feel that this fear of each other has been an underlying current in this country all along. Basically it’s just the DWB phenomenon (Driving While Black: the phenomenon where a black person gets pulled over, particularly when driving in a nicer neighborhood, when they haven’t committed a crime), but now it’s been expanded to include any person of color, or person of ambiguous ethnicity, traveling by any means. Terrorism has become our excuse to act on the racism that is still a large part of our society.
This is something we really need to acknowledge and actively try to change in this society if we are ever truly going to be safe. Experiences like yours and my friends only fuel people’s hatred of us as a society.
termione
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. And I’m sorry that I have taken my white skin so for granted. Thank you for writing about your experience. Thank you for making me think about the liberties I assume are due me.
Andy McPhee
/ September 13, 2011This is just awful and should never have happened. Just ugly. Thanks for sharing this important insight.
Tricia
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, if you make it through all these comments and feel like answering, I’m wondering whether at any time you considered asking for a lawyer, and what your thought process was.
You handled yourself and wrote this account with a grace that I could only hope to have achieved had I been in a similar situation.
Jeanne Wehlan
/ September 13, 2011Since 2011, I have had two unpleasant experiences. In the UK, I have been detained (I arrived at my destination at 3:00 a.m. rather than 8:00 p.m) and fingerprinted. Both times the man causing me trouble was of another race – one looked Arab and the other ,in the UK ,was black. I am female, white, middle aged and look middle class – was I being racially profiled as well?
Wayne Augden
/ September 13, 2011I’m truly sorry for the way you were treated, and for the embarassment you experienced. You’ve beautifully expressed what is so terribly wrong in our great nation at this time. It is my hope and prayer that as others read your comment they might reflect on their own attitudes and actions toward those who aren’t caucasion, as I am, but who have been denied the same rights and priviledges that the rest of us do simply because of the color of their skin. I’m saddened that you had to suffer this indignity, but admire the strength and courage with which you met it, and in how you’ve expressed it.
Saad Bhamla
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for sharing your experiences. Very eye-opening.
Jimmy M.
/ September 13, 2011I was on this flight, too, and was pretty much terrified when the SWAT team boarded with the scoped assault rifles. When they said “Arrest team, GO!” my mind raced for anything I might had done to warrant something like this (because these days, as you found out the hard way, it seems you never know).
I’m a grown man and I almost wept the next day filling out a Frontier Airlines customer service survey thinking about the whole ordeal. I am really, really sorry this happened to you and the two men. You were about five feet away from me in line to board at the Denver Airport.
This nonsense has to stop, it’s not worth it for all sorts of reasons. The fear it propagates, the freedoms that are violated, the monetary cost. I feel like a criminal every time I get a patdown. What you went through, Thank you for writing this.
Jimmy M.
/ September 13, 2011I was on this flight, too, and was pretty much terrified when the SWAT team boarded with the scoped assault rifles. When they said “Arrest team, GO!” my mind raced for anything I might had done to warrant something like this (because these days, as you found out the hard way, it seems you never know).
I’m a grown man and I almost wept the next day filling out a Frontier Airlines customer service survey thinking about the whole ordeal. I am really, really sorry this happened to you and the two men. You were about five feet away from me in line to board at the Denver Airport.
This nonsense has to stop, it’s not worth it for all sorts of reasons. The fear it propagates, the freedoms that are violated, the monetary cost. I feel like a criminal every time I get a patdown. What you went through, I can’t begin to imagine. Thank you for writing this.
Bonnie L. Nadri (@blnadri)
/ September 13, 2011I am truly horrified and ashamed of my country, my people, when I read this; I do not know what has happened to people that such as this is readily found “better” or how anyone could truly think that “this is for your protection” could possibly justify it.
How far we have fallen and, for what? Do people truly not realize there is no such thing as “safety” in the face of determined intent? That no “protection”, no “homeland security”, no amount of papers and demands to show them will truly guarantee such a thing? Or that giving up all pretense to civil liberty is empowering and enabling an entirely new form of terrorism; wielded no less viciously, by those for whom authority and control are its insatiable desire?
Please do not let this go with only these words; please do not give them even one more example to continue believing this is acceptable or reasonable or justifiable, ever.
I am so very, very sorry that this happened to you. But I am sorrier than we have become a country in which such things could ever become possible. I am ashamed of my people, my government, and the irrational hysteria that, apparently, will rationalize and justify any means and any ends in the name of this delusional belief that liberty is or ever should be sacrificed in the name of “security”.
Naz Kovacs
/ September 13, 2011My husband alerted me to this post last night, well around 2am and I was horrified and shocked although I probably shouldn’t have felt either. I can’t believe that 10 years on this sort of stuff is still going on, I think there needs to be a change somewhere because this sort of thing can’t keep happening! I’m an Australian raised citizen, born in Iran and now living in America. I don’t look middle-eastern per se and have often been told I don’t look ‘middle-eastern’, but of course we know you can look like something and be something else. I also have my husband’s Hungarian surname but prior to marriage my surname didn’t shout ‘oh she’s from a middle eastern country’. I wonder if I did have a darker complexion and a more obvious maiden name if I would go through the same thing?
I wonder also what exactly was it that you and the 2 men were doing that made that person so suspicious of your activities? I think by now the world needs to understand that terrorists, murderers, pedophiles and the sort come in all shapes and sizes, look at what happened in Norway recently. While not directly linked to terrorism it still shows that we can’t judge people on appearance. You can’t just look at someone with a beard or a dark complexion and assume oh look that must somehow be a terrorist!
It really is sickening and I think that the people who think this way have truly let the true terrorists win. If after 10 years these thoughts and actions are still occurring what hope is there for the future? I understand that America was attacked, I understand that freedom was attacked that day and if something like that ever happened in Australia I would be truly devastated BUT all sorts of people died that day, Muslim, Christian, Jew etc, so how can people keep pointing the finger? And lets not forget the 48,644 Afghans or the 1,690,903 Iraqis that paid the ultimate price in this war on terrorism, not to mention the many soliders, and so on that paid with their lives. And for what? Do we even know who the enemy is?
People seem to forget that these terrorists DO NOT speak for the entire Muslim/Arab/Middle Eastern population, just like I’m sure Hitler didn’t speak for all Germans!
And finally I applaud you Shoshana for the way you handled yourself in this situation, I don’t know if I would have had as much grace and courage as you did. It’s hard to keep your mouth closed in situations like this, when your dignity and personal space are being compromised.
AR
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing this. The sheer violation of Constitutional rights is troubling as all hell. But what troubles me most is the fact that I’m seeing comments suggesting that a violation of your Constitutional rights isn’t so bad because people are at war!
Really? Is this where we are at as a nation?
Here is the thing: This comparison? Is inapposite. Having your rights as a citizen violated has NOTHING TO DO WITH WAR. The “see something, say something!” mentality is fear mongering, and telling people to suck it up because “others are losing limbs for you” is completely inappropriate. This is what happens in a culture of fear. You should be able to fly without worry of being STRIP SEARCHED because you look a certain way. Paranoid ain’t patriotic and justifying a violation of someone’s Constitutional rights without just cause is never appropriate. We’re supposedly fighting against this “evil culture” that violates the rights of its citizens…while we make excuses for our Homeland Security doing the exact same thing.
Wake up, Americans. Its not going to get better until we recognize the problem.
Thank you again for sharing.
Reis
/ September 13, 2011Everyone should read this. Anyone that’s an American citizen should read this.
IKEA
/ September 13, 2011It is obvious to me that you really are an American – I mean, look at all that extra drama! “But I still didn’t know what time it was.” …AFTER you were given your PHONE back and spoke to your husband, not to mention had to show your ridiculous tweets (which were simultaneously posted on facebook, omg!). OF COURSE YOU KNEW WHAT TIME IT WAS. Why can’t Americans just be straightforward and realistic? The story is dramatic enough as it is. But nooo..every story has to be the saddest tragedy or the most AWESOME adventure.
Zed Child
/ September 13, 2011this is why i will not fly! we are not safer than before, we are only less free.
Michael Crook (@michael_crook)
/ September 13, 2011You’re quite good at playing the victim, but the reality is that we’re ALL subject to the scrutiny you got. Would you be whining like this if you were white? I think not. Grow up.
http://theblog.michaelcrook.org/2011/09/shes-playing-victim.html
Nadir
/ September 13, 2011Thank you so much for sharing your story. It made me sick to read that you had to endure this, and I am saddened to realize just how quickly things can spiral out of control just because someone suspects you because of your appearance. I salute you for how incredibly well you handled this humiliating situation. The very timing of this article relative to my current personal experience definitely struck a chord in me. As a person of Pakistani origin (probably the worst country in the world to be from right now if you are living in the US, or any developed country, for that matter), despite being a British national, I have had my fair share of difficult experiences just based on my unfortunate background and appearance. I am currently enduring a nightmarish few months waiting for my work visa stamp here in England, and despite having lived in the US for 5 years already, what should have been my 2 week vacation to visit family that I hadn’t seen in over a year has turned into a 3 and a half month (and counting…) ordeal! Since this is not the forum to highlight the details of my case, I will sign off by saying that through you and the comments others have shared on this post, I’m inspired to share my story with my friends, colleagues and others so that people gain awareness of the brutality that thousands of innocent, hard working, and perfectly law abiding members of society must endure due to a paranoia that has hit unreasonable heights. We are giving into exactly what those bloody terrorists want, and unless we, as respectful, law abiding citizens, do not decide to take a stand against it, we will continue to let baseless suspicions cause humiliation to innocent people.
True
/ September 13, 2011Sad commentary on how far we’ve allowed ourselves to fall. My best to you and my sincere wish that someday stories like this will be but distant memories of a brief time in our history.
Exillior
/ September 13, 2011Ironically enough, only a day before this happened to you, my Californian friend was telling me to come visit him one day… and I had to tell him that I just don’t dare set foot into the States. I don’t know the Terrorism Act in the States (I gather from your blog it’s called the Patriot Act) but in the UK you can be detained for 28 days without being charged of any crime, and from the moment you’re under suspicion of being a terrorist all your assets revert to the state. I told my friend that it can only be worse in the States, and I’ve no wish of ending up in Guantanamo Bay just because somebody notices I’m not Caucasian white.
I’m glad you were released in the end. And I can’t believe the people calling you out for making racist observations in your account. I guess they have never heard of “wake up calls” and irony. Like you, I once thought that Sept 11 was a good day to fly (same reasons as you) so your story hits particularly close to home.
Greg
/ September 13, 2011For someone who complained about being judged by your appearance, you certainly paid attention to the appearance of just about everyone in the story. Who cares if someone has a flattop and beer belly? Does the beer belly make them one of those rednecks you decided to hate?
You were detained for a few hours. Any mention of Abu Ghraib or Malcolm X shouldn’t be within 50 yards of this story.
Ah, and you got your phone back prior to leaving, didn’t you? Why didn’t you just check the time on that?
hmt60
/ September 13, 2011Things like this are probably happening more than we think. Some people are truly afraid of the police etc. Thank you for posting and hopefully some change can come from this. I am all for security. I get stopped many times coming into the USA due to my passport is from a small European country. There needs to be a change in the way this is handled. Was the “informant” questioned why he/she had these suspicions? The informants should be responsible for what they report. This really affects people that go through this in a bad way. Does anyone have to answer for the mistakes that are made in handling these situations. I am not sure how I would have handled a strip search. I do not think people who have not been arrested and treated this way can really say it needs to be done.
My husband has brown skin and was racially profiled by a homeland security even after a different officer had cleared him through. The officer that cleared him started arguing with the other officer who wanted to interrogate him My husband was interrogated for two hours. That is another story and not as bad treatment as yours . Yes something is very wrong here.
All the best to you and your family.
Schmedley
/ September 13, 2011It is absolutely outrageous that this happened because a fearful person or persons saw three ‘wrong-looking’ people sitting by each other, and two of them happened to need to go to the bathroom around the same time. Improvements in the vetting process for reported suspicions are clearly warranted.
bruce
/ September 13, 2011What is missing from the analysis is the reason the U.S. was constituted in the first place: freedom. Those who support more government for any purpose thereby inherently advocate loss of personal freedom. We cannot have a government big enough to take care of us and at the same time respect our constitutional right to personal freedom. Yet, most of the posters are liberals; that is, they support bigger government; government programs for the poor, for the elderly, for kids (emotion), programs to tax the rich (i.e., make them pay their “fair share”), etc. Each time you vote to increase government programs or increase taxes, you vote a loss of your own freedom. There is no such thing as benevolent government power. Power corrupts; it seeks to increase itself at any cost. The only solution is less government. That so many can’t see this or understand it is frightening.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, thanks for sharing your story. I feel for you, but, why are we so shocked by what happened? I agree it is a really difficult situation, but I know that because I am flying that I am subject to being detained and searched. That includes my person and also anything I have with me. I understand it’s a pain and humiliating but, It’s part of keeping this country safe. What’s the alternative? Let a group of dark skinned folks acting suspiciously by spending lots of time out of their seats go without alerting somebody? That puts us back exactly 10 years ago when lots of folks died and lots more went through hell. Better safe than sorry, I say. I agree that you were just “suspicious” by proxy.
I can remember one time, prior to 9/11, my girlfriend was pulled over. She was forced to get out of the car while she and her car were searched all because some guy told a cop he thought she stole his wallet while at the car wash, when she hadn’t even been at the car was, but had only driven by it. She got a basic apology for that as well.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 13, 2011Flying in the US is not to be recommended it seems
So, there’s this person on a plane. They feel unwell and head to the bathroom. Inside, they collapse – a stroke or a heart attack. They need urgent medical care if their life is to be saved.
Alternatively, they are constipated or have an alternative gastric problem, necessitating a longer than normal visit or a series of visits.
Or.. the person in the seat beside them is driving them insane. The only place they can get a bit of peace is in the bathroom.
Outside, someone becomes concerned that the person has been in there for a long time.
Clearly, the person must be a terrorist – to be in there that long or to be visiting frequently. There can be no other explanation.
A well-oiled machine springs into action. It has been designed by experts – reviewed and honed to perfection over the years.
Clearly, the terrorist can only be doing one of four things.
1) They are tapping into the aircraft wiring and will take over control from their seat in the bathroom, leaving the pilot helpless to prevent disaster. Or
2) They are constructing a bomb. Since they have been through the TSA full-body scan, pat-downs, explosive sniffers and metal detectors it is clear that they will have hidden all the components up their ass, and are slowly getting them out to assemble the bomb. This would account for the delay – and perhaps some groaning. Or
3) They have hidden the components of a gun and ammunition up their ass. Similar time and groaning. They intend to exit the bathroom – shoot what they know will be at least one armed sky marshal (who has been trained to keep an eye on bathroom habitués) – break through the locked security door into the cockpit – overcome the flight-crew (who have a gun in a locker) Or
4) They are quietly breaking a hole out through the fuselage. This will cause sudden decompression and a possible plane-crash. As any sharp objects such as scissors, nail files etc have been taken off them during check-in, they will be using something like a toothbrush to do this. This would account for the delay.
To cover case (1), it is clear that F-16s must be scrambled. Their function will be to shoot down the aircraft should the person sitting in the bathroom take over the controls.
For all cases, *swiftest possible action is essential* to stop the terrorist before they hot-wire the plane or detonate the bomb or complete the assembly of the weapon or break through the fuselage.
There is at least one armed sky marshal on board. In a well-rehearsed drill, they open the door and confront the terrorist. Victory!
In a saner and far more statistically likely world, the person comes out and returns quietly to their seat. If asked about their welfare, they say that they were unwell or that the bozo beside them was driving them crazy. Plane goes on to land normally. All is well.
Only in a totally bat-shit crazy world, visiting the bathroom a number of times or spending a long time in there is a clear indication of terrorist intent.
This applies *even if* the person returns quietly to their seat and remains there quietly after the plane lands – and even after they see all the police cars outside. They just sit there and don’t detonate bombs or wave guns. That’s *really* suspicious.
Now you or I, if we had a bomb or a gun hidden up our ass – with the intention of using it after we had landed.. We wouldn’t use the bathroom in the aircraft to get it out. We’d take it out in an airport bathroom or maybe in a hotel. Of course we would. That would be the most logical and safe way.
But then, maybe real terrorists wouldn’t plan things as well as we would?
Nadir
/ September 13, 2011Great post!
elayne
/ September 13, 2011“As any sharp objects such as scissors, nail files etc have been taken off them during check-in, they will be using something like a toothbrush to do this.”
I didn’t think anything on this page would be able to make me laugh. Well done, sir or madam. Or orangutan.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011In the very serious discussion about a very troubling event, you provide a wonderful post highlighting the ridiculousness of it all.
Well done, sir or madam primate.
Jim R
/ September 13, 2011Brilliant!
RationalVoice
/ September 13, 2011I can’t believe 2 people actually praised your dumb post. It’s illogical in so many places I don’t even know where to begin. Any number of things can happen on a plane. It’s not as locked down as everyone might like to think it is, and since there’s screening, that means there’s no way a foreign object or more than 3oz of liquid can get onboard right? Do people need to be more rational in how they judge a situation, yes. Are there situations in which people should be concerned, yes. None of us were on that plane except the writer of the article. None of us know what the other passengers saw or how it was interpreted. You’re accusing other people of judging on here, stop judging so much yourselves.
ryanverberkmoes
/ September 13, 2011An impressive and moving post. Sad that there’s the usual lot here who can only focus on some perceived slight to their own demographic rather than understand the real humanity – warts and all – that she exhibits throughout. Had this been me, I a) wouldn’t have shown this kind of grace, and b) I would of thought ill of pudgy white guys (of which I am one).
I also agree with the silent treatment in the face of such questioning, although it is hard to think of being able to show this kind of poise given the situation. But if we allow our rights to be trampled, they surely will be.
TJ Johnston
/ September 13, 2011In the words of David Bowie, this is not America …
C
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you… this is a giant backward step for this country. I would feel just as violated and humiliated if I went through this… I am a white American, but I am also Jewish and I’ve experienced my fair share of prejudices, but nothing to this extend. Though you may feel ganged up on by your country, know that there are just as many Americans on YOUR SIDE. I am one of them and I believe you were indeed stripped of not only your liberty and freedom by this country, but also of your god-given pride. THIS makes me more upset than anything. I want you to know that you have a lot of courage speaking out and that you should not be ashamed of your identity. I admire your strength.
Naomi
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I sadly have to agree with what you say: “in the name of patriotism we lost a lot of our liberty.” Out of a fear of the possibility of being taken over by terrorists, we somehow think that the guarantee of being taken over by our own government is justified.
Sam
/ September 13, 2011Listen this is not about security, safety or protecting the public!!!
It is about power to fuck with people and make overtime pay!!
The constitution has been thrown in the toilet!!
Vote Ron Paul if you want this nightmare to end
Samantha Snyder
/ September 13, 2011I am not a person of color. I am a mother and I am very happy when I get the airport and someone x-rays me or pats me down. I know my family and I cannot be 100% safe all of the time but I would rather someone strip search me or my family than to get the news that the father of my children has been killed by a lunatic on an airplane. If we were that affected by being put in the back of a police car or put in jail, I could get my family therapy.I cannot bring them back from the dead. If you really have a problem with this, drive. No one is stopping you from getting in your car and driving.
Jennifer Knapp
/ September 13, 2011I wish that there would be consequences for the person who reported the “suspicious behavior” such behavior on their part is unacceptable and unamerican! Just makes me sick!! So sad this happed but glad you were ok.
Jim R
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry to read about the heinous acts perpetuated on you by our supposed “law enforcement”. It would seem that the true terrorists have indeed won the battle.
All the best to you,
Jim R.
Jack
/ September 13, 2011You should sue the airline, the crew and every public official with whom you came into contact for False Imprisonment. http://section520.org/A%20Treatise%20On%20Arrests%20And%20False%20Imprisonment.pdf
The very best way to put an end to this madness is to make all those enforce these ridiculous “protocols” pay for their abuses of our basic rights.
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope someday the American people wake up to whats happening in this country and rescind our consent to be governed in this manner.
Bergholt
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for writing this. In particular thank you for writing in such measured language about the people that detained you. It makes it clear where the problem is – not with badge carrying security people, but with a societal ‘norm’ which is terrifying. If I had been in your shoes I’m certain I’d be incapable of separating the people putting the cuffs on me from the insane system that tells them to do so. Of course I’m not going to be in your shoes. I’m a pale-skinned Anglo/American with an Anglo-Saxon name and therefore not subject to ‘racial profiling’ – the ‘acceptable’ new term for state-sanctioned racism – in either nation.
Bob Williams
/ September 13, 2011Welcome to the U.S.S.A.
Sue
/ September 13, 2011What a shocking situation for you , I would have been so full of fear , and I am sure that would have made me more ” suspicious” looking. I break out in a dripping hot flash for any emoyional situation . May be I should get a note from my GYN MD to carry when I fly. Anyway , I am praying for you and for them. Fear is a potent poision.
Sophie
/ September 13, 2011I can’t help but think this is the natural extension of that campaign of signs/posters that are all over the walls of airports nowadays… the ones that say “If you SEE something, SAY something!” Encouraging people to report ‘suspicious activity’ without giving any indication as to WHAT exactly is considered relevant or reportable.
Lana
/ September 13, 2011I am a pale-skinned blonde woman of northern European descent, unlikely ever to experience a traumatizing event like what you went through. I just want to say that you have my deepest sympathy and I am intensely opposed to racial profiling. It does not make feel safer. It only makes me embarrassed by our country.
ATS
/ September 13, 2011The hypocrisy of you complaining about someone judging you for your appearance, while you dismiss a female police officer as a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith” is astounding.
janinsanfran
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry our country is still in the grip of fears that make us fools, much worse than we have the potential to be.
In 2002, I had my own brush with airport follies and ended up in court.
Nothing about the experience made me feel more safe — and a lot made me feel less free.
Lakshmi
/ September 13, 2011Applaud your grace and dignity. I wonder how this whole scene would have played out if it were non-brown men using the restroom in succession. We truly have reached the tipping point as a nation.
B. Perry
/ September 13, 2011If someone makes an “I think there’s a terrorist onboard” complaint against someone else on an airplane, couldn’t that person themselves be a terrorist using a diversionary tactic to take suspicion off of him or herself? Such a tactic would be something that we should be mindful of. Although I don’t want this kind of search to be expanded to include more people getting abused than there already are. But it is something the authorities should keep in mind.
John
/ September 13, 2011You’ve got to admin that flying on a plane and sitting in your seat most of the flight while the other two get up and go the restroom is very, very suspicious. Joking, of course. Sorry you were violated.
Puzzled
/ September 13, 2011Hence the phrase “land of the free and home of the brave.” There can be no freedom with constant, unreasoning fear. And we all know who continually kicks up fear at every turn.
By the way, I don’t know how far gone the police state is. What I know is, in the early stages of a police state, which I assume we’re still in, it’s best not to talk to them. It’s best to demand an attorney as soon as you’re taken into custody, and to take the 5th on all non-Terry stop questions. In the late stages, that will get you killed. Here, it’s unlikely that they would have killed you for being silent. They would have ranted and raved and threatened not to let you go, but in the end, they probably would have let you go. It likely would have been the better move. But what you did was fine too.
JM Bell
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry you went through this.
I don’t know who did this to you, or why they did it, but I am sorry.
You and the other two guys didn’t deserve it – no one does.
Alan
/ September 13, 2011This has got to stop!! The land of the free? Not hardly. The land of the police is more like it. The average IQ of airline stewards and policemen are pretty much the same. Neither could figure out a threat until long after it has come to fruition.
What the f*%k is the strip search for?!
The airline crap has got to change.
John
/ September 13, 2011I’m really sorry you went through what you did. That’s utterly horrible. As a former-frequent traveller from Detroit, I cannot imagine the humiliation and anger you are feeling.
Chris Crase
/ September 13, 2011Wow, I feel so much safer! If you had nothing to hide, then why would you or anyone mind being dragged off a plane in front of everyone, handcuffed, locked in a cell, and strip searched by homeland security? Our declining empire is insane, and doing exactly what Bin Laden hoped it would do. Sorry you had to go through that. Its not right.
gsd0519
/ September 13, 2011Odd coincidence that your name is the same as the lead in Inglorious Basterds. Both subjected to scrutiny because of their race or religion.
doctorbabaguy
/ September 13, 2011This is not going to go away until one is able to sue the people who provide these false reports, and the airline companies, for malicious harassment and loss of reputation. One ought to be able to collect the names of the people concerned through the Freedom of Information Act and sue them.
Aki
/ September 13, 2011I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for them to drop prejudice already. Perhaps we need a Middle Eastern president after Obama.
Amy
/ September 13, 2011I am so very sorry that you had to have that happen to you. Disgusting the way you were treated 😦
Gil
/ September 13, 2011Donationcan..As an American citizen who happens to be a person of color and a military veteran, I have a serious problem with people being discriminated based on their skin color or appearance alone.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s easy for you, who from all appearances is obviously white to sit there and type that what she endured was not a sacrifice or painful. You have absolutely NO idea what it’s like to be assumed that you are a criminal or mistreated beacause of your skin tone. What happend to her and those other men was nothing short of criminal.
After all, it’s hypocritical to condemn other countries for this practice when we have and continue to do it.
George
/ September 13, 2011I’m appalled. I’m sorry you had to go through something like this. You should look into suing these lowlives and at least getting compensated for the time and anguish you had to go through.
I’m brown, and Indian. I’ve gotten my share of loosk on planes but thankfully I have a sizeable bladder and I used to pick window seats and not move at all during domestic flights.
I think my decision NOT to fly last week was worth it. I have not flown since they installed those see through radiation machines in airports. I recently visited my sister halfway across the country – took a couple of weeks off, and drove from the West Coast to the Midwest with my little boy. I did not want him to be sent through those radiation devices. We used to fly at least three times a year (many times six), but I haven’t flown even once since last July. Because of that I had a lot of vacation days piled up and I took them all.
The drive was tiring at times, but I could stop anytime I wanted, stretch my legs. The trip was never boring. On the way back, my son got sick, and had to go to the bathroom several times. Rest areas were plentyful and even though not as clean as home/hotel bathrooms, they were far better than airplanes and there was SPACE so I could help him. We got to see the country, many little towns and a lot of fun sights. We saw national parks, lots of animals, interesting geographical features, and learned cool things about places at each rest area.
After the 4100 mile round trip drive, I probably spent more money than I’d have if I had flown, but I do not regret it for one second. I did not have to go through the TSA clowns trying to get into my stuff, people strip searching my little boy and taking away his toys, cowardly people giving me the look (I usually get the double dose – for being brown and having a small child with me). I could bring as much water with me as I wanted, enough snacks and food and could operate on my schedule. And It was refreshing to see small town folks being friendly to a brown guy, it actually changed my impression about desolate little towns.
Next year, I’m going to drive again. I’d recommend it to anyone if they have time.
DC_Union_Thug
/ September 13, 2011Sorry this happened to you. It’s inexcusable and I, for one, won’t be flying Frontier until they issue a public apology.
Vali T.
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for your courage in sharing your story. It is so important for all of us to know what is going on under our very noses. I am a law student, and nothing I have learned has prepared me for undergoing such an ordeal. You pose the question about what your rights might be, and I think that’s the most frightening aspect of your post. It was clear the officers who detained you felt that you had no rights. But I also don’t know what rights we have in that kind of situation. But because of your post, I am on a mission to find out. Thank you for that gift.
Ebram
/ September 13, 2011One day while waiting for my daughter in a parking lot, she went into a bank, I was bored and took out a small pair of binoculars I had in my glove compartment. I looked around with them at trees, birds, stores and what ever else crossed my field of view. It wasn’t too long before I was arrested and pretty much went through the same as Shoshana. I felt pretty much the same as she felt. Later while reflecting I understood why. The way I felt while going through it doesn’t change but the understanding helps. I hope it helps Shoshana too.
Toby Barlow
/ September 13, 2011So sorry you had to go through that. It sounds terrible.
Shane K. Bernard
/ September 13, 2011I hope you get an attorney and sue the *&#% out of the airline, the police, and whoever it was who reported you for “acting suspicious.” Moreover, I hope you demand that the airline give you your money back and anything else you can get out of them for this humiliation, even if you do so merely to annoy them.
Nemesis
/ September 13, 2011“✈ Terrorism is the best political weapon. Nothing drives people harder than a FEAR of SUDDEN DEATH”
~ Adolf Hitler, 3rd Reich far right wing Nazi-Fascist Dictator, terrorist/terrorist leader (with WMDs), mass murderer, torturer, leader and cult-icon of Hitler-religion ‘Valhalla’ fundamentalism. ‘MISSION (Stalingrad) “ACCOMPLISHED” 1942’ man of 3rd Reich.
FBI Started to Build RACIAL PROFILING Database 2008 in 4th Reich (USA) – just like they had in 3rd Reich (Gestapo/IBM Hollerith machine…etc).
” FASCISM comes to America in the name of National Security” ~ Jim Garrison chief investigator and prosecutor in CASE: U.S. vs. Clay Shaw: Murder of President John F. Kennedy (JFK).
ephesians413
/ September 13, 2011I’m glad that you wrote about it. I can’t imagine having this happen to me or much less to someone I love. Living in fear of people who are simply different from us is evil.
Keith Forrester
/ September 13, 2011I found my hands clinched in rage when I finished reading this. You handled this better than I ever could have. I’m so sorry you had to go through this and the grace you are showing is incredible.
KC
/ September 13, 2011Anyone can say what they want if the events had of turned out differently on that plane we all would be questioning security again. Why she was also singled out I do not know, but errors are made in decisions in all area of law enforcement the proper way to handle it was just as she did cooperate and move on!
Jerry M.
/ September 13, 2011Perhaps if the “TSA” performed their jobs better on the front end, there would be no reason to accost an innocent person and strip search them at the END of the flight. I’m sure Shoshana went through the amazing security measures the “TSA” has in place to protect us! I, for one, am ashamed at how poorly this whole thing was handled, and I hope Shoshana will find some appropriate compensation for her horrific return home. My thoughts are with you, Shoshana.
calandrella
/ September 13, 2011I know the United States had gone way to far in their attempt to fight fire with fire, to upwithhold the citizens’ rights by infringing upon them. But I didn’t know it was this bad still. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Rebecca
/ September 13, 2011This is not my America. I am so sorry that this happened to you. You did not deserve this. We are becoming what we hate. Unfree.
I Made You A Mixtape
/ September 13, 2011Shocking. Such prejudice. I live in the UK, certainly no stranger to terrorism, however, I would find it hard to believe that in the UK, such blatant ignorant racial “profiling” would occur. Paranoia at its most vivid.
bill
/ September 13, 2011The one thing missing in the telling of these events is were you ever read your rights at any time?
WayneR
/ September 13, 2011The terrorists win
Queen D
/ September 13, 2011I am disgusted at our justice system and so sorry for what you had to go thru. Anyone that thinks we actually have “freedom” of anything these days needs to read this and realize just how badly it could have gone had they “found” evidence against you or those other men instead of not finding anything else on the plane.
Hitobito
/ September 13, 2011BTW, get yourself a good lawyer. You had your constitutionally protected rights against unlawful search and seizure violated, unlawful detainment, and a host of other criminal events. This should be worth millions to you and your family.
vidfootienepal
/ September 13, 2011thanks for this blogs………..i like this blogs……….and thanks for all this well commentators………………..grate job…………….http://www.vidfootie.com/soccer/index/video/all/2/30
asdf
/ September 13, 2011or, they could have used their common sense if they still even had any. The plane was landed, the trip was over. If the three of them were terrorists, wouldn’t they have done their dastardly deed BEFORE the end of their flight?
JoeM
/ September 13, 2011When you are detained like this, are you under arrest (and subject to Miranda, etc.) or are you not (and hence free to go)? Any attorneys care to weigh in?
Jennifer
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I too am Arabic, I just dont look like it because im only about 1/4th. This makes me so sad that people do these kinds of things, this is whats wrong with the world. I cant say how many times ive had to correct people when they generalize arabics as terrorists. Its so sad. I hope there is something that can be done about this..
Josh Mitchell
/ September 13, 2011I am completely appalled this happened to you Shoshi. The fact that things like this continue to happen 10 years after, and the fact that the Patriot Act still continues on to this day solidifies to me that as a country we have damaged ourselves more than any terrorist every could have. Have you contacted the ACLU?
erlinda b-singson
/ September 13, 2011I salute you for your courage and calmness to deal the situation in a very positive manner. It sad that sometimes Authorities goes over board on their process but they have their responsibilities to protect all American citizens against the evill terrorism that still happening around the world. I admire your courage to address the issues that we should not be judge by the color of our skin. God Bless you.
Don Greathouse
/ September 13, 2011While I sympathize with your predicament quite fully. I do believe that the inhumanity of the persons who conducted the 911 attacks deserve due diligence to prevent further such events .I also believe as a secondary consideration they wanted such events as happened to you to occur to further divide our ability and will to decisively react to such a heinous action
Don Greathouse
/ September 13, 2011Why is this post still waiting for moderation last I heard we are home of the free I did not offend anyone other than certain political offilations with that comment
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011All new comments have to await moderation
Mainul H Mustafa
/ September 13, 2011Sure we do need enhanced vigillance but not at the cost of our civil rights. If we show that level of paranoia at the shadow of a squirrell, then I am sure pretty soon our fanciest homes would look like warfront bunkers. Are we eady to go that far?
CGY
/ September 13, 2011poor american….moderation….
D
/ September 13, 2011i am more worried about that passengers, i say good job to the FBI. The people 10 years ago would not have minded. Im more affended your using your ethnecity to write a viral blog, get your 15 min of fame. This PC crap needs to stop. What happened to the good of the many.
Steve
/ September 13, 2011So you volunteering to be anally probed, D? No? But it’s okay for “them,” right?
Jacob
/ September 14, 2011I’m glad you’re volunteering to be detained and cavity searched after having successfully landed on a flight with no incident! Seriously, you’re an asshole and a bigot to come on someone’s blog and tell them they don’t have the right to feel violated for having been cavity searched for no reason. Yes how great she used her “ethnecity [sic] to write a viral blog,” I’m sure that was her intent! Not, you know, reporting, because she’s a journalist. It’s amazing that bigots like you can try to turn any issue around and be “affended” [sic] about them. That “PC crap” doesn’t even come into play in this case because it’s about someone’s legal rights not be discriminated against legally due to their race, creed or religion. I suggest you read the damn constitution and if you don’t like go somewhere else, in the mean time I wish we had countless more citizens like the OP who would use their first amendment rights to speak out about violations of their 4th and 14th amendment rights for no reason but some paranoid flyover country jerk.
David Dunn
/ September 14, 2011The “good of the many”, as you put it, is EXACTLY that against which the Constitution protects every individual. Your “good of the many” was the mantra of Soviet Russia, and was the basis on which tanks were sent into Tienanmen Square in Beijing.
J
/ September 14, 2011Subju’gation in it’s truest form. Don’t think just do as your told and all will be well. I’m sure Big Brother would love to shake your hand D.
Duane
/ September 14, 2011The good of the many does not, never has, and never can outweigh the good of the few. That would be un-American. Our own founding documents say as much, and refer to “certain INALIENALBE rights”, that apply across the board, period.
It HAS TO be that way.
Yes, that means some bd guys MIGHT get through. But if we don’t take tht chance, then we as a nation WILL become the bad guys, and WILL become evil ourselves. After all, the bad guys are gonna keep trying to get through no matter what we do. Sometimes they will succeed. The only thing we can control 100% is how we can react to it.
And by the way – this comes from a Republican, White, NRA-member, Army veteran (five combat tours), Firefighter who lost friends on 9/11 and more in the wars since. I know that hard decisions must be made – I’ve made enough of them myself. But I also know that I fight for freedom, and if we abridge the rights of the few to placate the fears of the many, then we are no better than any other despot. I won’t support that. In fact, I’m pledged to fight against it. Another 9/11 will happen somewhere, eventually, so how shall we live our lives in the meantime?
Mike
/ September 14, 2011Yep!
Joe
/ September 14, 2011Duane – you are so right. I also lost a friend in the 9/11 attack. He was a huge fan of our constitution and civil liberties. I know for a fact he would be appalled at what has become of our great country. Land of the spied upon and home of the afraid.
momsomniac
/ September 14, 2011Beautifully put. Thank you.
Amy
/ September 15, 2011You are right – I respect that, and maybe my term ‘for the greater good’ wasn’t used properly. If she was wrongly searched and interrogated, if they did not do their ‘due diligence’ and go by the letter of the law that is there to protect us and our basic rights, then yes, the ‘greater good’ goes out the window and we have lost an important part of what makes us America, land of the free. However, if the search was conducted by the letter of the law, and with what was deemed probable cause, then I think it needs to be looked as simply an unfortunate place and time for her in which an incident occurred in an effort to protect fellow citizens and visitors (the ‘greater good’), rather than a violation of individual and civil liberties.
Shane
/ September 14, 2011Mr D, I don’t know about your ethnicity, but surely you are one dumb, illiterate person who can’t even write a simple paragraph without screwing up.
reality hits the fan
/ September 14, 2011I am only going to say, D must be on to something If all you can type is DUMB.. Stupid is what stupid does… Go head D keep up the good work.. Shane YOU are a perfect Example of IGnorance BEhavior….Cut the Crap! STop… Be NIce…
Kathryn Hyde (@Pity_Kitty)
/ September 19, 2011D…is that you?
reality hits the fan
/ September 14, 2011I like your comment D. Tell it like It tiiss… 9/11 victims where targeted for just going to work…. And got their life taking from them…She is still walking around /complaining …. Get real SHOSHANA.
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011So violating someone’s constitutional rights is ok. But using one of those rights to write a blog post is offensive?
And if you do support strip searching people based on race for the “good of the many” why don’t you want all white people strip searched in Oklahoma city after Timothy Mcvay, or in Norway after the recent attacks there, or in the south seeing what the KKK has done. Its easy to support racial profiling when its not you’re race involved.
Ajay
/ September 14, 2011Bingo.
Ajay
/ September 14, 2011@Chetan:
> Its easy to support racial profiling when its not you’re race involved.
Bingo.
Melody Elliott Koontz
/ September 14, 2011RU kidding me with this? Think people. Think!! Some kookie person thinks something is suspicious and that’s all it takes??
jen
/ September 15, 2011melody….that’s not what happened. why are you getting your info off some blog – when you don’t even know this person.
why not read the actual Homeland Security report…then you will have an informed opinion…and I guarantee…it will be different than what you just wrote.
(while you are at it — please go read about ALL the events surrounding the shoe-bomber and the bravery of the flight attendants and the rest of the flight crew — and see if you don’t find any similarities — like — EXACTLY the behavior of a guy with a REAL BOMB in his shoe!)
Some of you people writing on here are so ill-informed — it’s scary!!
You do NOT know this woman, yet take her word for it — her story is riddled with lies and inaccuracies. No one is actually doing their own research to find out what the truth is and what the facts are.
Super scary!
Is this how you vote, too? by taking someone’s word for it that you don’t even know, never met, never heard from, never talked to?
wow people…just wow!
Go vet the story people — learn the truth!
John
/ September 15, 2011Don’t waste your time with jen, she does not know what she is talking about.
Here is the latest:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44513757/ns/travel-news/t/decision-remove-woman-airplane-disputed/
Love my Country!
/ September 15, 2011thank you John. It shows Jen knows exactly what she is talking about!!!(
( I think you have a typo, there, dude!)
Yes….just like Jen said, the article states it perfectly:
“When that happens, it raises suspicion. It did in this case, both in the minds of our guests and the flight crew.”
The flight was one of two for which fighter jets were scrambled Sunday after crews reported suspicious activity on Sunday, officials said. In both cases, it involved bathroom use. In neither case did authorities find anything to substantiate the suspicions.”
Yes, the crew definitely had their own suspicions raised by this activity!
And the fact that the other three men on the other flight were Israeli’s and WHITE!! I suppose that is “racial profiling”, too!! LOLOLOL!!
Guess that just blew this RACIST blogger’s argument right out of the window. She is soooo doomed!
She has been exposed as being a RACIST BIGOT — calling people “fatty” and “redneck” — what a BIGOT!!!!!! Just shameful!
Glad they fingerprinted her a**….she’ll be marked for life!!! And she only has herself to blame.
Nothing she can do now to undo it — she is a target — for life.
Love it! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 15, 2011Hi there 🙂
You must have missed the bit that said:
“The crew on Frontier Airlines flight 623 followed security protocols on Sunday, spokesman Peter Kowalchuk said in an email Wednesday to The Associated Press.
The crew “responded to concerns expressed by passengers on their aircraft about the suspicious activity of two gentlemen . and only two gentlemen,” Kowalchuk said. “After that, what happened was out of the control of the Frontier crew or anyone at Frontier Airlines, for that matter.
“When they arrived and boarded the aircraft, the authorities did not consult any member of the crew . not the pilots, not the flight attendants . before taking action and removing the two men and a third person, Ms. Hebshi.”
What appears to have happened is the the procedure involved giving the seat numbers of the passengers that had been flagged. When the swat team boarded the went to that row, took the two gentlemen that had been flagged, and took Ms. Hebshi as well because she sorta kinda looked interesting.
So if we are to believe the airline involved:-
She happened to be sitting in the same row as two Indian gentlemen who were strangers to her and to each other.
One of the gents was airsick. The other also wanted to use the bathroom.
*Passengers* raise a concern. That triggered a mandatory procedure for the airline.
The rest is history.
In the case of the New York flight :-
American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said the plane’s captain never declared a security threat and never asked for law enforcement help. A “security concern” was brought to the airline’s attention and the crew used “normal procedures” to assess the circumstances, he said. The plane landed as planned.
“In our eyes, it’s a big nothing,” Smith added.”
It is interesting that you take delight in a fellow-citizen being treated like that, and being fingerprinted and “marked for life”.
You use the handle “Love My Country!”
Yes, the scenery in America can be quite stunning. But perhaps you could consider the society that currently exists. Y’know, stuff like ‘What exactly is Freedom?’ ‘Does ‘freedom’ involve being respectful to others? Does it involve it involve a government being respectful to the citizens?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011“It is unusual for people to spend 10 to 20 minutes in the small lavatories on our Airbus aircraft. When that happens, it raises suspicion. It did in this case, both in the minds of our guests and the flight crew.”
“Unusual” does not raise suspicion in the minds of people of ordinary prudence. People suffering a condition of artificially-generated fear, such as in the climate of terror created, perpetuated, and emphasized by the media and the government for the tenth “anniversary” of 9/11, are not possessed of ordinary prudence.
The first responsibility of the soldierly responding to the flight crew’s suspicions was to take this into consideration and determine whether the suspicions had a rational foundation comprehensible to a person of ordinary prudence. We do not deploy highly trained combatants to respond to irrational fears, by acting against the object of those fears, where there is obviously no identifiable proximate threat to anyone or anything. We deploy such trained and experienced defenders to assess the threat that suspicion has caused someone to imagine may exist.
The object of the action of the police was to intensify the climate of terror for all those who witnessed, or learned of, the action. There was no threat, and there was nothing that would raise suspicion in the mind of someone of ordinary prudence. The suspicion was raised by skin that was not “white,” in the minds of people conditioned to react with suspicion to anything unfamiliar involving people with skin of any darker color.
What is frightening in this is that so many Americans are so easy to train, like one would train a puppy, to roll over.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011“soldierly” in my second paragraph should be “soldiery.” I should have used “troops.”
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 15, 2011Someday – not quite yet – but sometime
Someone with a name like Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki will be elected President of the US.
The election of Barak (Sounds-like-a-terrorist) Obama was ‘one small election for a man, one giant election for Amerikind’.
No, the new guy won’t be a rabid Islamist intent on imposing Sharia law. He’ll be a rabid right-wing Republican, or maybe some other flavour – maybe a Republican with a clue – like Ron Paul. Maybe he’ll be a Democrat. Maybe there will be a new party born out of frustration with the games of the incumbent parties.
In the great melting pot, he’ll have the name by accident of birth and the inclination because a person is not a name or a colour.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011Someday – not quite yet – but sometime …
Someone with a name like Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki will be elected President of the US.
That’s very flattering, thank you. I thank God that what He has given me to write has reached you, and I thank you for letting me know that.
But in my considered opinion, as a senior jurisprudent of muslim law, as a court of last resort, as a professor of law, as a commander of the faithful, as an apostolic successor to the Messenger of the Covenant Muhammad, as a thousandth-generation American, and as a very ordinary flesh-and-blood man capable of error, America should not elect a muslim President. A devoted muslim would be a good judge in American law, or a Supreme Court Justice, or an advisor to a President or legislator, but should not be an American President or legislator. Here are a few of the reasons:
1. America as we know it today began as a federation of Christian states, governed and administered by devoted Christians applying laws derived from Christian principles. Not all of those laws were actually consistent with Christian principles ~ some were inherited from Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence that derived from the harsh and hard demands of the Old Testament and the Talmud, and were neither just nor fair, nor rational or sensible for a society dedicated to religious and political liberty. But by and large, America was founded by Christians as a Christian country, and was a Christian country. It is still, today, a Christian-majority country, and in the Grand Scheme of God’s Plan for humanity, will remain so, and become once again a Christian country, ever more faithful to what Jesus actually brought than were the original Colonies. American federal, state, county, and municipal government should be administered primarily by Christians who bring Christian integrity to their oaths of office. The majority of Americans could thus have confidence that their common affairs are administered according to laws they have freely adopted of their own volition, and governmental administration wholeheartedly supported by the majority of the people would be effective in satisfying all of the needs of all of the people. This is not “utopian,” it is common sense “civilization” for a human society, replacing the dog-eat-dog Darwinian rat race oppressing humanity today.
2. Christians, who are heirs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus, inherit the eternal distinction of serving humanity as ministers of God’s Kingdom. The original heirs, who refused to follow the Messiah Jesus in turning the ministry outward to the nations and instead continued to minister only to their own elites at the expense of the common people (a complete reversal of what they were given), elected instead to join the coercive governments of the nations that do not know the God of Abraham, and have another everlasting role in a world of darkness and anguish. Muslims (and others) may join this work, this ministry, but it is the religious obligation of Christians who have been given guidance and instruction by God on how to satisfy that obligation. Muslims play a different role in the affairs of the world at hand, and administer the affairs of muslims, not the affairs of others ~ we support Christian administrations, respect the Christian distinction from all other ministries, defend the pacific against the aggressive, resist tyranny, oppose coercive oppression in all of its forms and instances, and fight tyranny and oppression claiming the authority of God, Who tyrannizes, oppresses, or coerces no one. We do not administer the affairs of others, not even the affairs of muslim communities or nations other than those in which we reside.
3. God gives no one any right to coercively determine the bounds of freedom of another, except in cases of bloodshed or bondage, where He prescribes duties that He leaves us free to fail. For example, “Whoso sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” ~ a duty invoked by an unlawful act of bloodshed ~ is a Law that He does not require us to enforce, but that we may adopt or not. Similarly God’s “natural Law” requires that we provide for those we hold in bondage a subsistence and comfort level comparable to our own, and opportunity to free themselves from that bondage ~ but He neither coerces our compliance nor authorizes anyone else to coerce compliance with natural Law, we are free to govern ourselves (or not) as we choose. We are also free to entrust to another, or to others, a right to determine bounds on our freedom ~ that is, to make decisions for us that determine the course of our lives or resolve a confliction, as a parent may do for a child. And while we are also free to refuse to accept such a trust, to “govern” another, God’s natural Law requires us to accept that trust when someone seeks to impose it on us, and God will enable us to fulfill it ~ unless that “power” is something we have desired and sought for ourselves, in which case He will not help us with it.
Thus someone who seeks and competes for a position of power and authority over the lives of others is least likely to be able to fulfill the public trust ~ such a “candidate” is seeking to fulfill his own demands by means of the public’s power, not to fulfill the trust that the people invest in him. And God leaves him alone with that, He does not help him achieve his own aims by prostituting the public trust at the expense of those who have trusted him. One example: almost every American President since Hamilton.
Every muslim knows this. Any muslim seeking election to an office of actual motive power is not seeking to serve the people, but to use the power of the people to achieve his own (or his party’s) ends, at the expense of all of the people. Electing a muslim President should occur only when that muslim is the candidate least able to cause damage, because he will do little else. (I consistently vote for the candidate that I think is least able to use the power of the office he or she is running for.)
Judiciary office is not like the Executive Presidency or the Legislative offices. The Legislature directs, the President acts ~ but the Judiciary resolves conflicts already manifested by the actions of the parties. I would not vote (in State elections) for a muslim candidate for the office of Judge or Justice, but would support the appointment of an otherwise qualified muslim to be a judge or justice.
4. Muslims administer the affairs of muslims ~ who, at least theoretically, govern themselves, resolve disputes peacably between themselves, and otherwise present little in the way of “difficulty” such as we see in America’s federal and State civil and criminal courts, in partisan battles in the legislatures, and in aggressive military adventurism aimed at conquest and natural resources possessed by others. Our siyasa ~ political science and administration ~ is predicated on the existence of a civilized human society made up of cooperative and caring neighbors of any religious or philosophical persuasion who (excepting criminals) resolve differences in a civil fashion, which may, notwithstanding the society’s pacific character, come under attack from without or within, for any number of bad reasons. It is not predicated on political administration of a conflicted society administered by people competing for total and exclusive coercive dominion by means of parties made up of domesticated slaves deprived of opportunities to realize their essential human nature and any hope of developing a human civilization without Divine Intervention and instantaneous miraculous supernatural transformation. Muslims could, with the help of God, assist in restoring the libertarian character of American society, but over the course of fourteen centuries of unIslamic imperialism have largely lost those sciences of siyasa necessary to that task. Indigenous American muslims with no ethnic heritage of Islam are recovering those sciences from beneath those centuries of tyrannical accretions, but it may take years, if not longer, for America’s muslims to “unlearn” the politics of discontent and discord and recover their heritage in Abraham.
5. Look at the reaction of America’s closet (or not-so-closet) racists to the election of Obama. Think about the reaction of right-wing Christian zionists to the election of a muslim as President. A long way downstream, they’ll still be around, living in the same Fire they’re living in today. The likelihood of a muslim majority in America, before the moon escapes its orbit and flies off in the direction of the sun, is pretty slim if it exists at all. The demonization of Islam, and muslims, the fear-mongering, and the terroristic atmosphere, will fade away, but the people of the Fire will still be burning a thousand years from now, and a million, and more, the real Christians simply will not be able to rescue all of them. Christians minister to them and protect them from each other ~ muslims defend people from them when others can’t, and so it will be.
The election of Barak (Sounds-like-a-terrorist) Obama was ‘one small election for a man, one giant election for Amerikind’.
A burning Bush of a different color.
No, the new guy won’t be a rabid Islamist intent on imposing Sharia law. He’ll be a rabid right-wing Republican, or maybe some other flavour – maybe a Republican with a clue – like Ron Paul. Maybe he’ll be a Democrat. Maybe there will be a new party born out of frustration with the games of the incumbent parties.
The party of the faithful is not of that world.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011Fatties and Rednecks are races?
Wow, you are some kind of idiot, that’s for sure.
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011This woman is obviously fiendishly clever. As her cover she is using a Jewish website: http://www.interfaithfamily.com/relationships/marriage_and_relationships/Diversity_of_Color_Shines_Through_Black_and_White_Photo_Exhibit.shtml
kakaye
/ September 15, 2011Hi jen, why don’t you provide us with a link to your DHS report (of course I still prefer to believe my friend’s sister than DHS…can you blame me ?).
Funny how your “uninformed” arguments could apply exactly to yourself. Scary indeed.
Nikhil Bagri
/ September 14, 2011Awaiting moderation by who?
emerson
/ September 14, 2011how long does it usually take
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011Hey Jenny
How do you make a post that is not a reply? I’m nerdly challeged.
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011Also keyboarding challenged – sorry
momsomniac
/ September 13, 2011..and you are free to say anything you want, but believe it our not – the 1st Amendment doesn’t guarantee you the right to say it anywhere, at anytime, to anybody and face no consequences. What it guarantees is the right to free speech without interference by the government. This is someone’s blog – it’s like her home on the internet. We all, in our own homes, reserve the right to refuse entry.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Exactly. People seem to lack understanding of the First Amendment. It does not guarantee freedom of speech free of interference by private individuals, or free from consequence. It guarantees that the GOVERNMENT won’t impinge on one’s right to free speech.
This blog is not run by the government. If the owner of the blog wants to block a post, she’s free to do that and it is not a violation of the poster’s First Amendment rights.
And I think that if “Don Greathouse” took a look at some of the vile and ugly posts that are in the comments, he or she would see that Ms. Shebshi does not seem afraid of differences of opinion.
Tracey
/ September 13, 2011After first reading your account of the events following your flight, I had sympathy for you. However after reading the other posts on your blog I can’t help but believe that this was some sort of “experiment” you were conducting for future blog material. Sorry, If it sounds cold, but it seems to fit right in with the theme of this blog. It would be interesting to hear the accounts of just how suspicious those around you thought you were acting.
tla
/ September 13, 2011I am horrified by your treatment. I hope that you will sue the Federal government for sexual abuse, a violation of your civil rights, kidnapping, intimidation and any other pertinent charges. This can’t be happening in a country that was built on Freedom! How much will we tolerate? Stories like this incite people to turn against their government. It is a matter of time before the revolution begins….it is in the air.
Elizabeth Fernandez
/ September 13, 2011I am really sorry to hear about what happpened to you Soshana. I know how violated you feel. My husband had a similar experience while travelling on business with a colleague of his. They were interrogated and detained for no other reason than their looks. The marshall on the plane told my husband that he saw him watching other passengers come in and that was suspicious. We are of Indian origin. Unfortunately most Americans club the rest of the world by the color of their skin and know not much about history, religion, cluture or values. Their fears stem from their ignorance of the rest of the world. With more educational programs offering study abroad and international studies, I hope these biases will be erased.
bk
/ September 13, 2011obviously she does b/c she wont post my comments…gg noobv
John
/ September 13, 2011Allison..We all respect and agree with some of your arguments. But..unfortunately, living in New York, we have a greater sense of what needs to be watched, and..when we see this type of issue arise, the sensetivity of the person involved drops lower than that of the well being of hundreds or thousands.We all need to be cognizent of the fact that we were attacked and by “friendly” saudis might I add. No one, dark, light , asian, mexican, or other should be free from the possibility of search. It should make us all understand that it is necessary to prevent the type of thing that happened on 9-11 from happening again. It wasn’t only white blonde blue eyed catholics who died on 9-11, it was a cross cut of every culture who died unnecessarily that day. Some jumped to their deaths, some got crushed buy a million pounds of steel and concrete, and some died years later of lung diseases. Look beyond your own vanity, accept that this will become a regular part of life, and blog for the good in life.
Ron
/ September 13, 2011No.
One of the reasons there is *explicit* rights is so they would not be subverted by majorities even though in a democracy a majority usually decides everything. Even to this day there might still be states that would allow slavery or certainly jim crow laws if there was no explicit rights disallowing them.
So, sorry NYC citizens do not get a special permission to search whoever they feel like nor are their feelings somehow able to circumvent the constitution. The fact is that a possibility of a 9/11 like attack was completely removed on 9/11/01 on flight 93. The passengers realized the rules of hijacking had changed and grounded the flight (quite literally) . They did what the best Americans would do, they sacrificed themselves to save others. That plus the reinforced cockpit door are the things that will prevent another 9/11 from happening.
Of course, there may still be other kinds of terrorist attacks, car bombs, suicide bomb, etc. But I think a plane being used as a missile is done.
-Ron
s.
/ September 14, 2011john, please do not purport to speak for all of new york. many of us here in new york disagree with you.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I appreciate that I cannot understand what it was like to be in NYC on that day. But invoking the deaths of those victims to justify the violation of Constitutional rights on the say-so of any report of anything for any reason by anybody is an insult to the foundation of this country.
Those people did not die in order that we should allow random strip and cavity searches of someone simply because another person said “I’m suspicious.” That kind of leeway only lends itself to abuse.
And with all due respect, I disagree that people who have been directly victimized have a “greater sense of what needs to be watched.” In fact, I would argue the opposite – that being the victim of a crime increases the likelihood of bias and suspicion. It’s why we no longer allow vigilante, Western-style justice.
I do not accept that this will become a regular part of life, for anyone. I do not accept that Americans will willingly allow the destruction of their most cherished beliefs about freedom, equality, and justice. I believe that Americans are bigger and better than that. I believe that if we recognize that the current security theater to which all of us are subjected is useless at best, and actively damaging not only to our safety but to our way of life at worst, we will demand a better system.
Tina
/ September 14, 2011I think people who have been victims of violence are far more sensitive to similar crimes, and far more aware of their surroundings because of it. Until you’ve been a victim of crime you can not ever understand the feelings it invokes, so with all due respect you’re more than within your constitutional rights (which you love to mention) to disagree, but you have no clue what you’re talking about.
When you lose a child to miscarriage you’re far more in tune and sensitive to child loss, when you lose a loved one to alcoholism you’re far more sensitive to those struggling with addiction.
And how is being the victim of a crime, and sensitive to your surroundings becoming being biased and suspicious resulting in vigilante western style justice? You seem to be making great leaps from one place to another on a whim.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Tina, you’re right that victims become more sensitive. But I would argue that such sensitivity, while being good in some situations, makes victims hypervigilant in a way that causes them to see suspicious activity where none exists. THAT is the bias I meant. The bias created by being a victim is why in criminal court cases, the case is always “The State of… v. The Defendant,” not “Victim v. Defendant.” By definition, we want to remove bias from our criminal justice system, so we don’t allow victims to bring charges to increase the likelihood that the case is handled without bias.
I would argue, with all possible respect to survivors of 9/11 and people who were in NYC that day and anyone directly or indirectly affected by that day, that such victimization makes those people uniquely unable to be unbiased in their determination of suspicious activity.
Finally, my point was that when we didn’t have the benefits of a system of criminal justice that removed victim bias, we had vigilantism, and I don’t think that we really want that.
Melissa
/ September 14, 2011You have way too much time on your hands. Don’t you have anything better to do?
Andrea
/ September 14, 2011Tina, your argument makes no sense.
First of all, you are using a lame trope of winning by disqualifying your opponent based on some standard that cannot be verified, such as imposing the requirement that one be a victim in order to be able to speak to the topic. If you plan to do this, then you must state your own qualifications as a victim. Additionally, you don’t know anything about Allison, especially whether or not she’s ever been a victim. You assume that if she had, she would naturally agree with you.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY: The victims of 9/11 are dead. Therefore, the only people who could be on the plane who would be “sensitve” and “far more aware of their surroundings” due to an experience of victimization were not on that plane that day.
Further, losing a loved one to alcoholism does not make you an expert on diagnosing other people’s alcoholism, but could make you more empathetic or angry toward those people. Hence biased.
9/11 changed the world. Specifically it made us a nation of irrational, violent, racist, and terrified souls.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011Exactly. This is why, for instance, during a jury selection, depending on the case you are asked certain questions to qualify bias. If you have been a victim of the crime being prosecuted, you will not be selected to be on that jury because there is too much risk of you being biased.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 20119/11 changed the world. Specifically it made us a nation of irrational, violent, racist, and terrified souls.
No, it gave the nation’s irrational, violent, racist and terrified souls a rallying cry for their crusade against everyone else, and recruited them to support and advance the aggressive agendas of would-be emperors and military adventurers. Just as it was intended to do.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I appreciate that I cannot understand what it was like to be in NYC on that day. But invoking the deaths of those victims to justify the violation of Constitutional rights on the say-so of any report of anything for any reason by anybody is an insult to the foundation of this country.
Those people did not die in order that we should allow random strip and cavity searches of someone simply because another person said “I’m suspicious.” That kind of leeway only lends itself to abuse.
And with all due respect, I disagree that people who have been directly victimized have a “greater sense of what needs to be watched.” In fact, I would argue the opposite – that being the victim of a crime increases the likelihood of bias and suspicion. It’s why we no longer allow vigilante, Western-style justice.
I do not accept that this will become a regular part of life, for anyone. I do not accept that Americans will willingly allow the destruction of their most cherished beliefs about freedom, equality, and justice. I believe that Americans are bigger and better than that. I believe that if we recognize that the current security theater to which all of us are subjected is useless at best, and actively damaging not only to our safety but to our way of life at worst, we will demand a better system.
bill
/ September 14, 2011Well said, Allison.
Steve C Sullivan
/ September 14, 2011Allison, What ideas do you have that can change security?
Allison
/ September 14, 2011First, you’ll have to tell me how we’re insecure. Then, when can talk about changes.
Mister Aloha
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry, but i know of several countries that would love to see the USA wiped off this planet.
Because of that, like those that created the fears of 9-11, i’ll give in to certain searches to keep me safe on a plane.
In total 3,497 people died in the attacks on September 11, 2001
19 cowards – the terrorists who hijacked four airliners and murdered 3,497 people – also died
The Arabs are not like the Japanese……Japan surrendered to America…..majority of Arabs believe in the Quran…..and the Quran preaches to kill those that do not believe.
Copy and paste this for more info on the Quran………..
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm
That is why America does what we need to do, keep other Americans safe and away from harm.
You can always move to the Arab countries since you feel for them so much……I feel for the families that lost love ones from that incident. Why do you think in those countries there are not alot of terrorist attackes, because their government gives you NO rights…..so stop complaining about some of the rights we lose to keep all of America safe.
iknowu
/ September 14, 2011Quran does NOT preaches to those who do not believe. On the contrary Muslim believes that Jews and Christians are ‘people of book’. Look at the history and u will know that Jews and Christian were so safe under the muslim rule in Spain, while when christian conquered the Spain, they slayed the Jews left and right!!! Also tell me the religion of Hitler. The link you posted has some sentences picked out of context and most of them are plain lie. Stop spreading hate.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Mister Aloha, YOU may be willing to give up your freedoms (although I have a feeling that when it comes right down to it, you probably wouldn’t), but you don’t get to give up OTHER people’s freedoms against their will.
When Americans start supporting the loss of the very freedoms upon which this country was founded, then we begin to lose the war.
Ray Martinez
/ September 14, 2011So… your argument is that there’s lots of terrorism in countries that have no rights, therefore we should eliminate our rights to pursue more security!?
Ajay
/ September 14, 2011@Mister Aloha:
>Why do you think in those countries there are not alot of terrorist
>attackes, because their government gives you NO rights…..so stop
>complaining about some of the rights we lose to keep all of America safe.
Excellent example: You want America to follow other countries who give no rights to its citizens.
You must be a great patriot.
A
/ September 14, 2011wow. do people go for things like this? (of course they do). how ridiculous! do me a favour and grab a quran for yourself. give it a read. it says to respect all those around you and actually is a religion of peace. and no, i’m not religious at all.
i’m assuming you’re Hawaiian. i’m going to now label you all as retarded.
Windem Lewis
/ September 15, 2011Firstly the Quran does not preach death to those who don’t believe, far from it, maybe read the Quran itself before you shout your mouth off. I could quite easily write an essay about how all Buddhist use peace as a front to violence, but just because my text exists does not make it true, the only way to know something is to read or experience it yourself.
Secondly you talk about Americans as if they are special, that they are superior to all other countries, which just is not the case, yes they are the biggest bullies on the planet, but really? A Country built upon hate and slavery really should not class itself as the greatest nation on earth.
Many people died on 9/11/01, but the reality is many people die every day the only difference is they aren’t Americans so it doesn’t matter. But it does matter, America has probably killed more people in the last 60 years than any other countries on the planet put together. And the worst of it all, the world still seems more preoccupied with race and religion than any truth or justice.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011Those people did not die in order that we should allow random strip and cavity searches of someone simply because another person said “I’m suspicious.” That kind of leeway only lends itself to abuse.
Oh, dear. That’s exactly why they died ~ to allow this abuse. The PATRIOT Act was already written, long before 9/11.
Leopoldo
/ September 14, 2011All your arguments to demmand a “better system” fall short when we realize that we are living in a world that brought violence to our daily lives from abroad and internally and we have to prevent instead of reacting to such henious acts against humanity.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011How many daily events of violence are there, Leopoldo? All I see is a bunch of “what ifs” and fear mongering.
rba8053
/ September 14, 2011Thanks to the police and their actions in response to suspicions there are only “What ifs.” Had the police been so careful so as not to offend anyone because they looked arab or indian or whatever race, a lot of those what ifs would be actual events.
corporatewifenokids
/ September 14, 2011you’re kidding right? I’m a typical white woman and I am always pulled aside to be patted down and/or put through additional full body scanners…every time I fly (which is why I’ve stopped all together). This should not be a regular part of life. I fought in this nation’s military and took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution. I’ve watched as my friends has been wounded and some died… and see our rights be trampled just so people can have a “feeling” of safety is ludicrous. This new police state has in fact hindered my business and my personal life. Terrorism should not have changed the rights of American citizens. However since our rights have and are being taken away you should ask, have the terrorists won?
Kathryn Hyde (@Pity_Kitty)
/ September 19, 2011Please don’t allow the above comment through! I don’t think I read the other one properly! Thanks and apologies.
Susan Pease Banitt, LCSW
/ September 14, 2011It would not have prevented 9/11 from happening. There is no evidence that this form of “security” is anything more than theater to make people like you feel safe.
Tiff
/ September 14, 2011I would love to hear your response to her blog if you had been interrogated, strip searched, had someone’s fingers shoved up your ass, and to add injury to insult, had an officer under the guise of apology tell you that you must not mind the heat because of where your ancestors come from, and all of it based solely on the way you look, with no other cause for suspicion. No probable cause for such violations of basic human rights other than “we don’t like your face”… Where is your sense of humanity?!
ashley
/ September 15, 2011well stated. thank you.
jackie
/ September 15, 2011yea…sort of like how you lack an understanding of what the constitution does (or does not) guarantee and what rights one person has, as opposed to the rest of the people on a plane.
oh well — too bad — what’s done is done and all you have is some anonymous website that will be forgotten about in a few days and nothing will come of it. why? because blogger was in the wrong and you have no idea what you are talking about – you have no leverage – no power – no gumption – otherwise you would be taking action – not filling your sad days and nights monitoring every comment on someone else’ blog and trying to defend the indefensible.
“vile and ugly” is what this blogger has revealed herself to be — calling people “rednecks” and “fatty’s”, et al.
I’m neither and even I am very offended — the writing is very racist and bigoted. And if that is your mentality – -then that’s how you see the world so this person has serious psychological issues that she needs to deal with and get help with and not put off on others.
of course, I am right! 😉
Dawn
/ September 14, 2011well said!
David
/ September 14, 2011Exactly. And when you buy a plane ticket, you acknowledge the fact that you may be searched at any time, even without reason. I’m an arab looking american and I don’t mind being questioned or searched because I have nothing to hide. And I’m not going to make a big deal about missing dinner. What the heck do you expect when you fly on the anniversary of the worst attack on our nation, ever!
Steve
/ September 13, 2011You offend me by you inability to spell.
David
/ September 13, 2011As an American I am disgusted with your treatment. I am sorry! Seems this was the result of some overactive emotional flight attendants. I hope that Frontier has offered you some type of compensation for what they put you through.
Guest
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for letting us know that the female officer who strip-searched you was a fat black woman. That was a really important part of your story.
Maegil
/ September 13, 2011Bless your heart. I’m sorry that anyone would have to go through that unnecessarily, but I appreciate that you seem to have borne the experience well and with a level head. I’m not sure I would have been able to do the same- my sarcastic nature would probably have got the better of me.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and your feelings about it.
John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet
/ September 13, 2011Many years ago, I hear from a reliable source, that if one has a high score on an intelligence test to become a law enforcement officer of any type, they are not accepted. I believe our U.S. law enforcement officials can learn much about the level of intelligence of security officers with the country of Israel. In all the years before and since 9-11, they never had a commercial airliner highjacked.
meshakhad
/ September 13, 2011Unconscionable.
If the person who gave the report merely thought that two men going to the bathroom a lot, one after the other, was suspicious, then that person bears no real responsibility. The cops who arrested you, on the other hand, should be fired.
If, on the other hand, the person who gave the report lied or exaggerated, they should be charged with filing a false report and pay damages to you for the humiliation you endured.
Cyrus
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for telling your story. It’s yet another powerful testimony about the fear and insanity that grips this country.
While I would recommend always requesting the presence of a lawyer during interrogations, I can understand not wanting to spend the night in jail (which is exactly what would of happened had you done so). Asking for one’s rights always results in further punishment in modern American, as we can’t let those who want to use their rights lives easy, can we?
A.Marie
/ September 13, 2011Oh my goodness! I read this with a mixture of shock and awe!! I am so sorry that you were treated this way. I just don’t know what else to say!
Patrica Teijeiro Paulson
/ September 13, 2011Lady, get a reality check. If your seat-mates had come out of the bathroom with a bomb you would cried for those armed officers to come save you. By the way, why didn’t you call attention to the fact that your seat mates had gone into the SAME batheroom at the same time? Are you that dumb or just looking the other way because you’d rather be dead than “profile” someone? Personally, I profile all day long and keep breathing, thanks.
Brett D'Amelio
/ September 16, 2011When the person next to me goes to the washroom – and I think I will need to go to the washroom during the flight, I go at the same time or when they return to minimize the number of times I have to get up and down, or requesting the person next to me to move. Stopping me from waking them up while napping, or me waiting uncomfortably for them to wake up.
I do it as a courtesy to the person next to me.
P. Jones
/ September 16, 2011How incredibly, unnecessarily rude of you. Could you have taken a moment to be slightly less vitreolic? Probably not, since you didn’t take a moment to spellcheck your comment, nor, it would appear, to actually read the post. She said they went into the bathroom in succession…google that if you think that means they went in at the same time. Also, profiling, a natural human response to categorizing unknown persons, is perfectly fine, and you’d wear yourself out trying not to do it at all during your day. However, when it violates what we’ve come to consider civil rights for no other reason than the circumstance of our birth and subsequent skin color, it takes a turn for hate.
its margaret
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. Keep talking.
You said, “Still, I wondered what my rights were, and though I felt violated and scared I wasn’t sure that our new laws protected me from this treatment.” –no, it was our new laws that allowed you to be treated this way.
mo
/ September 13, 2011I am very sorry what happened to you, as somali-canadian , i have heard ,seen , wittnessed so many horrific incident like what you went through. it seems to me your crime was your looks or supposedly ethnicity. secondly , you were seated beside non white, eastern looked men that was using the toilet too often. i have seen and once lived under the tyranical regime that used those kind of practises. however this kind of things are happening under a demoqracy….. it is a part of human barbarism , bigotry, ingnorency, racims , hatred , twisted religions , , self centred narccisms of the the world we live to day… although , it looks like you went through a torture,
iam glad you are not in jail somewhare, waterboarded , tortured. on the other hand , you conducted gracefully so to scape the teeth of the
patriot1
/ September 13, 2011I would gladly let you get searched over and over again if it would prevent ONE single bombing, keep crying as if terrorists are anything but arab too. If the shoe fits wear it, meanwhile, noone cares about your whines, it’s something that needs to happen to ensure ALL of us, including you are safe. Those same guys that stormed the plane and arrested you would have picked you up, done CPR and anything else to make sure you were safe in an emergency. Cut them some slack and realize that terrorists are the enemy, not people trying to prevent it. Don’t like it, go back to wherever you hail from and enjoy the freedom over there!
Frank S.
/ September 13, 2011I cannot believe that this happened to you. I am disgusted to the point of feeling Ill reading your story. May God give you the strength to heal from this. May God bless you and your family.
David Adams RedNeck who was once arrested
/ September 13, 2011welll i feel sorry for you experienceing the incident but the arrest booking and such sounds like exactly what happens anytime someone is arrested nothing that you said is out of chharecter for a normal arrest if anything they treated you better then they treated me when i was arrested for driving with a suspended lisence so that part of your exp erience is normal the 9/11 scare im sorry you got targetd but im happy that the fbi was doing there job you suffered what anyone who gets arrested suffers it may have been unneeded but lifes not fair never has been i feel sad that you had to experience this
John
/ September 13, 2011BOYCOTT Frontier Airlines, cabin crew is racial profiling. Too much authority is given to the cabin crew, who does not have the training nor experience in this area. If your two seatmates were indeed carrying some device the plane would not have landed. Since you landed without incident the report of suspicious activity or behavior was obviously a mistake so why does Homeland Security pay so much attention to the error of the cabin crew.
jepoirrier
/ September 13, 2011Wow. I can’t imagine everything you went through. But I admire the calm and the self-respect you have while you tell your story. I hope everything is fine now.
Samuel Joseph
/ September 13, 2011I am glad this happened…our people are doing their jobs and not taking chances. This is WHY I am a proud American!
Didier
/ September 13, 2011Fundamentally it all comes from people denouncing to the authorities something that they perceived -a very subjective term- as “suspicious”. This is the whistle blower that is faulty, not the process of search and seizure. You have to account that law enforcements also have family at home, and have no way to know upfront what they will face. I would love to see the name(s) of the whistle blowers published in these kind of issues.. if they were right, they’d take the credit, and in that case, like most of the cases, they’d take the shame of what they have triggered to fellow human beings – and believe me, I am really sorry to read about what you went through- . I believe whistle blowers, when wrong, should also go through a training a mandated training about racial profiling, like the cops do.
Also, I hope that all this is all was not triggered from just one report. This is such a potential for abuse that you’d need at least some corroborating input from more than one source to trigger such a reaction!
RationalVoice
/ September 13, 2011It sucks that this happened, but things like this do happen. I’m at least glad to know there are procedures in place. I hate how people always blame things on race. If everyone in the row would have been caucasian and there had been suspicious behavior, would that too be because of race?
Grammy Blick
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for describing your experience and your feelings. No one enjoys the boarding process any more — no one waving to see us off, no one at the end of the ramp to give us hugs when we arrive. I believe our government is trying very hard to protect its citizens, partly out of fear of what citizens will do if we lose a plane full to such an attack. We laugh at the failed attempts, giggling about shoes and underwear, forgetting they were attempting murder. Write our representative and require some common sense. Work within the system to make changes. Blogs such as this, uniting a community, is a very good step forward. Let it not end in anger, hatred or lawsuits.
Gary
/ September 13, 2011Had they found a shoe bomb on one of your fellow seat mates… would you be as upset? Yes they may have handled it poorly and should have been straight forward with you when detaining you. However, you may have been there for more time had they not searched you… while they check out your back story and possible connections to the two men etc. And please tell me you don’t profile when you are walking down a deserted street by yourself and someone is walking toward you?
N/A
/ September 13, 2011Of course your going to have a problem flying, your an arab and are not accepted in the USA after 9/11. Did you think it was gonna be easy? haha
Denise
/ September 13, 2011We live in world full fear, hatred and prejudiced in every corner. Whether for personal appearance, race, religious beliefs, or whatever. To think that humans can reach an ideal of tolerance and acceptance flies in the face of truth.
Police policies are rarely fair to all and, frankly, can’t be.
I don’t see that your rights were violated – unless you weren’t given your Miranda rights as you were arrested (detained). But I’m not sure if terrorist suspects are allowed Miranda rights by law – probably not.
Your feelings of being disturbed are common to all who get arrested while being innocent.
You’re phone might be tapped for awhile since it seems that the gov. went into overkill mode for the anniversary.
Robertson S. Henry
/ September 13, 2011and persons tell i am wrong of NOT WANTING to live in America. The only reason I would want a visa is because of my work I would have to transit through an American port.
I love my freedom and respect the laws and freedoms of other people but I refuse to be in a country where citizens are treated that way.
Nah and you tell me America is the land of dreams…frankly as I have said before…America is the largest police state under the guise of democracy.
Tell me if friends and I are giving jokes in our native Creole and the crew members of a flight do not understand then we are likely to be hauled out and stripped search and nothing for that except a thank you?????
Man of Peace ..Not SHARON either!
/ September 13, 2011We now can “get used to it.” Soon it won’t be just “Arab looking” people. It will, in time, be ANYONE who isn’t pasty toe headed white Anglo Saxon Norman Rockwell painting with saddle shoes, pig tails, freckles playing with hoops, doggies and kitties in a “whites only” picket fence enclave on Morning Glory Circle USA.
Toast with Promise Margarine and Pat Boone.
Linda D.
/ September 13, 2011I do not know you, but I am sickened by what happened. I am ashamed by what this country has become in the wake of 9/11/01. And I’m saddened by the complete ignorance of our fellow Americans.
Please know that you have a lot of people – complete strangers – standing behind you and beside you.
zack
/ September 13, 2011to Jay the “real american”
You don’t belong in this country either since your parents &/or grand parents are foreign born.
the last time I checked 100% of American indigenous Indians are not white
you are not just a racist but a fool too
Don Greathouse
/ September 13, 2011To Zack I am part native American and I think you are racially profiling us with that comment but I still supporting government in their rather uneven attempts to keep the traveling public safe if they didn’t then we lose!
leslieileen
/ September 13, 2011I love my country but hate what it has become. For all our posturing that we are a great, free and brave country the terrorists won! We have lost our civil rights and so much more.
I am so sorry this had to happen to you.
Kurt
/ September 13, 2011What a terrible experience, I’m sorry you and your fellow seatmates were treating so miserably. I’m also sorry that so many of our fellow Americans are posting appalling messages in response, at least the supportive messages seem to outnumber the jerks 10 to 1.
Axel
/ September 13, 2011Got what you deserved if you ask me.
Reality
/ September 13, 2011A small price to pay for the freedoms of millions. Unfortunately Arabs are blowing up planes, or hurling themselves at embassies killing themselves and dozens in the process or blowing up cafes or whatever else they can blow up, it´s Arabs, no one else, so sad as they may sound, it´s the reality and unfortunately for you because of how you look or your name you may be profiled. It may not be right or just or what have you but it´s the reality. At least you haven´t been spending the past year in an Iranian cell because you were hiking too close to the border. Would I want anyone to go through this, not really, but then again we weren´t doing anything before and 9/11 happened so as a said, a small price to pay.
USA
/ September 13, 2011Its not like they took you to Guantanamo Bay. Get over it…If you feel violated try to think about all the families that lost love ones because no one had the balls to punch the radical dark skinned person with the box cutter in the face.
I’m sorry you were inconvenienced for a couple hours. If you you didn’t do anything wrong then you should of known that it would be over in a couple hours.
Stop complaining and be happy that you live in a country that does not make you wear a burqa, or stones you in public.
TrinaAlaice
/ September 13, 2011I am angry, disgusted, embarrassed and saddened that this has happened to you. Unfortunately, this is a scenario that plays out way too much in our country. Since 9/11, the US, ‘the country of the brave’ has succumbed to the fears of terrorist attacks. The fears has leaked into our politics, our psyche, it has caused people to lose their compassion and to act radically. If you ask me the damage has been done. The comment that is on continuous replay in my head is “It’s for our protection”, but I’m sorry to say, stories like this, do not aide in me feeling protected. I have no more words, I’m once again left speechless, by our own terrorist acts.
Ryan Brockey
/ September 13, 2011This is so heart-wrenchingly well-written. My mouth was agape in horror throughout your story. I’m so sorry you had to experience that.
Please remember that one person called on the authorities. That means you have a plane full of people that didn’t. Most people are reasonable enough to realize that you are just a woman stuck on a plane, same as them.
I am sharing your story. Thank you for standing up and announcing how ridiculously you were treated. You retained your personal power.
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Lets not forget that we have extremeists to blame for a lot of this. They pushed us to have to do this, so at times you could say they have won, and at times it seems like the reaction from “the authorities” was unwarranted but lets still not forget who is really to blame at the root… the terrorists ten years ago on those planes and the ones who give them orders. Yes “the authorities” acted agressivly and I am white so will probably never fully understand the magnitude of what you went through, but I still think the root of the blame should be directed towards those behind the events ten years ago, not fully on the authorities.
robb
/ September 13, 2011The person or crew pointing out a ‘concern’ should have been questioned more and maybe more action from the crew should have been provided to ensure the passengers in the restroom were okay in addition to the safety of the whole flight. Another reason for armed sky marshalls. If I was feeling ill and in the bathroom, I would prefer a crewmember there verifying that I am okay, rather than federal officers detaining me. If in fact there was an issue going on the the bathroom such as another underwear bomber, I am pretty sure that in this day and age of enlightenment, I as an American citizen would act and do my best from allowing another tragedy from happening by stopping him/her to the best of my ability – and yet another reason for armed sky marshalls
Stephanie
/ September 13, 2011Ignorant……. So what was so “suspicious” about your activity? You were sitting in your seat?! I feel for what you went through and I would never want to be violated like you were.
brad mccain
/ September 13, 2011you are so brave…. having to be interviewed because ten years ago a bunch of crazy-nuts killed thousands of innocent americans. I feel so badly for you though, you truly are Malcolm X or Rosa Parks reincarnated.
If only America stopped racially profiling terrorist and just accepted everyone. We would still have the world trade centers and thousands of innocent lifes would be around today. Oh wait…. it’s when we stopped racially profiling and stopped over-reacting when this shit went down.
Joel Watson
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you– or anyone! We had a similar event in our home and now I do NOT trust anyone in a police uniform or any government uniform any longer. As far as a “snarky” remark, you had a lot more patience than I– I would be in San Quinten by now if I had been you.
Shame on this nation, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself as Churchill said. But, the common “man” is not in control in this nation any longer. I weep.
Jamie
/ September 13, 2011After reading the blog and quite a few of the comments, I’m going to throw in my own 2 cents which is probably all it is worth to some and less to others…I am an Arab-American female, buts let’s just be clear, I am an American, (yes I am half Arab but also have German, English and Swedish to complete the mix), but I am an American. I have been horrified by what terrorists have been doing for years globally and we now (as Americans) get to join the rest of the world with this gross reality that hate is targeting us.
If one person on any plane that I am on gives off a vibe that is a little odd or unusual then thank God for the people who are there to keep the safety of not only myself but for the hundreds of others “on a hunch” and I’m sure it was more than a hunch…trust me, there are a whole hell of a lot of worse things than being taken off a plane, and questioned and body searched! Has the pendulum swung to the other side, yes it has absolutely, however it has been made that way by a bunch of sick individuals. If this is what it takes, then so be it to keep our country safe….yes, unfortunately for “Arab” looking people they will be singled out – just as if it had been a bunch of tall, red headed blue-eyed women who had done such an act, then they would be singled out…ridiculous to complain about our safety standards, after all they have been placed now because of others who have no regard for life, and yes they happened to be Arabs, not all but the extremists (as every country, and religion) have them. My husband funnily enough looks like an Arab moreso than I and he is ALWAYS pulled aside, searched before we get on the plane…so knock off the whining and let’s be thankful for the safety that has been put in gear so we hopefully, God willing will never have to endure anything like 9/11/2001 again.
bonnie
/ September 13, 2011for a person who said this happened because of her looks she sure threw out this fat white guy or fat jada pinket smith or any of the other comments about what people looked like. interesting.
Meagan
/ September 13, 2011Reading this brought me to tears. I am so disgusted that this happened to you. Thank you for writing on it to share it with us. It honestly breaks my heart. It is humbling to me the way you handled the situation, I can’t imagine staying calm or cooperative in a situation like that. I’ll be sharing this.
mo
/ September 13, 2011the beasts
Russell Vaughan
/ September 13, 2011Awful experience, and I agree with most of the comments here. However, I find it interesting you assume the “watch stealer” is guilty. Why?
Russell Vaughan
/ September 14, 2011Why is my comment not approved?
Bob
/ September 13, 2011That America for ya. I am soo sorry that happend to you.
Bob
/ September 14, 2011don’t get me wrong I Love america. But do you really think there would be an attack they were going to Ohio. People Ohio. nothing bad happens in Ohio. yes 9 11 2001 was a sad day. but so was other stuff. We don’t worry when a middle eastern person is sitting on a plan on 9/12 or any other day but 9/11 is the day when people decide to be dushbags and call FBI.
reality hits the fan
/ September 14, 2011YOur a real dush…. Really …. Things happen everywhere… Casey Anthony is from OHIO … She KIlled her little GIrl. GOt acquitted and went shopping in Columbus OHIO… PLease your not really believing that comment you posted RIGHT?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Bingo.
Ed N.
/ September 13, 2011You seem likea very good-natured person and a gifted writer. I’m not sure that I hold anyone responsible for this event – other than the hijackers that did so much damage 10 years ago. I am glad that you were treated with some level of respect and I hope that you receive some type of compensation – you certainly should have your ticket price refunded. Thank you for tthis very informative and fairly written blog. While our society does owe you an apology for the inconvenience, we do need some level of racial profiling. I’ve seen the alternative and unfortunately, this is better. You have a true gift for expressing yourself in words. Thank you again for your sacrifice on 9/11.
Guest
/ September 13, 2011Your blog was very eloquent, and I’m sorry this happened to you.
Unfortunately, these are the times we live in. As long as authorities consider Middle Eastern terrorists a threat, stuff like this will happen.
Study history – during World War II American citizens of Japanese extraction were put into internment camps in California. It was very hard to be German over here too. Suspicion and fear everywhere. That went away after the war ended.
It’s futile to suggest that people shouldn’t report those they deem suspicious – that’s exactly what the REAL terrorists want us to do, ignore them, or not say anything because we don’t want people to think we’re racist.
In fact on CNN on Sunday a reporter mentioned that the ticket-takers who checked the terrorist hijackers onto their flights on 9/11 are still struggling with massive amounts of guilt. They all had a ‘feeling’ that ‘these are bad men’, but didn’t say or do anything about it because that would be considered profiling. We all know what happened next.
And of course, there’s no way to know who is suspicious. The only thing you can do is follow all leads. Unfair? Yes. But the way those 3,000 people died on Sept. 11 was also unfair, and wouldn’t have happened if those ticket-takers weren’t so afraid of being called profilers. Think about that one.
The ONLY way the profiling is going to stop, is if Middle Eastern terrorism stops. ONLY when authorities – and the country – consider the likelihood of a Middle Easterner being a terrorist nil will people relax. Just as they relaxed after World War II.
Will that ever happen? Guess we’ll see. I hope so.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011No, what the real terrorists wanted to do has been accomplished. They’ve made us afraid. Afraid of each other, afraid of “what if,” afraid based on skin color or religion or dress.
Unsubstantiated reports of undefined suspicious activity by untrained civilians that are not questioned by authorities but immediately acted upon is a violation not only of several Constitutional rights, but of a number of values and ideals that we supposedly cherish.
The suspicion of German and Asian citizens was an embarrassment to our country, so using them as justification for this ongoing suspicion of people wit dark skin doesn’t really make the argument you want to make.
Finally, white males aren’t profiled at moving van rental counters, in spite of Timothy McVeigh. Why not, if we are going by history?
Michelle
/ September 13, 2011I don’t think people who make false claims of suspicious activity are afraid. I honestly think they’ve now been given a platform on which to falsely accuse and walk away without as much as a slap on the risk. They comitting acts of terror.
Guest
/ September 14, 2011Not justification. I didn’t say, “this happened in the past, so that makes what happens now OK.” I just said, this is what happens. I think it’s awful and unfair, but it happens away. Suspicion is part of human nature.
Because Timothy McVeigh wasn’t part of a group of out-of-country (and thus harder to track down) white males who continually commit terrorist acts against innocent people, brag about doing to, and threaten to continue doing so. He was a ‘loner’, so authorities don’t see the need to profile white males. If Timothy McVeigh belonged to an overseas group that did things like strap bombs to babies and mentally disabled people and blow them up (like Al Qaeda does), committed an atrocity like 9/11, and said they’d continue doing so because they hate all Americans and want us all dead, I’m sure it would be a lot tougher to rent a van, especially if you were a white male living in an urban area around the time of the Oklahoma City bombings.
Guest
/ September 14, 2011Hm, for some reason the two parts of the message I was quoting didn’t post. Here they are:
-The suspicion of German and Asian citizens was an embarrassment to our country, so using them as justification for this ongoing suspicion of people wit dark skin doesn’t really make the argument you want to make.-
-Finally, white males aren’t profiled at moving van rental counters, in spite of Timothy McVeigh. Why not, if we are going by history?-
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Ms. Shebshi’s membership in an ethnic group shared by terrorists does not make her a terrorist. To profile members of an ethnic group because there are some terrorists who are members of that ethnic group is racist.
Since suspicion is a part of human nature, is it incumbent upon us to recognize it and rise above it in a logical manner.
Guest
/ September 14, 2011-To profile members of an ethnic group because there are some terrorists who are members of that ethnic group is racist. –
Yes, it is. And it’s going to keep happening until Middle Eastern terrorists stop threatening to kill Americans. Once that ends, the profiling will stop too because, just as with the end of WWII, people won’t see Middle Easterners (as opposed to the Japanese) as a threat anymore.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011But as I stated before, we’re not profiling other people who’ve killed Americans. I’m much more likely, for example, to be killed by someone in my ethnic group, and by a male in that ethnic group. Do women of my ethnic group profile men of my ethnic group? No, we do not.
I like how you’re admitting that it’s racist, but we’re going to keep doing it anyway. At least that’s an honest statement about what’s happening – racism, that nobody cares to stop.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011People who are this afraid shouldn’t leave their homes.
In face you left out some other important periods in history we apparently never learned from.
Did you know that in Salem one could be accused of being a witch, be put on “trial” and then flung in the river while bound? Now, of course only a witch could save herself, but then the innocent woman was now dead.
I imagine that could never happen again. Oh, wait, it just did.
Christ was in Detroit
/ September 13, 2011What? Racial profiling IN DETROIT??
Why Dave Bing should be ashamed!
No wonder our NBA play-by-play guy back in the old days would just say “Bing – BANG” when reporting a successful jump shot.
WHO KNEW Dave Bing would go on to be the mayor of the most crime-ridden armpit in America?
Now as to why anybody was flying into Detroit on any day… that’s another story.
The author should start spending the huge settlement she is due. This might be the time to move farther from Detroit and farther from Cleveland too!
scalesoflibra
/ September 13, 2011This could have gone down in any city; the Patriot Act was not created by the City of Detroit. Neither were the agents involved employees of the City of Detroit, they were FBI and DHS agents. This Detroit bashing is completely irrelevant.
Loren
/ September 13, 2011Not only your friends and family are disgusted with what happened to you and your seatmates – I and many other Americans (of various ethnicities) are, or should be, similarly appalled! We continue to be ruled by fear. What happened to the “Give me liberty or give me death” spirit of the country’s founders?
And don’t a lot of passengers take the opportunity to go to the bathroom when someone from their row gets up to go – just saves making the aisle person get up?
Wayne L. Christensen
/ September 13, 2011I’m angry and saddened by the ignorance of others that have still not learned that racial profiling, and in general jumping to conclusions about any one individual is wrong and in my opinion those that overreacted should be subjected to the same treatment and perhaps a full cavity search.
Lydia C.
/ September 13, 2011Apologies for the stupidity and paranoia of a few. So sorry you had to endure this form of national madness, not long ago, this was the norm for African-Americans like me in the south, for no reason other than being black. Makes me wanna holler and throw up both my hands. Hang in there!
me
/ September 13, 2011I’m really sorry that you had to go through that, but…
I was a white, middle-classed, well-dressed, normal-acting passenger when I was detained for several hours at an airport. When no issues were found, I was allowed to go on to catch my connecting flight.
I understand that you went through a very unpleasant and scary ordeal, but this does happen to people of all skin colors. Plus 9/11 is probably not a great date to travel on, considering that the other passengers are likely to be more vigilant and jumpy. It is a shame that an idiot reported your seat row’s actions as suspicious, but the actions of the authroities do not seem to be unreasonable considering the situation.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Were you thrown in a cell and strip-searched?
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Just because it happens, and even happens to “white, middle-classed,well-dressed, normal-acting passenger(s)” doesn’t make it right. I’m sorry you’re such a coward that you seem to think otherwise.
And, incidentally, all of those “vigilant and jumpy” passengers probably shouldn’t fly on 9/11, or any other day that matter, if they’re this scared.
Angi
/ September 13, 2011Really? You consider the actions of the authorities here reasonable? Wow .
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Well, some people do love to lick the boot of authority.
I’m not really sure why, though…
Duncan Simpson
/ September 13, 2011wow
Meg
/ September 13, 2011It is strange, hearing the other side of this account. I read the news of the two planes met by authorities, of course. I saw the issue being dismissed in one or two lines as ‘authorities checked the suspects and released them without filing any charges’ and I, myself, didn’t give it another thought.
But this post made me think a lot.
We as a society make choices as to how much power we are willing to allow the police in order to keep us safe. They cannot only arrest criminals. They don’t know a priori how guilty someone is. Sometimes, innocents get handcuffed, and not just b/c of racial profiling. From this account, it sounds like the police, and especially the FBI, were reasonably courteous in their quest for the truth. Prior to reading this, I would have said that the measures they took seemed an acceptable tradeoff for keeping everyone safe, and that those suspect passengers suffered no more than an inconvenience.
But after reading this, I do wonder. I wonder if this person who never had a run-in with the police before may not come out of it suffering from nightmares or other psychological issues. I wonder what a claustrophobic person goes through when locked up in such a small cell. I wonder what is my view about an acceptable tradeoff now.
I don’t have any good answer.
tlcmine
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry this happened to you, and thank you for taking the time to write about it so others can try to learn and change.
Spare Me The Drama
/ September 13, 2011I think she flew on 9/11 on purpose just so she could have an experience to write about and claim mistreatment. The U.S. was vehemently threatened on 9/11 and extra precautions were necessary. Three Arabs sitting next to each other is a red flag. And two of them acting suspiciously is even more of a red flag. Be happy the the authorities are on the look out for suspicious behavior, lest we forget why we are on high alert that day?
American Muslimah
/ September 13, 2011It’s so ironic that so many of us has comments pretaining to 9/11 and how so many Muslims and non-American people are being looking down upon. It’s the same story different decade nothing has truly change and things wont continue to change. A city or country will never succeed if they continue to lie and keeping taking advantage of one another. The fear is to get caught of what they are doing behide closed doors and there is no telling of what our “so called” government is doing. The truth of the matter is people believe what benefits them and thats all that is to it. The land of the free..what is free, nothing in this world is free. We all have to pay our dues to someone, one way or another. Example people go out to purchase a home, a home that either that will have to pay in full in cash or that they will have to put down for a morgage or two. If you skip out on too many payments the bank can easliy say “Your house is being foreclose…”. Then you and your family is out on the streets like so many of unfortunate people when Wall-Street went bakrupt!!! People couldnt afford to pay their house payment because everyone is trying to cover everyones butts for their own benefits. I am an American and sometime when I see foreigners walking around in my veil ( I am a practicing Muslimah) I feel ashmed to proclaim of what I once thought was a great nation, home.
Steven Graves
/ September 13, 2011You don’t know me. I just wanted to say that I am very sorry this happened to you. Setting all the bull aside, I’d like to simply send out an “air hug”….you should have recieved it by now.
~Steven
Abby
/ September 13, 2011What a terrible ordeal for you you to have gone through. I am so sad and angry that as a country our official response to 9/11 is to to commit ridiculous “security” actions such as this. What happened to intelligence? What are we paying the billions of tax dollars to DHS for? Surely not to detain and strip search our neighbors!!!
I don’t know much, but I am 100% sure that not one single victim of the 9/11 attacks would have wanted the result of their death to have been that fellow Americans are now violated as they go about their daily lives. Stop the maddness. We have to to stop being afraid and stop allowing our government to to treat inncoent people like terrorists. It’s wrong and it’s shameful.
I just want you to know that I, a fellow American, am outraged that you were treated like this.
john
/ September 13, 2011I honestly feel that on this day, it had nothing to do with the way you looked. Anyone could have reported suspicious behavior about any ethnic individual, and our law enforcement would have acted the same way. You can thank the idiots who made this false report.
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011John hit the nail on the head. Sometimes when you are a minority you assume that you are always being targeted because of how you look. Sometimes stuff just happens. People think you look suspicious. It certainly doesn’t help if you look like an Arab or Asian but don’t be so quick o jump to that conclusion. And even if that is the case lives are at risk here. No one died on 9-11-2011. I think that is a great accomplishment.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Yes, the people who made the false report are the people to blame initially. But I believe that you are naive to suggest that the response would have been the same if the target of the report was white.
DontFuckin' Care..
/ September 13, 2011Sorry,
But I kinda laughed. They’re “brethren” targeted our country, they blew up our cities, they threatened our families. You get whats coming to you. Your guilty by association. I’m a computer geek, I’ve done illegal things. Anything theres a major hack or computer issue that effects U.S. Property, I’m pulled in because of what I know/can do. It’s not just one persons fault, it’s everyones. Sucks it happened, but shit happens, get over it.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011How, exactly, is Ms. Shebshi related in any way to the 9/11 terrorists? She hasn’t claimed to know them or be connected to them in any way. Surely you’re not saying that she’s kin to them simply because of the color of her skin? Such a statement would be incredibly racist, and certainly you can’t mean that.
momsomniac
/ September 13, 2011When did India attack us?
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Or America, for that matter, since the author is a natural born citizen?
Ian
/ September 13, 2011You say that you’re a computer geek and have done illegal things. So you’re questioned because you’ve done illegal things.
That’s really not the same thing, is it? You get questioned because you genuinely ARE, or have been, a bad guy. She got detained because of the color of her skin.
You see the difference? YOU actually DID shit that gets the cops to look at you. SHE was just born. You can’t say that there’s ANY sort of equivalence there.
eyebeam (@eyebeam)
/ September 13, 2011Your lack of hacker skills to cover your tracks does not excuse your ignorance and racism.
Dan from NYC
/ September 13, 2011DFC – Your comments reflect a stunning ignorance of 9th grade social studies highlighted by the type of desensitization generally found in an individual with minimal social interaction. The inflection of your tone suggests one with pretensions of sociopathy but is in fact merely the affectation used to justify the effects of their social ineptitude.
I would engage you further but I have a rule against casting pearls before swine.
Did I do that?
/ September 13, 2011Amen bro!
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011DFC, do you provide any value to society, or just exist to take up space and childishly troll?
Glathin
/ September 13, 2011Gosh, so many comments. I actually do not expect mine to stand out hugely here, but I do hope that Shoshana may see it.
See, I am not a citizen. I am of German nationality. Born and raised by my German parents a couple of decades after the war. I grew up in the 80s with armoured patrols in the cities; jet fighters paroling the airways in low flight… and, gods, I am so very glad I was an innocent child; not understanding that all of these soldiers are not actually ‘my people’ but an occupation force making sure that someone keeps Germany in check. Looking back as an adult, I am massively creeped out by my own memories.
Something else remarkable about that Germany which may sound odd to many American or Canadian people: We made sure national pride is contained to areas where it is appropriate. We do not swear any more oaths of pictures or flags; we do not recite any anthem. We are Germans, sure, and when there is a sporting event you’ll see us waving flags. You’ll see us be proud if a German is part of the ISS for a mission or you’ll find us showing flag to find one another on vacation in tourist locations. But simply having a flag post in your home is kind of suspicious.
But each to their own: The US handle it differently. As is the right you have, it is your country.
I live in the US. I have lived here since 2006. Not only do I work here; the US government has more of my total biometrics than Germany does. Because I worked through the long process that is obtaining a green card after September 2001.
With one exception, travelling to the US since then has been humiliating to any foreigner. Yes, even for people from mainland Europe. I have hazel hair and blue eyes and while it is thankfully only hinted, there is a German accent.
Yet, entering this country now, you are treated like someone whose only goal is to commit a crime. You will be treated rudely and gruff. Not one smile have I seen entering the United States. (All the while the speakers inform you about how the Homeland Security is caring and the welcoming face of America.) They will ask your questions repeatedly, probing, trying to make you slip up. They will ask some questions several times during different times of your standing-up interview. They will interrupt you to throw you off and they will all but directly say: ‘I’m watching you, you are suspicious no matter what you do!’.
“IF you don’t like it, stay home”. I read that comment a few times from replies in this blog.
Is that really what you want, though? Is that what it comes down to? US versus THEM? Who am I to say this, I’m not one of “US”, but would that not hinder the country as a whole?
Sadly, this is no longer the United States that I was told was there to look out for us. When aged 4, I turned to my mom and pointed at a group of soldiers who stopped to have a smoke… and I asked “Why are they here?”. And my mother, not giving me the full adult answer, said: “These nice men are here to make sure nothing happens to us.”. No explanation of the Iron Curtain, or what happened in WWII or any of all that. Just ‘they help us’. And that is what I used to think of the US when growing up.
Reading about having an actual citizen have this happen to scares me very much. I’m not that. Just some shmoe who works here, pays taxes and is so respectful of the law that there is no police record at all. No speeding tickets, no park violations.
But in the end, even that won’t matter if I am “suspicious”, would it? It is the modern form of witch hunting. “She’s brown skinned and sits with men who look like they may not be from here. SHE’S A WITCH!”. Only a few words were changed here from what actually happened. I guess we can be thankful that in today’s world, we trial by more than a dipping chair. 😦
…now I has a sad, as the meme goes.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I didn’t want you to think that your post had been ignored. I appreciated reading the point of view of a non-citizen on these issues. Thank you for sharing your opinions and thoughts. I am always fascinated by perspectives that are so very different from mine.
I hope your sad meme turns to something happy (I am woefully unhip as to the happy memes these days)
jason
/ September 13, 2011In any other country this wouldnt even be a story, be thankful you were let go and not forced to tell some truth, about your game for attention! “You are a sorry individual and i wish you had landed in any other country, try your BS in isael and see how it works for you, while you sit in jail. Its such a surprise you have BLOG to write about your experience and text while this horrible experience was happening. You are so full of it, i hope you start to choke on it!!!! I hope you get all you deserve!!!!!!!
Allison
/ September 13, 2011She did tell the truth, as the blog post states. She told them who she was, where she was going, everything they asked. Are you insinuating that there is another truth that she didn’t tell? If so, upon what do you base that accusation?
Israel regularly strip-searches innocent passengers who’s only suspicious activity was Flying While Brown? Can you provide some citations for that claim?
What does she deserve, exactly?
jason
/ September 13, 2011What i am implying is that while things were going on she intended to turn this into a media event and get her moment of fame. This country was attacked becasue of very liberal freedom and there hatred of it. We are the softest country in world, we need to grow and realize that freedom isnt free. That sometimes we must sacrifice. That often, people like to make scenes that only cause things to get worse. That i havent read anything else from anyone else on the plane that had a problem with this. Sorry, life in this country is going to get tougher!!! It has too!!! Flying is a choice, a right we choose, and subject to the law under which it operates. Trust, i have been delayed becasue of searches before, but i dont whine about it. Today times are different, so she can take her cause for 1 minute of fame elsewhere. I ask you personaly, if you were worried about being arrested would you make sure that you texted!!!!! America needs to grow up and face tough times if we are going to make it. I not trying to be negative just real and call how i see it. I am from a very large family of races through adoption, foster, and birth. But i am very tired of liberal media and america feeling that everyone needs a hug!!!!
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Yes, freedom isn’t free. That’s right. The price we pay for freedom is that we occasionally face risk.
“Not dying” isn’t freedom. Freedom is “not being pulled into a cell by armed officers, strip searched, and held for six hours without being told what’s happening.”
What you seem to be missing is that “freedom isn’t free” is TRUE — and what was given up here was FREEDOM. You can’t give up freedom to protect freedom. That’s not how it works. The thing that was sacrificed here was freedom.
That’s what’s so horrible about this. And it’s incomprehensible that you would say, “Freedom isn’t free” to someone whose freedom was ripped from her — and, by extension, from you. She’s an American citizen who isn’t free, and that means that YOU, as an American citizen, and I, as an American citizen, are ALSO not free.
What are you going to do to protect that freedom? For that matter, what the heck do you think that freedom even IS? Do you SEE that what happened here WAS an attack on freedom? That freedom CAN’T be taken from outside, but only from inside? Why do you want to give up your own freedom? How do you think that giving up your own freedom protects freedom?
Or, do you think that, so long as YOU have the freedom to not be pulled off of airplanes and detained for no reason, you don’t care if OTHER Americans don’t?
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Spot on, Ian. Spot on.
Pamela D. Lloyd
/ September 17, 2011Ian, thank you for expressing so eloquently exactly what was wrong with this incident. When the price we pay for freedom is freedom, we are no longer free.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Your post is filled with jingoistic slogans that really don’t say much of anything, so I’m having a hard time digging out any substance.
The reasons for 9/11 are not as simplistic as “they hate our freedoms.”
“Freedom isn’t free” does not mean sacrificing our Constitutional rights on the basis of unsubstantiated reports of unspecific suspicious activities by untrained civilians who are not held responsible for false reports.
Ms. Shebshi did not make a scene. She was handcuffed on the plane, and removed from the plane. She blogged about it later in order that people understood her experience. She was unaware that she was going to be arrested while she was tweeting on the plane. During her experience, she felt it important to document the events and share them, again, so that others could understand what was going on.
Violations of Constitutional rights, up to and including cavity searches, don’t require hugs, you’re right. They require us to stop doing illegal things in the name of some nebulous “security.”
Lithp
/ September 13, 2011Well, for starters, she wasn’t worried about being arrested until it actually happened. So, right off the bat, I know you didn’t read very carefully, because -I- skipped huge sections and I still know that.
Secondly, in theory, the absolute Law of the Land is supposed to be the US Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, which kindasorta says that profiling is wrong, and you can’t do that. There’s also something or other about needing reasonable suspicion to arrest someone.
But, you know what, even without the race-driven nature of the response, it’s still not appropriate. It would be like me calling the cops because I see a strange car in my neighbor’s driveway and, oops, it’s his visiting cousin. I’d probably be fined for making a frivolous 9-1-1 call, at the very least.
The appropriate response from the authorities was to tell the passanger to ask the flight attendant to look into it, then the flight attendant would have seen that she was just texting, and everything would have been okay. For the record, I still think that’s a little paranoid, but what actually happened was essentially the adult version of a school bomb threat, only the law was on the perpetrator’s side, because terrorists.
I don’t like the cliche, “The terrorists won,” so instead I’ll say, “You have a responsibility to handle a threatening situation in a way that won’t incite a panic and just make things worse.” That is not what happened.
IBS woman
/ September 13, 2011Jason,
You don’t think an innocent person who was stripped searched deserves a hug? She deserves a lot more than that!
Gil
/ September 14, 2011Jason,
Yes, flying is a choice. Furthermore, those laws that are in place are supposedly designed to ensure that we are all treated fairly and equally. However, there are some in power who feel if you are of a darker skin tone or religion, those laws do not apply to you. Sadly, you and others in this country have been lured into this type of mindset.
I highly doubt Ms. Shebshi was “looking for her minute of fame” as you stated. I am sure by all accounts she simply wanted to end her journey and go home. She had as much of a right to travel without being terrorized and harrassed simply because she “looks” threatening simply by virtue of her physical features.
As a person of color myself, while I did not encounter what Ms. Sheshi did, I know what it’s like to be under suspicion and or stopped by law enforcement based on skin color. Is life fair? absolutlely not. However, we as a nation need to get out of the racism that continues to hold us in bondage.
If you are from the diverse family that you claim to be, then I hope you would at least show a bit more understanding and sensitivity in your outlook towards others who are different from you.
Grammar Counts
/ September 15, 2011Really? “They hate us for our freedom”? You’re going to play that BS?
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Bringing up another question: would you say this sort of thing to a male blogger, or a white one? It’s interesting to note that this kind of vitriol tends to go overwhelmingly to women, and especially non-white women. You ever notice that?
jason
/ September 13, 2011I want you to know that i would say this to anyone, regardless of color or sex. Please dont think i spend my life doing this. But this just all seems to elaborate to me. By the way it is a good question, no a great question!! Because i am from a family that had many races and even sexual preference. But i think this sounds like a stunt, and someone needed 1 min a fame. You dont find it funny that she goes through all of this and just texts her blog, and that after she was violated that she wanted to make it all public. Oh come on. Stop being taken advantage of, sorry life has changed, our planet is different, I have been through stuff in airports all over the world. But this sounds like someone whining for attention. But i know i am the only person who bothered to post thats upset and spoke there real mind. Maybe i am worng and if so i would owe a huge apology, but i have two days going through BS in airports from ukarine to USA. So it must be that i am just jealous!!!!
jason
/ September 13, 2011Dear Ian
Hey guy i am calling it a night on the posting but i apprecaite your passion for freedom but i think you need to look at modern times much like free health care, it isnt actually free. But i respect you for your well thought opinion, becasue you cleverly questined if i was a racist or sexist. I am not, but thank you for questioning rather than stating. I just named israel in my first post becausae she is half jweish, as stated. But serious have you ever flown to Tel aviv. Please trust me you can get far worse treatment!!! So good night and keep to your beliefs, i wish i could the world as you see it, and never see it coming, I dont mean that as a slam on you, but i believe that ignorance is bliss, i just cant find it!
Take care Jason
Allison
/ September 13, 2011I love the nicely-hidden insults sprinkled throughout this post. It’s like a little treasure hunt to seek them all out.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011It also reveals an incredibly feeble mind that just can’t comprehend that no one needs to kill Freedom to save it.
Loren
/ September 13, 2011Jason must be very young not to have learned that “very liberal freedom” is why America was founded in the first place.
And, for the sake of us all, I hope that this blog does become a “media event!” There seems to be quite a few American citizens who are forgetting what the country is about and why we should all be outraged that the blogger (who does happen to be white) and her seatmates went through this experience!
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Hey, as long as a) it didn’t happen to me, b) I get what I think is similar treatment, c) people realize the world has changed, d) there are RULES that must be followed!, e) 9/11 victims would want people strip searched, then yeah I guess Freedom isn’t free.
But hey, what do I know? I’m appalled that people think individuals should be grateful that the strip search was polite, that she was held in a jail cell and then freed, and that because she was brown she should’ve known she had it coming to her.
What is wrong with some of these people?
Paula
/ September 13, 2011Well Jason, If it walks, squawks and rants like a racist then you must be a racist or just off your meds. Did you see that she IS an American citizen and was travelling in her home country??? She was just unlucky enough to be seated next to other dark skinned passengers that got up to use the restroom too close together. There should be some middle ground here about what is a reasonable suspicion! I guess the savvy terrorists all sit together!! Duh! Do we have IQ requirements for these employees? I would have been asking for a lawyer the minute they said strip search and letting them be well aware of a soon to be lawsuit. She handled it more calmly than I would have. I am disappointed in our governments lack of follow-up on revising these laws where some people seem to go power crazy. Any asshole could use it as an excuse to harass people they consider “too dark”. I need to go take a breath.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011Jason, what a pathetic little person you must be. It’s poor attitudes like yours that allow a great nation to become a police state.
Pro_deluxe
/ September 13, 2011I’ve been thinking more and more that the terrorists did win. They succeeded in baiting us into a war we could not win and they have succeeded in getting the world to view us in a negative light. I think that the first thing we can do to change this is to repeal the patriot act.
Dan from NYC
/ September 13, 2011@ Pro_deluxe … Please define winning. Your concept of it will get stacked up against that of the Kurds and other Iraqi’s no longer under the psychotic Saddam Hussein regime. I think winning might have a different interpretation to the average Afghani, especially the females.
If we say we hold human life dear and human rights essential, and they are, at what price point is the expense too much?
From here in Lower Manhattan, a few hundred feet from what was the World Trade Center, human life is very, very dear. If one can buy freedom for a thousand, a hundred, ten, another – it is a great and noble deed.
D
/ September 13, 2011Nothing really to say except. 9/11
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Please expand.
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011Nothing really to say except. 9/11.
I agree.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011Please expand.
It’s his declaration of his new American faith: 3,000 Americans consumed by fire, an actual holocaust with flames and burning flesh, to define his faith forevermore.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Good to know.
I’ll take your 9/11 and add that people so pansy-assed afraid to fly on 9/11 should probably not fly on 9/11.
Thanks for your brilliant insight, though.
Tachy Gia
/ September 13, 2011Let me ask you Shoshana, if you found out that the ordeal you were forced to endure started a chain of events that somehow saved a life, would you change what happened?
N
/ September 13, 2011AMEN Tachy Gia…my thoughts too! That was basically my reply to her as well.
Ian
/ September 13, 2011Let me, as a third party, answer that:
A free nation prioritizes FREEDOM above security. If my life was saved at the cost of Shoshana’s freedom and dignity, that would be wrong.
Fortunately, we don’t have to make these calculations: this kind of security theater makes nobody any safer. But, even if it did, it would be morally reprehensible. The physical fact of existence is secondary to the dignity and rights of being a human being. My life is not worth another person’s rights.
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011Umm. My life is worth another person’s rights… and in my book physical existence does trump dignity & rights.
Joshua
/ September 13, 2011You’re a brave man, and not wrong, Ian.
If everyone else felt that way, this might be a better place. But there are some who feel that strip searching and scaring the hell out of innocent women is worth it for their perception of safety.
After all, if they are searching and detaining innocent people, they must be catching some of the bad guys, right?
Sure! And if nobody except people with brown skin ever tried to kill you, that might be close to possible.
Tachy Gia
/ September 13, 2011Ian, you are twisting the intent of my question so let me me ask you directly.
Would “you Ian” give up “your rights” to save the life of someone who would never know it was you who, and whom you would never know of?
Sean
/ September 13, 2011That is a loaded question. If he says yes, he has supposedly proved your point (it wouldn’t) and if he answers no, you can deride his posts saying that he is a heartless and selfish bastard. The point is that it is HIS choice to make. If he wishes to give up his freedom to save a life, that is his call (though it is unclear if these REAL WORLD examples are saving anyone’s lives at all).
It is the same if I choose to leap in front of a bullet to save another human being. It is my choice to make. It is not the choice of the government or another human being to push me in the way of that bullet.
This is all irrelevant, however. Your comment is emotionally-charged drivel.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Bravo. Well said.
Susan
/ September 13, 2011Oh my gosh, Ian, can you please spare me your ideological bullshit and use your common sense??? If your life is not worth ‘another person’s rights’ then your life must be pretty lame. Unfortuately, because of 9/11 things in this country changed. For one, over 3,000 innocent people were killed-and I bet if they had the choice (which they didn’t) to pick between someone’s rights being infringed on or their own life, they might have picked differently than you did!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Do not insult and sully the memory of the 9/11 victims as an excuse to violate the Constitutional rights of Americans. To do so does them a great disservice, and makes them pawns in a cheap game. You don’t know what they would have wanted, or how they would have reacted.
Ron
/ September 14, 2011The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
300000000 vs 3000. Sorry, but I’m gonna side with the rest of us.
This, I might add is the same mentality of the folks of flight 93 on 9/11/01, they knew they were aboard a missile, and decided it was worth their lives to save many others. This was an admirable and very patriotic act IMO. Voluntarily giving up your rights after the fact is cowardly and quite unAmerican.
And to answer your question to Ian for him, if I felt the freedoms of Americans were at risk I’d gladly enlist and risk my life. That has not happened in my lifetime. But if I was on flight 93, or a situation like that, god help those bastards, I’ll go for the eyes.
-Ron
miketherevelator
/ September 14, 20113.000 innocents killed there, a couple hundred thousand innocents killed in Iraq.Who should we be more worried about? Muslim religious extremists or our own government? Who are the real terrorists? What does taking liberties away from Americans in every area, not just on plane travel have to do with keeping us safe. How do these wars keep us safe when the main thing they do is create more jihadists who can’t take seeing their families and villages destroyed anymore by our war machine that is attacking in six countries at the moment and we can probably add Syria and Iran to that fairly soon.
Please quit using those 3000 people to justify your own viewpoint. You have no idea what they’d want and using them like the politicians have is about as cheap, cynical and deceitful as it gets. Let those people rest and quit thinking they would agree with what you think just because you think it. It’s like racists who assume God hates the same people they do and would want them to kill them. Or that our country is always right just because we were born here. For the last 60 years it’s very rarely been right. .
The hundreds of thousands killed in the Mid East had no choice either. Actually none of us is going to have a choice about that. Some of us will get sick and die, some will keel over and die, some will luck out and die in their sleep and some will be in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day. Using them as some kind of justification for every reprehensible act we’ve done with our military and for every right eroded here at home is very sad. As in lame.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011Beautifully said, Mike.
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011Let me see if I have the question correctly.
Suppose the fat lady who strip searched Shoshi had intended to go home and murder her partner. Then she got a good look at Shoshi’s glorious *ss etc. and decided it wasn’t worth going to jail for murder when she could spend the rest of her life humiliating her betters. (and anyone else under color of authority) So should Soshi feel that the whole thing was worth it?
Do I have it right? Is that the question?
Susan
/ September 13, 2011Thank you David! Finally, someone laying it out for what it is. It’s a bummer this happened to her and it would be fabulous if innocent people were not humiliated, inconvenienced, strip searched, forced to hold their bladder, etc. But you nailed it-if there is no response to reported ‘suspicious’ activity and a plane crashes or a bomb explodes, then what??? Then we have dead bodies and everybody points their finger saying that enough security precautions were not taken. In the first paragraph Shoshana says, ‘we had come a long way since that dreadful Tuesday morning 10 years ago’…
What does that mean? I’m pretty sure the fanactics that participated in the 9/11 attacks still hate this country and still want to take it down?! The U.S. is not the same as it was pre-9/11 and it blows my mind that the majority of these bloggers don’t recognize this. When planes are hijacked and flown into nyc skyscrapers and people are choosing to jump out of windows to their deaths rather than burn up in flames and thousands of people are killed-why is it sooooo difficult to accept that the good ol’ days of arriving at the airport 30 min before your flight and hopping on the plane with no hold-ups are over? Racial profiling sucks but it’s no secret that the Muslims that attacked us on 9/11 looked like they were from Arab nations? And to Shoshanna, if you are going to make racial profiling one of the main points of your story, I can’t help but notice that you too are guilty of judging others. What does a ‘beer belly’ and the fact that the officer was ‘white’ have anything to do with it? Those guys are doing their jobs-and thank God for them! They aren’t the ones responsible for your ordeal. Their job is to follow the book and it sounds like that’s what they did. I would much rather be pulled out of a line and questioned or be inconvenienced than a government where security is not taken seriously which results in people actually getting hurt and dying. Also, it seems that so many people are ‘shocked’ at what happened to Shosanna…Considering what happened 10 yrs ago on 9/11, I don’t think this is such a shocker. Everybody on this blog seems to have an opinion but nobody really offers any constructive solutions….
What To Do?
/ September 14, 2011Susan – I wholeheartedly agree!
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011I’m pretty sure the fanatics that participated in the 9/11 attacks still hate this country and still want to take it down!
I’m sure they are being warmed by another Fire that makes the fires they started on 9/11 look refreshingly cool, and won’t ever again be thinking about anything else.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011Define suspicious.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“…if you found out that the ordeal you were forced to endure started a chain of events that somehow saved a life, would you change what happened?”
How is that in any way relevant?
Her experience had nothing whatsoever to do with saving any lives. And that fact could have been ascertained from the outset, had any of the law enforcement involved taken the time to do their jobs correctly.
So, let’s say for the sake of argument that the author would in fact have been willing to subject herself to such an unpleasant experience to save the life of another. In what way would that justify her being subjected to the unpleasant experience for no benefit to anyone else?
Jeanine
/ September 13, 2011I often wonder How stupid the American people really are, first it is Up the Security at all the airports, 3D Cancer causing X-Rays to be checked, We have to show our ID’s to get our boarding passes, but in reality there is so many loopholes, Why do they target Americans whom live in America for a period of time? Shouldn’t that be A Priority before they even get on a Airplane? There are ways to prohibit use of a Airline passenger even before they purchase a ticket, why not put more effort into who is really “Who”? I realize there are Billions of Human Beings there should be a way to check where people are really coming from before even getting a Ticket.
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011How about not letting the terrorists into the USA in the first place?
Nate
/ September 13, 2011Judging by your incorrect use of capitalization, you’re one of those stupid Americans.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011It’s easier than that.
The modern security apparatus at the airport has been likened to putting a good deadbolt on one’s front door. The only problem is that there’s no house around that door.
You see, there’s a big, deadbolted front door that, by the way is completely useless to begin with. And then the gates, the baggage, the tarmac and the planes can all be easily accessed by anyone who really wants to.
About a year ago a teenager accessed the wheelwell of an airliner at CLT, and was later found dead as he fell out on the approach into BOS. If a teenager can get into the wheelwell while 6 year olds are being fondled, 95 year cancer patients are harassed, and “scary” looking Americans like this blogger are detained and strip searched, I can’t imagine a terrorist could access that same wheelwell with a bomb. Nah, never would happen.
Americans are so stupid. You need to ask yourselves why you never see gate agents, ticket agents, TSA agents, pilots, flight attendants, or baggage handlers in the security line while you’re sock-footed holding up your unbelted pants. You think one of those people can’t be bribed? Just ask Minnetta Walker how easy it is. I’ll give you a head start – google “Minnetta Walker BUF TSA” and see what pops up. And after that put in “DFW TSA test.” Fell safer now?
Jenny
/ September 13, 2011I’m so saddened on your behalf that this happened to you. You handled the situation with grace and dignity. I hope you’re considering legal action for the blatant and humiliating discrimination that you suffered.
Jodi
/ September 13, 2011Who should she seek legal action against? The person who reported the suspicious activity or the authorities who were doing their job by following up on a report? The authorities didn’t just grab her because she looked a certain way…they were responding to a report and handled the situation as they were suppose to. She was proven innocent and let go.
Erika
/ September 13, 2011Jenny, my sentiments exactly. And if either you or anyone wants to contact me in regards to doing something to bring justice to this, please let me know. It’s in these times I wish I were a civil liberties lawyer. But my cousin is…hmmm…perhaps I need to contact her and see what she has to say.
Carla
/ September 13, 2011Actually, Indigenous Indians are Native Americans and the rest of us are Americans. My grand parents came from Italy and I do belong here because they came the proper way through Ellis Island “the front door” The only people who do not belong are those who have no intension of becoming an American the correct way…. through the front door and those who are only here to hurt us.
Paul
/ September 13, 2011amen
JCRogers
/ September 13, 2011Without a lawyer and without a warrant, you shouldn’t have said a single word to them. Simple as that.
Laura
/ September 13, 2011Yeah, that’s a great idea for a half-Saudi half-Jewish person in detention in the US on suspicion of some sort of terrorism. I bet now they’ve read this great advice they’re all going to go right ahead and do that and see where it gets them.
Jimmy
/ September 13, 2011George Bush promised us that Americans wouldn’t have to make sacrifices after 9/11. It’s amazing how wrong he was about that. Being stripped searched and detained is exactly the kind of outrageous sacrifice that should not be tolerated. How much more tweeting could have been done while Soshi was detained? I am moving to Canada where they don’t ask anyone to undergo deprivation.
Duncan Simpson
/ September 13, 2011ya but atleast it was by a chick to a chick cuz its considered raper if a guy does it to a chick
Rightasrain
/ September 13, 2011Good riddance and don’t come back when you need real medical care!
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011Good luch in Canada Jimmy. The USA will miss you. lol
Dan from NYC
/ September 13, 2011Can you please provide a George Bush quote that states that? My recollection is that he stated the opposite.
fourwheelsandacamera
/ September 13, 2011I am deeply troubled by your ordeal, but I’m glad that you weren’t detained longer than you were. We live in a troubled world…a troubled country…a trouble society and I truly don’t know how we can all make it better. It’s almost like we have to expect the worst, then if nothing happens…well, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, we shouldn’t have to live our life that way. No one, in any part of the world, should have to live that way.
I’m happy though, that we live a “wired world” of social media. We can let off steam, voice our concerns and find others who share our worries but also our dreams. I very glad that you have this blog and using it in a way to not just share but to teach us what it’s like in the “real” world.
Wishing you and your family the best,
Jeffrey Gershom
Maria
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry this happened to you.
Marlee
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry you had to experience that…the paranoia that exists is crazy. Fear is a debilitating emotion…I am so sorry you have been violated by the very government that is suppossed to protect you. It is a very hard situation that is a tough problem to solve.
Mary Ann
/ September 13, 2011I think the person who reported “suspicious activity” in this case needs to be held for several hours and grilled by the FBI. Perhaps we need some new standards for airline personnel to ask a few questions to determine what the so-called suspicious activity is before calling in the SWAT team and strip searching the people being reported.
Jeffrey Renz
/ September 13, 2011This is unacceptable. You were not “detained.” You were arrested. That was unlawful. You were subjected to a visual body cavity search. It was unlawful. The only things that stand between us and a police state are the courts and a trial by jury. I urge you to see a plaintiff’s civil rights lawyer or to contact the ACLU. I will also add that you were lucky. Many in similar situations are charged with crimes so that the actions of the police may be justified. Jeffrey Renz, Clinical Professor of Law.
Happy for the security
/ September 13, 2011I am happy she was searched. Three Arabs traveling together on 9/11. It’s not racial profiling, it’s precautions from the terrorists who ruined it for everyone 10 years ago. Lest we forget!
Joshua Lonsdale
/ September 13, 2011america, america, home of the brave,
yet madness lays upon her, like twisted glass,
since the days,
that have long pass,
but a decade ago, america was free,
people opt for what ever they please,
an amount of bigotism did exist,
but did not contaminate on a sneeze,
in ten years in the twisted glass,
a virus has spred like molten rock,
it keeps us apart no matter the cost,
and stinks like hell, like skunky sock,
madness is a bomb, bound to explode,
madness is a bomb, bound to sell,
devistation planted a deciaide ago,
and people wonder why were going to hell,
it matters not, are reasons and whims,
it matters not, the terrorist wins,
everything we do, tears us apart,
everything we do, amounts to sins,
every person is guilty,
every person is right,
for we all have something to hide,
and more to fight,
shall I see but the future that holds,
a damp cave where everything dies,
no name, no fame, a memory and nothing more,
and silenced are the cries,
The country is now at it’s dusk,
time growing short,
it’s matter of time,
before we all must report,
between the madness, between the glass,
lays in a mirror, of untold past,
where this country goes, where does it end,
like a train, going way to fast,
the train of hell, like those before,
is not a matter of choice,
but a gong of silence, striking ever so hard,
and people not caring, taking their voice.
Al
/ September 13, 2011We need public officers with more common sense and sound judjement – is that too much to ask?
ted
/ September 13, 2011“In addition to your excellent comment, the terrorists have also won in that they’ve divided us even further.”
Nah….Osama is fish food.
Patriot
/ September 13, 2011Thank God for high security like this. If you don’t like it (anyone), go to a different country where there are even LESS liberties and even less for women and even less freedom of speech to complain about how the government is protecting its people. THANK YOU, homeland security! You are FINALLY doing your job!
Michael Huggins
/ September 13, 2011I am absolutely disgusted by what happened to you; such behavior on the part of law enforcement is intolerable. Thank you for sharing this moving account.
Sierra
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry for your experience 😦 This was such a beautiful post. I’m sending a link to all of my friends and my aunt at home land security.
Lisa Petrarca
/ September 13, 2011It’s too bad that it’s come to this and everyone is overly cautious and suspicious. The anniversary of 9/11 seems to have stirred up some very paranoid feelings. So sorry for what you had to go through.Our world has permanently changed forever, and unfortunately, there are still victims of the terroist attacks!
http://lisapetrarca.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-where-were-you-on-that-tragic-day.html
N
/ September 13, 2011Sorry but I am in total agreement with them doing this… I bet all those people that died in those 3 planes and their living family members WISHED those terrorists had been searched. Sorry you were humiliated but in today’s world, sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to have to do. Imagine if someone HAD been searched on your trip and they did have a bomb or whatever? You would be telling a different story here. I would have gladly stripped if it meant putting peoples mind at ease. After 9/11 we can never let our guard down again. It was let down then and it will most likely be let down when the memories of this last weekend pass.
Chloe
/ September 13, 2011I read an article about this on msn.com and clicked on the link to your blog, i was so upset with what happened to you and the other passengers. It was very disheartening to asy the least. It seems to me they did the Gunslinger approach by shooting first and asking questions later. I thought i would share this blog posting on my facebook. You are truly a good person and i know your kids are proud that you endured this situation with the understanding that most Americans don’t have. Stay strong, willing and hopeful.
P
/ September 13, 2011Land of the free and home of the brave…NOT
Doug
/ September 13, 2011This is what happens when a federal marshall has a quota to fill. Nobody was doing anything suspicious at all, but they needed to have an incident on 9/11. Nothing else was happening on the plane, so the marshall picked a couple of middle east guys sitting together as easy marks and called in the cavalry. The government got their incident, the press got a scary story, the middle east guys and girl got a lesson in how absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the rest of society breaths a sigh of relief that it was just a false alarm.
I wish to express my sincere sympathy to this woman and the men who were so unjustly accused.
Racial Profiling Is Expected
/ September 13, 2011You begin your blog…silly me…I thought that traveling on 9/11 would be easy! There were extra precautions that needed to be taken. Do you not know what 9/11 is? You act like it never happened. Again, you did this on purpose and you know you did just so you could claim racial profiling, and get some attention and write a sad story about how mistreated you were. But you won’t post my comment or the other ones I placed. Get a life and a job and maybe you won’t travel to get searched on purpose and then complain about it.
Sabrina
/ September 13, 2011Ugh this is horrible. What people don’t understand is that acts of terror are for the sole purpose of causing fear in their targets. The people on the plane who reported you absolutely fell into their hands and reacted through fear, instead of logic. What victims of terror. I am sorry you got roped into this. And your bravery and calmness while in an entirely frightening situation is inspiring. Thank you for posting.
Steve Bock
/ September 13, 2011Reading this made me sick and angry.
Please talk to a lawyer with the ACLU. It is free, and If they accept your case, perhaps we can push back against this creeping, faceless bureaucracy that answers to no one.
Thank you for writing this,
Steve Bock
Passionately Pink
/ September 13, 2011Your story is sad and I am sorry that this happened to you. What a terrible invasion of your privacy. By us living in fear we have let the terrorist win. What a waste of our tax dollars. I hope at least few will learn from this experience and their eyes will be opened. Take care.
Sandy
/ September 13, 2011This is bull ! This 9/11 was not just the act of terrorist, those buildings didn’t come down from those planes. This is just another was for the government to take away our rights and get more controle of us.
David L. Burkhead
/ September 13, 2011The terrorists have won.
Paul
/ September 13, 2011Dear boys and girls,
10 years ago we thought we had airport security.
4 planes took off, whose crew and passangers thought they were safe.
we are so quick to complain and yes even profiled.
I too have been profiled and pulled out of line more than once.
I remind myself and I put a challange to all what if we had these policies ten years ago how differant are live would be to day.
It easy to sit back and whine about the aiport personal, I like to see the complainer put up one day with what these folk have to do.
They are trying to do a job, How would you handle this job knowing that if you miss one thing, your mistake, could cost hundreds of lives.
So to all those offened I say get over it,
God Bless for men and women that right or wrong are try to keep us all safe.
Rember you can alway take a bus.
Steve Ratliff
/ September 13, 2011Dear Fellow Americans
I understand that this is a horrific incident and I express my sympathy but welcome to post 9/11 America. This is now the world we live in. If we followed these same reactions ten years ago would we of have children without parents, Firefighters and Police Officers without brothers/sisters etc. Yes terrorits have changed things for all of us but the fact remains that until violence is no longer in exsistence we must live with the current status. If you were white and treated like this, would this even be news. I would have to say no one that one. I truly belive that there will come a time that the white race will be a minority and racial profiling will come full circle. I do not want to sound horrible but if it is that bad in America MOVE. If not make sure work to improve the system or quit whineing.
Sabrina
/ September 13, 2011By the way I was reading some of the other comments and I’m sorry that there are so many ass hats on the internet. They ‘write their snide bullshit from a dark room because that’s what the angry do nowadays.’ Kudos for keeping your blog! Good luck
jimmie
/ September 13, 2011It is unfortunate that you had to go thru this, however if it makes other people safe , that is a good thing. At least know one had a weapon, I am dark and I looked at other people when i am on the airplane. That is just the way it is. Better safe than sorry
Piper Bayard
/ September 13, 2011I am deeply saddened and disgusted by what the DHS did to you. I believe the Department of Homeland “Security,” with it’s institutionalized assaults, is far more terrifying than any suicide bombers at this point.
However, I am just as deeply saddened by the rampant racism I see in many of these comments. Apparently, people are not aware that our president who authorizes these abuses is African-American and not a white, Southern redneck. I know many white, Southern rednecks, and I literally do not know a single one who speaks of anyone of any race with such savage bigotry and hatred as the way some of these commenters speak of them. Not even in private.
Thank you for sharing your experience. The irony is that, while you looked at your captors as white people who were nothing like you, rather than agents of a government gone mad, the Middle Eastern terrorists we are at war with would look at you and see one of “them.”
Terrorist Threats on 9/11
/ September 13, 2011What kind of a La La land are you living in? Three Arabs sitting next to each other and two of them acting suspiciously on an airplane and everyone is supposed to ignore this. People need to realize that these threats are real and we experienced many, many threats that were targeting Americans and American travel on 9/11.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011There were two men of Indian (subcontinental Indian) descent (not Arabs), and one woman of half Arab descent, sitting in a row. There were no suspicious activities, and no threats, as evidence by the fact that the plane (and indeed, every plane on 9/11/11) arrived safely at its destination.
Gil
/ September 14, 2011I believe you are the one living in lala land, of better yet, one of many in this country who have been paralyzed by fear and hatred of those different from you.
If you had read the article carefully and objectively, the other two passengers were not Arab. What if they were? they have as much right to travel in this country as you or I. They also should be able to use the restroom on a plane without others jumping out of their skin as well.
Beach Bum
/ September 13, 2011I applaud you for handling this unfortunate incident with dignity and grace. As you have endured this ordeal (yin), you will be blessed (yang)!
Jenny Howard
/ September 13, 2011I am more keenly aware of my white privilege than I have been in a long time. Aware, and ashamed. Thank you.
jspence
/ September 13, 2011I’m really sorry this happened to you . However, I do understand the need for authorities to act on information regarding the safety of numerous people. The biggest problem to me is the break down of the security system. I find it ridiculous that the airlines have all of these security measures in place, only to throw it all out the window when one person feels uncomfortable. That means the next time I’m on a plane and I see someone that scares me, I can complain and have the authorities and F16’s at my becking call? WOW! The person who complained should have been told to shut up and enjoy the flight. To me this airline and crew are at fault for not having trust in they’re pre flight security measures, and system as a whole. I find it scary and unproffessional that nobody was able to assess the situation. If the airlines crew has no faith why should we?
Robert
/ September 13, 2011There are countless stories like this happening every day in this country. Thank you for giving them a voice.
scott
/ September 13, 2011I, too, am very saddened to hear about this. Although I was born in Detroit, I now live in LA and have an “All-American” appearance. I’ve never been treated this way and it concerns me greatly that we may be trading rights and common respect in the name of security. I AM in favor of increased security, but this is not what I had in mind. This is political circus and it is unfortunately one more way that our country is becoming more divisive each day. Too many people react based upon fear and ignorance. I am encouraged by the pilot security security screening program in Boston. It is similar to the program used by the Israelis. They have not had a hijacking since the 70s and yet the security lines a very quick. In a non-homogeneous country like ours, it is a dangerous thing to base so much on the tone of a person’s skin. It is ironic that the very “American-looking” (whatever that is) Timothy McVeigh and “Jihad Jane” can plan such atrocities against us and we still seem to want to believe that those who wish us hard have darker skin or distinctive clothing. We foolishly believe that all our enemies wear some type of uniform that identifies them (even if the uniform is skin color and facial features). We have strayed far from our ideals. We live in a strange time where when one branch of government makes it policy to reject every proposal of a sitting president regardless of the interests of the country. We glorify uneducated, illiterate bigoted people from New Jersey in our television shows. We will continue to get what we have been getting for as long as we shrug our shoulders and refuse to demand something better.
Michael Lange Ocala
/ September 13, 2011Noted… don’t fly on 9/11 PERIOD
run4joy59
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry that you had to endure this. I don’t know when we Americans will wake up and realize that we have willingly given up our freedom…very sad…I’m sure the terrorists sit back and laugh when they hear about how we treat one another.
rs
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana,
I am close to the thousandth person who has commented on your post. And as a young, white, female citizen, I will probably never have a similar experience in this country. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write and tell you how sorry I am to have heard of your experience. I cannot imagine how frightened you must have been at the time or how angry you must feel now. Nor can I imagine what you and your family face on a sometimes daily basis because of “what you look like.” I hope you are able to find peace.
Abbey
/ September 13, 2011Am I really the only one bothered by her own clearly racially profiling comments ? (“I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks” “She looked like a fat Jada Pinkett Smith” “I got a glimpse of the watch-stealer, a chubby middle-aged white guy with a buzz cut. He didn’t look too different from some of the officers” “a middle-aged white cop with a beer belly and a flat top”). It seems to me that these thoughts/comments are so very similar (dare I say, hypocritical?) to the same profiling she experienced. These comments were thrown in to be malicious. That much is obvious. This is a great illustration of the problems in this country: No one, not one person in the United States, can say they are completely without judgement. Everyone is pointing fingers, everyone is profiling (no matter which direction, it’s still profiling), everyone wants to find someone to blame. Didn’t you ever hear there are two sides to every story? That’s not just a concilliatory statement for playground scuffles. That’s truth for every situation, every time. Even political.
Let’s try practicing some REAL acceptance. Don’t feel sorry for yourself because you were born half Arab/half Jewish. Be proud of it, don’t degrade yourself and your heritage by turning around and doing the same thing to people that aren’t half Arab/half Jewish. Don’t maliciously call a lady “fat” (rude, rude, rude), don’t say a watch-stealer looks an awful lot like the officers (profiling, profiling, profiling), don’t call out physical qualities (flat top, beer belly) & assume that is either a)the make-up of the person or b)”American”. You and I both know that beer, country music, and rednecks aren’t the only “American” that exists. You being a citizen should know that.
Let’s try practicing some real acceptance of people different from ourselves. It is so startlingly clear, from all 900+ comments, that the majority of people in this country don’t actually do that. THAT is the sad part of this whole situation.
Ali
/ September 13, 2011So, someone on the plane did what they were supposed to do – tell the authorities (crew) suspicious activity was happening, in their view. Over reaction? Over the top assault on America on 9/11. Sorry muslims did the dirty deed. Sorry people who look like them were noticed. Nothing should have been done – that’s what you’re saying? You can’t have it both ways. But, hey you are getting a lot of attention and maybe you’ll got more attention as a writer. Perhaps it will be your blessing, not your curse. But if you sue, you’re an opportunist.
Ben
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for posting about your ordeal.
Had I read this on September 10th, 2001 I would have wondered when the punch line was coming. Reading it now, and knowing what has happened over the past ten years, it is still hard to imagine how we’ve let our liberties be stripped from us a bit at a time so that we are now left with this as some seemingly acceptable way to handle a passenger’s report of “suspicious activity”. Even George Orwell wouldn’t believe how far we’ve fallen.
The terrorists are winning, but only because we’ve fallen over ourselves helping them. It’s not too late to correct our path, but it won’t be easy.
Diane
/ September 13, 2011I’am sorry for the scare you had from you travels back home here in the US on 9/11 but again , it was 9/11 .. A very bad thing happened that day and too many people were killed and hurt . sometimes we have to wonder too , did anyone see something they should have reported on those planes ,we dont know . so i feel they did the right thing by reponding to the report . They didnt just check to see if you were on the plane and stop it before u got off so they could waste that time , im sure .. Maybe someone saw u on your phone , the other two men next to you getting up at the same time , it would bring a fear to a lot of people on that day for sure ! I’m glad the person who made the report did what they should have.. And i would ask you , have you had this problem before with traveling by plane in the past ? Seems you travel often , i believe if it were because of your skin or anything else it would have happened before . I’am not of white skin but i believe and love our country and understand after 9/11 we all should stand up and stand together to prevent it as much as we can … I did noticed in your story that you made remarks that are to the same effect as what you are saying happened to you .. I mean the words as you spoke “White man” “rednecks” “fat” “beer belly” and so on… I’m very glad you made it home and your children can have their mom with them ,some of the kids on 9/11 ten years ago dont have that anymore … Moms and dads , sisters and brothers didnt make it home . What if goes through everyones mind … Again Im sorry that you had to go through that scare but i dont think it was because of your skin , it was because of the terrible thing that happened 10 years before . Love and forgiveness is what we all need to live by 🙂
lisakenn
/ September 13, 2011Does anyone remember how the terrorists began their reign of terror on 9/11/2001? THEY GOT UP AND WENT INTO THE BATHROOMS! They locked themselves in and then emerged to carry out their heinous intentions. People may scoff at the security measures taken, but perhaps the two gentlemen who got up within minutes of each other and went to the restrooms looked a tiny bit suspicious……Wouldn’t everyone rather be safe than sorry?
We don’t live in a utopia. America lost what innocence it had on 9/11/2001 and anyone who is fool enough to believe that there aren’t any other groups that would like to repeat such terrorist acts on this country are like ostriches with their heads in the sand.
The sad fact is that we cannot afford to be complacent anymore. Try flying with EL AL Israel airlines sometime and subject yourself to their methods of security. They make no apologies for their policies, and they also have one of the best security systems in place. Their attitude is, if you don’t like it don’t fly with us. Period. We do what we have to in order to be safe. Personally, I felt safer flying with them than I ever have with any other airline.
I did not get a sense that these 3 individuals were mistreated in any way, based on the author’s own words. Humiliating? Absolutely. An over reaction? Due to the circumstances, I think not. It is sad that we have to even think or act this way, but don’t blame America for this. Blame the evil ones out there who would kill and destroy others just because they can.
And please do not be naive enough to think more terrorism couldn’t happen again. Because it can……..Maybe, just maybe, some of our hyper vigilance will end up saving lives some day. A life that just may be your own.
Wolf B. Litzer
/ September 13, 2011Dear Shoshana,
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. It nearly made me cry. I hope you know there are many people who support you and are horrified by what happened to you.
R R Gomez
/ September 13, 2011Now You Know How Mexican-Americans Are Treated In Arizona ! ! !
Tammy Cravit
/ September 13, 2011Having commented earlier in the thread, I wanted to chime in more directly and tell you how sorry I am, Shoshana, that this happened to you. I am horrified, but far from surprised, that in the wake of 9/11 things like this are happening to people who are or who might be mistaken for Muslim. Sadly, the United States has a long history of racially-driven fear, and have long used it to justify infringement of the rights of various minorities.
Those commenters who would disagree with what I just wrote should read about the case of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American jailed during World War II on the basis of his supposed threat to national security. Subsequent investigation led to Mr. Korematsu’s decision being retroactively invalidated by a Federal court after it was revealed that the government knew Mr. Korematsu (and the Japanese-Americans who were interred, in general) posed no national security threat and the US Solicitor-General presented knowingly false testimony on the point to the US Supreme Court.
In her decision granting Mr. Korematsu’s petition for writ of coram nobis, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote, “Korematsu remains on the pages of our legal and political history. As a legal precedent it is now recognized as having very limited application. As historical precedent it stands as a constant caution that in times of war or declared military necessity our institutions must be vigilant in protecting constitutional guarantees. It stands as a caution that in times of distress the shield of military necessity and national security must not be used to protect governmental actions from close scrutiny and accountability. It stands as a caution that in times of international hostility and antagonisms our institutions, legislative, executive and judicial, must be prepared to exercise their authority to protect all citizens from the petty fears and prejudices that are so easily aroused.”
Unfortunately, it seems that Shoshana’s experience proves just how true, and how prescient, Judge Patel’s words were.
Lori Z
/ September 13, 2011Perhaps, being a writer, you planned to act suspiciously to see what would happen? Apparently, it made for an okay story & got you 15 minutes of fame. Not to mention, everyone can now cry, “Racism!” Sorry, but I’m not buying into it.
BillP
/ September 13, 2011We have the freedom to travel anywhere, to go to any school and rent vehicles. The extremists have figured this out. Every day or resolve is being tested. They have Americans helping them or do we have the freedom to forget that.
The freedoms we cherish so much are used against us.
All of the above freedoms were used on 9/11.
I watched mothers, fathers and children die on that day not from my couch not on TV but next to me.I stood at the base of the world trade center and watched as people jumped to their death around me. I could do nothing.
I am a black male, who has seen discrimination and injustice.
I am a proud American who would fight rather than give up my freedom.
On that day I chose to enter those buildings as they came down around me. I was willing to give up my freedom, my life to save others.
I’m sorry you were inconvenienced. I’m sorry your rights were infringed upon. You got home, for that I am happy.
How many Americans from 9/11 are dead? The dead have no freedom or rights.
Melanie @ Whimsical Creations
/ September 13, 2011That is just crazy!! Breaks my heart that you had to go through this. You handled it much better than I would have.
S. Smith
/ September 13, 2011You have to understand after what happened on 911 that there will be a chance that you could be under suspicion. I have friends who are middle eastern that are residents of the United States and citizens of Canada that have had the same type of profiling since 911 but they don’t complain. They understand the fear that Americans faced that fatal day of Sept. 11. I realize it must have been scary for you but at least the agent “thanked you” for cooperating and sent you on your way. Many Americans have faced persecution and sometimes death in the Middle East (just for being an American). I would hope you can remember that you are an American Citizen first and then you are Jewish and Arab.You have to look at things on the other side as well – what if one of those people in your row were indeed planning a terrorist attack. You would have been mighty thankful they took those people off the plane and your life was spared on that day. I say – better safe than sorry….
Michelle
/ September 13, 2011I was horrified by your story and disgusted by the way you were treated. It seems like the nation needs some diversity training. We don’t all look the same and just because we don’t, doesn’t mean we want to blow up the country.
David Greenberg
/ September 13, 2011Shoshanna, my heart goes out to you. Why you would have been treated this way has no roots in the concept of freedom and justice we all took for granted 10+ years ago. Shame on all of us for allowing our present condition to exist.
DJ
/ September 13, 2011I’m a deaf Australian who transited through Miami, FL on September 11, 2002. I didn’t hear the customs officers questions and like I’d done in 17 other countries I just nodded and smiled politely. Suddenly a red light started flashing over my head, and four guards came and took me away to a small room. After a rather scary 15 minutes they brought out several sheets of paper written in German and made me sign them. I don’t even know the language. I can only assume they mistook my nationality for Austrian (which I’m told Yanks often do). I was then personally escorted to the departure lounge. I have never wanted to visit the USA again since. And the questions the officer was asking? “Are you a terrorist?” “Do you have a grudge against the United States?” I mean, seriously.
NOBAMA
/ September 13, 2011WHO CARES IF THEY HUMILIATED 3 PEOPLE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF A TERRORIST ATTACK? IF IT WASN’T FOR ACTION LIKE THIS THE TERRORISTS PROBABLY WOULD HAVE ATTACKED US AGAIN AND YOUS WOULD ALL BE CRYING WE DIDN’T DO ENOUGH TO STOP IT. WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY. YOU CAN BLAME IT ON A BUNCH OF ARAB EXTREMISTS DON’T BLAME THE US FOR ACTING ON A TIP.
Jodi
/ September 13, 2011Sorry that you had to endure this. I can’t imagine what it must have truly been like for you. We must remember that it was an emotional day for people, and naturally people were more on edge…and yes, you were targeted because of the way you look. I am not trying to minimize your experience at all, however, people are not expertly trained to profile a potential terrorist…all they know is that men, women, and even children have been used to carry out horrible acts. Imagine if after your experience you found out there was a terrorist seated next to you…would you then be thankful for the person who reported suspicious behavior? Would it still matter that you were counted among the suspicious group? I bet you would just be thankful to be able to go home to your family again. Perhaps you can be thankful that you were the one who got that seat assignment instead of someone else who may not have been able to deal quite as well. Just another perspective.
Red Toenails
/ September 13, 2011I really hate you had this experience but I’m glad you wrote about it. I have three older brothers who have all been stopped and searched for driving while black. Pitiful.
KO
/ September 13, 2011Was anyone replying to this blog on the plane. People saw something suspisious and reported it. We were not there so we do not know what happened.People are going to say what they want you to hear. I get tired of every time something happens to someone that is or looks foreign it has to be because of the way they look or people are prejudious of them. The officers were doing there job, people reported a situation and they responded to it as they are trained to do. We have people living here people of all races and color waiting to do harm to are country.
Bronwyn
/ September 13, 2011Well, yes its a tragedy that you were taken in and questioned. and im sorry that this happened to you. But. Had they not questioned, and your plane was hijacked and drove into yet another building, would we all be sitting here complaining of the precautions that we AS Americans must now take?
You fail to realize that if we dont look at everyone equally, whether they have the appropriate id’s or not. We will face yet another 9/11.
So, while you are upset, and that i understand. I think you really and truly need to consider…..What could have happened, had they not followed protocol.
Houston
/ September 13, 2011I can’t even imagine how traumatic this experience has been and will continue to be for you. I know next time I hear the recording at Houston Bush Intercontinental telling me “I can be held, arrested and prosecuted for what I say while at the airport” Instead of blurting my normal angered “I didn’t spend 8 years in the military to hear that crap” speech. I will remember there are many more people that have truly had their rights violated and be thankful. On a recent trip to Japan I recall how nice it was to go just about anywhere trains, buildings, ferry ect. without having creepy Homeland people watching my every move and routing around in my stuff. I love my home but I’m glad to be moving. I do agree, the terrorist have won, they have accomplished exactly what they set out to do, we live in fear of them and our own government.
A Dose of Reality
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. Obviously, the security procedures need to be greatly refined.
However,
I must wholeheartedly disagree with many of these posters. There is no difference between Islam and Fundamentalists. You can’t just say “I believe this, but not that”. Read the Koran. It is full of commands to kill people. It is an evil, hate-filled book, and you cannot take the hate out of it just because it’s politically correct to do so. Islam is EVIL. PERIOD. The rapist, woman-hating Muhammed wants us and the Jews ALL DEAD! You bleeding heart hippies will just have to get used to the real world, and accept that your weak little utopia does not, and will not ever exist. Most of us have had it with pussy-footing around the issue that Islam is EVIL. You can’t call the literal interpretation of a book that was meant to be literally interpreted a “perversion”. It is not a perversion if Islam, it IS Islam.
There is no such thing as a perversion of Islam. There is only Islam. A perverted “religion” that is actually a cult. “Peaceful Muslims” are not Muslims at all. WAKE UP!
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011Spoken like a xenophobic ignoramus who has never read, nor likely even seen, a Qua’ran. If you really want to play that game, you can pretty much pick up ANY religious text and go through it to find “evil, hateful” things that are commanded of that religions followers. Read the bible. There is murder, rape, mayhem and genocide in that book. Yet I don’t hear you freaking out over the “evil” Christians. Pull your head out of the talk radio and learn to respect your fellow man. There IS a difference between Muslims and extremists. Just like there is a difference between Christians and their extremists.
sweet Tea
/ September 13, 2011Fun!
Chad Jones
/ September 13, 2011Sorry. No sympathy here. When your community condemns Islamic terrorists then and only then will I feel sorry for you. Muslims do not condemn the acts of their muslim brothers and sisters. When you and your community speak out AGAINST the terrorist that are bred in your religion then come cry to me. Peaceful religion, my ass!!
MelissainMO
/ September 16, 2011Chad, Lots of Muslims and Arabs and other groups connected in any way (dark skin, funny names, ancestors were from the region umpteen generations ago, etc). Strange thing, when they do, people claim that they are just trying to throw up a smokescreen and are lying. You can’t win for losing when you try.
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011Apparently you just refuse to listen when they do condemn the actions of the extremists. I’ll tell you what, Chad, when all of the Christian community stands up and condemns the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church, the abortion clinic bombers, the genocide in Bosnia, and all the other atrocities committed by “christians” against people they disagree with, then maybe your argument won’t sound so xenophobic.
Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields
/ September 13, 2011This is so awful, I am so sorry you had to go through this.
melissa
/ September 13, 2011Sweet girl, I am so sorry that you had to go through such a horrific experience. You must be so strong because I know I would have completely fallen apart. I wish you nothing but the best best and can recover from this quickly. The officer that drove you to your vehicle should be ashamed of himself.
Nothing but the best to you and your family.
The_Sad_Truth
/ September 13, 2011Yep, the terrorists won. America has been paranoid about terrorists since 9/11, all this security and terror ovr attacks is EVERYTHING Osama Bin Laden asked for.. and more.
Shibu
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry that these security measures were necessary to maintain the safety of the USA. I am sorry that you had to go through this ordeal. I am glad no terrorist attacks occurred on September 11, 2011.
I am an Indian male. I could easily be targeted by security & I would gladly submit to any security measures if they increased the safety of my family, friends and fellow Americans.
The measures are not the result of fear but rather the result of cowardice. They are the result of the cowards who murdered all the victims on September 11, 2001. Perhaps also they are the result of cowards in the USA who were unwilling to unleash the full power of the military on radicals so that we could be breathe easier in the USA today.
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011It’s easy to say you would gladly accept this treatment when it’s never happened to you. I’d be willing to bet you’d sing a different tune after being pulled off of an airplane, slapped into handcuffs, thrown in a jail cell for hours, been subjected to a strip-search, and endured the other indignities that this woman went through. I really don’t see why it’s so hard for people to understand that these actions AREN’T making us any safer, but they ARE slowly eroding the rights and freedoms of our populace. The terrorists don’t need to attack us again. They are getting EXACTLY what they hoped to achieve from us. Terror. They are watching our country slowly tear itself apart. Why would they need to do anything else?
manuel flores
/ September 13, 2011wow,It seems to me that most all americans are at a point of untrustful of anyone including their own family.I see this type of agression at work places, on the streets, anywheres you look people of other athnic, seems to look at you in a way of agressions toward this people. even hispanics get this type of treatment. to feel this type of feelings the same type of distrust and dislike I wonder how long before all this start to change,It will take a very long time for it to heal thats for sure.We need to educate our law enforcements security,military,and all whos envolved in lawenforcement to recognice and take the proper actions and not just assume that everyone including blacks, hispanics, asians ,chinese, libians, spaniards,atc,are all suspects of terrorism, unlesss you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are a terrorist and not just look like you may be one… god bless america and its people.
Retired Vet
/ September 13, 2011I read this whole incident and the comments by many of you who read the same thing. I was disgusted with the way an American woman was handled by those in positions of authority. The article was very well written and gave an excellent account of what happened and how she felt at that time. None of you commenting can truely say how you would have acted or what you would have done in that same situation until it happens to you. We started having our freedoms infringed upon during the Bush adminstration and it continues unabated today. We should stand up and fight for our rights here in America just as we due the rights of others here and abroad. If we don’t, a lot of fine young Americans are dying and being maimed for life for nothing. We cannot allow our own government to violate our rights and lie about it. The Valerie Plame Wilson outing come to mind here listening to some of the comments. I say that as a retired military man who served in Vietnam and heard a lot of disparaging remarks and lies told about John Kerry and believed by those who do not seek out the truth.
WWCJ
/ September 13, 2011This is horrific. Your point on terrorism is real, the fear is real. I just spoke on this as well. My heart goes out to you as my son has been victimized similarly. No, we aren’t of Arabic, Indian, or other nationality that would cause it, we are a caucasion family. However, my son is very tall, and has many tattoos. He has been stopped while simply walking on the street, thrown into handcuffs and searched as well, only to receive the same weak apology and sent on his way. I am thankful we have a promise in Isaiah 11:1-3, in that the God I serve, doesn’t care about our color, our looks, or what others may have said. He knows us from the heart. You are a strong person and I am thankful you shared this. Blessings to you and your family.
avshar
/ September 13, 2011I agree this is a horrible experience for anyone to go through and that the authorities overreacted and that whoever reported them should have their head examined. I am sorry for her and doubt very much i would have remained as calm as she was during this nonsense. Despite all that i couldn’t help noticing her comments about being tired of rednecks. It made me laugh since she was basically telling everyone they shouldn’t judge based on appearance. We all do it if we know it or not. I freely admit to doing this myself at times even though i don’t consider myself a racist in ANY way. Great blog though just the same.
Jessi S.
/ September 13, 2011This is so out of control. I’m sick to my stomach and so sorry this happened to you. Please sue the pants off of them!
Suzy Raffensperger
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. In many ways, I empathize with you.
I was one of the first people to fly out of BWI after the planes were allowed to fly again after 9./110/ At the time, I was in my 40’s. I’m a white female and plus sized. I was chosen randomly to have my luggage searched. I passed the first screening. At a second point in the airport.singled out by two MALE security agents to be search. I overheard them say they were going to search me because no one is that weighs that much (I had a big thick leather coat on).
I was then search non-gently by one of the men and his hand was up my skirt. After I came home from my trip I tried to complain of the rough handling. I received. I never received an answer or apology from the airport or those who were in charge of the searches that day.
.I’m a survivor of sexual assault, I have PTSD. The treatment at the airport was a re-traumazation. I haven’t flown since 9/11/01.
I’m so glad you have been able to give voice to your experience and giving a forum to me to speak out. No one should ever be subject to profiling no matter the “cause”.
Retired Vet
/ September 13, 2011There are non so blind as those who will not see. The Valerie Plame Wilson story comes to mind as I read a lot of these mindless comments.
john
/ September 13, 2011Part of the issue is that we are a nation of sheep.
We judge and covict on looks alone.
I live under a communist goverment for the first 10 years of my life. We came to America for freedom and to be accepted for who we are. It now seems we are back and judged on what we are and no longer who we are.
I have been an american citizen for over 50 years and for the first time I am embarrassed about how you were treated.
IBS woman
/ September 13, 2011To the people above who claim that this happened because of suspicious behavior and not because of the appearance of these 3 people, I know that you are wrong. I am a very white looking woman in my 30s and I have irritable bowel syndrome. I have gone to the restrrom more than 3 times on a single flight and on that flight when the flight attendant asked me to sit down because the pilot was trying to taxi around the airport, I told her no way and ran to the bathroom. The woman was pissed at me but that was it. Not only was I not detained, noone said even Boo to me!
David Matthews
/ September 13, 2011I agree with you, that was totally unecessary and should never happen. Not to you or to anyone. We have lived in fear for the past ten years and its time we stopped. I thank you story was awesome and should inspire all americans to stand up to “Big Brother” and tell them it is about Freedom. We can not and should not live in fear. Not in our homes and not in our country.
mcwilly66
/ September 13, 2011My brother was detained in a similar incident several years ago on a flight from
Rhode Island to Daytona Beach Florida. He is a third generation blonde hair blue eyed american.Although It is unfortunate that you were detained,harassed and humiliated,this happens quite to often to the citizens of our country no matter the color of their skin or nationality.lets face it in the post Patriot Act 9/11 world we losing more and more rights everyday,its the world we live in?
brianbreed
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry. I am so sorry.
Roger
/ September 13, 2011I am white, male and a conservative constitutionalist. I’m the sort that the media loves to paint as a tea bagging racist.
This story angers me so much that I’m shaking. Land of the free and home of the brave? How about land of the tyrannical and home of the cowards. I am profoundly embarrassed that this happens in our country. The risk of death is not worth the loss of liberty. Those of you who would think otherwise should lock yourselves in your basement.
I am sorry for your experience. I will continue to lobby tirelessly to eliminate the TSA, “homeland security” and the “patriot” act. Your humiliation has motivated me even further.
Erika
/ September 13, 2011I am SO sorry for what you went through!!! It’s saddening to me how far we still have to go concerning prejudice and civil rights. One minute it’s “this” and then it is “that”. It’s as if humans cannot live without something to be misguided about. Had those two men who got up to use the restroom in that manner been white, none of this would have happened. I am as white as they get and it’s a shame that is sometimes the only thing which saves me from mistreatment. I am so sorry for ignorant White America and their Islamic/Muslim/Arab/Middle Eastern ignorance. We have to fight in a way that generates peace and kindness and love or there will only be more hatred. What happened to these 3 as well as the other 50 situations is WRONG. Where does safety end and civil rights begin? What good is safety if in a country with compromised “civil rights”? What good are civil rights for some and safety for all when it’s at the expense of the civil rights of those racially profiled? When will prejudice end? When will logic and intelligent thought overcome simplistic fear and idiocy?
Marlis
/ September 13, 2011Your grace even though faced with this unreal scenario shines for all of us to see. Thank you for speaking out.
Mike Little
/ September 13, 2011This is exactly why I won’t fly. Sure I felt safer before 9/11. But all the new security makes me feel far less safe. In the fight for freedom, we gave ours away…
silencespeaksdanielrice
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m glad your family is safe and well.
http://www.silencespeaksbydanielrice.com
Chris
/ September 13, 2011That’s just crazy they did all that to these 3 people and they probably didn’t do anything to the person that made this false report.
Clay
/ September 13, 2011Did they actually invade your body cavities? This is rape!
Maureen Anderson
/ September 13, 2011What an awful experierience. No, it was not fair. Policy should change so one nervous persons’ report of suspicious behavior doesn’t catapult an innocent person into such a situation. However, your elaboratations of hostility hurt your credibility. You were actually tempted to make snarky comments?? to the police?? Something good could come of it but in my opinion, not if you are bitter. Maybe you are alive today because of a thwarted attack that could have happened elsewhere. I was recently attacked and almost had my artery slashed by two dogs belonging to
irrespsonsible dog owner. I nearly was killed, have a permanent scar and numbness. I lost my peace of mind just to take a walk in my neighborhood.. my point is: I understand what anger is. I don’t blame you but bett
irresponsible
Eric Jaffa
/ September 13, 2011Please sue.
Not for the sake of the money.
For the sake of preventing other people from being jailed and strip-searched based on someone else’s dubious suspicions.
Rick
/ September 13, 2011The terrorists have won yet again. They have helped to strip our citizens of their constitutional rights. They have helped to make U.S. citizens less free. They planted a seed and our own paranoia has taken it from there. The terrorist attack on 9/11 was far more successful than they could ever have dreamed, and the American public shows no desire to fight back in any meaningful way. As long as we continue to judge people by how they look, the real promise of the American dream will remain dead and buried.
ALiberalWalkingTall
/ September 13, 2011Just the 1002 reply to this as I saw the article on MSNBC.com It really is terrible that racial profiling has become a norm in this country. I have some hope that The Arab Autumn and the death of so many al Quaeda operatives might start allowing that to calm down. You can imagine how hard it must be for anti-terrorism when things like the Oklahoma City bombing, the Atlanta Olympics and the assasinations of womens’ health doctors happen in the U.S. (be on the look out for a white guy between the ages of 18-65, 4ft-7ft tall and somewhere between 115-350lbs). What happened to you was terrible and I hope that it’s possible for others to avoid it in the future. And at the same time I’m grateful for the vigilence. I just wish there were easier ways to accomplish the goals of safety. Perhaps and air marshal on every flight who can verify when someone is only guilty of “flying while be other than white.” Congrats on all the new web traffic. I hope it holds up. You handled this exactly how a real American should. You cooperated with authorities and rang the alarm bell for the rest of us that this stuff is happening. Well done.
Expatlibrarian
/ September 13, 2011“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” — Pastor Martin Niemöller
ken
/ September 13, 2011I think if we had an Israeli style airport screening system, 9/11 and post 9/11 incidents would never have happened, and Shoshana and her two Indian seat mates would never have been violated like that, especially 10 year after 9/11 occurred.
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011Be careful what you wish for, Ken. You’re right that they wouldn’t have faced that sort of indignity after the flight. It would have happened before they were ever allowed to board.
STOP CRYING
/ September 13, 2011DONT WORRY IM SURE THE LIBERAL ACLU WILL GET INVOLVED LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO WITH MINORITIES…STOP CRYING ON YOUR BLOG AND IF YOU WANT TO BLAME SOMEONE BLAME THE *MUSLIM* TERRORISTS
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011I think your capslock key is stuck, bro.
Erika
/ September 13, 2011I propose this–let’s all take part in getting much, much more of the “Patriot Act” done away with (if not completely). It’s in the very founding of this country that was written that no “safety” issue should impinge upon any civil right. And those who demand “safety” in such a way to impinge on civil rights do not deserve those civil rights!
Marc Brooks (@IDisposable)
/ September 13, 2011“As we walked, I got a glimpse of the watch-stealer, a chubby middle-aged white guy with a buzz cut. He didn’t look too different from some of the officers.”
For someone who’s writing about how wrong it is to be singled out because of your appearance this is disgusting.
“I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.”
Yes, let’s hate people… that’s the spirit.
Yugosloven
/ September 13, 2011Have you ever heard of those precious words better be safe than sorry
Joshua
/ September 13, 2011God’s teeth, absolutely unbelievable.
I’m with Steve Bock on this one. Please talk to a lawyer, talk your Congressman, do exactly what you did here but as loud as you can to as many people as you can. It’s terrible to ask, because I have no doubt you’d rather just forget (I know I would). But the more people tell these stories, the more light is brought to this issue, the less places there are for this dark mentality and corruption to continue.
It is corruption. It’s a desecration of human decency and all the promises that people in America believe the authorities are responsible for keeping. Imagine if all 50 of those ‘incidents’ were with 3 other people. Then those 150 people make a blog post like this. They would have at least 150 thousand supportive, angry people behind them who want to see that this doesn’t happen again.
I hope you are well after all this. All my love to you and your family.
ALiberalWalkingTall
/ September 13, 2011Probably not the place to discuss the 1st ammendment but there is a fundamental misunderstanding of it. Especially on the Right in today’s politics. The first ammendment only guarentees free speech in that the government in any of its forms can’t interfere with your right to express yourself and the courts decided it is also limited if your speech incites violence or panic. (like a threat to someone or yelling “Fire” in a crowded room when there is none). Privately owned businesses, individuals and things like television and radio do not have to let you say whatever you want and you are not guarenteed to be able to say whatever you want on someone else’s website or blog. If someone is unhappy with how this blog (or any other) is being moderated they are welcome to visit another or start their own.
*Please forgive any spelling errors above. I don’t have spell check on my browser.
VJ
/ September 13, 2011What would happen if you denied to be strip searched? I dont think they have justifiable cause to arrest you. Someone elses report is not sufficient evidence in my mind, especially if it is vague.
Jag Kalen
/ September 13, 2011I’m very sorry that this happened to you, but applaud the way you handled yourself! I wouldn’t have handled it that well, that’s for sure! Racial profiling sanctioned by the government is WRONG! I do believe that the media has helped divide the country and keep people wallowing in ignorance and intolerance. The right-wingers haven’t helped, either. It’s a no brain-er that some person needs educating on stereotyping and paranoia. They should be charged with false reporting, IMO. I don’t see anything that would’ve made them become suspicious…. aside from the color of the skin of those accused. It’s shameful what has happened in this country! It’s not the fault of what happened on 9/11, either. It’s the fault of what happened afterwards.. the prejudices that were already there that got inflamed by ignorance and hatred. The American people have made things the way they are now. Ten years later it goes on, because people just can’t move on and let things go. They want to hold everyone in the world responsible for their own insecurities and intolerance. I hope that you can move past this at some point. I also am living in Ohio and grew up in Michigan. Make no mistake, Ohio is largely conservative and unfortunately I feel this is something that people that are non-white will deal with for many many years to come. Shameful.
Kevi
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Fortunately there are other modes of transportation that may be more appropriate for you if you’re not willing to sacrifice some of your freedoms provided by you by this country for your safety and that of others. Unfortunately this is the world we now live in. Again, I’m sorry you had to be on the receiving end of this but you’re innocent as you claimed and all checked out, I apologize for any inconvience and hope you and your blog gain some level of personal satisfication and possible financial and social gratification with your 15 minutes of fame. I also apologize to the other 200 passengers that had there travels interrupted, it sucks but safety first.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Maybe in Stalinist Russia or Hitler’s Germany. But in America it’s the Constitution first. If my- and presumably your- ancestors had put safety first there wouldn’t BE an America. “Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011I am so tired of hearing the phrase “this is the world we now live in”. What crap. This is the exact same world we have lived in since LONG before the events of September 11. However, we have now clothed ourselves in our pseudo-patriotism, while accepting EXACTLY the things that our Founding Fathers and our soldiers throughout our history have fought and died to prevent. It’s shameful how truly unAmerican people have become without even realizing it.
Anna Damaskos
/ September 13, 2011I am soooo sorry that you had to go through this. When fear grips even those in charge of protecting us, no one is truly safe. . .
xybatt
/ September 13, 2011the good thing is that ALL are safe! It’s sad that a Arab/Jewish housewife (that must be a difficult cultural position in itself) was waylayed along with the two men who spent along time in the bathroom. First of all, the bathroom is for quick trips, not extended travel. People are waiting. Move it along. And it’s not a safe place to travel. Be thankful that in the US, people are questioned and searched before punishment. God bless you through this ordeal!
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011You’re right. He should have been much more cognizant of his surrounding and been sick in the restroom MUCH faster. What a selfish man. And how dare a half-Arab woman sit next to other dark-skinned, airsick men on the plane. Didn’t she know that was “suspicious”? She should be thankful that she was handcuffed and strip-searched. That’s not REALLY punishment, since it was only for a few hours and all.
DW
/ September 17, 2011So you’re saying that you would willingly trade seats with her and suffer automatic weapons pointed at you, handcuffs, imprisonment, cavity searches – knowing all along you did nothing wrong? Honestly? That’s okay with you?
I am thankful that in the US I have civil rights and liberties that aren’t enjoyed by billions of people around the globe. And I’m thankful that I’m safe. But I’m not thankful that someone can utter “suspicious”, point at me, and those rights are forfeited for me, without my knowledge. Thanks, but no thanks.
Steve
/ September 13, 2011Although this is certainly an unfortunate situation, those who would encourage legal action and ACLU involvement are causing as much problem in this country as the bigotry that started it. Inconveniences, whether minor or great, are a part of living. To always feel like we must blame others and get restitution or gain are wrong. The legal system and the “entitlement” attitude in America is just as messed up as the racial profiling is. The answer is education, not making lawyers richer.
Carl
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for writing this. This story needed to be shared. It’s really sad and disgusting what we’ve done to ourselves post-9/11. I hope you do speak with a lawyer. It’s not always comfortable being an accidental advocate, but panicked responses like the airline crew’s that are based only on skin color need to stop. It sounds like these two Indian men did what happens on planes all the time. One person gets up to use the lavatory, and another person in the row figures, “Well, the row is already up and moving around, I may as well use the opportunity, too.” The only difference is the two men were Indian and you were part-Arab. The sin of having non-white skin (and I say that as a white man). Please, talk to a lawyer. As Steve Bock said, contact the ACLU.
Bronson
/ September 13, 2011She is 100 % right. I will explaine why: We are Americans,we are suppost to live inside the most important country in the world,at least what we believe.
Now,I do not undesrtand how come we did not have enough security in our airports,how come been the most powerful country in the world we could not have the most secured ports and borders. Bush was our president,was his responsability to keep us secured,but they did not do their job. Doing all this bush shit of Homeland security,they just blamed us the regular Americans for what happened on 9/11,besides that any person can see your personal information,yous SS#,your home address,your job,your family,etc,etc,etc.Mr Bush could not imagined how bad he did to all of us with his plans to invade Irak,unfortunly most of us supported all that. Today we suffer the consecuences of those plans,we were happy before his government took place..I know he felt bad about it too. we just have to get use to incidents like that one,and if you are Arab,Jewish,Black,Asian or Hispanic, you will always be the center of attention of the racist part of our community,but remember my country is not a racist country,is just a very small group of people very well distributed in all our states.America is still The Land of Freedom,with equal Law and Justice for All. Do not forget there are 370,000000 Millions of Americans,and we love America and the rest of the world. Keep Faith in God.
Paul R.
/ September 13, 2011Welcome to America. Profiling IS necessary. It’s the new reality. You look like like a nice lady of middle eastern heritage. Your actions will be viewed under a microscope, because we already know the enemy is inside our borders. Maybe we have too much freedom. Maybe more freedom should be chipped away. You’ll be the first to feel it, considering your skin color. The polices hands have been tied behind their back in the name of freedom. I for one, welcome the Patriot Act. I’ve got nothing to fear because I’ve got nothing to hide. Dark skin, thick eyebrows, large nose, heavy facial hair on the men, you’re better off getting used to it. Don’t look mad, you scare people. They think terrorist right off the bat. And don’t act suspicious. Smile more and enjoy your life in America.
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not. God, I sure hope it is. I bet you’d be singing a completely different tune if we’d been attacked by Canadian terrorists and “the enemy” looked just like you. Shoshana SHOULD have nothing to fear as well. She had nothing to hide either. Too bad she didn’t realize that some ignorant people thought she was hiding something nefarious under her dark skin.
Michelle McCleod
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry this happened, but am so glad you are speaking out.
We watched the movie The Conspirator over the 9/11 weekend and it was more relevant than we would have ever guessed. Before 9/11, there was the Lincoln Assassination. Rights didn’t matter as much as national security, even way back then.
If you get a chance, watch it. It gave us chills.
M
rick
/ September 13, 2011its good to cautious but not parinoid as alot of people have become…. Lets keep our heads before we leap!
Dan from NYC
/ September 13, 2011I can appreciate the author’s subjective response to the events and would no doubt experience the fear and anger of being in such a situation. From the perspective of an innocent individual it is a horrific experience.
From a broader macro view, everything that occurred once the report(s) were transmitted to the flight crew is exactly what one would demand of our law enforcement entities. A report must be taken with the greatest gravity until proved otherwise.
A softer response would put that plane at a gate, adjacent to other aircraft and underground fuel lines and the deplaned passengers in a much more heavily populated terminal. Had the threat been an actual assault with massive death and mayhem resulting, would we not be excoriating law enforcement for their “lack of vision”?
NYCMT
/ September 13, 2011Talk to a lawyer about a 42 USC 1983 civil rights claim for violations of 4th Amendment right against search and seizure, challenging the temporary arrest and detention for lacking probable cause.
Eric
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry this happened to you in this way! You were much more calm than I would have been! As if the invasion of privacy isn’t enough in the lines getting on the plane. The officer was supposed to find somehting in a strip search the “see through your clothes” body scans don’t detect
Hena
/ September 13, 2011Thank you so much for writing and sharing your story.
m3lly78
/ September 13, 2011That is a beautifully written and brave account of having your freedom stripped away from you without warning. I hope that you don’t become jaded as a result. As an Aussie I haven’t seen changes to this extent in our country, although things have significantly changed in the past 10 years, it goes to show how much prejudice people harbor and how they like to wrap up their racism in cries of “security precautions” but we all know what it really is…racist perceptions driven by extreme fear. Soon we’ll be a society afraid of our own shadows.
Patrick Shoe
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for posting the recount of your horrible experience. My wife and myself (who will likely never experience this type of profiling because we are white) will be using your story to help our 11 year old son the importance of racial equality. There is absolutely no reason to isolate others just because someone with a simillar skin tone carried out a crime against our nation.
Seems like we did not learn much from the days of the civil rights movement. We have a long way to go!
This almost makes me embarrased to be white in America.
Bob Klosak
/ September 13, 2011Anyone who is detained like this by authority without ever being charged or being charged but found innocent should at minimum get a 500 dollar settlement in my opinion. I want to write national lawmakers and it should be an American law that if your detained and never charged with a crime you get a minimum of 500 dollars. Honestly, I think your time is worth something and that 500 dollars would be what I would request if the government ever put me through such an ordeal. And if they held me beyond 24 hours, 500 dollars for each additional week incarcerated.
Bob Klosak
/ September 13, 2011But yeah, that’s the only way to be fair. As long as they don’t beat you up or something if I as detained every-time I flew I wouldn’t mind the rudeness and being treated like a criminal if I was well compensated for the error. In my opinion it’s a win/win law and it would deter mistakes like this.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011You wouldn’t mind being handcuffed, detained, strip searched, cavity searched, and interrogated every time you flew? I highly doubt that.
And regardless of whether or not you are comfortable surrendering your Constitutional rights, the rest of us might possibly have a different idea about how important those rights are.
mary
/ September 14, 2011I am left with the impression that Allison has nothing better to do the post her opinions all day and night.Must be nice to have so much free time.
Concerned US Citizen
/ September 14, 2011How nice for Allison. Now get to work, Mary.
Mike
/ September 14, 2011Allison,
Of course we mind all that. However, let’s not blow this out of proportion. It will NEVER become a time where you are ‘handcuffed, detained, strip searched, cavity searched, and interrogated’ EVERY time you fly. And right now, it’s not fair to say that, because it is not what happens. Not every single person who flies is subject to this every single time they fly. According to the blog above, there were around fifty searches and interrogations throughout the nation on 9/11 out of THOUSANDS of flights. Now, before you tell me, ‘well, it should never happen, it violates our constitutional rights’, I would agree to an extent. But keep in mind, it was the ten year anniversary of 9/11, so people were more on edge (not an excuse to call the police and report suspicious activity for these three people, I agree). But the sad fact of the matter is, people are still terrified and it will happen. It is with these people that we should be the most upset. While the FBI and whoever else was involved reacted with extreme measures, you must realize that they HAVE to do this to avoid unthinkable consequences. If they didn’t, and someone actually turned out to be a terrorist, all hell would break loose that they DIDN’T go through these measures.
In addition to it being the ten year anniversary of 9/11, there were reports (on CNN.com, MSNBC.com, etc) that there was a credible terrorist plot against the United States planned for THAT day. I’m sure that everyone was even more on edge than they normally would have been. Therefore, the FBI was doing the searches it felt were appropriate given the circumstances. Does this mean this woman deserved what she went through? Absolutely not. But I think that all blame and anger and frustration should be placed on the individual who felt the need to call the police about “suspicious” behavior that, to any normal and rational person, would not have been considered suspicious under any circumstances.
Constitutional rights are of the upmost importance, and I do not think that we should under any circumstances give them up. In this case, detainment and interrogation are not unreasonable, as the FBI needed to get to the bottom of the situation (and, in my opinion, they should be having words with the individual who phoned it all in). As for the strip search and cavity search, it did not seem to me, from the blog above that she put up a fight or said no to anything she was asked. Therefore, if she did as she was asked, then that was her choice. Now, if she had said no, and was forced to take her clothes off, well, that’s a different story, and gets into a gray area that I don’t want to get into. Since that’s not what happened, I don’t think it’s fair to say her constitutional rights were violated in such a grievous manner that you describe. Certainly, she wasn’t treated fairly, but as a result of the individual on the plane, not the FBI. If she was white, black, blue, pink, or orange, and was reported as being suspicious, she would have been subject to the same treatment, all because of the individual on the plane.
I’m not trying to spark a fight or argument, I just wanted to give my input.
rba8053
/ September 14, 2011Allison,
I didn’t realize this had happened to her every time she flew. If it happens every time she flies then there is an actual problem. If it happens on the anniversary of the biggest terrorist attack on some suspicious report, then that is different. There is reasonable suspicion when a report is made. Violating the constitutional rights would have been just coming on every plane and arresting all arab or indian looking people. The detaining and handcuffing was based on a report, and the authorities acted within their duties.
Have you even read the Constitution? You keep saying Constiutional rights were violated, but which ones were? You misunderstand certain rights because you don’t have the right to face your accuser until you are on trial for a crime. A reasonable search is also authorized under the 4th amendment and there is a lot of case law to support this as being reasonable. There was a report of suspicious activity, and although it was a citizen reporting, I think any judge in the nation would have granted a warrant for the search. That being said, it was well within the constitution to do what they did, and no one’s rights were violated. Yes it was because of her race and appearance, but when someone is raped and gives a description of the suspect, people are profiled based on matching a description even if the description is vague and includes ethnic descriptions.
You should learn what the Constitution actually says, and read the cases and determinations by the U.S. supreme court interpreting the constitution before you just blindly state that because this raises passions that it definitely violated constitutional rights.
jackie
/ September 15, 2011thank you RBA….finally! Someone with some knowledge and common sense!
so many people acting like military jets were scrambled and a flight diverted and cops were called and people were cuffed and searched…..on a “random whim”!
It’s so scary to think that people just believe what they read by someone they do not know and have no clue who they even are.
what is the point of having a brain if it is not used?
the point of eyes if they are not used to read and research?
un…..believable!
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011Jackie, she and the other two men WERE subjected to this treatment on some other passenger’s “random whim”. Would you feel safe and secure if some passenger on an airplane decided they didn’t like the way you look, so they reported you as “suspicious”? Or would you be angry and embarrassed after the storm troopers hauled you off the plane in handcuffs and strip-searched and detained you?
Sitting next to an airsick passenger who looks Arab is not enough to justify “suspicion”.
jen
/ September 14, 2011we don’t do that to people every time they fly — just once in a blue moon — when the CREW of the flight deems it necessary.
so – your argument is moot.
we only have one side — the blogger’s — and I personally — believe the CREW and believe they made the right decision.
we live in an imperfect world – we get it right 99.99999999999% of the time. I can’t say if this time was the other percentage or not — as I don’t have the privilege of knowing what the pilots and rest of the crew witnessed.
so, their EXPERIENCED judgment is good enough for me, and being an American, my beliefs count just as much as yours! Great how that works, huh?
Joe Friday
/ September 16, 2011From what it sounds like, the flight crew didn’t “witness” anything. The flight attendant relied on the accusations of a passenger without any verification. And the pilots relied on what the flight attendant told them. It doesn’t sound like anything was even attempted to be verified. If a flight attendant had even done a minor verification of what these people were being accused of, then this never would have happened. But in this modern age, we have been conditioned to fear brown people who might be from the Middle East. So obviously they MUST be guilty first and foremost. And if not, so sorry and have a nice day.
emerson
/ September 14, 2011you wouldnt be saying that or feel that way if it had ACTUALLY happened to you………..
Ted
/ September 13, 2011Really…..think about it… we will see when the facts come out…..how syspicious for a liberal American hating blogger
dave
/ September 13, 2011This whole episode is disgusting! I, as an United States of America citizen, am sorry for what happened to the passengers, particularly the three detained. Obviously, the TSA and DHS did not do their assigned tasks at the boarding of the flight. Citizens, wake up!! The Patriot Act negates many of our Constitutional freedoms and we fell for it. Get out and vote! Run for office. Speak up! I am truly encouraged by what I have read here for the most part. Now, let’s take our concerns and voice them to our elected senators and representatives. If they do not respond, start a campaign to get them out of office. Vote!!
Concerned
/ September 13, 2011The dumbest thing someone could have done on the 10th anniversary (with new threats looming that they called credible) was to NOT tell the flight staff that you’re not feeling well and I’ll be a little longer in the bathroom as opposed to making yourself look suspicious. And I highly doubt that after that plane was escorted to the airport that the announcement was made “you can now turn on your electronic
Devices”. That was stupid and deserved to get fingers pointed at them
Christi
/ September 13, 2011Well, I was really feeling sorry for you until ” I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks”!! You just did what you are so against lady. Nobody should feel sorry for you now.
Scott Johnson
/ September 13, 2011It sounds to me like the authorities acted with reason and caution. Remember 911. This type of action is justified. You may not like it, and it may not be fair. But a visual profiling combined with suspicious behavior has to be investigated. It’s not the airline’s fault. It’s not the fault of any US government authorites.It’s not your fault. It is what it is, as they say. Luckily, when the day ended, everyone was safe and sound. God bless America.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011No, it sounds like they OVERreacted with near-hysteria. Are you sure you read the story?
Mitchell
/ September 13, 2011An unfortunate story but the people were just doing their jobs. If they had done nothing and ignored the “suspicious behavior” and the plane blew up, everyone would want their butts in a sling. Its a tough situation. Again, sorry you had to go through that but it is how it is now days.
Sorry you had to experience that.
Dave
/ September 13, 2011Ms Shebshi, I hope you avail yourself of a good lawyer and re-assert your rights as a US Citizen. It would do us all good if this country’s security apparatus understood that by reacting this way they are not protecting the public, they are harming the public.
Adama Yocam
/ September 13, 2011Atrocious is an understatement for the way you were treated! The manner in which you conducted yourself and reported the event is exemplary! If only more of our fellow Americans could be like you!!!
M
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry to hear this story and read what you experienced. My heart hurts for you and I wish you peace. It makes me so sad to read of racism like this.
lisa johnson
/ September 13, 2011I am so very sorry that happened to you. This country is suppose to be founded on freedom and equality and in the last ten years those values have been thrown away. I do still believe that those who see you for who you are and not what you look like still out number the ones who don’t and with time this country will wake up. Again as a citizen of this country I am am ashamed of what you had to go thru and they wonder were patriotism went.
Chuckkel
/ September 13, 2011We all get caught up in situations in which we are not guilty, but the Feds should check things out whenever things are suspicious. When all the Arabs get up and go to the bathroom, that is a problem since messages, timing, and weapon sub-components can be passed and assembled.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011Read the story more slowly and carefully. You got some critical details incorrect.
Dennis G. Carrier
/ September 13, 2011This was terrible. But why the non-sequiturs about Malcolm X? He deserved prison because he was a criminal. This woman didn’t do anything but be born of Semitic descent. The terrorists didn’t win, but they sure messed us up. 10 years later, we’re still a mess. I heard a speech this week about the terrorist attack of 2001 “making us stronger.” Hardly. Economically and socially we’re still affected to the negative. And we have so many handicapped and disabled war veterans. Thousands of veterans are under psychiatric care. More military personnel are committing suicide than are killed in combat. I’m not making a judgement that going to war was wrong, I’m just commenting on the results. Anti-War people and goofy lefties often forget that we didn’t start this thing-they did. Prospective enemies of the U.S. keep forgetting what we did to the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. We burned their entire country to the ground. When attacked, Americans react exactly like hornets. We keep coming until the enemy is destroyed. Today’s conflict started because we support the people the Arabs hate. Israel, the only true Democracy in the Middle East. America is stopping them from exterminating these people. Their fellow Semites, their ethnic cousins- the Jews. They hate them because they took back their own land and kept their religion. It’s both ironic and symbolic that this woman is descended from both. It’s something for people of all opinions to reflect upon. Her experience and position gave her a unique opportunity to not just decry the loss of freedom in America, but to also be an agent of peace with wise and well-chosen words of conciliation. Everything about this story denoted a chance to affect the course of the country. She chose the role of a whiny victim instead.
Mitchell
/ September 13, 2011I agree completely. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt but it was just a ‘high and mighty’ rant.
Renaye
/ September 13, 2011I am wordless after reading your blog. Wordless with horror and disbelief. I am so sorry that you had to go through this experience — that anyone would have to go through this experience. Thank you for writing about it so eloquently and clearly. I don’t know how anyone recovers from something like this, but I hope you can.
Dee
/ September 13, 2011Oh my,
As a senior citizen, blue eyed woman. I am embarrassed that we still judge each other, I can only imagine your horror and embarrassment. I wish my love and prayers could will help you know that most TRUE American’s will be just as horrorfied. I can not change what happened to you. Things must change, we can not continue to judge each other by our color or ethnistiy.
Having spent my youth working for justice for all. Things have not changed enough.
We can do better, we must!
Aleanbh
/ September 13, 2011This is crazy. But I’m somehow not surprised. I’m not American, but flying back and forth to school in the UK I pass through Newark. My most recent experience on September 2nd didn’t affect me but it struck me just how paranoid people are. In the long queue waiting to pass through passport control, I watched a Homeland Security officer perform “random” passport checks of people who were waiting. At first I thought I was being paranoid, but after waiting in line for nearly a half hour I realized I wasn’t seeing things: the officer was checking the passports of everyone who looked even slightly “off-white”. A Muslim man dressed in robes and with full beard was removed from the queue and subjected to a lengthy questioning, and the man who was seated next to me on the plane, who I guessed to be of Indian descent and was about six people behind the aforementioned Muslim man in the queue, was supposed by the officer to be “his buddy” anyway. I know security has to be beefed up and that people are scared, but there definitely comes a point where it’s just paranoia and xenophobia. Looks like your situation proves that point even more, and I’m very sorry that happened to you. I can’t imagine what would have happened had you got up to use the bathroom on your flight, or something. Man.
Howard
/ September 13, 2011As an African American I can say that this type of thing has been going on in the black urban community on a regular basis for years. In the 90’s me and friend where pulled over in New York City by police officers in an unmarked vehicle disguised as a taxi cab. When the cops in the cab tried to pull us over I had know way of knowing if the crazy people behind me trying to run me off a Manhattan street were in fact police men. My instincts told me to pull over then two white men jumped out edging up on the side of my car I said to my friend don’t move an inch they’re cops. No badges visible just the fact they had buzz cuts and guns made them look like NYPD. Their movements resembled a procedure I’ve seen on TV. Two dangerous black guys headed downtown to see a jazz show proceed with caution. The police told us they pulled us over because we lurched forward before the light changed. Really, how about the 5 other vehicles that lurched forward at the same time. The excuse the cop gave is just crazy. I’ve never been in trouble with the police or committed a crime which would warrant such attention. Now another group of people is realizing what the fuss is all about with black people. We have term for what happened to me and my friend. It’s called driving while black DWB. DWB has happened to me so many times I could write a hand book on how to react. What you have just experienced is flying while looking Arab FWLA. Arab Americans, Middle-eastern looking people you are officially the new niggers. Now you might understand why the black guy in the office has that look on his face.
The NYPD has fine officers my cousin is married to one. The people that protect us in the air when we fly are doing a terrific job considering the pay and training they receive. Does racial profiling make us safer? is the question prior to 9/11 the biggest terrorist event in the country was carried out by white males. They’re people of the Muslim faith with blue eyes and blond hair. In my opinion old fashioned detective work will make people safer.
ASN
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. I can relate to racial profiling while flying. In 2003, I was returning from a trip to Ecuador. Once in Miami, I was immediately detained. It was the same deal. They wouldn’t explain to me what was going on. They wanted to know what I was doing there, who I befriended and what was their business travelling there as well. I had to go through the photo I took and explain everything. After going through my whole luggage the original guy that stopped me was shocked they came up with nothing. “I don’t understand, I just don’t understand”. No apologies. I assume they were looking for drugs. There was absolutely no reason I should have been searched. Since they were so stumped to why I chose Ecuador, I assume I was plucked because a woman of Chinese-American descent had no business being there. Then in 2009 I was travelling with a companion who was falsely arrested for drug possession. From Panama, I again ended up in Miami, this time on a layover. They thought they had the man, and I had to be strip-searched because I travelled with him. I wasn’t so nice this time, I guess I became seasoned in detainment. But I had 2 choices: be strip-searched at the airport or go to jail and be stripped there anyway. I allowed them to search me. It was humiliating and violating. I have not flown internationally since then, and I’m not sure I want to. Whatever the case, I will avoid the Miami portal from now on.
It’s ridiculous. If people are so scared of flying on 9/11, pick a different date. Or work a different day, since you’re not able to do a proper job while consumed in fear.
FairToPartly
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry about your brush with the TSA idiots. I stopped flying years ago. Our return flight was a day earlier than originally scheduled. This put us in the aisle for additional security. We missed our return flight, had a camera broke, lost a couple of items and then were criticized for being pissed. My brother-in-law is a pilot for a major carrier and my father spent 33 years in the military. I think they both have proved they aren’t a threat to national security but still get screened. I’d say sue but who to sue — the idiots who thought you were being suspicious? The TSA is a bloated, expensive wate of time and should disbanded.
Jackie
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you. I am not a minority, but I see and hear the things people say and do relating to people that appear to be of Arab descent. I am ashamed that things have come to this in America. Our society has become so paranoid that they allow their prejudices to rule their thinking. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
To those that think this type of discrimination is justified because of the Sept 11th attacks: I wonder how many white males would volunteer for this kind of treatment? After all, didn’t white males plan and commit the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City?
There are both evil and good people of every race, creed and color.
kittyhere
/ September 13, 2011As I read your blog I kept thinking, is this real, or is it fiction. Some time after reading about the handcuffing & cell I found myself unable to wait for the ending that say “real” or not and opened a new window to search for new report, etc. to clarify.
Well I am totally disgusted that they will take the word of any passenger , no matter the fact it was 9/11, and go to such lengths.
I’m a small town female who always found security checks intimidating — and I’m a blue eyed dirty blond with a very non ethnic name. I just grew up where you had to worry about doing anything that would offend because it would be remembered forever.
My husband, however is of Jewish heritage. While he has a totally non ethnic name as well he did grow a beard right around the millennium & did get stopped for extra security checks several times in the year or two after 9/11/01. Now he actually was totally unnerved & dare I say ‘enjoyed’ as an academic political scientist learning 1st hand what the procedure was.
While I can stretch my imagination to believe that they would not ‘read you your rights’ or be required to respond to your question of what was going on I still find it unbelievably awful that this country operates this way & thinks it makes us safer. Hogwash!
You As A Machine
/ September 13, 2011I started reading this just before I had to run out the door…big mistake. I HAD to get to the end to find out what happened. What an awful experience.
Xavaria
/ September 13, 2011You ‘took one for the team’! Props to you for doing so! Isn’t it a small price to pay to make certain 9/11 NEVER EVER happens in the USA again? Suppose they didn’t act on suspicious activity – and everyone’s worst fears were once again realized? Plenty of other people have been profiled throughout history – get over it already. My Indian ancestors (Native Americans to the politically correct) have had ALL that done to them – and worse. No one seems to care about the indignities they’ve suffered. At least you get to live in suburban Ohio – they still live on reservations (detainment camps) by and large in abject poverty. You had to realize (being well educated etc. . .) that your appearance might – at some point – cause problems for you. Italians, Jews, Irish, etc….and many other nationalities have suffered their share of bias – right, wrong, or indifferent. You’re not the first and won’t be the last. How much do you love your country?!?!?!!? The people who died on 9/11/01 suffered much more than a little humiliation – don’t you agree?
Allison
/ September 13, 2011The violation of one’s Constitutional rights is not a “small price to pay.” Constitutional rights are the foundation on which this country was founded. When you start shredding the Constitution, you’ve accomplished what the terrorists tried to do – you’ve destroyed what this country stands for.
Texrat the Crypticum Keeper
/ September 15, 2011And you were selected to represent the 9/11 victims… why and by whom?
Karen Brooks
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry that in America you had to go through this. You have lost your freedom and rights. You need to get back at someone. That for bringing this to our attention.
Charlie
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry. That sucks so badly.
Xavaria
/ September 13, 2011Free speech. . . .does NOT mean you may scream ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater without expecting to suffer the consequences of your actions.
s.
/ September 14, 2011please go look up your constitutional law before misquoting it.
Lady_Jane
/ September 13, 2011Please try to keep in mind that those passengers had been bombarded with stories in the news media of “credible” terrorist threats on 9/11. I had a friend who refused to leave her home that day because of it. Imagine if the reports can do that to someone in small town, USA how passengers on the flight must have felt. Sure they were on high alert. The fact is that two men who had the appearance of Middle Eastern/Muslim decent got up at the same time and both spent an unusually long time in the bathroom. Seriously, considering the date, the reports of terrorist threats and activity on the plane I really cannot blame the flight crew or authorities for what happened. The blog owner unfortunately got caught up in the middle. If she sat between those same men and they did not take lengthy simultaneous bathroom breaks this would not have happened. If she were sitting 10 rows behind these men this would not have happened and whoever was unlucky enough to sit between them probably would have been taken into custody as well.
We have all had to suffer some degree as an aftermath of 9/11. I look about as threatening as a bunny rabbit. However, I was detained at the airport one time for reasons unknown. I was felt up by a female officer and embarrassed in front of co-workers. And I am 5’3” 110 lb white woman in my thirties, certainly not others would stereotype as a typical threat or racially profile. As humiliated and violated as I felt, I also understood that this is all because of 9/11 and that sometimes innocent people are treated like I was and the female blogger ultimately for the protection of the nation or as corny as it sounds for the greater good. I am sorry this happened to her but hope in time when her anger passes she can see the big picture and put this into perspective.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011Well said Lady-Jane.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011There is no “perspective.” Your “detention” was in no way similar to hers. You were searched. She was handcuffed, placed into a dirty cell for several hours with no communication regarding what was going on, then strip searched and cavity searched, then interrogated. Those are not equivalent in any way.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“I am sorry this happened to her but hope in time when her anger passes she can see the big picture and put this into perspective.”
I am sorry that you are unable to see the travesty in this incident, but hope in time when you have some real perspective you can see the big picture and understand that there never was a real threat to respond to here, nor was the extreme reaction on the part of law enforcement ever close to being justified.
The only good thing about this incident is that is just one more in a long string of horrible offenses perpetrated upon innocents within the US, a string that will eventually lead to enough public resentment that something will be done.
Unfortunately, we may still be a long way off from enough Americans awake enough to take this problem seriously. After all, we still have a large number of people like you defending this kind of thing.
peter
/ September 14, 2011No, putting this into perspective and taking one for the team is a slippery slope. So for every attack we tighten security? NO NO NO. The only perspective to be gained from this is that it’s not that hard to instill fear and beat a society if you just hit them where it hurts.
When you say this is for the greater good you are sacrificing your own freedoms, and in earnest walking exactly into the situation that the close minded individuals who attacked us enjoy with their patriarchal and backwards societies. By doing this you are ultimately sacrificing EVERYONE’S FREEDOMS. Is that for the greater good? Hell no it is not.
I’m sorry, but if your friend refused to leave her home she lost. She lost out on the beautiful day that she was given the opportunity to enjoy, and fear took that away from her. There is no more powerful weapon than fear. She was afraid. She is a trophy for the terrorists, one of many no doubt. The only thing we can do is keep pressing on. To react and tighten security and speculation is a never ending path that can only lead to a downtrodden and complacent society, but look at how many commenters here already reek of complacency.
Ron
/ September 13, 2011Truly sickening. I hope this woman finds the best lawyer she can, I hope he works pro bono for her and the rest of us and I hope she sues the living shit out of our government, the Airport Authority, the FBI, Homeland Security and every other Neo Nazi organization involved. Congratulations, now I don’t fear terrorists, I fear my own countries law enforcement people. I think I’ll throw up. Ronald Reagan
Ruth
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry to hear this happen to you and all the others, the media fanned the flames of hysteria all week about this 10th anniversary of 9/11. I can’t say I’m surprised it happened though, thanks to all the media outlets getting everyone all shook up again. It is utterly stupid that this happen. It should make us wake up to racial profiling and thinking we know when we don’t know squat.
Ruth Baker, Kannapolis, NC
Don Harris
/ September 13, 2011“I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying — as hard as it may be — not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress.”
Why is it hard not to judge someone by the color of their skin or the way they dress?
sunnie
/ September 13, 2011I think they were “judging” her by the way she was TWEETING and IGNORING AIR RULES to turn off ALL ELECTRONIC devices until told otherwise.
She wasn’t….and she was treated accordingly. THANK GOD!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011She used her phone during the taxi after landing, as all passengers are allowed to do.
What To Do?
/ September 14, 2011Not during an F-16 escort Allison…
Allison
/ September 14, 2011The use of the phone wasn’t during the escort of the flight, which, of course, would require that the flight was still in the air. She stated that the use of the phone was during the normal taxi. There’s no indication that the use of the phone was in any way related to her detention, search, and interrogation.
Joey
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana,
I am sorry that this had to happen to you…….However, what do you expect would happen if ALL the hijackers of 9-11 were NOT Muslim ….. actually it probably wouldnt have happened at all now would it?
Its the hideous religion that spews out the mouths of Muslims. Before you you tell me that its the “radical” Muslims I remind you that its not that they are radical but “fundemental” and all the rest of the Muslims are the watered down version. Islam swept through the east by the sword. Islam was NOT wanted or accepted peacfully. This happen more than in Arabia it happened in India also. It is happening again in the Netherlands, Denmark, England and they want it to happen in America. I say HELL NO ….WE WONT GO …. resist and send all the bomb making cowards to their Inshallah death. By the way ….You are Gorgeous…..just had to make that observation.
loveAndpeace
/ September 13, 2011Hi,
I don’t usually comment on something but I feel sorry for you not only that I’m here to tell you that, I also feel sorry for everyone else. I understand you but whenever I think of the whole situation, I also understand all the police. They are just doing their job, they did not put you in that situation just because you look like that, because if that’s the only reason then you should have been in custody before you even get there. You were there because someone reported it, and I feel sorry for that person who accused you, because he/she lives in fear and with a judgmental mind or maybe, just maybe that person was a victim or had a traumatic experience that made him/her that way. You see, each and everyone of us has different opinions and different stories to tell.
There’s this thing called “discriminate/discrimination/discriminating” in each of us, if you think you’ve been discriminated because of the way you look, then you should also re-read your post, you also discriminated those police, the way you described them is a way of discrimination. I also discriminate some people, why? because that is human nature. I think, the only thing we need here is understanding, they put you in a traumatic experience and the police apologized to you because they know what they did but they were just doing their job.
They are here to detain the good and the bad, and to protect the victims and those who are in fears but I also understand what you feel, because you are innocent, that’s the main point right? You are innocent so you don’t have/need to be there but everyone is innocent, including those who died in 9/11 and people are not over it yet.
People don’t forget, terrorists, victims, everyone.. Why do terrorists exist? because they haven’t forgotten what they’ve been through so they are here for revenge or for any personal reasons. Why do people live in fears? because they haven’t forgotten the act of terrorism, they are in trauma.. and now, would you forget this situation? NO. you won’t, because we don’t forget and sometimes we people, don’t forgive.
If each of us only have the mind and a heart for everyone, to learn to understand more, to forgive, to forget, to love, then all of us should be good but it sounds too good to be true.
I just hope that you’d live in love and peace despite of what happened to you. (^_^)
Will
/ September 13, 2011We continue to erode our constitutional rights on so many levels, perhaps the most important being the first amendment. We have surrendered our freedom for the sake of (in)security which is a poor trade every way you look at it. If we did nothing but guarantee religious freedom and its implications, we would be assured of freedom. The second amendment takes care of our security issue; oh yeah, we’ve eroded that one to! If all the good guys were packing…if every citizen went armed, the bad guys would not get far.
Chris Jolley
/ September 13, 2011You WERE violated! You DO have rights and they were violated. September 17th is Constitution Day. I suggest that you read it, especially Amendment 4, which states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Our government has become a totalitarian regime.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” That’s where we are in this country.
Jeff
/ September 13, 2011You should get a civil rights attorney and sue for $100 million. Just shows that a police state has been created in the United States over the last 10 years. It’s a Nazi-Germany style deal at the airport……. More people are waking up though….
Curtis Owings
/ September 13, 2011I am appalled at your treatment, Mrs. Hebshi. It is shocking and should not have occurred. I will stand with you a fellow citizen of the USA and a human being. May no one be put through the same ordeal in our homeland.
Vicky Smith
/ September 13, 2011As a woman, wife, mother, and daughter, and American, I would like to point out that you choose to live in our great country! You live here for the opportunity, the freedom, and the safety our incredible military provides you each night as you lay your head on your pillow to sleep. As a military wife, I can tell you it saddens me that you speak against the safety that you choose to live under. This country commemorated its worst day in history, and you seem to think your arrest is because of your appearance? Could it be because the men in your row were acting strangely? I would welcome the opportunity to be arrested, strip-searched, and released, if it meant proving our country didn’t have to worry about yet another terrorist and another attack! How dare you mock the security you live your life under! It would be just as easy to say, “Thank you. Thank you for keeping our country safe and God bless you.” I don’t care what religion you are, what color you are, or who you vote for – what I do care about is that you take for granted what my family stands for each and every minute of every day. Tonight, my prayers are for you. God bless you.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Vicky Smith- And would your husband and children also welcome the opportunity to have you held for hours- when they were expecting you home? Not knowing what had happened or what had become of you? You would be happy to have the gloved finger of a stranger with no medical training in your rectum and vagina ? All because you were siting next to two people who used the restroom for longer than usual? This is all freedom means to you? This is all the Constitution and Bill of Rights my father, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and forefathers back to 1776 means to you? THIS IS HOW YOU HONOR OUR MEN IN ARMS AND OUR DEAD?? YOU should be thanking Shoshana for having the courage to speak out against injustice and prejudice. Would that we had more REAL Americans who understood that the duty and debt they owe to their country is NOT to shut up and pretend not to see violations of the rights so many have given their lives for. It is to stand up, to speak out, to witness- and never to give in until our country returns to the principles and rule of law that are its heritage.
Tom
/ September 13, 2011Get over it, better you suffer a brief inconvenience, After all who profiled you the Airline, a Flight Attendant, who. Better you suffer a little than a child suffer the loss of a parent, or a thousand children.
ما هو الطفل!
ribasus
/ September 13, 2011Thank you so much for sharing your unvarnished recounting of the outrage you endured in the name of ‘homeland security.’ Personally speaking, I would like to see an expanded and much louder conversation about this and similar events. Who and what is really at the bottom of these unlawful searches and detaining? And who is it benefitting? As usual, the ‘authorities’ tend to be the ones who need watching! I hope and pray that a deep investigative report on this type of activity will be forthcoming on the news. America needs to grow up, smarten up, and wake up! This could happen to ANY OF US anytime anywhere…for no good reason.
loveAndpeace
/ September 13, 2011Hi,
I don’t usually comment on something but I feel sorry for you not only that I’m here to tell you that, I also feel sorry for everyone else. I understand you but whenever I think of the whole situation, I also understand all the police. They are just doing their job, they did not put you in that situation just because you look like that, because if that’s the only reason then you should have been in custody before you even get there. You were there because someone reported it, and I feel sorry for that person who accused you, because he/she lives in fear and with a judgmental mind or maybe, just maybe that person was a victim or had a traumatic experience that made him/her that way. You see, each and everyone of us has different opinions and different stories to tell.
There’s this thing called “discriminate/discrimination/discriminating” in each of us, if you think you’ve been discriminated because of the way you look, then you should also re-read your post, you also discriminated those police, the way you described them is a way of discrimination. I also discriminate some people, why? because that is human nature. I think, the only thing we need here is understanding, they put you in a traumatic experience and the police apologized to you because they know what they did but they were just doing their job.
They are here to detain the good and the bad, and to protect the victims and those who are in fears but I also understand what you feel, because you are innocent, that’s the main point right? You are innocent so you don’t have/need to be there but everyone is innocent, including those who died in 9/11 and people are not over it yet.
People don’t forget, terrorists, victims, everyone.. Why do terrorists exist? because they haven’t forgotten what they’ve been through so they are here for revenge or for any personal reasons. Why do people live in fears? because they haven’t forgotten the act of terrorism, they are in trauma.. and now, would you forget this situation? NO. you won’t, because we don’t forget and sometimes we people, don’t forgive.
If each of us only have the mind and a heart for everyone, to learn to understand more, to forgive, to forget, to love, then all of us should be good but it sounds too good to be true.
I just hope that you’d live in love and peace despite of what happened to you. (^_^)
amys0482
/ September 13, 2011I agree
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“I also understand all the police. They are just doing their job, they did not put you in that situation”
That’s complete baloney. Had the police done their job, they would have found out that no actual suspicious behavior had occurred.
It’s true that someone else set the law enforcement officers in motion, but it is very much those same law enforcement officers who failed to recognize the lack of a need to continue that motion, and who did in fact put her in that situation.
loveAndpeace
/ September 17, 2011i think you’re missing the whole sentence and the whole point. This is what I said. – They are just doing their job, they did not put you in that situation just because you look like that.
So what you explained is a little different from what I said. 🙂
Dave Madan
/ September 13, 2011Thanks for having the courage + conviction to share your story.
CGY
/ September 13, 2011Sorry for you this where you live in Enjoy
USA it’s an ugly country to live in..pathetic law…..good luck north american people, just keep paying the bill…so the big people they will eat more hum burgers full of good american caw meat full …………
avshar
/ September 19, 2011What the….? Why don’t you learn the language before spewing filth. I could barely understand your garbage speak. And i notice you don’t say what wonderful country you come from where no mistakes are ever made and you never have your rights violated. Sorry friend but there is no country out there that can say that honestly.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Avshar: I realize it’s a small point, but you opened the door. You advise someone who doesn’t speak the language to learn it before using it. Please remember that the pronoun “I” should be capitalized, and if you are going to join two sentences with the conjunction “and,” then please remember to separate the sentences with a comma. And when using designations like “friend” as you have, please use a comma before (“Sorry, friend”) and, in this case again because you are joining two independent clauses, please use a comma after “friend” as well. Given your off-hand reply, I won’t emphasize your misuse of the ellipsis, the question mark after it notwithstanding. And lastly, if you are going to take upon yourself the task of policing English on the Internet, then be sure to set a good example, otherwise you undermine your own efforts with your solecisms in a way that does more harm than the original poster’s. The hypocrisy alone better supports the original poster’s remark than your rebuttal. Thank you.
emerson
/ October 9, 2011last time “I” checked, grammer lessons on the proper use of our language was jr high and high school… we dont care how its TYPED, just as long as the point gets across…..
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Hello Emerson: if your education in the proper use of language ended in high school, then that’s where your education on grammar ended. Here’s some post-secondary material.
How one types can, of course, influence how one’s point is received. Your posts show little concern for this, believing that the reception of your comments are not colored by your liberties taken with written English. That’s fine; you’re an adult, I assume, you can assume that risk. You’re also not taking it upon yourself to dismiss someone MERELY because of how they type or express themselves (not in their native tongue or not). And you’re not masquerading your ethnocentric slurs behind a critique of typing.
I’m not going to judge people (especially people who don’t speak English well) on how they type; if I did, I’d have to snort derisively at you and move on, perhaps even more contemptuously because I’d wager you’re a native English speaker. I wouldn’t bother to write this. But avshar decided to engage in snotty cultural chauvinism (that’s giving it a charitable reading) and did so by belaboring someone’s non-mastery of English, in non-mastered English. Surely you can appreciate the irony.
So avshar’s point most decidedly did not “come across” as intended–it’s people as ignorant as he is who see only in his abuse of a non-native speaker of English the point that he’s making; everyone else sees the abuse also. He showed himself to be contrary to his own demand and therefore, by his own reckoning, at least as bad as the person he was criticizing, plus a hypocrite. Was that the point he wanted to get across? I doubt it.
Currently in the US, 20 percent of all high school graduates graduate functionally illiterate–that is, without the ability to read something as simple as a newspaper. That kind of illiteracy shows itself in writing too, and when it shows up, many people interpret it as stupidity. Haven’t you ever noticed that most Internet tirades have no capital letters, are full of English solecisms, and the like–again, only someone who thinks that doesn’t matter would see what it also signals. It is virtually a truism that you can tell a person’s political leanings simply by how their sentences look; there are plenty of exceptions. When you type illiterately, people assume you’re from the US South. That’s unfair of course–the South does not have a monopoly on ignorance and backwardness. All of this figures into how one’s message “comes across.”
But aren’t you one of the ones in this thread telling the original poster to “get over it” because there has always been profiling in the world and will always be profiling in the world? And that she probably wasn’t racially profiled?
And then you turn around and claim that it doesn’t matter what your post looks like? That it’s what it MEANS that counts? That’s deliciously ironic, don’t you think?
Whatever “reputation” I’ve developed as a commenter in this thread (if any), people may think I’m a jerk or an idiot or completely deluded, but they don’t think I’m dumb. I can also guarantee you that that is not the case with your reputation, unfortunate or untrue as that might be. I’d wager that your opinion is considered of no account by most, even some ignorant people. People will not respond to what you write, except to stare at your audacious ignorance. Maybe you don’t care, which only adds to your dim reputation–if you don’t care, why post anything? It makes you then just a troll. I’m sorry if this sound pedantic, but sometimes the obvious must be belabored. Most people won’t even read your whole post, because they know from the past that people who don’t capitalize don’t express opinions worth reading. Sad but true, isn’t it Emerson? Of course, I replied because you replied. I’ll do the courtesy of speaking to you if you want to start a conversation. Just because how your posts look make you look stupid or ignorant doesn’t mean I have to conclude that you are–just as I don’t have to assume that Shoshanna Hebshi is a terrorist just because she looks like one.
Your comments allow you to be profiled, Emerson–and as you say, apparently it should stay that way because that’s how it should be. If you say so. I disagree. The message you have meant to send has been trumped by how you sent it. And that shows that you have the opportunity, even if you say you don’t or that it doesn’t matter.
There’ll be a quiz next week.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011The perils of the missing contraction:
“Haven’t you ever noticed that most Internet tirades have no capital letters, are full of English solecisms, and the like–again, only someone who thinks that doesn’t matter would see what it also signals.”
should be
“Haven’t you ever noticed that most Internet tirades have no capital letters, are full of English solecisms, and the like–again, only someone who thinks that doesn’t matter wouldn’t see what it also signals.”
of course.
CGY
/ September 13, 2011ugly country usa
spokenthruscott
/ September 13, 2011I feel sadden and discusted reading this. It makes me reconsider my view of this country I was born in. I am surrounded by people who lift up America as their becon of hope, but I see a country that is scared and confused, and country that is misdirected, leading us as sheep astray though their policies, laws, and the things they teach us to value. This country claims in God we trust, but if we really trusted in God, we would not be fearful. The perfect love that God teaches us has no fear. I am frusterated when the TSA throws away just a couple of my things at security, but I can’t begin to grasp the experience you went through, it seems sureal. You are on the right track, transforming your frusteration into justice and keeping your cause pure. People are not born with prejudice, they are taught it, not only in the family, but also by the media and society, they must be untaught so they can love again.
Jeff Smith
/ September 13, 2011For what it’s worth, I just wrote to Frontier Airlines’ Customer Service department through their web site, as follows:
—————–
I just thought that as I concerned citizen, I should let you know that I strongly object to flight crews or attendants racially profiling passengers and causing innocent people to be subjected to treatment like this:
(URL of this blog post)
I am a middle-aged white man named “Smith” and am unlikely to be racially profiled, but I understand my rights as a citizen to be inalienably tied to the rights of my fellow citizens. If this is how you conduct business, I will have nothing to do with your airline and will urge everyone I know to avoid it as well.
—————–
I don’t know, but if they got a couple hundred messages like this, it might get them to rethink their crew-training policies a little bit. Anyway, I’m grateful that you let the rest of us know about this outrage, and personally I hope you sue the bastards — there was obviously no probable cause here, which makes this a civil-rights violation under US Code 43 sec. 1983, I do believe.
Chris
/ September 13, 2011Jeff,
You were not on the plane, so how do you know “there was obviously no probable cause”? The author indicates she doesn’t know whether or not there was suspicious behavior – she paid little attention to her rowmates or anyone else during the flight.
You are making assumptions, which is the kind of thing that drives what you are complaining about.
Jeff Smith
/ September 14, 2011“Probable cause” is a legal term of art. It doesn’t mean “anything that anybody thought seemed odd.” And even the news accounts here, spare as they are, refer only to things that this woman’s two seatmates were doing, not anything that she did whatsoever. Even if she had been sitting next to Ramzi Yousef and the Unabomber, that is not probable cause for police action against her, particularly not imprisonment and lengthy and interrogation.
What you fail to understand is that constitutional freedoms depend on the presumption that the police have no business interfering with people unless there’s a specific and concrete reason to. “She was sitting next to a guy who was in the bathroom too long” has never met that standard legally, for obvious reasons.
Katia
/ September 13, 2011I am very sorry you had such an awful experience. Like you, I understand the importance of having good national security but the way you were treated is inexcusable. Its almost like you were assumed guilty until proven otherwise, instead of the other way around as it is supposed to be.
I’ve been searched nearly every time I’ve flown (always the one to get “randomly” selected, as a US-born half-Asian who has been told she could pass for Persian on many occasions) but it’s always been done in respectful way as to seem little more than an annoyance. As you put so eloquently, there must be a happy medium between security and justice, and somewhere a line that should not be crossed.
suidroon
/ September 13, 2011I would be more sympathetic if the description of the watch thief wasnt so filled with hate. This account while severely fucked up drips with hatred for whatever strereotype of white men you like to describe. Its not hard to see.
CGY
/ September 13, 2011In Usa there is not freedoom..no way you are always checked
Rashmi
/ September 13, 2011This is really sad. I hope (if not already) you will find the courage and optimism to get this behind you. Lots of love and good wishes.
Ronnie Libra
/ September 13, 2011This is not really Racism or Profiling like you might think. Many people believe this is planned. It’s not just you. Maybe this time it was, but there are countless videos all over the internet where people are treated like garbage for “Security Reasons”.
The whole 911 truth movement is based on the fact that many people believe the events of 911 were so that Governments COULD put the crack down on EVERYONE. This is not a racial thing. In your case you may have been used as a pawn to further (or because of) the plan the Globalists have to take everyone’s rights away but trust me – things have gotten worse for everyone since the events of 911.
Here is a Documentary you can watch about PEACEFUL protesters. It’s kind of creepy to see these kind of things going on.
If that’s too long – check out this one:
Making this into a RACIAL issue is what they want you to think. It’s like Smoke and Mirrors. They want you to focus on another issue. Racism is bad, but there are MUCH deeper issues to address. They want us to ignore those issues and focus on more surface issues; that way they can slide stuff under the radar.
Here’s an example where Ron Paul call’s the reporter and the entire media for focusing on what he calls “…The Sideshow.”
He summarizes this WAY better in a small sentence than I did in all my above blah blah:
“The Sideshow… is there to stir things up and prevent us from focusing on the real problems.”
Finally, I feel you. What happened on that plane was crap. No one should have to go through that! But we really need to steer away from the “Sideshow” no matter how much we want it to be that simple. We need to NOT be split because of Race – we need to Stick together. We need to be one race – one people. Color, Creed and all that should NOT be a factor.
We need to address the WHOLE issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFcQxfsc0no – War business / How Racism is used by the elite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl2JQfxnnHU – War Machine
Christian
/ September 13, 2011“Your rights end where mine begins”. If only people would kept that in mind, not even our Government does.
Heck even easier, “respect one another”
What I said must overrule “freedom”, “safety” and any other law. Then and only then we will really be SAFE and FREE. Something so simple and 99% of the world doesn’t do it. Never has, never will.
CGY
/ September 13, 2011Sorry for you,
They go around the world to do Wars and ecc…ecc. for not reason…
Sure that make you believe they are the best…..but they are not , they are the worst to take their own people…welcome to united stated of america
Cam Powers
/ September 13, 2011What is this world coming to. Just cuz someone uses the bathroom on a plane for a long period of time, doesnt make you a TERRORIST. I rather just go to the restroom in my seat, so i wont cause any problems and be treated like these 2 men and woman…
Joe
/ September 13, 2011Bill of Rights:
Amendment IV – “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
amys0482
/ September 13, 2011Saw this on MSN.
I’m so sorry you had to go through this ordeal! It could not have been pleasant and of course you didn’t deserve it!
That being said, I think homeland security/FBI was doing their job. From their position, they ARE protecting you, in the sense that they are protecting all American people by responding to a “tip” of “suspicious activity” that might–potentially–be a real threat. Just like the fire department HAS to respond…fire truck alarms wailing…every time a fire alarm goes off, even if everyone knows it was just the toaster or some kids who think pulling the emergency lever is funny.
You have to think on it from their perspective. They don’t know what has happened anymore than you do. They don’t know that you aren’t a terrorist. Even if you are a citizen, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a terrorist or aiding and abetting terrorists. Obviously, you are not, and I DO think there is a pervasive, dangerous, and unfair fear aimed at Muslims in this country (and anyone who might be confused with one by silly people), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have been questioned. At least, I don’t think they could/should have ignored a tip of suspicious activity, even if it looks stupid in hindsight.
People are suggesting that it was “handled badly” and that they should have moved you to a separate location and done a check on you, from which they would obviously see that you are a citizen, that you mean no harm, and let you go.
But…isn’t that what happened? Obviously I wasn’t there. I’m sure that it was REALLY scary and uncomfortable and embarrassing (the strip search especially). You had to wait in a cell and it took longer than anyone might guess for you to be cleared, but it still sounds like protocol. Background checks aren’t instantaneous and they have to err on the side of caution–which means (unfortunately) treating you like you are dangerous on the chance that you might be. The people who detained you had to think in terms of what else “could” have been going on.
>>>he apologized for not having air conditioning, but being a descendant of desert people I obviously didn’t mind the heat.<<<
I think this is the most offensive thing that happened. It's the kind of bonehead thing that comes from ignorance. Is it worrying? Yes. It shows idiocy and ignorance on the part of officers. But this guy probably didn't mean to be a jackass. And he wasn't being hateful. Just stupid.
Of course, this isn't to say that you weren't racially profiled. You WERE –have no doubt! I'm sure that whoever provided the "tip" saw three dark-ish skinned people sitting together on a plane…10 years to the day on 9/11… two of whom seemed to take forever to pee, and just jumped to a conclusion. Whoever reported the "suspicious activity" probably didn't realize that a housewife blogger would be treated the way you were as a result. They were probably fearful and paranoid (and maybe they feel bad about that now).
I do think you are right to be concerned about profiling. I definitely think that we have a problem in this country right now in that a lot of people fear Muslims…or anyone who might resemble one…to a degree that is just embarrassing and ridiculous, and I also know that rights are being/have been jeopardized due to this fear… but not necessarily in this instance. Do I think that what was done to you was an over-reaction? Yes, in hindsight, but if I had been the person who received the tip, would I have acted differently? I don't really know. I guess it would depend on what policy I was forced to follow and the information I had as to why the activity observed was "suspicious."
It is a sticky situation. I feel so bad for you–that you had to go through that, that you had to be scared and cut-off from your loved ones, refused information, searched, and intimidated. I would not have liked it. No one would. And you didn't deserve it in the slightest. But I can also see why they had to do it…on the off-chance that there WAS something dangerous going on.
I hope you recover from this. I also hope that America wakes up to the paranoia sweeping the nation regarding Muslims. It really IS worrying that going to the bathroom or using a cell phone can translate to the bomb squad being called…but I think this is more an education issue needed in the public rather than a problem in law enforcement.
I am very glad that you wrote this post and shared your experience. I think your feelings of outrage and fear are very important. I think the entire conversation is very important, because even if everyone involved was doing the "right" thing, empathy needs to be encouraged at every step. This should not be allowed to become the norm. We all need to learn how to respect each other better.
bet
/ September 13, 2011Enjoy the HOT-DOG american style
yara
/ September 13, 2011be careful or they will arrest OBAMA next time! LOL (sarcasm)
Deborah Blake
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. I find it appalling beyond measure and have posted a link on Facebook to spread the word.
Jim
/ September 13, 2011Just a few comments. I work in law enforcement. People are arrested all the time. A strip search is ONLY done AFTER someone has been accused of and arrested for a crime. What happened to you would not have happened in a typical law enforcement investigation, you might have been questioned, but the right to fingerprint and photo you only happens when you’ve actually been formally accused of a crime. Strip searching only happens when you are being put into a jail.
Terrorism is done so that a government becomes MORE oppressive to their people, and thus creating a self-induced cycle of reprisal and oppression that the population eventually revolts against. Seems like America is not immune to this cycle. I don’t really think anybody on that place thought any of you did anything actually wrong, I actually think it was a racially bigoted person.
Think about it.
You had already landed.
Duane
/ September 14, 2011What an excellent point – it seems like all three of you were getting off there after the landing (no connecting flights anywhere), and obviously the plane had already landed safely – how could you have been a threat to the flight?!? I don’t think they needed a strip-search to prove that point. And no – they DIDN’T need the strip-search for thier “protection”. That type of strip-search is only allowed under certain circumstances in regular law-enforcement situations, and this would not have been one of them.
corporatewifenokids
/ September 14, 2011I think I can only get patted down if I’m an arestee as well, but that hasn’t stopped airport security from stomping over those rights
LilOlMe
/ September 13, 2011Allison,
I see that you are a very highly educated person. I appreciate what you have to say. Having said that, I went to a liberal arts college and learned much of the same things as you did. After 7 years of night school I left without finishing my degree because I realized that what I was learning was not the truth. I found it to be divisive and unjust what I was learning. It only adds to the problems that we face today as a society when we look at class in such a way where we diversify to the point of classifying everyone into a certain segment of society.
One of the best times I ever had in college was when a Hindu woman, who wore a Berka, had an arranged marriage, and was highly educated stated to our entire class that she felt sorry for American women. That we were always looking for romantic love and didn’t know who we were as women. To see the look on all the faces of the women in that class was wonderful. For the first time, they had to look at another persons actual point of view that most of them pitied (because she was Muslim, was oppressed and wore a Berka in their minds) instead of what they were being told by their professors.
This woman wanted none of their pity, in fact she pitied them. How ironic. She was strong, knew who she was, had two doctoral degrees and was absolutely incredible. She loved her husband and was happy having told us that she trusted her parents to make a good match for her. Because why would any parents that loved their children chose an abusive husband for their daughter?
As Americans, we have a very skewed point of view based on our perceptions, our limited knowledge of outside cultures and what we are taught. If you have the time and finances, go travel the world and you will find a much different experience than the one you offer here online based on University studies.
Blessings to you.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Um…thanks?
I really don’t have any idea whatsoever what your post means.
Freeda
/ September 13, 2011So sorry for your horrible experience. We had a TV presenter who believed that racial profiling is simply part of profiling and justified. He had to resign but was over some other racial slants. Now he works for a radio station. You must be a very big person to be able to show tolerance for a-holes like that when they show little of it toward you. You must be a saint.
Michael
/ September 13, 2011I bet the families of the passenger killed on 9/11/01 wished this had happened to those planes.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Since the planes that hit the World Trade Center (and the Pentagon) didn’t LAND at airports, strip-searching all the Middle Eastern looking people on it- including the housewives sitting next to them- AFTER THEY HAD LANDED SAFELY wasn’t a possibility- and wouldn’t have protected anybody. What is it going to take for you to realize how crazy this is? Do we have to have a home-grown tragedy where the military shoots down a passenger jet because some rowdy brown guys coming back from a soccer game have a few too many at the bar and one of ’em puts a towel on his head and shouts ‘stick ’em up’?
thomas bodetti
/ September 13, 2011Proper training, is really what would have prevented this kind of situation in the first place, what happened is inexcusable, just as the police must actually have some method of determining if there is some cause that exists in order to detain someone and to question someone, the same priority must be applied to every situation, this could have been avoided, simple as that, it is not uncommon for a passenger to have to use the facilities numerous times, people need to be able to make the right decision, at the right time, the cost associated with this (mess) is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and for what? a few nervous Nellies?
You really need to seek legal advice, this kind of ignorance must not be allowed to be buried and forgotten, if the crew needs to be trained in observation techniques, then that is something that could bring to the attention of the airlines, if everyone just forgets this story how long before an untrained, person misses something that really is important, they need to be able to make the right call at the right time.
Tina
/ September 14, 2011While I agree the situation is very unfortunate, I don’t think there’s anything they did that was wrong or outside of their operating procedures. They were alerted of a “threat” they investigated that threat. Their attitudes sound assholish but she doesn’t sound like she was treated any differently than anybody else in police custody. And it doesn’t sound like she was treated more harshly than with derision. They did their job, they might have been jerks but they did their job.
It’s a catch 22, because if something suspicious is seen and reported and it turns out to be a real threat we’d be applauding their good work and follow through. But because the reported threat was incorrect we’re bashing the people.
We can’t have it both ways, while this situation is unfortunate it’s not illegal. But we live in such a sue happy society that if we feel wronged, or offended we straight think who can we sue.
Unknown
/ September 13, 2011I am an American Jew and my husband is a Moslem Arab from Algeria. On Saturday 9/10, while standing outside of a well known food establishment in the middle of Savannah, Georgia, a man continually stared at my husband with this nasty look of hatred while my husband was talking on the phone to his friend in Arabic. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but I had a feeling why he was doing it. I looked at my husband and said to him I wonder what that man’s problem was. We continued into the food establishment and were in line to purchase our food and as we turned the man was inline again giving my husband dirty looks. I asked him in front of everyone why he was staring at my husband and what the problem was. Since we were out in the parking lot and now in the restaurant you have been giving my husband dirty looks. At first he said he wasn’t and then he turned around and said “so what kind of terrorist attack are you planning after what you did to us on 9/11. He continued with his rude and nasty comments while the manager of the restaurant called the police. The man kept getting closer to me and my husband in front of one of the managers and I asked him to back off and move away. He kept going and then all of a sudden he decided that he didn’t want to eat there so he proceeded to leave. I made my husband get the man’s license plate off of his pickup truck. I waited inside for my husband to return and then the manager and assistant manager came up to me and my husband apologizing to us up and down. The manager then proceeded to tell us that the Police were not coming because the man left. My first thought was, thank you to the police for not showing up and being concerned and then my second thought was I guess because my husband is an Arab it didn’t make a difference to them. But if it really was a terroristic threat, they would have definitely been there. I am ashamed of how that man treated my husband; I was embarrassed to be an American.
LilOlMe
/ September 13, 2011@ Ms. Shebshi… I hope one day that we will all live without color in our minds eye. That our children will not be burdened with such fear and hatred. I see from your blog that is what you are wanting for all of us. I applaud you for what you are trying to state on here and being willing to share your story so maybe these infringements on our rights can stop for all Americans.
margaret
/ September 13, 2011I am deeply saddened about what happened to you. What you experienced is outrageous. I appreciate your sharing something so painful. I am a southern, white woman, and I have no doubt that if I had been the person in the window seat things would have been incredibly different. For that matter, if I had been the one “in the bathroom too much” someone might have thought to ask me if I were ill. Cavity searches, cells, handcuffs and machine guns would have never been part of the equation. While I thank you for telling your story and echo what others have said about contacting the ACLU, I fervently hope that you deal with this in whatever manner best allows you to heal.
kim
/ September 13, 2011i am so sorry for the way you were treated, although i guess i can understand the way they reacted. at the very least, they should have told you what was going on as soon as you were taken into custody, yet i am sure it wouldn’t have made a difference to your experience. i’m glad the females seemed somewhat sympathetic, & treated you with the teeniest bit of compassion.
John B. Mordecai
/ September 13, 2011Dear Dim-wits,
Have you ever clicked on the “About” link the top of this page? Here, I’ll share a portion of it “…These are the stories of every day life, of life juxtaposed, of culture mingled and tossed aside. These are the stories of tangential thoughts and meditations. These are the excuse for stories that describe a writer’s willingness to practice and not grow dull. These are the stories that remind that inspriation and passion are grown everywhere, no matter which walls are surrounding a keyboard or what scent wafts through the air. ” THIS IS A WRITERS FORUM FOR POSTING _STORIES_. In other words, it is for fiction.
kim
/ September 13, 2011its fiction? i don’t think the airline would let this accusation pass without some sort of charges being brought against her. i don’t think she mentions the airline, but i read in another article it was frontier airlines. you may not want to believe it, but these situations really do happen.
Adam
/ September 13, 2011On top of that, the writer is allegedly from Des Moines, Iowa. Seems like going “home” from Detroit would be a bit of a drive, wouldn’t it?
Jeff Smith
/ September 13, 2011I don’t think so:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-11/travel/flight.security.disturbances_1_frontier-airlines-flight-passengers-crew-members?_s=PM:TRAVEL
DW
/ September 13, 2011Dear John,
It must be fiction if you say so. After all, a story like this could only be fiction in America. Thanks for pointing it out to this Dim-Wit.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Sorry, you are incorrect. This story was widely covered in the media.
Adam
/ September 13, 2011That doesn’t make him incorrect. Mainstream media will “cover” anything that they think will sell ad space, and they’re notoriously poor fact checkers when they even bother to put forth an effort. I suspect that most “reporters” didn’t bother, preferring instead to report on something that would both polarize opinion and tug at the heartstrings of the centrist and left-leaning members of the population.
This is starting to look more and more like a story with an underlying social statement, or possibly some form of public social experiment and/or “viral marketing effort.”
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Can you provide some information about why you think this is viral marketing or a social experiment?
Adam
/ September 14, 2011It matches a general pattern formed by those trying to create viral marketing or social experimentation campaigns.
Write story, or create website or video.
Tell people about it.
Let people spread it because it has a hook…in this case, perception of 9/11 security paranoia.
In this case, the story is compounded by a rather significant logical flaw i.e. the author allegedly flew from Denver to Detroit and was going to be “home” in Des Moines by dinner. Even if the author had to take an indirect flight, a city like say Chicago would have made much more sense to stop over in than Detroit. That’s a pretty significant story flaw.
Now, is this conclusive evidence? No. I can admit that. But on the other hand, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest the story is true, either. It doesn’t make sense as it’s presently told to us. It’s also a one-sided narrative, even if the author is telling a “true story”. So I’m not buying it, and I’d suggest others shouldn’t, either.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Interesting. Although your flaw is itself flawed, in that at least when I fly, I sometimes don’t have a choice of where I change planes or have a stopover, so sometimes I end up flying into weird and illogical places.
Should your theory turn out to be true, I still think that the discussion in this comments has been valuable.
Adam
/ September 14, 2011I’d post the US link, but I’m from Toronto…I suspect the logic would be the same, however.
http://www.expedia.ca/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fexp&flag=q&city1=Denver&citd1=Des+Moines&date1=15/09/2011&time1=362&cAdu=1&cSen=&cChi=&cInf=&infs=2&tktt=&trpt=1&ecrc=&eccn=&qryt=8&load=1&rdct=1
There are several flights that go from Denver to Des Moines or that stop over at cities closer to Des Moines (e.g. Chicago, Milwaukee) than Detroit. So choices were available. In fact, Detroit isn’t even listed.
Jess
/ September 14, 2011Ummm Yes she may be from IOWA originally but she states that..
“The three of us, two Indian men living in the Detroit metro area, and me, a half-Arab, half-Jewish housewife living in suburban Ohio,”
So obviously her husband, children and her took up residence in Ohio. I didn’t go about looking at the rest of her blog to see anything about Iowa so I’m not sure where Iowa came from but she plainly states that she is traveling from the airport to Ohio.
Adam
/ September 15, 2011It’s in the “About” page, along with the other things the guy who originally posted the comment that this story is probably fake talked about.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Um- If you actually READ you would see that she’s from San Diego originally, lived in Des Moines and recently moved to Northwestern Ohio. Detroit is the closest major airport to most places in Northwestern Ohio last I checked. By the way, thanks for providing a counter-example for some of my Canadian friends who think bigotry and idiocy are peculiarly American diseases.
Jan H
/ September 14, 2011Not widely enough, evidently and I LIVE with MSNBC on my TV. I had heard about the two men and the bathroom; I had heard NOTHING about anybody being strip searched, and NOTHING about a woman.
In fact I’m wondering WHY I haven’t heard about it!!
Rachel Brady
/ September 13, 2011All of this is just sad. The actions taken by officals, the “suspicious ” action that supposed an individual to make a call, and all of the comments that have been full of racist hatred. It would be wonderful if we all could hold hands and sing songs of peace but we all know that will never happen. All anyone can do is educate themselves and try to stop the hatred of racism in themselves. There are so many other issues that we all need to be giving our attention to instead of worring about the color of our skin! Please! Dont we all put our pants on one leg at a time?!
For that matter- I am white and female and ive been in a jail cell before for 24 hours. Trust me, I was not treated any better. Actually I was treated way worse and sexually violated as well. I am not a criminal and had rights also but no one cares if you are innocent or guilty when your handcuffed, strip searched, thrown in a freezing shower, malted with lice detearer, and thrown into a cell with no mat to sleep on. You may have been arrested because of racism but you definantly where not treated any different than any other person.
Sashland
/ September 13, 2011or, just maybe, someone did hear something that alerted them and compelled them to contact authorities, that had nothing to do with the color of their skin or clothing. Reaching a conclusion that it was all about skin color or names is not supported by any facts.
So, once the pilot reports a passenger concern, and notifies TSA, what do you expect will happen, they will just ignore it?
This lady may have been offended but what does she know of the other folks sitting next to her?
Sorry for your inconvenience: Standard Operating Procedures suck when held by police; they can do all sorts of stuff you don’t like. If they violated procedures then sue, otherwise get over it.
I do suspect there is more to the story, and this lady who had an interrupted journey has some interesting things in her mind that make Malcolm X an agreeable figure.
BTW: what is half-Jewish / half Arab?
No, I don’t like having to deal with heightened security, but the alternative is unacceptable.
Natalie M.
/ September 13, 2011I am OUTRAGED for you! Stories like this are what make me want to slap people who say that these laws are in place to protect the American people. WHO WAS PROTECTING YOU??? And what about all the money that was wasted in this? The American people can’t afford these kinds of mistakes anymore. I can see why people refuse to pay their taxes. Who wants them wasted like this? Whomever reported the “suspicious activity” should have to be held accountable for all this. Send them the bill!!! You are a class act and this was very well written. I hope that lots of good comes out of this for you.
Erin
/ September 13, 2011Just have to tell you my thoughts are with you.
And that I’m truly surprised the east east didn’t experience another earthquake spawned by all of the founding fathers rolling over in their graves. They always said we wouldn’t be able to hold on to it (our freedom) 😥
anne
/ September 13, 2011wow i look at America with disgust and hatred and i am so sorry that this has happened to you you should sue them
ehsan
/ September 13, 2011i was coming back from pakistan attending a funeral of my brother. who was like a father to me. as i landed at jfk airport. and called to check if everything is ok with my business. when i walked over to immigration officer. i told the guy on other line that i’ll call him back. immigration officer told me to go to other officer. he got offended because i was on telling that i’ll call him back. he told me me to go to some other officer. other wise i’ll repent. and i’m an an american citizen. it happens. i just move on with life and feel sorry for them. we have to be bold enough to deal with it. sorry what happened to you. i hope we still have liberty and civil rights. god bless USA . ehsan
Khamryn Snow
/ September 13, 2011I am very sorry this happened to you. It’s completely disgusting… I am without words. What has this country become?
Ronnie Libra
/ September 13, 2011Divide and conquer. This is a weapon of the elites. They want us divided. They want to make you think this is something as simple as racism when all of us are in danger of losing our freedoms.
But if we are focused on hate, racism, tribal mentality, they can keep us divided. Articles like this can cause (not that this was the intention of the author) DIVISION when, in fact, NOW is the time for people to come together and stand as one against these elites that have infested our political systems, not just here, but all over the world.
Aleksey
/ September 13, 2011SOLUTION: RON PAUL 2012
emily winters
/ September 13, 2011OK.
A) Muslim terrorists are blowing up planes and buildings full of people.
B) We are trying to prevent that from happening.
C) Which is worse?
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry, but do you have a source of a recent incident of A) in the United States?
No?
Didn’t think so…
Sashland
/ September 13, 2011How “recent ” do you need, or how “few”. LOL
you have got to be kidding…
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/04/30-terrorist-plots-foiled-how-the-system-worked
Does the May 1, 2010 car bomb in NY count? Or do the Oct 29, 2010 bombs on two cargo planes from Yemen to US count?
or any of the numerous others just sentenced. Sure, failed and foiled, but that’s what we want, right. Right?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Oh, you mean the car bomber who then boarded a plane while actively engaged in an act of terrorism?
And in spite of cargo bombs, cargo TO THIS DAY is not screened.
None of those plots were stopped with something like this incident. They didn’t happen due to incompetence.
And so we strip search innocent people on planes that have safely landed at their intended destination.
Ludicrous. Try again.
Ken
/ September 14, 2011“Which is worse?” is the wrong question. Ask instead, “At what point do our efforts to prevent evil acts become evil acts in themselves?” It seems quite clear that it is possible to do evil in the name of preventing evil: Who would argue that it would have been appropriate to simply kill the three passengers as a means of eliminating the risk that they might be terrorists?
The debate is not whether efforts should or should not be made to prevent terrorism, but rather whether the steps taken in this case were proportional to the risk. Others clearly take a different view, but I am not persuaded by any of the arguments here or elsewhere that the conduct of the authorities or the treatment of the three passengers in question was in any measure justified by the circumstances.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011It took a long time for someone to finally say it, but thank you for saying it. Does this mean you’ve read Tolstoy’s book on nonviolence (the one that inspired Gandhi)? If not, check it out. It’s the mother lode of the argument you’re raising here.
Shoeless
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for writing this and sharing. It’s so sad how much ignorance still exist in America, hopefully this will make people think twice before judging a “dark skinned” person who just happens to be on the plane with them.
vox clamantis
/ September 13, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. It is through stories like yours that great injustices are brought to light and can be discussed openly and, one can hope, be corrected. The respondent who recommended a boycott of Frontier Airlines is on track. It is true that they were only following protocol, but so were many in t 1930’s Germany. If airlines begin to feel their profits threatened by a public reaction to such policies, they have a much greater voice in Washington than you or I. Boycott them. No one is in a better position than you to organize such action.
Second, never – I will say it again – never let yourself be interrogated or strip searched without a lawyer present. Yes, it costs money. But, it costs the government money, too. If every one of those “50” or so airline incidents on 9/11 resulted in a request for a lawyer, a wait, the risk of a lawsuit, etc., would they continue to happen? People give up their rights too easily. In so doing they give up everyone’s rights.
Steve
/ September 13, 2011Wait…… is Shoshana an Arab Jew? you cant be half jewish and half arab. its like saying im half christian half american. She sounds like an idiot that need to be strip searched just to figure out who the hell she is
Mo'Data
/ September 14, 2011Steve’s obviously a moron.
Pamela
/ September 13, 2011This situation puts a fine point on the type of sensationalism and over-wrought anxiety that America endures on a daily basis. We go through cycles that peak at hyper-alertness and sink to apathy. One moment, we’re acting as if the whole Muslim community is out to destroy Western civilization, the next, we’ve become mired in our day-to-day existence, without a second thought to terrorism. Racial profiling on 9/11 is a sad sign of the times. I won’t belittle anybody’s opinions on whether or not the ‘authorities’ were correct or justified in their actions. I feel safer knowing that the government is being diligent in tracking down leads concerning any type of terrorist activity, but I truly wish that the manner in which officials deal with the human beings they are questioning would be more respectful and less demeaning. It’s okay to apologize for being in error. I’m sure that an honest apology would not be misplaced.
emily winters
/ September 13, 2011When I saw your first name, Shoshana, then your last name, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. I am sorry for what happened. Anyone in your position would have felt the same way. I know I would. It sucks.
But as long as we have terrorists, this is going to happen. Who knows for how long. Maybe for as long as our planes and buildings get blown up with thousands of innocent people losing their lives for nothing.
It must be difficult being half Arab and half Jewish. I was once married to a Palestinian (not for long; he used me for a green card and his brother was a member of the PLO) I never took his last name.
Lori Peterson Callaway
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana-I am truly sorry for what you had to endure because of the way you look and your name. I have experienced the same though I am white redheaded American born female when I have traveled to foreign countries, due to my blue passport–marking me as an American. I have almost missed connecting flights because of pat downs, explosive residue checks on my person and all I carried…with a notice that my luggage had been searched when I arrived to my destinations and unpacked. EVERY flight, this happens to me. I am married to an ex-military man and it is somehow coded into my passport. Customs officers have asked me trick questions such as how do I like living in a state I don’t live in etc,,,,So I do know how you feel. I was never treated to the extreme you were, but I have been treated suspicously in every country except one, The one were my family emigrated from to America. I don’t even have an Arabic name. It was the blue passport that flagged me. Please accept my empathy, I do understand some of what you felt like. Sincerely, Lori Callaway
Mike Kretsch Pe
/ September 13, 2011God Bless you and thank you for telling your story. I want my country back – The one that believes in individual rights and freedom for all its citizens, period. To all those who say “they were just doing their jobs”, that defense didn’t work at Nuremberg and it should be allowed here.
Ronnie Libra
/ September 13, 2011Don’t wanna spam this comment section OR get caught up in this fight but I wanted to post this last video to make you think:
Follow the Lede (@followthelede)
/ September 13, 2011It was excruciating to read your post but I am grateful to you for writing it. It is important that police departments and government security agencies that routinely engage in racial profiling be called out for doing so. H.R. 5748, the End Racial Profiling Act of 2010 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5748🙂 was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security in Nov. 2010 and went nowhere, fast. We should advocate for it, or an equivalent bill, to be reintroduced. In the interim, it is vitally important that voices and stories like yours be heard. Thank you, again, for writing this.
w
/ September 13, 2011❤
Bailey
/ September 13, 2011When 9/11 happened I was in first grade. All I remember was watching the twin towers on TV, and having no idea what was going on. Most of us were only 6 or 7, none of us understood what was happening and no one was going to explain it to us. My parents came to pick me up early and they told me what was happening, but I truthfully didn’t understand. Every year on the anniversary of 9/11, everyone just assumed that we knew what was going on, but we didn’t understand at all, and no one was willing to explain it to us. I know that most of the class had nightmares for days after seeing the footage, and not knowing what was going on, it was really scary.
Monday was the first time that I have ever heard an in depth explination of the 9/11 attacks at school. My World History teacher was talking about it and realized that about half the class just had blank looks on their faces. Over half the class did not know of 9/11. It was just a distant memory to them, something that didn’t matter.
I’m only a teenager. I’m not into politics or government or anything. I understand the fear that came from 9/11 and that it’s painful for people to think about it, but really, it was quite shocking to see how many kids in my class didn’t know a thing about 9/11. Most schools mention 9/11 for a moment and then let it pass over. We don’t know anything that happened other then some planes crashed into a couple buildings. Some kids didn’t even know that much. I guess I’m just curious, because I knew about it long before then, but I was ashamed in my teachers and nearly everyone for not realizing that this 9/11 attack didn’t weaken us at all. It’s just made us stronger people.
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011Maybe thats how it was for you, but I was in third grade when it happened. We had a long conversation about it, and then a white kids pointed at me (I’m Indian) and said that my people started it. (talking about the war that was about to happen in Afghanistan.) 9/11 didn’t unify us as a people. It made us pass laws in a fearful state that caused a completely innocent woman get strip searched in the so called land of the free.
What To Do?
/ September 13, 2011No offense, but it is just like the individuals in the south border towns. It is not the Chinese who are trying to get in through the borders, it is the Mexican people. I am Mexican, and I have no problem whatsoever with the authorities double checking my “papers” if you will. Unfortunately, the people who harmed so many of us on 9/11 were of Middle Eastern heritage, so should we be profiling some other type? You just happened to be in the wrong seat. I think that as Americans we have turned in to babies…we want protection, but we won’t let the officials do their jobs. And, I get so sick of the race card being brought up all of the time. I have yet to see a total month dedicated to white history month – yet there is a black history month. I’m sorry, but when I see middle eastern people, in general, get on a plane with me, I DO get nervous. Call it what you want, but I would rather be politically incorrect than have this happen all over again.
The Cognitive Dissenter
/ September 13, 2011A frightening illustration of how the Patriot Act has gutted the Fourth Amendment. So sorry this happened to you. It is wrong.
I’m sharing this.
Sky Flyer
/ September 13, 2011I don’t have an issue with profiling. But, use some common sense. If someone is thought to be acting suspiciously, look further. But, detain them such as happen here? No, that’s profiling followed by stupidity and preceded by stupid passengers.
Follow the Lede (@followthelede)
/ September 13, 2011Moderator:
The url link in my comment post had a : before the closed parenth. which wordpress automatically turned into an emoticon. Ugh. Can that be fixed so the link is once again accurate? Thanks!
IMSirius
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry you had to experience what you did. I can’t imagine how frightening simply ‘not knowing’ must have been.
It’s such a catch 22. We want people to be observant, and to alert authorities if they see something suspicious. But skin color is not a rational reason for suspicion.
OBL continues to attack us from beyond his watery grave, using fear and our own government to do so.
Bobby Dobbs
/ September 13, 2011Did anyone else notice the irony of her saying she hated country music and rednecks etc? That sort of thinking is exactly the reason she was in the perdicment she was in in the first place.
Guadalupe
/ September 13, 2011It is a sad world that we live in period, but nothing new. If it isn’t race, then it’s religion. If it isn’t religion, then it’s politics. If it isn’t politics, then it’s what football is real football. People are scared of and hate what they perceive as different than what they are used to. It’s been this way since histories been recorded, and hasn’t changed all that much since.
This country has many skeletons in its closet. Off the top of my head there are the American Indians, Africans, Philippinos, Japanese, Mexicans Etc… Truthfully, thought, things aren’t all that bad now compared to what those groups endured.
Racial profiling aside, I think that what happened to you should NOT happen to ANYONE in America period. Innocent until proven guilty is not some random phrase in some obscure some text, it’s our way of life, whether a few bad people slip through the cracks or not. Stories like yours should anger any real American. Why? IDK… maybe the lack of respect for the author’s constitutional rights; or maybe someone should check into how much this little operation cost the taxpayers and figure out how many homes it could have saved for families about to lose their own; or maybe the city paying all that overtime pay chasing fears, instead of investing into education….. we all know Detroit has the best schools in the nation.
Well I hope your story inspires change. I don’t believe America is heading the way of Nazi Germany or “Communist” Russia (Communism was just a facade in Russia for its fascist leader), too many rednecks with guns for that, but we are definitely heading in the wrong direction. We are still one of the best countries to live in.
Thank you for your story, I enjoyed it a lot.
christopher
/ September 13, 2011The sad fact is this is our goverments and militaries fault. we have all heard of seal team 6 by now created by richard marchinko, many don’t know after his success there he was ordered to create another team called red cell. Tasked with testing the security structure of the us in the early 80’s. they were able to steal a nuclear sub, nuclear weapons, blow up a nuclear power plant. They were able to smuggle anything they wanted aboard airlines, break into all the bases they attempted. he said i know were special ops but this was childs play. he made many enemies and all his reports were swept under the table. why you ask? Many high ranking lifer military members would lose there jobs, many poloticians would have lost there job or there slush fund contributors. the airlines freaked at the cost of installing his security measures. goverment couldnt afford to boost our border security or implent a way to at least keep track of people visting our country. they had 30 years to prevent 9-11. while were playing catch up now i guarentee the terroists have moved on and are working another angle. I apologize for grammar and spelling on a super slow connection and driveing me crazy
atcshan
/ September 13, 2011I am saddened, but not surprised, that you had to endure this kind of treatment. It makes me sick that I can walk through security, turn down the x-ray machine and they don’t hesitate to let me go through the metal detector (no pat down) because I am white, yet American citizens in this country are being treated the way you have been because you look :suspicious.” My daughter is half African American and when I travel with her, they are more inclined to stop me, check my bags and question her. I know we need to protect ourselves, but why should they act on every “claim” of suspicious individuals? Why can’t they ask questions about the claim before humiliating our citizens? I’m sorry this happened to you 😦
John
/ September 13, 2011This is why I now refuse to fly unless it’s absolutely neccessary. It’s also why I’m working toward moving to another country so that my baby boy doesn’t have to grow up in this paranoid culture under martial law. The original 9/11 was awful but the overreaction and the incompetent implementation of “security” measures has made us all prisoners in our own homes. From what I’ve seen in travels to other countries, we are no longer “the land of the free”.
(For what it’s worth – white guy of English ancestors married to an American-born Korean woman)
Jason
/ September 13, 2011I’m a police officer, and i can’t see why they fingerprinted you. We only fingerprint people who are arrested. You were questioned, but not arrested and charged with any offense, so there is no need for fingerprinting. Now you are in their computer forever, and you didn’t even do anything. I’m not flying any more than I absolutely have to. This is crazy.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011I bet you know the answer.
Heard of the shiny, new Fusion Centers?
They need to keep a database of “people like her”, just in case, for your safety.
It’s disgusting, and it’s pathetic.
Linda
/ September 14, 2011I was wondering also why they fingerprinted her. I hope she hires a lawyer to try and get those fingerprints expunged, if nothing else.
Rich
/ September 13, 2011This country we live in is scared of its own shadow. at the same time this country loves to arrest people. We have the highst incarceration rate of our people than any other country in this world.. Our society arrests now and asks question later without any regard or concern for the persons rights they are violating..They eacted without due concern and you ha to pay the price. Im sorry for you and many pay for it everyday. I myself have been arrested many times when I was completely innocent.. And I m white male american an goodlooking! Its awful and ive got many reasons that I could sue many municipalities but where would that get me? Nowhere . Its a sa time in this country. Im getting out soon!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris
/ September 13, 2011The law enforcement organizations responded appropriately to a report of suspicious behavior. They should not be accused of racial profiling.
Possibly whoever reported what suspicious behavior may have reacted to appearances, or they may have reacted to suspicious behaviors. However, once a report like that has been made, law enforcement should investigate sufficiently.
The author indicates she really hadn’t paid attention to the others in her row, so they really may have behaved suspiciously. Her conversation with one of them unfortunately established a basic link to them, so it is very reasonable that she be investigated as well.
Perhaps that investigation might have occurred with fewer precautions, but their treatment of her sounds professional and reasonable, even if it did inconvenience and annoy her.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011Strip searches are not reasonable for people who have done nothing wrong.
You are aware that people at least should be considered innocent until proven guilty?
Storming a plane with guns is not appropriate.
They had already landed safely at their destination. What in the world would they have done that they hadn’t done in the air?
Use your brain! It’s the lump 3 feet above your ass.
i
/ September 13, 2011YOU ROCK!!
Did I do that?
/ September 13, 2011I am white. I was born in U.S.A. I have been taken down by machine gun weilding police and stripped searched due to a case of mistaken identity. I.E. looking like the wrong person who was a criminal. I empathise with the lady but if she, or anyone with a specific look, immigration status etc. doesn’t like how things are done here in America……. LEAVE! This is just how life is now in the post 9/11 world.
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011You’re a very sad person. I pity you.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011An American citizen is supposed to tolerate a violation of their Constitutional rights, or leave? I think, sir, that you lack an understanding of the issues here.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011I am white. I was born in the U.S.A. I have never ONCE been so much as selected for extra screening- and I fly in and out of the US 4 or 5 times a year. But when my sister was married to an African American she was stopped by the police EVERY TIME she got in the car with her husband. This was in the ’60’s. We didn’t say ‘that’s just how life is in post Detroit riots America’ then. In America you have a legal right guaranteed by the Constitution- and paid for by the blood of millions of soldiers- to go wherever you please without fear of being stopped, held without cause, having your fingerprints taken, subject to invasive searches, or questioned without a lawyer present. If you don’t like it YOU leave. This is just how it is in post 1776 America.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011You go, girl. Good replies to insanity. Just don’t let the real terrorists ~ in three-piece suits and stretch limousines ~ use your anger to make matters worse.
We need to be very careful about that: the irrefutable, conclusive evidence pointing to those, “American” and otherwise, who piggy-backed three thousand murders, a lucrative urban renewal, two oil-oriented military conquests, and wall-to-wall “law-and-order” fear-induced repressive tyranny throughout the land, on a much less devastating plan of some incompetent Arab bunglers who were ushered to 9/11 every step of the way for seven years, was not left behind by accident. It was intended for people to find it, get angry, and join a three-pronged revolutionary movement planned since the beginning of the Twentieth Century. That’s exactly what we don’t want to see happen.
Keep writing ~ Americans should get angry ~ about blindly trusting ambitious politicians who sell the public to the highest bidders, a lap-dog “free press” with its own not-so-free political agendas, and our home-grown would-be-emperor terrorists sitting in government offices. But we don’t want to “correct” the situation the way they have planned for us, that’s a trap toward which the whole country is being herded.
I memorized the plan during the Sixties, when I was working for it, and I’ve been watching it being carried out, step by step, ever since. An economic collapse, deliberately engineered, is one of the final triggers.
Don’t be fooled by the “champions of liberty” who are pushing for civil war in America.
Jen
/ September 13, 2011To think, if someone would have just asked the man who spent “too long” in the bathroom if everything was okay, all of this might not have needed to happen. If anyone would have bothered to actually observe that the three of you weren’t discussing anything, this wouldn’t have needed to occur. I understand the push right now, and there’s been lots of money poured into the, “If you see something, say something,” campaign. However, the thing we are to be on the lookout for is not people who look to be of middle eastern descent, or people who probably chose the wrong thing to eat before boarding a plane.
Hugo
/ September 13, 2011welcome to america. people who live on the border and have to cross to the US everyday, we live the same thing every single day. we are treated like dogs by the department of homeland security and specially by the arrogant, ignorant and despotic officers in charge of the ‘border security’, just because we are mexicans. you are american, so this is new to you.
Dave
/ September 13, 2011Why exactly did 9/11 happen? Why do others want to visit terror upon America? This country has had every reaction to 9/11 except the one that would truly do the most to prevent another attack.
Until we do some deep soul searching and self-analysis about our foreign policies, foreign dictator support and support of countries that oppress others, we won’t address the root cause of this problem.
Thank you very much for writing this story and I’m happy you made it home safe — I supposed the one good thing that came out of this is that some will have had their naivete regarding the true nature of authority and our so-called security balanced against reality.
SB
/ September 14, 2011That is one question, no one wants answer. Oh wait, Rick Santorum, already did!!
blogamabob
/ September 13, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you.
Amy S
/ September 13, 2011Every day my children go to a school that flies an Israeli flag in front of it…kind of a target. One day there were two men, Timothy McVeigh look-alikes, sitting in a car in the parking lot when I dropped my kids off. They were still there when I came back out. So, I walked back inside and called the police with a description and the license plate. My local police force (who are not “trained” as well as the FBI and the DHS and whoever else was involved in this debacle) managed to figure out who these people were and that they posed no danger in all of five minutes. No strip-search, no hand-cuffing, no violating people’s rights. Just some simple questioning and a database check.
The problem is not “See Something, Say Something,” the problem is that our “protectors” at the TSA and other agencies are so incompetent that they have allowed people with bombs in their shoes, bombs in their underwear, etc. to board airplanes, and their response instead of learning and improving their methods in a way that retains people’s rights and dignity is to completely take leave of rational thought in an frenzy of fear and a desire to CYA.
Eric Jaffa (@EricJaffa)
/ September 14, 2011The Shoe Bomber and the Underwear Bomber each boarded a plane for the US from an airport in Europe. The TSA wasn’t involved.
tom miles
/ September 13, 2011absolutely zero pity for you. Go back to your own country…
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011I know I shouldn’t be. But for some reason, I am _still_ surprised when I see such a moronic comment.
I mean, I know there are ignorant people here in the US. But that some of them are still able to manipulate a computer successfully enough to have their voice heard across the world? Amazing.
(and Tom, had you been paying attention, you might have realized her “own country” is right here)
SilenceDogood
/ September 13, 2011It’s shocking, really, isn’t it? How do these people even put on pants?
Megan
/ September 13, 2011Sounds like a left-winged liberal mentality to me….concerned with being “racially profiled” but then being racist against white overweight “rednecks.” The problem with your story is that you would have been much more legitimate had you not contradicted your own opinions….you racically profiled someone simply doing his and her job. Weren’t you minding your own business on that plane? These public service men and women were doing their job in adequately searching someone who for whatever reason made others uncomfortable and looked suspicious of being a terriorist. I truly am sorry for your inconvenience, BUT the plane landed safely! Be thankful we have Americans willing to look out for one another! I would much rather be safe than making a mistake of keeping silent for fear of offending someone! Had something gone wrong on that flight, these concerned passengers would have regretted their decision not to speak up. Sorry, but this is the world we live in….maybe consider living somewhere besides the beloved United States of America if you are so unhappy with our security measures…
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“BUT the plane landed safely!”
And had already done so without the assistance of the law enforcement officers who chose to overreact to such extreme.
In any case, if all that had happened to the author was that someone else expressed a prejudiced opinion about her, we wouldn’t be talking about this. Whatever you think about her comments about “white overweight rednecks”, that has nothing to do with her civil rights being violated, which is the real issue here.
JR
/ September 13, 2011Megan, did you actually re-read your post? I feel very sad for your lack of compassion for a horrible thing that happened to this woman who was doing nothing. Karma’s a bitch. Look out for it.
Dee
/ September 13, 2011Christian’s, Budhist’s, Musim’s, Jew’s and most all religions are “taught” to Love. Did we all miss the lesson? If we can’t change the World, change your world. Teach those around you by your example.
Hate comes so easy. Love must be cultivated and watered.
Sashland
/ September 14, 2011Three out of four ain’t bad…
What To Do?
/ September 14, 2011Dee, when you teach the extremists to love…I’ll be right there with you on your thoughts!
Vivek
/ September 13, 2011I’m an Indian-American naval officer, and reading this was beyond painful. I am sorry you had to go through this, and your account of these events makes me a little disheartened. It’s as if the ideals which we choose to defend are just a bunch of buzzwords. Because you had the courage to share this, others may understand the state of paranoia we live in. Thank you.
Red
/ September 13, 2011I smell Dogmatism.
So much dogmatism. Kinda makes this whole debate pointless. Neither side is going to give an inch, so why bother? The government is going to do what they do because if they slip up once the outrage is just the same (minus a few lives. You know, the hundreds, if not thousands, dead?). The people are going to complain just the same because, let’s face it, we could be living in a utopia and we would still complain that they are doing something wrong. Yes, boundaries were crossed and lines were pushed and the law was stretched. Yes, she did nothing wrong and was profiled because her race matched that of the two in suspicion, and they all three happened to be middle eastern, and yes this gives open license to be angry. This is not a news article, this is a blog and so it will give personal emotions. That’s sort of the point of a blog, no?
BUT saying that america should be completely blind to race is like saying a rape victim should get over it and start trusting men again. The majority of the men who she meets and deals with on a day to day basis will be just average guys, but in her eyes they are possible perpetrators, a reminder of the horrible horrible thing that happened.
True freedom is anarchy, except that anarchy is never really freedom because the ruthless and strong will rise and gain followers and end up ruling the weak. And i don’t believe we can have total safety without instances like this. Does that mean i enjoy the thought of them? No. Does that mean that i would happily submit to being treated this way? Again, no.
This is a grey area. She was treated badly, but thousands lost their lives in an act of terrorism. And if there were an effective way to get around this sort of abuse i would take it in a heartbeat… but as it is this is all we have, and i’m not going to insult TSA for doing their job, nor will i insult “the authorities” for putting laws that invade the few for the good of the many into effect when no better option has been given, nor will i insult the men who reported her because they profiled. If she really had been a terrorist carrying a bomb these posts would be songs of praise, not hate.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“BUT saying that america should be completely blind to race is like saying a rape victim should get over it and start trusting men again.”
If this were just about racism, maybe you’d have a point there (maybe…). But it’s not. It’s about what professional law enforcement officials did in the face of racism. It’s one thing for an untrained traveler to engage in racism; it’s yet another for people paid to act in a professional manner to allow that to define their behavior.
“This is a grey area. She was treated badly, but thousands lost their lives in an act of terrorism.”
Non sequitur.
“And if there were an effective way to get around this sort of abuse i would take it in a heartbeat”
There is an effective way to get around this sort of abuse, and it’s for law enforcement TO NOT DO IT. Simple. This is not a grey area at all.
“If she really had been a terrorist carrying a bomb these posts would be songs of praise, not hate.”
If. IF. But the problem is, SHE WASN’T. Nor was there any genuine evidence that she even might have been.
Red
/ September 14, 2011Professional law enforcement officers did their job. They acted on a report of suspicious activity on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and there were 50 other incidents like this. They took her because she was in the same row. Perhaps it was because of race, but more likely it was just because she was sitting there. I’ve seen many, many comments saying if she was white she wouldn’t have been taken, but I don’t think it’d be any different. Even if it turned out that she wasn’t one of them, and they were truly terrorists, she needed to be separated from the others on the plane because she would have been a lead witness. She had been siting with them for hours.
“It’s about what professional law enforcement officials did in the face of racism.”
What did they do? They acted quickly on a report. Bombs don’t wait an hour for them to properly question the person who reported to see if any racism was involved or if there even is a cause for concern. They kinda go boom killing everyone on the plane, and then showering the city below with parts (of machine and human alike). In the case of a bomb, they can’t wait for evidence. In a building it might be a suspicious package, but on a plane all the packages are tossed together, or put in cubbies overhead. There’s no time to determine if one is suspicious and which person might have the switch. Just as there was no time to stop and think, “Well maybe he’s just sea sick”.
“There is an effective way to get around this sort of abuse, and it’s for law enforcement TO NOT DO IT. Simple. This is not a grey area at all.”
Really, i see no abuse. They did not beat her, deny her food or bathroom. Yes, she was handcuffed in a cell for hours while they tried to sort through the mess, yes she felt humiliated, but that’s kinda how it works with everyone. Strip search is sorta the norm, it seems, when it comes to airplanes. And the second she was found innocent they apologized profusely. They tried to explain why they did what they did. And she was angry, sure. Who wouldn’t be? But all they did was their job.
“Non sequitur.”
I don’t believe so. Yes, if you take two points alone, perhaps. Terrorism in the airlines, woman strip searched. But when you add the line to connect the dots it creates a picture. 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Fear, both on the parts of the airline and the people flying, of another attack. The two men next to her leave for quite a while, together, and the don’t answer when the door is knocked on. Report of suspicious activity. A couple lines are missing to make it a solid case, but it is still understandable why they did what they did.
Jan H
/ September 14, 2011“They acted on a report of suspicious activity on the tenth anniversary of 9/11,”
WHAT suspicious activity????? She was sitting in her SEAT!!!!
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011“She was treated badly, but thousands lost their lives in an act of terrorism.”
That many lose their lives EVERY MONTH in traffic accidents on American roads. What are you doing to ensure the same level of safety you expect here? After all, a breathalyzer on every car is the best way to eliminate these deaths, no?
Red
/ September 14, 2011Apples and oranges, though hundreds (if not thousands) do get pulled over every day for suspicious activity on the roads (weaving, driving erratically) and not following regulations (speeding, running stop signs).
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011“Apples and oranges”
How so?
And of the thousands you claim that get pulled over, how many are strip searched?
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011I haven’t thought it through as far as I could, but I totally love the idea of a breath-starting system on every car made.
But if we had one, the legislators who wrote the law requiring it couldn’t get home 75% of the time. So that’s why we don’t have it, I’d wager.
Safety is the buzzword power uses to carry on their nefariousness unmolested.
Rafiq Kathwari
/ September 13, 2011Osama bin Laden is alive well and working for the TSA.
Neil
/ September 13, 2011I feel aghast that this happened . . . your dignity has been so deeply
insulted and your rights so disregarded, an outrage!
If this happened to me I would be more sensitive to activation of
various precautions designed to prevent any future 9/11 acts.
I am just a simple American citizen willing to give his life
for his country in order to preserve and protect flag and honor.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Neil: why do you have to wait for it to happen to you? Why not realize it did happen to you when it happened to her?
Cali
/ September 13, 2011Shoshana, I read your story on MSN and your blog just now and I just want to say that I am truly sorry this had to happen to you. You would think that we have learned much from 9/11/01 and learned not to judge. But, unfortunately we have not. Given the day you flew, I’m not surprised something like this has happened, but that in no way excuses it. I am sorry for the pain and suffering it caused you and the two men who were detained with you as well as the confusion and worry your husband must have felt. I’m sure it has tarnished your view on flying now, but please don’t let it keep you from it. Keep blogging please about things like this then maybe someone will see what is happening and things will start to turn around as the way we see others. God bless you and the other two men, and thank you for blogging. It was a great education for me and I’m sure others.
Andrew Drury
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry you had to go through this. Thank you so much though for your lucid, sensible, and well written account. My sympathy goes to you and to other less fortunate victims of this craziness. Best regards from Brooklyn…
Desi
/ September 13, 2011First of all, I’m an Indian and after 9/11 have been singled out at checkpoints for the way I look. I do not find anything wrong with it as long as the authorities are professional. In this case, I did not find anything unprofessional in the way the authorities conducted themselves. I feel sad that this happened but at the same time, can’t think of a better way the authorities could have conducted themselves. The actual problem is with the idiot or idiots who reported the three of you to the authorities. Probably someone whose job got outsourced or may be someone who never went beyond his/her trailer park.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011You are right that the problem initially started with the unidentified and non-accountable person who filed the original unsubstantiated report of unspecified suspicious activity. However, the problem continued when the Homeland Security agents took that report at face value, and did what they did.
Being singled out at checkpoints is not the same thing as being handcuffed in front of a planeload of people and taken off, placed in a dirty cell for hours without communication about what’s going on, strip searched and cavity searched, and interrogated. Those are two different levels of “inconvenience.”
Maureen kennedy
/ September 13, 2011So sorry you had to deal with all this. Move to the Bay Area–everyone looks like you. Love and peace. Maureen
Carrie Rayfield Cabral
/ September 13, 2011My God. That is horrible. i’m so glad your boys weren’t with you. No one should have to go through something like that.
deadbytes
/ September 13, 2011We’re past the slippery slope, over the cliff and free falling.
There are still worse places in the world, but it was nice that for a long time the USA was one of the places where things like this _couldn’t_ happen.
Years ago I felt we might be moving in this direction, but it was a slow process, and I thought being vigilant, and everyone always standing up for one’s own rights would be sufficient to stem the tide.
I never imagined that in a single day enemies without would give enemies within the excuse they needed to change things so completely. In a couple of weeks, many of the “good parts” of the USA pretty much ceased to exist, and ten years later that change looks pretty irrevocable.
It’s horrible you had this happen to you.
Alas I have no doubt it will only get worse, for *all* of us.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011The sad reality is that if one complains to TSA about any sort of abuse, and this one is an egregious example, the boilerplate response is generally one of, “Well, other countries also [check the waistbands], [pat down everyone], [strip search]”.
How sad that America now relies on the disgusting, perverse acts of others as justification to do so, as well.
JW
/ September 13, 2011This is sick. This is one of many reasons that I find myself embarrassed to be recognized as an American. I’m half Indian, although I look completely Irish, so I don’t normally find myself subject to this sort of BS. However, my cousin (who is all Indian) was detained at an airport for hours just for “looking like a terrorist.” He’s a computer and photography nerd with lots of family here in the States. They threatened to kill him or make him “disappear” and ended up telling him to “run for his life” before they “changed their minds” at the end.
This sort of thing HAS to stop. TSA and Homeland Security do NOTHING at all to protect this country. It’s all for show and has no effect on security whatsoever. The only thing it does is endanger people’s rights. These power-tripping self-entitled morons need to be sued for all they’re worth and promptly fired. The TSA either needs to be disbanded or restructured because right now they’re nothing more than a trashy ghetto version of the Gestapo. How many incidents like this will it take for the American people to stand up for our own rights and insist upon changes??
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Absolutely!
If TSA actually were protecting this country, what would be the need to strip search people AFTER their plane had safely landed at their destination airport?
Middle Aged & White Male
/ September 13, 2011Poor poor picked on people. I noticed how the retaliatory remarks about fat rednecks were welcomed by you liberal whiners. Poor Shebshi had to endure the horror of being detained and searched.
The cowards that carried out the attacks on September 11th 2001 are the real criminals here, not the people who are trying to prevent it from happening again.
I sincerely hope anyone who fits the “profile” is detained and questioned everysingle time there is suspicion. If is the ugly face or the dark skin so be it.
Life is hard and almost never fair no matter if you’re a thieving fat white buzz cut redneck or a coward black hearted Islamic zealot who is hell bent to kill people who doesn’t fit his profile of some who should be allowed to live.
So Quit your fucking whining and be thankful no one got hurt and life goes on. How much you continue to whine about your poor pitiful plight will be the true revelation of character. If you really have any.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Ms. Shebshi is not related to the 9/11 terrorists. Being a member of a particular ethnic class does not make one a terrorist.
Again, I find it amusing when white readers of this post focus ONLY on Ms. Shebshi’s remarked about her internal response (which she owned up to) and ONLY on that, dismissing the violation of her Constitutional rights.
Dark-skinned people can be American citizens, with the rights of American citizens, as well as white people.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011Dark-skinned people can be American citizens, with the rights of American citizens, as well as white people.
Where?
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Well, obviously I’d like to think here, but we’ve got a long way to go to make that happen.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011All imaginations of intrinsic superiority arise from talents, wisdom, vision, altruism, or capacities considered “better” than those commonly possessed by others. My apparent facility in articulating insights does not make me “superior” to anyone, it merely makes me appear to be a better-than-average writer. It is most certainly not any indication of any “intrinsic superiority.” An imagination of “we’re better than them” based on technological prowess, literacy, “prosperity,” liberality, or temporal dominance, is equally deceptive. Facile intelligence ~ such as is measured by “IQ” ~ more often obstructs this realization than reaches it.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I’m not 100% sure what you’re trying to say, or how it’s relevant, so I apologize for that. Can you clarify? Are you saying that my belief that we can create a society in which everyone is treated equally is a statement of superiority?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011I’m not 100% sure what you’re trying to say, or how it’s relevant, so I apologize for that. Can you clarify?
Please forgive my abstraction. I’ll try.
“We’re better than them” is an extension of “I’m better than him,” which is an extrapolation from “I’m better than that.” All three of those beliefs fly in the face of “There but for fortune go you and I.” No one is immune from error, failure, vicissitude or ill intention, and circumstance makes some more vulnerable than others to distortion, corruption, or loss of their essential human nature.
As children we learn to think and behave by playing at being “adult” ~ and in many societies, acculturation prevents us from realizing our human nature as we assimilate ourselves to the ways of those around us. Life itself ~ as we experience it ~ demands an existential will to self-determination. We each decide who we have to be to become and be who we want to be.
And we judge others as “better” or “worse” than ourselves according to who we want to be, not necessarily according to who they want to be. We devote ourselves to our ambitions and aims, and regard those with differing or conflicting ambitions and aims as less “human” than ourselves. This is the beginning of what we call “racial discrimination” or “ethnic pride” or some other manifestation of “I’m better than him.”
What we lose, in this false judgment and abandonment of humanity, is the value of differences in aims and ambitions. We lose the product of cooperation, the wealth of shared values, the harmony of human existence and the symphony of human endeavor, for the sake of shadows of some of what we each and all could be, together. Devoted to that in which we may perceive some superiority, we fail to appreciate the jewels that adorn the lives of others. And together, we militate against being all that we have the human potential of being.
This is why I excoriate characterization of “redneck patriots” as “human filth” ~ none of us is “filth,” no matter how deeply we might wallow in the filth that is our individual abandonment of our humanity, our “best” which casts everything else as “worse,” by reason of which we stop looking for the best in others and see only the worse and the worst.
Perhaps this will make my earlier nebulous comment more intelligible.
Are you saying that my belief that we can create a society in which everyone is treated equally is a statement of superiority?
Not at all, although I would quote President Roosevelt’s prayer, “Grant us a common faith that man shall know bread and peace, that he shall know justice and righteousness, freedom and security, an equal opportunity and an equal chance to do his best, not only in our own lands, but throughout the world.” I think that’s attainable. I don’t think “treated equally” is attainable, because our capacities to benefit others are as unequal as our abilities to appreciate the benefit of others.
Your belief, however, is a belief in humanity. I don’t see that as a claim of superiority.
Allison
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for your clarification and your thoughts.
I do agree that perhaps “treated equally” is unattainable in everyday practice, but feel that it’s an ideal to which we should strive. I DO believe that under the law, and in situations that involve application of that law, “treated equally” needs to be codified into that law from the beginning. And I believe that is an attainable goal, although perhaps not within my lifetime.
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“The cowards that carried out the attacks on September 11th 2001 are the real criminals here, not the people who are trying to prevent it from happening again.”
It’s not either/or.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Really it’s the cowards too afraid to fly who should “Quit your fucking whining” because you really are making like worse for all of us. Including yourselves.
Cole
/ September 13, 2011I believe that you have a right to get angry about what happened to you. It is a natural human reaction to be indignified when something like this happens to someone. However, what if the two fellows next to you were actually terrorists? What if they actually had the intent to cause harm? If it were true, you would be thanking God that the situation was handled as it was.
You need to take a deep breath and be thankful. You can lie on your back and kick, scream and cry like a baby and it will not change a thing; what was done was necessary to insure the safety of all the passengers. When it comes to the lives and security of the all, your personal feelings about how it was handled are quite irrelevant. And let us face the fact that Arabic and Middle eastern people are the me most likely groups to commit acts of terrorism at this time in history.
Buck up. You are still alive.
Allison
/ September 13, 2011Timothy McVeigh was white, last time I checked.
“Buck up” is a phrase that you use when someone’s having a bad day. It’s not a phrase that one should use when an American citizen’s Constitutional rights are violated on the unsubstantiated report of unspecified suspicious activity by an untrained and unidentified civilian that is taken at face value without further investigation.
andy laderoute
/ September 14, 2011Be thankful the police were doing their job. It was an untrained civilian who noticed the unsuccessful car bomb in Times Square a year ago. By the way no rights were violated she was searched and asked questions, got to make a phonecall and was even given a ride to her car and asked if she needed a ride home.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011A single example of an untrained civilian noticing genuinely suspicious behavior doesn’t justify the violation of people’s rights to face their accusers and the violation of the right to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure.
Megan
/ September 14, 2011Allison – THANK YOU for bringing up McVeigh. Seriously, people forget about him. He’s the example I use when people try to push ethnic profiling – race, religious, etc. I remind them that he (a) was white and (b) likely considered himself to be a Christian. So we’d better start looking out for white Christians driving trucks and vans near large office buildings. (BTW, I am white… before any future commenters make ignorant comments regarding my reply.)
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“…what if the two fellows next to you were actually terrorists? What if they actually had the intent to cause harm? If it were true, you would be thanking God that the situation was handled as it was.”
What if?
They weren’t. There was never any evidence to even suggest they might have been. Period.
JW
/ September 14, 2011<>
Oh dear, this would make me laugh if it wasn’t so sad. Don’t you think that if those two guys were conspiring terrorists setting up a bomb in the toilet, they’d have…you know, MADE THEIR MOVE BEFORE the plane landed?? What the hell is the use of arresting and searching people once the damn thing is on the ground? This was NOT a matter of safety, it was a clear case of bitter low-paid workers wanting to feel self-important and powerful as happens all too often in our airports. Please crawl out from under the rock, buddy.
andy laderoute
/ September 14, 2011Your so cool putiing down people cause they aren’t as well paid as you who try to keep us safe the best they can when a report is made. If your so smart why is it that the underwear and the shoe bomber were both arrested on the ground when their bombs failed to go off.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 14, 2011I think that if someone tries to set fire to their shoes or their underwear, then it is wise to be suspicious of them.
It was actually a good idea for fellow passengers and crew to restrain them until such time as the plane could land and the persons could be formally arrested.
In the Detroit flight and the JFK flight (where a similar bathroom situation arose) nobody appears to have made any attempt to restrain the ‘terrorists’ before they had an opportunity to detonate a bomb.
If there was actually any real suspicion that they were terrorists, then it seems extremely negligent not to have done so.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Yea, I think trying to start a fire on a plane in flight is ACTUAL suspicious activity. No judgment calls there.
Ana Maria Alvarado
/ September 13, 2011wow…as an american citizen, all I can say is…I am so sorry! you see, I am latin, from mexican roots, dark skin, black hair and big black eyes…Once I was almost about to lose my flight as from 80 passengers, I was the only one to be asked to remove my boots for them to search them…oh yes, I am so sorry!!!!
David
/ September 13, 2011Patriot Act needs to be repealed ….Too much of our freedoms have been eroded because of 9/11. Always in the back of my mind I keep hearing the quote from Ben Franklin “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” We Americans pass laws and I can think of only one that was repealed– Prohibition.
Laura
/ September 13, 20111) Many of you are reading misplaced anger into her post which I really don’t see. She states several times where she experienced courtesy. You wouldn’t know about that unless she had written it, so why not stop accusing her of not noticing it.
2) I too love watching white people get bent out of shape over an ‘other’ daring to state that they might occasionally think some uncharitable thoughts about them. Waah, waah, she was a meany about (whatever, country music), that’s like racism! Yeah, it’s really not. Please, go and educate yourselves. I am sure Ms. Hebshi will be back with some reflections and demonstration of personal growth about that stuff – she seems the type for that. The rest of you, not so much, I’m guessing.
Laura
/ September 13, 20113) Many of you also read plenty of other stuff into her post which simply isn’t there. She isn’t making half of the claims many of you are accusing her of. Mostly, she’s describing her experience and her feelings and thoughts during it – that’s pretty much it.
Mo'Data
/ September 14, 2011Yup. I don’t like country music too much either. Mostly a jazz fan. Does that make me like black people and hate southeners?
Kam
/ September 13, 2011I’m sorry this happened to you! It really shouldn’t have happened!
Tenney
/ September 13, 2011This author’s tirade about skin color is only adding fuel to an already volatile time. Too bad for her that she had to continue to play this whole thing out in a negative attitude. I’m sure an apology would never satisfy her now so she can collect money from the incident. Our security does the best they can to protect us and they may make mistakes, however, we should help them by offering a way to change the procedure when they don’t work. Yelling ‘skin color’ and repeated blogging is not the way to help correct this whole matter.
tenney
pete.d
/ September 13, 2011“This author’s tirade about skin color…”
Did you even read the article? There was no “tirade about skin color”. She mentioned her appearance, by way of relating her thoughts during her experience.
The “tirade” was in regard to the actual _treatment_ she received, and it was a well-justified “tirade” (though frankly, for a “tirade” it was surprisingly calm and rational).
Rob
/ September 13, 2011Sounds like your American reality check was kinda bitter. Welcome to the USA!!
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011You do know she was born and raised here, right? It’s right there in the blog post you apparently didn’t read.
Freedom Fries
/ September 13, 2011The contradiction of “freedom” and “sacrifice” is what makes America great. We can deny people the right to do many things so that the rest can be “free” and safe. We can force people to leave their homes so we can build a highway for everyone else. We can force polluters to stop for everyone else. We can force people off planes and detain them for everyone else. It is an unfortunate side effect of a great and magnificent system.
miketherevelator
/ September 14, 2011And forcing a woman off a plane in handcuffs once the plane has landed safely, strip searching her, asking her a million questions and making her sit with a over full bladder, refusing to let her call home or a lawyer over what an FBI agent says was about people seeing nothing helps everyone else, how? Really, you think this act of totally ignoring this woman’s rights when a plane is safely on the ground somehow compares to polluters? And by denying some people their rights fo unlawful search and seizure (the some people just happen to be a little darker than the rest of us) so that those not so dark can feel “free” and safe is just an unfortunate side effect of a “great and magnificent system”.
How about a Surveillance-police state system? It might be a great and magnificent surveillance and police state, But this is what happens when you tell people to keep an eye on others and if you see something, tell somebody. It’s bad enough the USG is spying on us constantly but wants us to know nothing about what they do, but when they can con citizens into spying on fellow citizens and reporting them as suspicious for flying while brown, and that results in this woman going through this ordeal for no reason, you’ve left great and magnificent system territory long time ago. Like about ten years ago last Sunday.
Jam
/ September 13, 2011SO sorry this happened. HOpe you get a real apology from the idiot who thought you looked so suspicious and that it brings you some peace.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Sadly, she probably won’t.
You see, people like that are cowards. That person thinks they’ve done their civic duty. They “saw something” so they “said something”, and look where it got an innocent person.
She deserves several apologies. Sadly, the people she deserves them from have already proven themselves cowards.
Ron
/ September 14, 2011I can argue they did their civic duty, even though they’re likely an idiot.
One should not be punished for phoning in what they perceive is a threat. One should be punished for being a supposed professional in evaluating threats, seeing no evidence and still strip searching an individual and holding them for hours.
How this should’ve been handled is some civilian phones in a threat, the plane lanes, the ‘suspicious persons’ are taken off the plane and asked a few questions, and let go.
Afterall, a 9/11 like attack is impossible now, so worse case scenario when a plane is in the air is ~300 people die. Not a huge number. If the govt tries to stop it in the air the same amount still die, so thats no solution. So once the plane lands there is really no incentive for a huge production.
-Ron
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011I support the idea, both in this case and in the case of officers who pull people over and then find no cause for having done so–that is, in cases of a false positive security alert, that the one who did the initial accusing has restorative justice done with the person accused. This will minimally include the accuser saying the sentence, “You are not a terrorists. I was wrong.” I don’t want to hear an apology at that moment. I want to hear an admission that the person was wrong.
The security forces could technically be in on this admission, because they should be able to make some judgment without the whole rigmarole playing out. The article doesn’t mention at all how the men were handled or what was said to them. There may be grounds for lawsuits and admissions here. But in particular, I’m concerned not to let “normal citizens” make denunciations of others and be allowed to go free after a false positive. They need to see the face and person of what “wrong” looks like. It might not stop them in the future, but that just means they’ll have to go through it all again, and eventually there will be mounting bills to keep carrying said employee (after all of the restorative justice sessions).
This proposal will not be met with joy by the security professionals, who will say it might weaken reporting. The security forces are not there to protect us, no matter what they say or believe. Security forces never are.
If the security organs really wanted us to be safe, we would be informed (taught) what specifically to look for. They claim there’s a science to it, so it must be teachable, right? But this secret knowledge is withheld … because our safety is really not their concern.
But these maunderings aside, I want to see those who denounce others have to stand before who they’ve accused and admit out loud that they were wrong. There’s at least some justice in that.
jen
/ September 15, 2011by “the idiot”, do youmean the extremely well-trained pilots and flight attendants, otherwise known as “the crew”, which, accordingly to Homeland Security, had enough information and observed enough abnormal, suspicious behavior on the 10th anniversary of 9-11 when a credible, serious, deadly threat of terrorist acts had been identified and issued on this very day?
are those “the idiots” to which you refer? or yourself for actually being one?
John
/ September 15, 2011WOW Cabin crew are not well trained in observing abnormal or suspicious behavior. What if someone had a stomach bug, what if someone is airsick and stayed in the bathroom for 20 minutes? They should have knocked at the door and checked the well being of their paying passengers rather than reported them to be suspicious.
Cabin crew exist to assist and serve passengers.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011Are these the same cabin crew who have people kicked off of planes for reading books? Because that’s happened to people who fly while brown.
Are these the same cabin crew who have a hysterical fit if someone is taking a picture of the next plane at the gate?
GMAFB, the cabin crew are almost more hysterical than some of the people I see posting in this comments section.
law
/ September 13, 2011What about due process? I.e…habeas corpus? Basic rights as an American?
The U.S. Constitution
In the early years of the United States the terms law of the land and due process were used somewhat interchangeably.[citation needed] The 1776 Constitution of Maryland, for example, used the language of Magna Carta, including the law of the land phrase.[16] In New York, a statutory bill of rights was enacted in 1787, and it contained four different due process clauses.[17] Alexander Hamilton commented on the language of that New York bill of rights: “The words ‘due process’ have a precise technical import, and are only applicable to the process and proceedings of the courts of justice; they can never be referred to an act of legislature.”[18]
New York was the only state that asked Congress to add “due process” language to the U.S. Constitution. New York ratified the U.S. Constitution and proposed the following amendment in 1788: “[N]o Person ought to be taken imprisoned or diseased of his freehold, or be exiled or deprived of his Privileges, Franchises, Life, Liberty or Property but by due process of Law.”[19]
In response to this proposal from New York, James Madison drafted a Due Process Clause for Congress.[20] Madison cut out some language, and inserted the word without, which had not been proposed by New York. Congress then adopted the exact wording that Madison proposed, after Madison explained that the Due Process Clause would not be sufficient to protect various other rights:
Although I know whenever the great rights, the trial by jury, freedom of the press, or liberty of conscience, come in question in that body [Parliament], the invasion of them is resisted by able advocates, yet their Magna Carta does not contain any one provision for the security of those rights, respecting which the people of America are most alarmed.[20]
No state or federal constitution in the U.S. had ever before utilized any “due process” wording, prior to 1791 when the federal Bill of Rights was ratified. However when the U.S. Constitution took effect in 1789 it contained a Supremacy Clause, which specified that the Constitution itself, and federal statutes enacted pursuant to the Constitution, would be the supreme “law of the land”. As mentioned, in the early United States, the terms law of the land and due process were used somewhat interchangeably.
Legality of strip searches
In North America, civil lawsuits, as well as criminal code changes against strip searches have usually been successful when a person is strip-searched by someone of the opposite sex, especially in cases where a woman has been strip-searched by a male guard or guards. The more disputed legal cases have often involved the presence of persons of the other gender during a strip search. Some of these cases have been less successful because of the legal technicality of who was actually performing the strip search, i.e. if multiple guards are present, the search is often (legally) said to be being performed by the person or persons giving the orders or instructions to the person or persons being searched.
Another legal issue is that of blanket strip searches, such as in jails where arrestees are routinely strip-searched prior to having been found guilty of any crime in a court of law. Courts have often held that blanket strip searches are acceptable only for persons found guilty of a crime. For arrestees pending trial, there must be a reasonable suspicion that the arrestee is in possession of weapons or other contraband before a strip search can be conducted. The same often holds true for other situations such as airport security personnel and customs officers, but the dispute often hinges on what constitutes reasonable suspicion.
john
/ September 13, 2011They had some reason to believe that your flight had some potential risk to americans. Although you were subjected to some tiresome search, it keeps our country free from terrorism knowing that they watch flights now vs. 9-11. I would welcome the search knowing that they were doing their job. Reading your blog sounds like you tried to make this a cultural issue vs.a security issue. You need to understand that the AMERICAN people don’t want to die at the hands of fanatics of foreign looking citizens. Maybe we’re becoming like the Israeli’s , but maybe it’s necessary.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011You do know that she is, indeed, an AMERICAN, as well, no? Did you bother to read the post? Or do you have a reading comprehension problem?
Regardless, what sort of imminent danger was there to a plane that had already safely landed at its destination?
If you really are that afraid, you really shouldn’t leave your house.
New yorker
/ September 14, 2011What do you expect it is what it is…. Blame your people for what happened to you, now you all pay for what happened to our families. Did it make you feel bad regardless what you went through, you were still able to go home and see your family… But those that died never made it home to see theirs… It got you angry then don’t come back stay away… Because no one is going to hurt us agian.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Ms. Shebshi is not a terrorist, and her shared ethnicity with the people who committed atrocities is not justification for her rights being violated.
Do not use the 9/11 dead as justification for this. Doing so dishonors them.
jen
/ September 15, 2011@silencedogood, you are being a little rude and self-important. you ask if they bothered to read the blog?
did YOU bother to read the actual Homeland Security report?
In your comment prior, you went along (rather than do your OWN due diligence) with the blgogers account of who turned her in, when in fact, according to Homeland Security’s own report, it was the crew of the flight.
The crew consists of the pilots and flight attendants.
before criticizing others, please do your own reading and research.
(btw, there is no report from last dec of a similar incident, as she claims, but there are many others of people getting arrested both in America and abroad for carrying weapons to the airport, making terroristic threats, etc….many, many, many criminals have been arrested and crimes thwarted – and this is only what can be revealed – as may others are still underwraps….for security reasons.
John
/ September 15, 2011Update yourself please, Frontier is denying it, saying it was fellow passengers and that the crew, which of course is the cabin crew giving information to the flight crew reported 2 not 3.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011@jen I’m sorry I hurt your delicate feelings.
Look, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
The Homeland Security report is wrong in this case. It often is.
There are pure nuts in the offices of DHS who literally see terrorists around every corner.
And you do know that “criminals arrested” does not equal “terrorist about to blow up the plane”, which really doesn’t matter since neither applies in this case.
But I’m glad you’re scared enough to think that DHS is protecting you. They aren’t. They’re a clueless, bumbling, inept group of people who were so bad at their jobs in other government agencies that they jumped at the chance to rewrite their careers at a new agency.
The truth sometimes hurts. I see that you got smacked with it this time. I truly am sorry about that.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011She isn’t a criminal and wasn’t arrested. She was HELD WITHOUT charge, without being allowed even to call her husband and let him know that she was all right. She is as American as you and the only reason you don’t fear being dragged off a plane in handcuffs and having your bodily cavities probed while your family waits anxiously to find out what happened to you is that you think (mistakenly) that letting this happen to OTHER Americans who happen to look different than you somehow makes you safer.
miketherevelator
/ September 14, 2011I’d say it’s probably like becoming Romania circa 1955 but you probably still think it’s necessary. Not a tiresome search, an illegal search. She’ is an American. Things like this do not keep us free, they do the opposite unless you have a very warped definition of free. I got the impression it was a right vs wrong issue, why do so many whites on here start in on culture or race card — you think racial profiling never happens? That they make it up? Ever talked to a big city cop for a while? Ever wonder why blacks and hispanics have about a 50 percent higher chance of going to prison for the exact same crimes as whites do? And now that Indians, dark skinned whites, hispanics – are all close enough to be Arab they aren’t getting extra attention by cops and National Security thugs?
You need to first of all read what you’re commenting about. And second, most Americans do not want to lose their rights because people like you are so scared of dark people from anywhere that your first thought is they’ve got a bomb stashed somewhere. If you live your life trading rights because you don’t want to die, you’ve got a big surprise coming at some point in your life.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Very well said. Thank you.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011John, such things are never a good thing. This is abusing the memories of the people that died on 9/11. What happened that day was probably one of the most horrible things that humanity has ever seen or experienced, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to abuse anyone in the manner that people with Arab or Asian ethnicity have been abused by ‘authorities’. This is simply defiling the memories of the souls lost that day.
This is actually aggravating and provoking the negative and extremist elements of all societies and is laying the foundation for further abuse and extremism.
I consider such ‘security measures’ extremism as well.
TrueBrit
/ September 13, 2011I was sickened and angered by what has happened to Ms. Hebshi and also by the complete ignorance of some of these comments. I applaud her clear headed and brave response in the face of tyranny; I am not so sure I would have been so composed. As it is I get irritated with the “normal” security procedures when travelling by air, I already view most of these measures as violations of our constitutional rights. But of course we all make accommodation in the name of safety and convenience because we have a vested interest in passing on through to our destination. I wonder though, suppose Ms. Hebshi and these other two gentlemen were sitting at a table in a library reading books, would their behavior be considered “Suspicious”? Even if it was reported as such would a police officer be allowed to detain them, arrest them lock them up without access to a phone, strip search them and interrogate them without a lawyer present, without knowing why they were being detained? I think not. They would not dare. What is different between being in a Library and being in a plane? The difference is the level of fear, fear on the part of the public and the authorities. Our constitutional rights are not there for when times are good, safe and peaceful rather they are there to protect us when things are stressful when security is threatened at the precise times when government is most likely to overreact and violate the constraints that we the people placed upon it for a reason.
When I heard of this story I immediately recalled a line from the Movie “The Siege” Denzel Washington playing the part of FBI Agent Hubbard says “What if what they really want is for us to herd our children into stadiums like we’re doing? And put soldiers on the street and have Americans looking over their shoulders? Bend the law, shred the Constitution just a little bit? Because if we torture him, General, we do that then everything we have fought, and bled, and died for is over. And they’ve won. They’ve already won!”
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I saw that movie prior to 9/11, when I thought it was an interesting action film.
I watched it again a few years after 9/11. I literally became nauseated during the film and almost couldn’t finish watching it, because it was so prescient.
I’ve thought about that movie, and that particular line, throughout my reading of these comments.
jen
/ September 15, 2011there was no “credible threat with suspects identified” of a terrorist plot to blow up a library on the 10th anniversary of 9-11.
there were, however, well-publicized credible threats against planes and specific cities.
your analogy therefore, is baseless and weak.
so….we won…chalk one up for the good guys and gals! 😉
Gloria B. Kirkland
/ September 13, 2011Sadly, I read your story and am still amazed at how much of what happened to you still goes on 10 years later. It’s no excuse and nothing can remove the anger and humiliation that you are feeling, but it’s a different world that we live in today. In many respects, the world has become a better place and in others, not so much. Unfortunately in a post 9/11 U.S.A., nerves are still very raw and people vunerable. I believe the answers to what happened to you lie somewhere in the middle of being overly cautious and not cautious enough. I fear that many more incidents such as yours will take place before all the kinks can be worked out. As a fellow American citizen I do feel for what you’ve endured and wish that things could be different. I don’t know what the answers are, but pray for for our country and world daily. Life isn’t fair and to this you can attest.
Muthusamy Gabriel
/ September 13, 2011Hello Shoshana, I feel and share your disgust and feel very sorry that such a nasty experience happened to a person like you.This rotten person called Osama Bin Laden and his gang have spread their horrible disease of judging, profiling, fearing and harming rational people like you to many Americans and people around the world. I hope that people like you and I shall never give up our hope and love that world is still full of rational, humane and kind people who look forward to days to help each other during these troubled times. And we bring up our children like the way they live their lives as happy kids.Best wishes to you and your family.
Carolyn Anderberg
/ September 13, 2011Hi Shoshana, I was shocked to read your story and wanted to thank you for sharing it. Your writing is very impactful, and would have affected me even without the added empathy of remembering you as a lovely person from high school. I’m sorry you had to go through such a terrible ordeal and I hope things are well for you and your family otherwise. (Cool about you having twins – that was the one thing about this story that made me smile! 🙂 Take care, Carolyn
Freeda
/ September 13, 2011Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention in my last comment that I’m another part of the globe.
Freeda
/ September 13, 2011I mean “from another part of the globe”!
hal
/ September 13, 2011I feel for you .. same thing happened to me..
Christie
/ September 13, 2011I’m so sorry that you had to pay for what others have done to this country. I admit that I have my own moments of uncertainty when it comes to persons who are of the same background as the terrorists… I won’t lie. I blame the media. They put their focus on everyone of the same color, ethnicity, and religion of the terrorists. You don’t have to have a certain criteria to do bad things to people. I wish the media would stop trying to put these fears in our heads. I don’t want to fear one particular race, gender, color, etc. ❤
Sandra
/ September 13, 2011Making a comment regarding the race and weight of the individual who stole the watch with comparison to the police officers is wrong. You’re acting just as foolish as the person who reported you three as being suspicious.
Obviously something was going on to have you three be reported as suspicious. We only see your side of the story-lets hear the side of whomever reported you. As many said, as well as the officers, it was 9/11 and senses were heightened. Someone on the airplane felt uncomfortable with the situation. Was it because of your race? WHO KNOWS. You assume it was but without speaking to the person who reported it, you cant know.
Honestly, I dont think 3 terrorists would be stupid enough to sit next to each other on an airplane because that makes you look even more suspicious. Therefore, I dont think anyone would assume that from just looking at you three unless they were completely paranoid, in which case they shouldnt have been flying on 9/11 either. Also, the report must have been made later during the flight or you as well would have had f-16s following your plane or been brought down before Detroit. So something that someone thought was suspicious was going on.
I would hope that people would continue to speak up regarding those situations!! Id rather someone speak up and be wrong then no one speak up and have a terrorist on the plane I was on.
Degrading our law enforcement in the US by saying they look similar to the man who stole the watch therefore implying they too are theives, is inappropriate. If you dont like it, get out of the US!
I had two police officers search my car and questioned privately (seperated from my bf at the time) because we were sitting in an empty parking lot near a stop sign, with my lights on too long and someone called us in as being suspicious. Im white. Im fat. And i did nothing wrong but someone still thought i was acting suspicious. Not everything is a race issue. But the moment something happens to someone who isnt white, of COURSE the race card is played! So when the majority of our nation becomes “minorities” or those of color (which will happen), can I play the “oooh its because Im white” card? NO! ITS BECAUSE SOMEONE THOUGHT YOU ALL WERE ACTING SUSPICIOUS!
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011How odd that sitting in your seat, minding your own business has become suspicious.
Special snowflakes who are afraid of all of the scary suspicious people out there should just stay home. Better safe than sorry, you know!
Kristina
/ September 14, 2011Gosh, you sound so angry. I wonder why.
I feel bad that these three people who did nothing but sit quietly and/or use the bathroom were detained and humiliated. (And I do think that being publicly handcuffed and arrested and subsequently cavity-searched qualifies as humiliating.
I’m afraid that I blame the person or persons who reported these three people for normal behavior. It would be hard to be the airline employee who would say that these people are wrong, once a complaint has been made. For, how does he or she “know” that they are wrong. And, when the authorities are informed, how do they “know” that there is no real problem without investigating?
I am glad that the system works, but I wish that the system did not include paranoid flyers. And, it does seem to me as though those that are detained without cause should be compensated in some way. I don’t mean in some enormous way. But something. Perhaps a free airline ticket or something. At least something to indicate that they have been unfairly inconvenienced and are owed an apology.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Really? Describing the appearance of the people around you is a horrible, disgusting, racist thing to do- but being surrounded by men with machine guns, taken off a plane in handcuffs, being stripped searched and having your bodily orifices probed, kept from calling your family to let them know you’re all right, questioned, fingerprinted, having your name placed in a database- is no biggie? Something we should all be happy to undergo in the name of keeping our fellow citizens safe? Great. I’ll ask you again when the next Timothy McVeigh kills more people than died on 9/11 and people of color start to look with fear and suspicion at every white face. And I’ll make you a deal, Lambcakes. If that fear and suspicion leads to your being cuffed and searched the same way without probable cause because you happen to look like McVeigh, yes you WILL be able to play the ‘ooh it’s because I’m white” card. And what’s more I’ll support you to my last breath. Because that’s the REAL American way.
Shaun Kronenfeld (@bigred_13)
/ September 13, 2011I am truly sorry to hear this happened to you. There really is no excuse for such shameful treatment. We all want to be safe and to be good patriots. And for all that it drives me crazy at times, there is no question that I love my country. But still this kind of crap frustrates me to no end. There has to be a better way and we need to all work hard to find it. Hopefully from stories like yours and others, common sense will eventually begin to reassert itself throughout the land. Hopefully. Cause sometimes that is all we can really do: hope. And speak out. Never stop speaking out. Thank you for sharing your story with the rest of us out in the world.
William Fauquier
/ September 13, 2011Who the Hell has the authority to judge the conflict of emotions that were going on this or any other Day.
There is a fine line between your right and my violation of rights. And often I have to take what was issued wether I wanted to accept the reaction to the action that has just taken place.
I have been told by many peoople that this is America and that they had the rights to do what they wanted because that was what freedom was to them.
I undertsand the mindset that peoples rights are violated with this action, but would I have felt bad making the decision that there was suspicious activity on the plane?. Hell No!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The fine line needs to be redefined and people need to make sure that this kind of thing is not abused, but is not taken to likely and putting people in great harm.
I appreciate the actions of all involved and hope this can be addressed and corrected by the next anniversary of this horrific day,
Melissa
/ September 13, 2011I am disgusted by my own government. Too bad you cant sue the FBI.
natsera
/ September 13, 2011I know you’ve gotten a lot of comments about how horrible your experience was — I’ll add the irony: How utterly atrocious that the product of the love between an Arab and a Jew — surely the most precious of gifts from the current Middle East — should be subjected to that. I’m a Jew who regards the Arabs as my closest cousins, and I have not been subject to racial profiling because I’m light-skinned (my family is composed of both), but I am deeply afraid of the white, Christian pseudo-patriotism that is burgeoning in this country. We have every reason to be afraid. Be well, my sister!
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Natsera: I appreciate what you’re saying, but why is it only white, Christian pseudo-patriotism that you’re afraid of. Isn’t white and/or other, Jewish pseudo-patriorism a problem too? And Black, Baptist pseudo-patriotism? And colorful, Islamic pseudo-patriotism as well? Why call it other than it is? Whatever the face of fascism, whatever the ignorance of those who thought they could pass when it came but then found out they can’t, does it really matter, in the final analysis, whether you show up in the camps on the first day or at the end of the first year?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 9, 2011Natsera: I appreciate what you’re saying, but why is it only white, Christian pseudo-patriotism that you’re afraid of. Isn’t white and/or other, Jewish pseudo-patriotism a problem too? And Black, Baptist pseudo-patriotism? And colorful, Islamic pseudo-patriotism as well? Why call it other than it is? Whatever the face of fascism, whatever the ignorance of those who thought they could pass when it came but then found out they can’t, does it really matter, in the final analysis, whether you show up in the camps on the first day or at the end of the first year?
Natsera wrote “I am deeply afraid of the white, Christian pseudo-patriotism that is burgeoning in this country.” She did not write what you are trying to insinuate into what she wrote.
Xenophobia ~ misleadingly called “racism” in America, where it is largely fixated on skin color cunningly misrepresented as indicative of “race” ~ is a product of ignorance, and is a concern for all humanity and for the human race. Because it is a product of ignorance, it can be remedied, and need not be feared. But when it develops into a pathological disorder, it is no longer a “concern,” it is a dangerous problem, corrosive to humanity, and thus destructive of human society and civilization and a threat to human life. This is what Natsera “deeply” fears. Her name, incidentally, seen as a Hebrew word, I believe means “helper; supporter; defender; protector.” It certainly does not mean “unconcerned” as you insinuate is her regard for other varieties of “pseudo-patriotism.”
White, Anglo-Saxon xenophobia has become manifestly pathological in America, with regard to skin color, religion, and partisan nationalism ~ all three of which are represented in the terror inflicted on Shoshana. Because the levers of political power in America are controlled by people who have a vested interest in dividing Americans against each other, as a means of preserving their ability to use that political power in their own interests to the detriment of the interests of the people, that pathology is being aggravated, deliberately, at the cost of the American liberty, freedom, peace, harmony, and security that had once made America a beacon of light for all humanity. This is the topic of this conversation in Shoshana’s virtual forum, not the more general subject of dehumanizing xenophobia of various flavors ~ which are patently a concern of many of the people who have joined the discussion, including Natsera, but are not the immediate focus of concern, which is the American Anglo-Sazon pathology threatening everyone much more immediately and tangibly.
You ask “Does it really matter, in the final analysis, whether you show up in the camps on the first day or at the end of the first year?” Yes, it does. Those who “show up in the camps on the first day” have no opportunity to prevent others from showing up in the camps “at the end of the first year.” This entire discussion is focused on preventing American women from being raped by a government, which according to the American legal definition of “rape” is what happened to Shoshana because of the pathologies of Anglo-Saxon, Christian and partisan nationalist xenophobia. The efforts of readers here may prevent other women from being raped “at the end of the first year” ~ or rather at the end of the tenth year, since this has been going on for much longer than a year. Shoshana is not the first victim of this “legalized” rape.
I don’t fear those things, I fear God, Who has been allowing America to destroy itself ever since George Washington was inaugurated for his second term as President. (Surely you know that he was elected to a second term as a desperate attempt to preserve the political unity of the Republic?) The rape of Shoshana is a sign of a fatal pathology that may be incurable. I’m devoting my time and effort to surviving the civilizational collapse that’s been underway for a long time and, according to the plan for a new American revolution formulated over a century ago and proceeding ever since, is reaching its final stages of police-state tyranny and economic collapse. I hope to avoid that war, as well as its following war against actual and potential “counter-revolutionaries,” and the retaliatory wars against America of the rest of the world.
That may be too much to hope for, but xenophobic “pseudo-patriotism” is a pathology about which I can do nothing, it’s metastasized throughout the body politic. What I might be able to do something about is sinister attempts to derail discussion of an immediate problem with a view to an effective solution: state rape of people still able to exercise their liberty of freedom of movement.
Chad Johnson
/ September 13, 2011So sad that this had to happen to you. All because of your dark pretty hair and 2 men sitting next to you who had the runs and could not stay out of the bathroom.
Leaves Heal
/ September 13, 2011May your trial, and your choices in your healing path, birth and multiply wisdom in the world around you, and may it also multiply the subsequent joy that comes in acting with that wisdom.
Kay Speed
/ September 13, 2011My sympathy to you and your two coincidental seatmates for the false accusations directed at you during your September 11, 2011, flight to Detroit. Someone on your plane obviously let their fears and prejudices get the best of them — in seeing the “ghosts” of terrorists in your faces. Americans are obviously still experiencing PTSD from the events of a decade past. I can understand this, but we must all learn to master our fears and get on with our lives. (I am an American living in Canada.)
I hope that the passenger who imagined you were terrorists will avoid flying on future anniversaries of September 11. I would hope that it will not become an obstacle for you on that date in future years.
Anjuli
/ September 13, 2011I was ten years old and in 5th grade when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. I will never forget it and the sadness I felt for those who lost their lives on that tragic day. Now, ten years later, I feel a different type of sadness.
I am of North Indian (Punjabi), and Caucasian descent. My mother was born in India, and my father was born here in the United States. I was also born and raised here. I remember soon after the 9/11 attacks, my father put a sticker on his truck, which read, “United We Stand”. I always thought about that sticker and what it meant.
In our class one day, we made cards and letters to send to other kids in New York. We wrote to them because we were trying to let them know that there were people out there thinking of them and supporting them in such terrible times. I was still confused about the whole event and I couldn’t understand why this happened.
Not long after the events occurred, things began to change dramatically. I heard stories of American citizens being brutally attacked or murdered by other Americans. Why? Because of their race and their appearance. In my religion Sikhism, we are not supposed to cut our hair. The men in our culture wear turbans. We are not terrorists but our people suffered simply because of the way we looked, dressed, and how the ignorant people perceived us.
There are countless stories of American citizens of Indian or Middle Eastern descent being attacked/murdered by other Americans…is this justice? The offenders’ excuse was that they were doing it for their country. Which brings me back to the bumper sticker. How can so many people claim that they are “united” after a horrific incident that was led by terrorists? How can we call ourselves the United States when there are innocent people being attacked and killed because of what they look like?
After the 9/11 attacks we were far from united. Different cultures, religions, and groups of people clashed and acted against each other. Ignorance, anger, sadness, and most of all fear are to blame for this violence and hatred.
At airports, our luggage was specifically searched every time. It was not a coincidence that airport security chose our family “randomly” to look through all of our things. In school, Indian kids were shunned or bullied for being “terrorists”. Strangers would pick fights with my cousins, cussing at them for “what our people did to this country”. Yeah, like we hung out with Osama bin Laden on the weekends or something.
Little did I know, September 11th would change my childhood. I never thought I would be scared in this country to be myself. I was scared to wear traditional Punjabi clothes, fearing that someone might make some ignorant comment about me, or worse. I was afraid that someone I knew would be killed. After hearing so many stories about Punjabis in America being killed, the fear of me losing a family member never went away. I just wanted everyone to realize that terrorists attacked. Not all Sikhs. Not all Muslims. Not Americans. Terrorists.
When I read this story, I was disappointed. I was also angry, but another part of me understood. I understood why this happened. It was not a shock to me that these men of Indian descent, and woman of part Middle Eastern descent, were arrested on a plane for suspicious activity. It angers me that they were humiliated for one simple reason; what they looked like. If this had been one of my family members, I would probably be even angrier. But what I do understand is that this is what America is like now. Fear is embedded into the minds of Americans and there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is cooperate and hope that someday, the fear that separated us will fade away, and we will be united once again.
Sorry for the long comment. i am very passionate about this topic
Carole
/ September 13, 2011There is noting right about what happened here. It was racial profiling and a violation of civil rights. There was absolutely no probable cause and the search and seizure were totally against established law. This makes me so sad-this is not my America.
Cori
/ September 13, 2011Since the day the europeans touched foot on north american hemisphere, they killed off the natives and claimed it for themselves. Since the days of slave trade men were not created equal. Since the era of the world wars such as world war two, asians were put in some form of a concentration camp. During the sixties when one minority fought for their rights, were they really equal after tqhat? Came recent era, hispanics were accused if crossing illegal and were deported. Then came european descent light color skin men with cult like activities during the mid 80s and early 90s decide to perform acts of horrific events for example, timothy mcveigh. Now those of muslim descent face similar issues in my perspective. Prejudice can be found almost all across the world, but we shouldnt base our accusations just based on ethnic background and race. If we are a nation of freedom then lets do exactly just that! Treat other cultures with the same respect!
Karen
/ September 13, 2011I feel for you as I too have been “held for questioning” before. It is humiliating and unforgettable. I personally feel that the office of the police needs some serious scrutiny as there are those officers that take the power “thrill” a step too far. I feel that they should have informed you and the others of things every step of the way, however, terrorism has no shame when it come to what the “terrorists” will do for their cause. This is why you were subjected to silence by the officers for so long. They had to make sure they could trust you. It was nothing “personal” against you as for the officers go they were in fact just “doing their job” be glad you did not fall prey to true violence by some of the so-called police officers who to this day still accept money bribes from certain drug cartels. Although, the person who initially made the “suspicious threat” call may have judged you on the color of your skin. The best way to get even with this person is to show that you are a better person than they are. Give them a real lesson to be learned. Show them what being a “true American” means. It is to live by love, not fear or anger. To forgive, not hold a grudge. When we all practice this, this is the Freedom all seek to enjoy! We cannot change the Nation, but we can change one person at a time and that effort multiplies when each individual maintains this philosophy 🙂
jack
/ September 13, 2011No, its not the country you grew up in- its the one we have because a bunch of fanatical muslims decided to blow up a few airliners and kill thousands of Americans. Sorry folks, but I would rather have this kind of vigilance, because- and dont kid yourself- our enemies are just waiting to do it again.
Racial profiling? Who gives a damn?! Gee- I wonder where all the terrorists were from and what they looked like? Sorry folks- but if white middle aged women with red hair banded started committing crimes- you better believe that it would be and SHOULD BE fair game to racially profile red haired middle aged women.
And one final note- Islam is as much a religion of peace as was Catholicism during the inquisition. Its a matter of ignorance and suppression.
Candace
/ September 13, 2011Lawsuit for illegal detention and humiliation – you’ll be rich!
Cindy
/ September 13, 2011In a court of law, they ask, “What would a reasonable person do?” I have been thinking about that question in regards to the flight attendant who reported the Indian man as suspicious because he took too long in the restroom. I, as a reasonable flight attendant, would have asked the man if he needed anything once he returned to his seat. At that point, the flight attendant would have probably discovered that the man was feeling air sick and could have offered to move him over the wing, which is more stable, and to bring him a 7-Up. This is exactly what a flight attendant did for me when I was last air sick. If the flight attendant had done the reasonable thing, that would have been the end of the story. Talking to people directly can clear up a lot of misunderstanding.
Donna
/ September 13, 2011I’d like to say that I am shocked, but sadly I am not. It’s disgusting! You were singled out for how you look, but all those opposing you need to wake up and realize this blind acceptance will ultimately lead to their demise as the government violates more and more of their rights, as well. This is not the land of the free anymore. I applaud you for presenting the truth in your blog and by any other means. Maybe it will open some eyes. Maybe.
nana1954
/ September 13, 2011I am ashamed of my country, on many levels. Whatever happened to “Proud to be an American” and “Made in the USA”? I grew up during the Cold War. We knew who our enemies were, which is the problem in today’s world — we don’t. Although we must protect our citizens, at what cost? Racial profiling at any level is abhorrent. When a Hispanic high school friend from CA came to lily-white UT to visit his parents who had moved here many years ago, I asked him if he got asked for his green card when he was in UT. He told me he gets profiled all the time. His Mexican mother was born and raised in SLC. His Puerto Rican father was born and raised in the Bay Area. American as apple pie, my friend was also an Air Force dependent growing up. This bigotry has got to stop. It makes me sick and, like I said, I am ashamed of my country.
Should the concerns of the scared passengers have been taken seriously? Of course. The problem is not that someone was scared and reported what he/she thought were suspicious activities. The problem is how the entire situation was handled. I don’t have the answers but what I am sure of is, thanks to our media and our government, we are a country ruled by fear. We have got to get over the fear and we have got to begin acting rationally. The actions of the authorities were extremely irrational and could have been handled better. Answering Shoshana’s questions would have been a start. She was clueless as to why she was hauled off in handcuffs and she deserved to have her questions answered. My heart is breaking at what our country has become. We spend billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on war. We devalue the children of this country by not spending those same dollars on public education. We value wars in other countries more than we value our own future. Historically, empires only survive about 200 years. The USA’s 200 years is about up if we don’t do something soon.
kucing bertopeng
/ September 13, 2011Good report. It makes me hold my tears.
I hope people at Iraq, Afganistan, Pakistan can make a good report like yours.
The world would be flooded by tears.
Gabriel
/ September 13, 2011WOW!! I wonder how many people on that plane reported suspicious white people after Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma?How many people were on the look out for white crazy christian folks?Did the people who reported this “suspicious” activity ever think that everyone on that plane went Through great amount of security to be on that plane? Keep it real…they were RACIALLY profiled from the get go! I find it convenient for those who left post stating that they would welcome such an event because “they would feel safe”.,until it happens to them.I would like to know how many “suspicious” activity were reported that day in regards to non minorities? I find it irritating that the same people who talk about stopping “terrorism” don’t do squat to stop citizen on citizen crime,were is your mouthpiece now!Between 2005 and 2009 there were 82382 reported murders in the USA.I would like to know where were these “I want to feel safe” people at to assist in theses victims!it saddens me that Americans join in unity to Mourn the victims of 9/11 thou do not mourn the victims of yesterday .today and tomorrow who do not get headline news.Were is the voice for them?where are the profilers at now? hmm as long its not in your backyard right? hypocrites!If you get on a plane and you have to be fearful sitting next to a person being “suspicious”…..the airport security didn’t do its job,the TSA didn’t do its job and homeland security DID NOT do its job!Thou if you trust these entity’s are doing its job and you still get on a plane being fearful….you have some real issues you need to sort out within yourself or seek a therapist because your projected fears are interfering,infringing and causing havoc in innocent peoples lives.
J_pruthviraj12@gmail.com
/ September 13, 2011It is such a shocking incident because of only and only the skin color. After this incident, in the regression, they should take action against the person who informed them and wasted everybody’s time and taxpayers money, and of course humiliation of 3 of you in front of everyone including your fellow passengers. If they won’t take any action against that culprit who was seeing ghost of 9/11, this kind of incidents of humiliations would take place. And thank you for sharing your story. I am also a brown skinned Indian, and I am scared too after reading your story.
Maliha
/ September 13, 2011Welcome to my world
J Riley Johnson
/ September 13, 2011I would personally have a hard time ever flying again after that ordeal.
Sheila
/ September 13, 2011If people are this paranoid, that 50 incidents occurred that day,then they are the wrong people to fly on Sept 11th! So sad,I’m sorry this happened to you.
Maja
/ September 13, 2011I am sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Tina
/ September 13, 2011I’m gonna be completely honest and transparent here and admit that when I see men of arab decent I get nervous. When I see black men walking around with their pants down around their knees I get nervous. When I see white men walking around bouncing around like they’re on drugs I get nervous. I’m a white girl that grew up in southern california where gangs are common, car jackings and police car chases on the TV are practically a daily thing. So black and mexican men i’m really wary about.
The funny thing is I have a mixed group of friends, as diverse and the UN, but if I don’t know the person my first knee jerk reponse is caution and sometimes fear. Because we live in a world that sensationalizes crime, and we give faces to those criminals starting off with 23 year old african american from seattle….., or 19 year old teenager parents immigrated from mexico broke into….
Even in the day and age where we talk big about equality I think deep in the hearts of many people we live in fear of strangers or certain nationalities and color simply because the media portrays people groups as one way. I can logically know that black, mexican, caucasian, arab, russian, etc are no more or less likely to commit crimes, but in the heat of the moment in a tense sitatuation when I’m walking to my car late at night and there’s a black guy with low pants, hat backwards and big necklaces, or when I get home and am unloading groceries and there’s a dirty looking white guy I get scared.
After saying all that I feel so sad and hurt over what you suffered. After 9/11/2001 I drove to Seattle center and the memorial there and there were many muslim men waliking over to my mom and I and apologizing for things THEY DIDN’T DO! To make the point that not all muslims are bad, not all muslims are as evil as the media was portraying them. They were crying, right alongside the 3 generation americans and we were supporting eachother. Yet 10 years later our society is so engrossed with the media that portrays ONLY the bad things, that it seems like EVERY person from a specific people group is a terrorist, or a gangbanger, or a junkie. We don’t hear about the amazing muslim teachers who encourage and support our youth. Or the amazing black pastors who work in inner city prisons giving hope to those who want a better life.
I feel sad for the person who was scared enough to alert the authorities, and I feel horrified that their fear led to you being stripped and mistreated. They didn’t have to treat you like a criminal, not knowing the situation they could have treated you with respect and dignity until they had all the facts, it sounds like they were judging you as guilty and treating you as such before they looked into it. I would look into getting counseling if you have a hard time after this, it sounds traumatic enough to give you nightmares 😦
Lee Brotherton
/ September 13, 2011I want to apologize to you on behalf of that portion of the nation that hasn’t lost its mind over all this insane war on terror bullshit. This should never have happened to you or anyone else in this country. It is an abomination and the sort of thing that occurs because tyrants rule. You should have protested from the very start and demanded your rights as a citizen to know what (if any charges) there were against you and to talk to a lawyer and not to be questioned without one. This entire subject makes me see red. I’m so sorry you were subjected to such an idiotic, pointless and unnecessary situation.
George Bacon
/ September 13, 2011While there is nothing a reasonable person can say to assuage the feelings she expressed over her ordeal (most of us would have felt the same), the harsh reality in 2011 is that we must all, regardless of ethnicity, recognize that feeling violated and humiliated in this circumstance pales in comparison to the violation and humiliation experienced by the 3,000 who died on 9/11, as well as the countless other victims of the jihadis worldwide since then. We must turn our anger and frustration against the cowards who murder innocents every day and not against the civil servants whose thankless job it is to try and keep us all safe from those same cowards.
Jaman
/ September 13, 2011I am amazed that we saw Ms. Shebshi post her experience online, so quickly, after her harrowing experience at Detroit airport.
I hope that it leads to further introspection among all Americans who fly in airplanes and not rush to judge fellow passengers based on a few verbal or physical cues.
In a way, since September 2001, our definitions of war and how it has been waged has been so “undefined” that we have no real concept of telling our biases apart from genuine suspicion. I value our freedoms more than any threat from any extremists.
I hope the Indian passengers who were subjected to the same humiliations as Ms. Shebshi also gain the courage to voice their true opinions.
Peonies Wedding
/ September 13, 2011Soshana, sorry to hear about this. I actually saw the plane and all the police cars from Middlebelt Rd near the airport. It looked like quite a situation. I am sure it cost the taxpayers a small fortune to conduct this operation. Channel 4 news was there (in the Blocks parking lot) with their news van.
D – you were not the one hauled off the plane in handcuffs so you have no ground to stand on as far as I am concerned.
I'm just saying
/ September 13, 2011I have a solution to all of this…. Zombies. It really would fix it all.
I'm just saying
/ September 13, 2011I have a solution to all this… zombies.
Linda
/ September 13, 2011You jerk. How would you like to be detained on unsubstantiated charges and treated as those passengers were? Or are you the watch stealer variety, jerk!!! The airline was grossly negligent in their turning these three passengers into bogey men without verifying the information on the passenger manifest. I’d hate to see what happens if they penalize everyone for using the restroom at the same time someone else was. It is a sad day for America when we have come to the point where PARANOIA rules. American common sense got an F on 9/11 in Detroit.
Deborah Paxton
/ September 14, 2011Wow I am so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope that you recover from your ordeal. This makes me a bit ashamed but I can honestly say being a woman of color myself, I know how you feel. Godspeed and good luck.
John J. McCauley
/ September 14, 2011As it turns out that you were not a terrorist and neither were your seat mates we can breathe a sigh of relief. I cannot apologize for the actions of the authorities because they were doing the job(s) that we hire them to do. In 1993 Muslim terrorists tried to blow up the Twin Towers from below. It didn’t work and they were all captured. 8 years later we had forgotten and had gotten on with our lives. The Muslims had not forgotten. They went back to the drawing board to determine what would bring those towers down. They figured it out and did indeed bring them down as well as crashing another plane into the Pentagon. Flight 93 that went down in Pennsylvania surely was headed to the White House. Finally, 10 years later, we get it. The Muslims have still not forgotten. Remember Sadaam Hussein invaded Kuwait to get back a 60 mile stretch of desert lost to the French some 600 years later. Factions of Muslims are fighting wars with each other that have been going on for a thousand years. What you call paranoid I call cautious. Especially on the 10th anniversary of the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Also especially since the new leader of Al Quida promised a devastating attack on American soil on the anniversary of 9/11.
Yes, those of you who look the part will get closer scrutiny than others. Your look alikes killed well over 3,000 innocent Americans on 09/11/01. I know you were not one of them or at least I hope that you are not one of them as I also hope you do not go over to the dark side to get even for being harrassed. I don’t think we have seen the last incident from Muslim extremist and we have no way of knowing where, when or how they will next strike. Our only defense is being vigilant and investigating each suspicion no matter how slight. That is the nature of the beast that the Arab extremist have created. Though you suffered an inconvenience and an embarrassment you were not harmed and were released in pretty good time. I hope there will come a time when we can all put the past behind us and find a common ground we can all meet on and live as friends and neighbors. However, that appears to be a long way off. Until then I hope we remain ever vigilant and quick to respond. God bless. John J.
Sarah S
/ September 16, 2011Well, John J. if we’re going to speak about being ‘ever vigilant’ why don’t we consider YOUR credentials. Do you ‘look the part’ of the next Timothy McVeigh or Unabomber? Why don’t we take YOU off a plane in cuffs, investigate your nether regions for explosives, hold you incommunicado for HOURS while your family goes crazy wondering what’s happened to you? Come to think of it, ALL of the terrorists looked decidedly like MEN. Why don’t we just start randomly detaining MEN for the crime of ‘Flying While Male’? Of course will spend millions of dollars and not make anybody any safer, but hey, it relieves the minds of some of our women who’ve suffered abuse at the hands of men, it’s a small price to pay, right? You don’t agree? Do you know how many women have been KILLED by men? BEATEN to DEATH by MEN????
Begin to see how it feels to be targeted for something you didn’t do because of something you can’t help? No? Why am I not surprised? Well then, try this instead: “Better safe than sorry” and “feeling safe in an uncertain world” are not among the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Freedom from being held without charge, being subjected to search and seizure of your person or property without due cause, being questioned without a lawyer, and being held incommunicado ARE.
Larry
/ September 14, 2011When I read about what happened I realized right away that this would not have happened to a white woman. Scarier still is that some are wondering if it would have happened to an unattractive woman. We are so afraid now that we spend tens of millions of dollars and molest our own citizens because three guys might be in the country trying to buy two tons of fertilizer for a truck bomb. The terrorists have won because we are terrified. The rights of an entire nation lost because of the risk to a few. BTW there is an unconfirmed rumor, third-hand of course coming out of Yemen that someone who looks American but really isn’t will be at the Super Bowl this year with plastic explosives in his rectum. Time to get DirectTV!
I'm just saying
/ September 14, 2011All of this arguing is just ridiculous. All you guys are doing is stressing one another out, for what? The chance to prove that you’re right? You might as well shoot each other in the head and get it over with, because honestly all you are doing is creating high blood pressure. What happened here is nothing close to what has happened in the past and I’m sure it wont even touch what may happen in the future. All we can do is inform ourselves and keep ourselves consciously aware of what it going on in the world. But all this arguing is for nothing. We can argue until we are all blue in the face and all it will result in is more arguing. Which will accomplish what? If what happened here really upsets you, do something about it! Get involved. After all…. actions speak louder than words.
That’s all for my rant…My earlier statement still stands though… zombies would fix all of this.,
Kate
/ September 14, 2011This is CRAP that people are put through this because someone decides a person looks “suspicious”. People who think something like this is ok- should be cursed with having it happen to them, their daughters, their wives. Then you tell me it is ok and the FBI are doing a good job. This is disgusting and completely against what our country stands for. – freedom, liberty and JUSTICE FOR ALL!!!!
Sam Matthew
/ September 14, 2011Yes, I noticed that if you look middleastern, you will be suspicious. A black person with African accent will be watched too, as long as you are not Anglo white, you will be picked for a search. I was in line at Calgary Airport on the way back to the USA among many big taller and stronger persons around me, and the TSA officer told me that the airline has told them that I was selected for a complete search or go through the new total body screening machine, which I did. I knew he lied he just wanted to do his job, I guess they have to do a quota that at least one or two persons have to go through strip search or go through that machine. I am a SoutheastAsian, 5′ tall 110 pounds. I don’t think I can carry any device to blow up the airplane that I am in. I want to get home and live longer. They need to look for a bigger and stronger guy. There were 5 guys in front of me that have tattoo, look scary, 6’s tall and 260-270 pounds, why the TSA wouldn’t search them, may be the officer are afraid fo them instead. The same thing happened when I was at the immigration line to enter the US . The officer asked what city county, state I was born, where do I live now, why do I want to go there et etc…
Denise
/ September 14, 2011I read your story on MSN and then your blog story and some of the comments that were made by others. I am sorry that you were frightened and uncomfortable during your ordeal. However, I believe that sometimes things happen to us to allow us opportunities to grow and maybe even help others to grow as well. It seems to me that people in general are frightened any time their status-quo is threatened. We need to learn how to be more open to listen to the ideas of others even if they challenge our own beliefs. Everyone who reads your story may not understand or empathize with you, but they will all be impacted in some way. Do not be silenced by negative voices. Change–growth–movement toward real humanity will only happen when we as individuals and as a society begin to listen to each other and actually care enough to change ourselves–for that is the ultimate truth–“the only thing I have the power to change is myself.”
J_pruthviraj12@gmail.com
/ September 14, 2011@ D, you won’t understand the feeling, humiliation, and strange stares from others until you go through it.
Barb Fullen (@BarbFullen)
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry for your ordeal but as I said on 9/11 on Twitter, Freedom Is Never Free. Whether its soldiers serving and dying for it or Americans being treated the way you were, unfortunately it’s what this world has come to. I still believe we live in a Great Country!
I'm Feelin' Crafty
/ September 14, 2011Insanity! I’m sorry that anyone has to deal with this kind of behavior. Despite the situation, I’m very impressed with the elegance in which you handled the ignorance and hatred of too many of our fellows. I can’t say i would have handled the situation with the class that you did! My thoughts are with you as you process this and move on.
Melanie Leathers
/ September 14, 2011Wow. That strip search was beyond BS. I wouldn’t have let them do that to m. I’d have said, unless I was under arrest, they can speak with my attorney. I’m so sorry that you were put through that situation which was unjust and horribly humiliating. I don’t know you, but your blog article had me in tears. It seems to me that your civil liberties were violated and I hope that you seek legal justice for what happened to you. It’s hard going up against the system but you need to do something other than write it all down on a blog. What happened to you shouldn’t happen without good cause. Sitting next to men who frequent the bathroom doesn’t make someone a terrorist! I’m a white female and I know that this would never have happened to me, not in a million years! What happened to you most definitely was racial profiling and I am so very sorry you went through this extreme case of BS.
steve88
/ September 14, 2011Great Post! You had channelized your energies in the right way and wrote the accounts for people to read and learn the lessons!
Paperino
/ September 14, 2011The goal of the terrorists is to get a country out of balance by instilling terror in people. Even if we as American can claim that we are winning the war to terror, the reality is just the opposite: your story proves that terror has bent this country ten years ago like yesterday. This only proofs that any small terrorist threat can be very efficient in bringing this Country to caos. Mala tempora currunt.
Get well soon! Hugs
KT&TJ
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry for your experience, however this was not personal – we were attacked & maybe you don’t see what devastation was caused from Ohio, but the evidence still remains in NY daily. Officers did not profile you – they responded to a report. Maybe you were not paying attention to the activity in your row as you mentioned, but those that were in any way effected have not forgotten and it is embedded in our heads to watch for suspicious behavior. We can never let our guard down – this is a joint effort by US citizens & the officers that protect us. I would hate it too if I were in your shoes, but you have to try to understand. I have been put into uncomfortable situations at the airport and I am far from the profile of anyone from the Middle East, etc. I am glad you cooperated to avoid any further delay. Please learn from this and keep your eyes and ears open. You can turn this inward and feel that this is a personal profile incident or put yourself in the shoes of those of us who still feel vulnerable and would much rather overreact than under-react! 🙂
Shuvra
/ September 14, 2011I am an immigrant who went to school in the US and am currently working here and I can completely see myself in the same situation as you.
First of all, my best wishes to you and I hope you recover from this as soon as possible, and am sure you will do so given the support of your family and well-wishers.
As much as I hope that nobody has to ever go through such a harrowing experience, I will say that you handled the situation really well! The last thing one would want to do in such a situation is enter into a confrontation with such people. With tensions high and accountability low (especially in a post-9/11 world), law enforcement always has the upper hand.
Yours truly-
/ September 14, 2011Very sad story. I feel bad that you had to go through such an ordeal. I am happy you wrote your story though. Thank you for the brilliant writing, and for your strength to write it.
Mo'Data
/ September 14, 2011It would really be interesting to figure out
a) who the folks were who reported suspicious activity,
b) what they considered to be suspicious, (really? a bathroom break?)
c) how I can profile them, so I can avoid such people.
To the security folks: really? Maybe we should just start calling in suspicious activity everytime we fly. That’ll cause them to stop this nonsense, or atleast make it more efficient in terms of screening such calls.
Liz J
/ September 14, 2011Some thoughts while I read this post: What the…what did those 3 passengers have to do with each other? Weird. Wait, what did Shoshana do anyway? Why did they even take them (spec. Shoshana) from the plane after doing a background check on them and finding nothing suspicious? What a tax dollar waste for a country in a bad economic situation. Why weren’t they told what was going on? That seems unconstitutional. Why a strip search? I just don’t get that part at all. Why were the officers so rough right from the get-go? Why couldn’t you have your phone? I understand the use of profiling…I mean, I can tell what music someone probably listens to by how they dress, but I can’t ever be sure unless I ask them. However, I agree that what they have in place to deal with this stuff is freaky and extreme and I don’t think it works. I don’t think responding like this saves us from anything except feeling guilty if we didn’t check and then something happened. I can almost understand detaining the plane and maybe even taking you for questioning (not really, though), but certainly after doing the background check they would have seen no reason to do a strip search. Ugh. So outraged! Also, I’m Danish/German/British Isles and I HATE cold weather, wtf, can’t believe that guy said that about the air-conditioning! And all this coming from the daughter of an Army interrogator.
Richard
/ September 14, 2011Not only were your civil rights violated but your human rights also…what a shame.
Notorious Spinks
/ September 14, 2011I am glad that you’re safe. However I hate that we have even had anything to happen that cause people to act like this. However, I can say you haven’t seen anything until you’ve been profiled for being Black in America.
blb
/ September 14, 2011Some of the comments on this blog are frightening. So many are filled with hegemonic vitriol. An American mom from Ohio journals her personal 9/11 experience and people respond by posting ignorant ethnocentric comments. In a strange way, I believe the terrorists responsible for 9/11 have succeeded over the last decade in dividing Americans and this division, this hatred among Americans, could lead to our country’s demise. The sad part is, we generally all need and want the same primary things in life–food on the table, home, clothes on our back, safety, freedom a savings account, retirement nest-egg. What happened to the “one nation, indivisible…?”
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011blb: in one respect, the terrorists have merely brought out of the woodwork what has always been there. But the same is true of the Internet generally, where anonymous curmudgeons–first and foremost males, followed closely by military wives–can finally say what we’ve all known they’ve been thinking and saying in secret for years but never had the safety of an outlet to say where we could hear it.
Your comment “what happened to” one nation, indivisible suggests a white background, perhaps privileged. An indivisible nation has never existed, and probably wasn’t even something the founding do-dads were interested in putting into practice. I mean, you used the words “hegemonic” and “ethnocentric” … how can you pine for “one nation, indivisible” and know how to use that word? I’d have to assume you’re being ironic. Also, the wanting of a savings account and retirement nest-egg … how about no discrimination because you’ve got a felony conviction from trumped up, racialized charges first, before “savings accounts” and “retirement nest-eggs”? A home? How about an apartment that isn’t a hovel? And you left out health care.
I’m not trying to read you the riot act. But there’s a massive gap (a division) between the values readable from your post and what lots of the people who are being profiled by police to say nothing of harassed by TSA in airports are experiencing. Air travel’s already a middle class luxury. How about getting pulled over in your car cuz of your skin color. Indivisible? By cops the same color you are? Indivisible? Come on. So far the only person who’s come close to that in this thread that I’ve seen (I haven’t paid complete attention) was Maliha saying, “Welcome to my world.” There’s solidarity and indivisibility for you. And if it keeps up like it is, we’re going to all be with Maliha eventually.
J
/ September 14, 2011Those who would give up Essential Liberty
to purchase a little Temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
“Benjamin Franklin”
In a state of tranquillity, wealth, and luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war* and the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty, which now animates our hearts and gives success to our arms*, is extinct, our numbers will accelerate our ruin and render us easier victims to tyranny. If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom—go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!
“Samuel Adams”
Mike Pew
/ September 14, 2011Hi Soshana,
As an American I am so sorry for what you had to endure. I did not read all the replies so if I’m repeating someone else I apologize. Lets not forget our own government perpetuated the terror scare with the ridiculous terror alerts, they yanked them up and down so hard they (admitted themselves) they “couldn’t take them any higher”. The government did this so they could steal our liberties. Yours and mine. It’s a sad day for America not for 911 but for how our liberties have been stolen.
Best Wishes
Mike
jackie
/ September 14, 2011wow. I am so sorry this happened to you. the PATRIOT act is a misleading acronym for hyper-security measures that are anything but patriotic. hard to believe that authorities were brought in on the basis of some random passenger’s unfounded (and racially biased) suspicion. waste of tax dollars indeed. I can’t help but wonder whether it wasn’t pure coincidence that the airline reps put you and the other two passengers of middle eastern descent all seated together. thank you for having the courage to share your story.
Cathy
/ September 14, 2011” First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”-Martin Niemoller
Joseph
/ September 14, 2011Oh boy. Relax. Have you ever considered that it had nothing to do with what you looked like, but maybe who you were sitting by? They were the ones being ‘suspicious’. You just got thrown in that group by happening to have sat next to them.
I am a non-white person, and I cannot stand when others of similar appearance blame law enforcement or others as taking racist actions. There are tons and tons of white people who get treated poorly so to automatically pull the racism card is just so, so weak. It’s actually the people that feel they are discriminated against that perpetuate racism. If minorities started acting like less like victims, and more like citizens, racism would decline.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Joseph:
Thank you for speaking so well as a white person on behalf of the system of violence that does violence to people of all races, if not quite equally. How delightful it would be to not discover you’re not actually a non-white shill, but that wouldn’t change things except to expose the lengths to which the system will go to defend itself. If you are a non-white person who has managed to avoid the main effects of institutionalized racism in this country, write a book and tell your brothers and sisters how to do it. If your answer continues to be, “be a citizen, not a victim,” well, we need a definition. What’s a citizen? Cuz currently it’s pretty clear that you have to have white skin to be a citizen who doesn’t get shat on by the system (not that that’s a guarantee of course; there are poor white citizens too).
I’m not a SWM myself, and I too can be disheartened, if not bored, by endless talk that seems to go nowhere about race and such, but telling people not to be victims is rather victimizing all over again. It’s very white–or, if you prefer, it’s very classist. You really can’t complain too much that people align race and class–after all, the difference in median income between whites and blacks is some $195,000 dollars. That might pretty strongly correlate between class and race, don’t you think? Your position blames us for our own condition, which is one (rather white protestant) way to look at it. In other parts of the world, a person’s condition is understood as a function of the group. Etc. If you’re liberated, brother, bravo. Stop griping. Lead the rest out.
Jon
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for sharing. I hope you are able to someday move past this horrific treatment. By taking the time to expose the atrocities you went through, one can only hope our country can once again be reminded what our founding fathers intended and how we need to keep those goals in mind for EVERYONE.
Mike Lee
/ September 14, 2011This is outrageous. Infuriating. I sincerely hope you sue their asses off. What has the USA become – a police state? It in unacceptable and inexcusable.
There was NO GROUNDS for you being questioned, let alone detained. But strip searched??? WTF??? Absolutely, positively beyond the pale.
vicharak1
/ September 14, 2011Very gripping and heart wrenching account of your ordeal. I too am from India and a US citizen for last 32 years. 911 induced fear has brought our society’s latent racism to the fore. Judging by all the hatred and vitriol on talk shows and social network, I can only see dark days ahead for our nation.
Yours truly-
/ September 14, 2011Terrorism, as defined in Merriam-Webster, the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. Had the United States of American not been a terrorist as well? Have we not used terror to get what we want? Just wondering why we are so quick to call everyone else terrorist, but nobody mentions our terrorist acts throughout history? Our history will teach us what we they want us to learn. I wonder what all other countries think of the USA today and what they have learned from their history books? This should not be called a war on terror, but a war against individuals that have tried to harm us. I feel like a hypocrite. If it is war against terrorism, then we should have war against ourselves. Well, I guess that doesn’t sound so good, lets go to war against the people who harmed us! Sounds better when we say, “Lets go to war against terrorism!” I don’t even have to think twice about going to war on that one.
Elizabeth B. Browne
/ September 14, 2011Oh I never get ethnically profiled in the Middle East…they just stare as a kind of xenophobic gesture of endearment… Its such a two way street…NOT! Get off your pity pot Drearie and stop flying on a Sensitive Patriotic Day. Show some respect for the country that gave you sanctuary! As for sharing love I just can’t feel the love in the Middle-Eastern societies at all – I think its because its against the law to kiss, hug or cuddle in public. So I have to respect the local laws and customs and abide accordingly so I just wave to my husband as he fades away for another extended period of time.
As for your tweeting and then complaining, gosh – it’s minorities like you who are so selfish on a sacred day to accuse our protectors of racial profiling that could result in getting a ban on phones and computers being made available on aircraft. Thanks a lot for your exercising your freedom of speech it has been so empowering for women and men who have lost so many family members and friends fighting against the oppression of a certain dogma to then have our noses rubbed in our reverence and expect us to empathize with your cause. Go back to your roots and live by those values because you cannot handle a society that was built on christian values with christian law and christian strength and unity, let alone even begin to understand the meaning of reverence! I don’t care what your background is for it matters not! To me your actions tell me you don’t care about flying and tweeting snide remarks on a sacred day and how that might make some people just a little nervous on-board a flight…how selfish! Perhaps the sick man should have signaled for help by a flight attendant instead of asking a so-called “stranger” sitting next to him for help…and how did the stranger know which toilet the other stranger was in, if they were truly strangers? How did the online booking agents of three strangers know you were all of a certain Arab looking profile – since when do computers discriminate with seating charts arranged by ethnicity? Kind of strange from where I am sitting – sorry not buying this story! Its flawed! Well done FBI – safety of passengers is paramount and the suspicious behavior warranted your affirmative action. Sometimes the end justifies the means…be angry at your Arab looking friends who created the terrorist attacks and not the protectors of the US on a sacred day!! Freedom and liberty comes at a price… Ask yourself what have you done for this country as citizen that automatically qualifies you for such privileges?
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Elizabeth: I had a longer post for you, but I deleted it, as a distraction. However, I’ll say in advance, your post is one of the most obnoxious in this thread. As for you writing: “Ask yourself what have you done for this country as citizen that automatically qualifies you for such privileges?”.
The answer is, “She was born.”
Count yourself lucky to be born in the United States, Elizabeth, because there are places in the world that would put you up against a wall for such unpatriotic ranting.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011The fact that this happened to you is insufferably wrong. Whether it’s become a “fact” of life or not, does not make it right. Yes, terrorism needs to be dealt with, but it doesn’t mean sacrificing the freedom and right to privacy of all American citizens. It’s one thing to profile someone because they are of a different race, but it seems to get worse when you are in fact, obviously and American citizen. Honestly, when they asked the “Do you speak English?” question, I would not have been able to handle it as calmly as it sounds like you did.
I hope that soon American can come to terms with its fear and learn that it is only making the problem worse, and as one of the other commenters stated, is what ends up making the terrorists win.
Mike Lee
/ September 14, 2011More shocking than Shoshana’s treatment, is how many people are actually defending the govt! I am stunned whenever I come across people who would willingly surrender their rights to the authorities. They don’t even have to take it from us – you just GIVE it to them, no questions asked. I find this pathetic.
My main beef is with the strip-search. To detain and question – even though there really wasn’t any probable cause – given that it was 9/11, etc., is at least somewhat understandable and acceptable. But to be subjected to a strip search without being arrested or having an attorney present? Absolutely insane.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Mike Lee: it’s saddening to read again and again that people find this to be the most heinous thing, and yet every day, literally millions of people in prison are regularly strip-searched, when they go to work, when they come home from work, when they go out to yard sometimes, but of course, that’s fine, right, because they’re subhuman prisoners.
It’s not just people defending the government here. The security forces were just doing their job–they were being loyal dogs of the whipmaster that feeds them. You’re quite right how appalling it is that they’re just giving away their rights (these posters), but you’ll notice that almost no one has said a word in defense of her two travelers, not even the original poster, if memory serves. She won’t say, “They did nothing.” She says, “I have no idea what they did. I wasn’t paying attention.” Don’t you think that’s part of the problem?
Just for the record, I rather doubt that the original poster was cavity searched–strip searches are not usually cavity searches, so people reaching that conclusion might be off-base. I mention this only to preserve the distinction, though maybe because people imagine “cavity search” in place of “strip search” is why they keep responding so loudly< "WOW that's hideous. That's too far." Detaining a person cuz their skin is the wrong color is not already too far. Even concluding that people on a plane who are merely Arab-looking–because you're too ignorant to know how to check what ethnicity someone sitting in an airplane seat is–is not already too far. I'm sure you have already considered this too.
I think it would be very interesting to hear what people would say if the original poster here had been a man with a criminal record or if we were simply talking about the general privations one experiences when being processed into jail (before one is guilty, even), and so forth. No one needs to have sympathy for "those people" eh?
jackie
/ September 14, 2011wow. I am so sorry this happened to you. as I’m sure you know, the PATRIOT act is a misleading acronym that justifies hyper-security measures that are anything but patriotic. hard to believe that authorities were brought in on the basis of some random passenger’s unfounded (and racially biased) suspicion. waste of tax dollars indeed. i can’t help but wonder whether it wasn’t pure coincidence that the airline reps seated you and the other two passengers of middle eastern descent all together. thank you for having the courage to share your story.
Perry
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry this happened. Reading this made me feel disgusted, and in many ways ashamed of what the United States has become. If a terrorist’s goal is to cause terror…then they have succeeded. These types of incidents prove that. To those saying that we should be profiling based on the color of one’s skin, shame on you. To those who agree we should handcuff and temporarily incarcerate others with no evidence to support such actions, shame on you. To those who believe that we should strip search, humiliate, and withhold information from those that are being detained, shame on you. We are the United States of America. We are supposed to be better than this. I don’t care your political preference or faction…right is right, and wrong is wrong.
Again, I am so sorry. I am also sorry you need to read through bigoted, self-righteous dribble trying to defend indefensible actions.
Sarah Fukui
/ September 14, 2011As a fellow American citizen I am ashamed of our homeland for even doing this to you Shoshana. I hope you never have to go through something like this ever again.
Steve
/ September 14, 2011Sue. Sue the airline, sue the cops, sue the airport, sue TSA (not likely since its very hard to sue the feds) Sue the person who complained about you.
Yeah peace and love and they will just do it again… Scare the individuals, and take the airline and the cops and the airport to the cleaners.
USair did this before…
The only thing corporations understand is money!!
Dawn
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you. My heart goes out to you…I can’t imagine how scared I would have been, and you handled it so well! I don’t know if I would have been able to have been so nice! I can’t believe so many of the commenters here actually agree with the way you were treated (and seem to be cheering for it, really), but then again, yes I do. I don’t even fly anymore, within the US, and when I go to Europe to visit friends and in-laws (rarely), I sometimes think about possibly leaving from Tijuana, as it’s not too far from my home. I know that sounds nuts, but I don’t feel comfortable flying from a US airport anymore. Not because I am scared of terrorists..nope, I am afraid of our government, the out-of-control TSA/DHS/”security” (ie police) state, and (some of) the American people, the types who are fearful of every thing, and don’t care if they accuse the wrong person of something. When I read things like this, I am convinced that the USA is becoming more and more of a closed, fascist society. Will we wake up before it’s too late? I kinda doubt it, really….
jamie gibbs
/ September 14, 2011AFTER 9/11, any one who acts suspicious NO MATTER what they look like deserves to be treated this way…….According to your story or the News story, the MEN were in the bathroom for WAY 2 LONG…..don’t act liek this on the Anniv of such a tragic day. You sitting next to them makes you guilty by association. Were you talking to them during the flight??????You have to remember terrorists are going to Practice their stunts for a while before carrying them out. SO I applaud the authorities!!
Shanelle
/ September 14, 2011Its not bigotry, or bullying or hatred to be careful. Had people been careful on Flight 175 and Flight 11 10 years ago tragedy might have been averted. It is interesting how the average American is made to be the culprit and muslim terrorists we no longer blame. We lay blame at the feet of authorities that are doing their best to protect us – Remember their caution is protecting muslims and non-muslims alike. Yet we cry foul.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011Shanelle, being singled out from a crowd because of the color of your skin or your cultural heritage qualifies as racism, regardless of when or where it takes place. One more thing, Muslims aren’t extremists, and extremists aren’t Muslims. They claim to be Muslims but they aren’t. How can some terrorist claim to be a Muslim when ‘Islam’ actually means “Peace”?
abbas ozer
/ September 14, 2011This is a programmed government practice to keep the fear in the hearts of people…keep the cause of fear living…keep the people living under pressure…the government intends to terrorize US so we blindly act according to their whims…Don’t also forget that Mr. Obama is trying to get reelected…he needs to show some “fake” accomplishments…too bad Ms. Hebshi, terrorizing you because your skin looks like Abraham’s skin, is one of Mr. Obama’s national security accomplishments…
quentin
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana. I feel your pain. But you really discredited your experience and authenticity with your comment/description of the female officer “…a fat Jada Pinkett Smith.” Imagine your wife or daughter being described that way. You know how to be careful with words, esp. in tense situations…right!!??
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Imagine your wife or daughter going through a cavity search.
Not so fun when the shoe’s on the other foot.
Me
/ September 14, 2011Really first of all who taught you to spell. Let me guess you probably grew up in a nice single wide trailor burning you cross. I am so amazed at all the people making comments about how good the police and FBI are. Really most of them are heartless, uncaring, power hungry aholes. They don’t care about the average american person. They have to pretend to care, to protect there own image, but I am sure deep down inside, most of them don’t give a damn. My 11 year old daughter was choosen for a “Random search” it is just proceedure. Really? yes a harmless child who has never flown, gets a full body pat down. I won’t fly anymore because of that, and by the way she is white. It is not always about color or race and it is a total violation of ones rights in my opinion. United states? Please most of the people in America don’t trust other people there is no unity in this country.
Christine Murphy
/ September 14, 2011This is becoming a regularity. We must stand up for our personal freedoms to keep America the land of the free, otherwise, soon it will turn on others as well. This is something that may happen more. More police means a policed society. If you do something someone doesn’t like you are in trouble. It is important to voice this to everyone and take court actions. One must fight for his individual freedom and it will help us all in the long run. These are scare tactics that are going on daily. Frankly, don’t read the news or listen to the news and you will find many things are happening that are good and it is not as bad as they are trying to make it sound. Thanks for you voice.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I apologize for duplicate posts. Apparently, my computer and my connection are fighting with each other.
susan schuurman
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry you had to experience this injustice. I am so glad you wrote about it. People are sharing it like crazy. If we racially profiled fairly across the board, we’d be freaking out when priests or white male Christians were on planes (pedophile priests and Timothy McVeigh-types).
Daniel Ibn Zayd
/ September 14, 2011For those of us who grew up with this kind of discrimination (I appreciate the reference to Malcolm X in this regard), it is very easy to see that 9/11/01 was not a marker, but an excuse. By this I mean to say that the history of racism and classism in Anglo-Saxon societies is a given, and it is simply a question of degree (Japanese internment camps come to mind) as well as proportion of the population involved. This is not something new, and for those of us who have left this Core of Capital, who have gone home as it were, and no longer have to play Uncle Tom or kowtow to the dominant American culture, and who have then suffered the wars engendered by the U.S. government on those far from home in the name of your own solipsistic “protection”, we bristle at your use of the word “terrorist” in replying to this story, responses which are just as racist and First Worldist as the events described by the author here. When the revolutions in this part of the world are complete, and a new equality comes to the fore, and you are finally demonstrated the democracy that you have preached to the world for centuries in an Orwellian turn of phrase that is sickening to much of the planet, what will you then have to say? At long last, what will you say when the beam is finally removed from thine eye?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011We bristle at your use of the word “terrorist” in replying to this story …
“Speak to people according to their understanding.” That’s what’s necessary in discussing something as laden with fear as this issue of American state terrorism. Eventually people ~ some people ~ will make the connection and realize that the real 9/11 terrorists were not the nineteen on the planes, but those who destroyed the Towers and WTC7 with nanothermate and explosives in controlled demolitions, knowing in advance that the planes were coming. Some, of course, will remain in denial, but the “terrorists” we are actually talking about are America’s “homegrown” 9/11 terrorists and their partners among America’s “allies.”
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki: it is the ignorant who are using the word terrorist here, so they are speaking their understanding, not to the understand of others. People who put “terrorists” in quotation marks were noting their opposition to the word and are not the target of Daniel’s remark, I’d venture.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 9, 2011People who put “terrorists” in quotation marks were noting their opposition to the word and are not the target of Daniel’s remark, I’d venture.
Perhaps. But it appears to me that people have been referring to “terrorists” in two ways ~ using “terrorist” without quotation marks to refer to pathologically-afflicted muslims oriented on violence, and “terrorist” with quotation marks to refer to the phantoms under the beds and in the closets that the media and government insist are about to swing their scimitars in all directions. Now we’re seeing that “Uncle Sam is watching over you” is not different from ‘Big Brother is watching you,” as the real terrorists rape women who fly home from their travels.
One subtext of the “message” delivered at Detroit’s airport is “Get a suntan or fly, but not both.” Another is “Don’t sit next to anyone with skin darker than your own on an airplane.” There are dozens, all impacting the right of Americans to move freely about the country ~ as if gasoline prices don’t restrict our movements sufficiently.
Calling it “terrorism” is not hyperbole, and the language is appropriate, in my opinion. Americans are being terrorized. The ignorant do not recognize those pretending to save them from “terrorists” as more immediate terrorists. It’s not an ignorant use of the term, it’s merely an omission of that use where it also applies.
andy
/ September 14, 2011I rather eliminate security altogether and take my chances then have anyone, ever have to go through this.
1janedonut
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you. It should not have happened. I understand that people are afraid and I get that, but I also understand about racial profiling. My own husband was detained at a museum just because he is dark-skinned and was waiting for me and our daughters to emerge from the ladies rest room. I like to be safe, but I was HIGHLY offended by this. My husband often IS our safety in such a world as this. Even in America. My heart goes out to you and I hope things can get better. I am so sorry for what you endured.
RSS
/ September 14, 2011It’s a sad commentary on the state of our disunion that so many commenters feel that this incident is justified or not based on race and refuse to accept the obvious: the ethnicity of the passengers was a significant factor and the reaction was clearly an overreaction. It’s also sad to realize (and should scare the hell out of posters like D, John, William Fauquier, Sandra, and john) that people’s focus on ethnicity rather than actions and behavior consequently increases, rather than decreasse, the danger of not detecting a real threat. Richard Reid, Jose Padilla and John Walker Lindh anyone?
I am also from NW Ohio and am half Lebanese (and half Polish). I am also a Marine Corps infantry officer with combat deployments. And the funny/scary thing is that as far back as 2003 and as recently as last year I have been “randomly” searched …IN UNIFORM after presenting my military ID. On one occassion I was searched 3 times…by the same guard! Those posters who try to mask their prejudice with the refrain of “the greater good” should recall the awful treatment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during WWII and brush up on their knowledge of the Constitution (or gain some)!
Prejudice doesn’t make us safer. It takes our eyes off the ball and makes it more likely that we’ll miss the real danger. It reveals a lack of understanding of and respect for genuine American values. And bear in mind that the thing that causes you anxiety when Ms. Shebshi or I are seated next to you on a plane is what has made me so effective at defending your right to be ignorant and a blowhard.
Feel free to just say “Thank you.”
Richard
/ September 14, 2011HERE IS A THOUGHT IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE WAY YOU ARE BEING TREATED IN THIS COUNTRY GO BACK TO THE COUNTRY OF YOUR ORIGIN PERIOD I AM AN AMERICAN & CAN TRACE THAT BACK BEFORE COLUNBUS CAME HERE I AM NOT WHITE I AM NATIVE AMERICAN & HISPANIC THE FIRST PEOPLE HERE! MY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MISTREATED FOR OVER 500 YEARS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY BUT ITS OUR COUNTRY! I COULD NOT GO TO VERY MANY PLACES ON THIS PLANET NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE MOUTH OFF ABOUT HOW CRAPPY I AM BEING TREATED AND EXPECT TO LIVE TO TELL ABOUT IT MUCH LESS OWN A BUISNESS & LIVE PROSPEROUSLY! LIFE IS HARD & THERE HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES SINCE 2001 MAYBE ITS TIME TO GIVE THIS PC CRAP A REST CLOSE OUR BORDERS TO EVERYONE & MAKE SOME SERIOUS CHANGES!! YOU CANT BE PRESIDENT OF THE USA UNLESS YOU ARE AN AMERICAN BY BIRTH GUESS WHAT MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO OWN A BUISNESS UNLESS YOU ARE EITHER MAYBE ITS TIME FOR AMERICAN TO TAKE CARE OF AMERICANS & NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK MAYBE WE SHOULD DEAL WITH THE PROBELMS AT HAND WITH THE GLOVES OFF BECAUSE NO ONE THAT IS OPPOSING US IS PLAYING BY THE RULES & WHEN YOU DEAL WITH THAT KIND OF PROBLEM YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE! ITS UNFORTUNATE THAT YOU WERE DETAINED & STRIP SEARCHED BUT WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ON 9-11-2001?? OR IN ONE OF THE PLANES THAT WERE LOST THAT DAY OR ABOARD THE USS COLE OR THE US EMBASSY IN LEBANON?? WE HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS CRAP FOR TOO LONG & ITS TIME TO END IT! IF YOUR DISSATISFIED WITH YOUR TREATMENT IN THE GOOD OLE US OF A GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM WRITE YOUR VIRAL BLOG THERE FIX THE 3 WORLD CEST POOL THAT IT IS RE WRITE THE KORAN MAKE A DIFFERENECE IN YOUR COUNTRY SO SHIT LIKE THIS DOESNT HAPPEN ANY MORE HERE BECAUSE IF I LIVED THERE & 3000 CITZENS OF THAT COUNTRY WERE KILLED BY MY KIND I AM PRETTY CERTAIN THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE LIVED TO SEE THE SUNSET ON THAT DAY MUCH LESS LIVE THERE TEN YEARS & BE ABLE TO BITCH ABOUT HOW CRAPPY MY LIFE IS DUE TO RACIAL PROFILLING!
Aldous Huxley
/ September 14, 2011Brilliant. Send them all back, right? Outstanding. Oh, about that Constitution and Bill of Rights — let’s take out those parts about freedom of dissent. We take that pansy crap outta there, people will know they need to STFMU, and then, we don’t got’s to fight nobody no-how! I say, as long as they don’t look like me, let them do whatever they want to them! And dear gawd, lawks-uh-mercy, don’t make me hear about it! I sho’ nuff don’t wanna hear about none of that ugly stuff and whining about the police doing their jobs, which is beatin’ peoples arses, and layin down some law, and administerin’ some o’ that good ol’ home reckonin’! Jes’ go’ ahead now, get on outta my country, cuz i love it, more than you do, and I wouldn’t change a thing about her! Sick and tired of people whining about stuff — and they had the audacity to be born here! well, my ancestors were born here earlier! but before that, we came here, so before that, it was somebody else, or nobody, or something, or maybe… but, damn — it don’t matter — i was here before you!!! I got mine! Now bugger off and go get your own! I love this line of thinking! I’m taking my ball, and I’m going home! Say, can i borrow a bible? I am gonna need it in order to justify the big arse can of whoop-arse that I’m gonna open up on whatever country i go to next!!! Yessirree, I’m gonna eradicate everyone there, because then, that will show them that you don’t mess with Amerik-kuh!!! they would be lucky, because i am just positive, since i know so much about the rest of the world, that where-ever the hell-o I end up, it will be a backwards, crappy, depressing place with no electricity or refridgeradors or american freedom and mcdonalds freidstrom fries. i am just sure of it! but i will go there, and i will not let them see another sunset, because they are “not of my kind”. A “cest” pool, indeed! Damn thing’s just chock full of “cest”!
Oh, and btw — maybe you didn’t get the memo – but anyone associated with Timothy McVeigh is also considered a threat now. Basically, since we don’t know for certain just who that might be, we thought that in the interest of national security, we would just wipe out all the white fokkers. You know, cuz they look pretty much like him, and what not. We can’t tell for sure which ones are disgruntled enough to actually go the distance, but not too many of them ripped up their bibles, or recanted their views, so we are pretty sure that they all hate the same things as the unabomber, ted kaczynski, — so we jes’ gonna line ’em all up. Sorry buddy! You shoulda killed yourself or joined us before, and signed our pledge of unity! But, it’s too late now, sorry. Just step right over there, we don’t do that ghastly gas chamber thing, or any mass graves. We just gonna terminate everybody old-school style! with kindness, or words, or something. One thing’s for certain, they ain’t gonna have no businesses. nosiree. no 40 acres, no mule, and no businesses. I wanna buy all my junk from rockefeller and carnegie and Bank of America, because they got it all in China, and the way i figure it, China is where it’s at. That’s where i’m movin’ to! not katmandu, it’s really really where i’m goin’ to. If i ever get outta here… back in the USSR…. yep, the deep end was about 45 minutes ago. you win. I digress. I’ve gone completely batty-bonkers.
Oh, nope. I know what i did wrong. I didn’t scream in all caps. That would have made me much more coherent. Sorry! Allow me three steps mister – three steps towards the door – and your never seein’ me no more. nope – you convinced me. This country is for you, not for me.
Well, actually, you get one of your own. The way i see it, you should! you got it figured out, how you wanna run it. we’ll give you a nice spot on Uranus – but on the backside. Where you won’t have to look at us. Send all you fundamentalist wackos out there. You won’t have to put up with no politically correct; not even grammatically correct. You don’t even have to be typographically correct. You can jes’ go ahead and be as incorrect as you want! it’s your land! It isn’t my land! It’s like your own New York Island, Kurt Russell style! And we’ll waive that silly birth thing — so you can be president of your own little world — oh -that’s right — Uranus isn’t little, is it? No, by golly, Uranus’ll be HYUUGE!!! Just thing, your very own, you can run it jst the way you want to. And since you don’t have to be politically correct, it won’t ever be Myanus, or Hisanus, or Heranus, or Anyanus. It will strictly be Uranus!!! Now don’t you feel like a good, patriotic, Uranusan? I’m just glad i’ll never have cause to visit Uranus…
Hey, don’t forget to write. You’re so durn fool gud at it… we gonna miss you. Won’t be nobody to hug, since we all be too busy pissin’ and moanin’ , and what not. I’m not sure how to piss and moan politically correctly, but you leave that to us, you done put in your time. Have fun with Uranus.
Captain Curt
/ September 15, 2011I got a better idea. instead of us malcontents leaving your country, how about we get you your very own area, all to yourself? Since you don’t really cotton to this “cest pool” anymore, The way i see it, you should have your own country. In fact, I’ve got the perfect spot picked out for you. it’s over on the backside of Uranus. Where you won’t have to look at us. It will be like your own New York Island, Kurt Russell style! And you can be supreme ruler of your own little world — oh -but Uranus isn’t really little, is it? No, by golly, Uranus is HUGE!!! Just think, a place to call your very own, you can run it just the way you want to. And since you don’t have to be politically correct, it won’t ever be called Myanus, Hisanus, Heranus, or Any otheranus. Strictly Uranus!!!
Have fun with Uranus. I promise, I won’t ever come to Uranus.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Richard: assuming you’re not actually a white male who has decided he’s found the “ultimate argument stopper” by claiming to be Native American (the first people here wouldn’t have been Hispanic–don’t you mean Spaniard–and Native American, they’d’ve been Siberians or Asiatics of some sort, descended from people who’d left Africa, but let’s let that slide), you’ve really assimilated well, mastering the “white” discourse and all. See, because you are confused about race and class, you seem to believe that people who have non-white skin and who own thriving corporations are (according to the hierarchy) still “people with non-white skin” (note the parenthesis. In other words, your fantasy of just letting “whites” have businesses is already true. In brief, I think your particular kind of howling is what needs to be given a rest. It’s been going on for longer than the 500 years you note. So, I’m tired of it.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 9, 2011the first people here wouldn’t have been Hispanic–don’t you mean Spaniard–and Native American, they’d’ve been Siberians or Asiatics of some sort, descended from people who’d left Africa, but let’s let that slide
We came from southeast Asia (where we had migrated from Africa) after the eruption of Mount Toba in Sumatra, north into central Asia. Then we came through Siberia and across the land bridge that now lies beneath the Bering Straits, becoming the first Americans. Others went from central Asia to Europe, eventually becoming immigrants to America. These immigrants brought people from the lands to which our common ancestors had been unable to return ~ Africa. We ~ their descendants ~ are all “Native Americans.” We “redskins,” nearest cousins of the “whites,” were merely the first. It was not a happy family reunion, but it did recombine our common Japhetic gene pool, and although also not a happy family reunion, it did bring in the Hamitic and Semitic branches of the family.
We shouldn’t let that slide any further into xenophobic “racism.” We all have to much to offer.
Don McLean
/ September 14, 2011So many things that I want to say — but mostly, I wanted to reach out to you, as an exception – to what must seem like overwhelming suspicion. It seems that, with some exceptions, most of the supportive respondents to your post are “non-typical” american-born, or at least not “priveledged” white male americans. Sadly, a few very vocal, very vitriolic individuals seem to be mis-representing the rest of reasonable america. For my own part, I am a fairly typical white male, born in the midwestern U.S. I feel that while I may lack academic credentials, I have felt since a very young age that I possess a modicum of perspective that seems to be lacking in many of my contemporaries. Perhaps it had something to do with the horrors that I confronted in my first 15 years of life; but i digress.
My only point, (other than perhaps trying to make myself feel better about “guilt by association”), is to share a positive beacon of hope in what must seem like a maddening sea of hatred and fear. Taken together, many of the responses to your testimonial must seem a suffocating cacophony of misunderstanding, suspicion, misconceptions, hatred, fear, and outright belligerent loathing. There are people who actively reject this status quo. Here is at least one “American” who can see that what you experienced was unnecessary, hurtful, and wrong; and could have been avoided. I have been aware that I live amidst a trembling ocean of fear and ignorance for most of my life. The still waters belie the raging torrent that runs deep in the heart of humanity in general, and in the hearts of “red-blooded america”. It pains me to write this, because I do love my country; it’s freedom, it’s promise of opportunity. What I don’t buy into is the notion of American Exceptionalism; that we are somehow superior to everyone else. The city on the hill notion, that we are chosen, ordained, or otherwise special in the eye’s of some diety. Though Jefferson and other founders rejected religious dogma, The old, stubborn notion that we are somehow blessed as a nation runs deep. Other nations are and have been guilty of this; but the amplifiers plugged into our jingoistic nationalism seem to have been cranked up all the way to eleven. It is this notion that begat Manifest Destiny; the subsequent plundering and acquisition of Native Lands; and every tenet of unfettered greed and excess that is built upon the backs and bones of the disenfranchised: Native Americans, Africans, immigrant railroad laborers, migrant workers, legal and undocumented migrants, the working poor…
I am never good at tersity. And perhaps, I have projected too much of my own internalizations onto you. I am reluctant to believe that any two people ever truly understood one another, even after decades of partnership; and I cannot pretend for a moment that I know you in the least. I only know you as another human, and that is our common bond, such as it is.
For my own part, much of my early life was filled with rage, hopelessness, and pessimism. I had to actively train myself to achieve a positive outlook on life in general, and that process took me decades. I still have to constantly remind myself to think positively. Now, I can be surrounded by negative reinforcement – people whom I fundamentally disagree with ethically, morally, and intellectually, viscerally – without losing hope or sanity. I can go days, months, years without engaging someone who shares my world view on some innate human level. Most people seem to ultimately disappoint me on some fundamental level. (Of course I include myself in that lot, whenever I find the courage to focus that amazing perspective inward…!) And yet — I continue to believe that my perspective is somehow less obscured – and that there are other people out there who share my views.
I am just trying to say, rather awkwardly, that it is a relief and an affirmation whenever I do glimpse a truly enlightened person who’s view of reality isn’t warped by fear. I am not claiming that I am not fearful – fearful of being misunderstood, or fear of failure, fear of confrontation, etc. etc. ad nauseum. I sense that a few of the folks who responded in affirmation of your indignation may approach this level of enlightenment. Perhaps, I would include you in that lot, as you seem eloquent, competent, and fair-minded. I only hesitate, because I recognize, even as I recognize it in myself, that once a particular group of people does an individual an egregious harm, it is particularly difficult not to harbour judgement against other members of that group. I myself, when confronted with someone whom I have been indoctrinated to perceive as “the enemy” – must admit that my emotions are on alert, even as my intellect tells me to substitute reason for preconceived notion. Even if for no other reason than fear of their preconceptions or assumptions; fear of being misunderstood, or of misrepresenting myself, and thus classifying myself as “enemy” to them. Sure, you say. just relax; and be forthright and honest. Of course. But I suspect that you have to suppress a cringe whenever some well-meaning “WASP-y” american male makes a careless remark regarding what he perceives as your ethnicity or culture. Your story illustrated that you have already planted the building blocks to reinforce negative associations with white males, particularly ones who elect to let their waistline expand, and their hairstyle short. So the fear that begets loathing is within me, and within you. I don’t believe in a “pure evil” necessarily, but I do believe that we each have to honestly and earnestly fight the battle within ourselves, amassing small victories internally, and choosing our battles externally, when we face friends and family who we love, but who are not being conscientious humans.
I apologize for the length. I will try to wrap this up:
I recognize that you paid a price for someone else’s ignorance and fear, and for a collective reactionary policy based upon those very fears. Born in America, I have watched our insular, individualistic, jingoistic, exceptionalist attitudes for decades. American pop culture has dogmatically demonized many other cultures for as longer than we have been a country. Compounding this is the fact that too many white Americans cannot appreciate the difference between a Morrocan Muslim or an Armenian Christian; an Iranian from an Isreali. Many are proud of the fact that they don’t know the difference between Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, or Afghanistan; and couldn’t find either on a map – even having spent time there “defending freedom”!
After 9/11, i knew viscerally that american-“arabic” relations would get much worse. (Substitute western-eastern, christian-muslim, fair-skinned/dark-skinned, white-brown; either way, I will seem ignorant and confrontational to someone). When I expressed my intentions to reach out to local muslim communities after 9/11, I was met with fear and consternation by members of my own family. It made no sense to them, and their confusion quickly turned to anxiety and angst. With the passage of the “patriot act”, my heart sank further. When we declared war on Iraq and Saddam, my feelings were somewhat mixed; but it felt contrived, and ugly. When the atrocities at Abu Ghraib were exposed, I was ashamed. When our current Congress voted to extend most of the patriot act for another four years, I was dismayed, but not surprised. And when I read stories like yours, I am frightened. Not for the “future of America”; I lost hope in that empty dream a very long time ago. For the future of humanity. Quaint niavity leads us to believe things like “The Nazi’s were evil, that would never happen here”; and “those Hutu’s and Tutsi’s in Rwanda were just evil, and backwards, and we are civilized”; (substitute Bosnians/Srbs, Turks/Armenians, Christians/Muslims, etc.)
The frightening reality is that the seeds of racial hatred are here, and they are starkly reminiscent.
We have a horrifically vocal and extremist base of fundamentalist protestants, white supremacists, and disenfranchised white males in this country who advocate varying degrees of “culture wars” on an idiotic spectrum of violence, protectionism, and fascism. There are equally fearful fundamentalist Islamic groups, all over Northern Africa, the Middle East, and right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. One redeeming bit of good news is that we are still a representative democracy, albeit represented mostly by capitalist/industrialist interests. Thankfully though, we are not (yet) anything resembling a fascist military regime. This provides me with some comfort. Theoretically, at least, the rule of law will prevail for some time to come. Any further degredation into the depths of human capacity for evil on a grand scale will, at least, not be government-sanctioned anytime in the near future. (American industrialist atrocities and indirect human rights violations around the world not-withstanding, for the purposes of keeping this diatribe somewhat linear and coherent). My point is simply that the ethno-centric seeds of evil genocidal mania thrive well in their little scattered petri dishes. Contagion of lesser variant strains, bigotry and intolerance, are rampant. Though I still want to embrace such notions as “American engenuity” and “rugged individualism”; American exceptionalism is a concocted myth, and those that believe in it are the ones that I fear almost as much as I fear any religious fundamentalist. Too many American stereotypes are rooted in truth; we are entitled, lazy, greedy, ignorant, under-educated, unsophisticated; and yet somehow exceptional. Perhaps Alexis de Tocqueville had a pretty good bead on us 160+ years ago.
Let me again recapitulate one thing regarding our uber-patriotism (though I can already sense the vitriolic invitations to “Love it or Leave it”): I respect soldiers, warriors, of any culture or nation. I do not take lightly the past nor the current sacrifices of our soldiers. I volunteered for the military some 20 years ago, but was rejected due to a birth defect in my feet and some other nonsense. I understand that the freedoms and opportunities that I enjoy as a priveledged, fair-skinned, good ol’ white american-born red-blooded yankee-doodle – came at some price to many individuals who felt strongly enough about it to fight for it. I get it. So before some redneck arsehole accuses me of being a bleeding-heart liberal tree-hugger candy-pants pansy-arse yada-yud who hates all soldiers and wants to sling poo on them and cry and crawl into a soft corner and pet fuzzy bunnies and ride pretty unicorns and hug everybody and french-kiss the taliban, I will just beat them to the punch.
Heck, some of my best friends are soldiers.
But I still think that the majority of people need to wake up. The world is a whole lot bigger than your little back-yard BBQ, buddy. Wholes lots.
“Thanksgiving dinner’s sad and thankless
Christmas dinner’s dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey’s point of view. ”
– Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstien.
One last note: I noticed that many people responded that “American” freedom had been violated – which certainly begs the question: Would it have been any less of a violation had you not been a U.S. citizen? We both know the answer to that. But it seems that many, many people do not. As if we could somehow take credit for where we were born. I have to take Americans to task on another issue, that notion that the world is a different place, post 9/11. Well, for Natural born Americans, I suppose it maybe is. We are no longer insularly exempt from the confrontations of the rest of the world. While the sheer scale of that mornings was horrendous, the sad fact is that most of us were fairly oblivious or indifferent to anything that happened outside of our own back yard. I do tire of being instructed not to forget (how in the name of humanity could anyone forget?) I get it – we need to remain vigilant, blah blah blah… It just seems to be that we might ought to wanna temper our aggresive, confrontational, bad-ass cowboy attitude with just a pinch of compassion and comradery. Don’t get me wrong; some people are beyond help, and I don’t advocate that we all institute “hug a terrorist day”. I amn’t stoopid; unfortunately, sometimes violence is the only answer left. I’m just saying that complicated problems took a while to develop; they require complicated responses, cognizant of the long view.
I am ashamed of what you experienced. I wonder, if I was in your position, if I would act to make an example of the airline, the authority figures, the national fervor, the patriot act, the reactionary “security procedures”, the racial profiling and ignorance; and most of all, the panic stricken passenger or passengers who instigated this incident. Would it make a difference? would it raise the public awareness? Would perceptions change? I think that the right thing to do is clear – regardless of the answer to my pessimistic questions. I feel that an attorney is warranted, and that the ACLU should be involved, if they aren’t already. If very well will have little affect on your sense of security or anxiety. It certainly will not assuage the ugly evening that you had to endure. But it probably needs to be done, I think. Easy for me to say; it isn’t my life that would be disrupted. I offer you courage, if you do choose to pursue legal action. I offer you my… sincere hope – and moral support. For what it’s worth. Regardless, you have my compassion and empathy, as a fellow human. I empathize with your husband, also. I wonder that he doesn’t feel some sense of rage. From my male perspective, it is -unpleasant- when we are powerless to protect someone that we give our hearts and arms to.
For my part, I agree with Allison, Ian, lc, and others who affirm and support you. I do not support the way that you were treated. Nor do I advocate racial or ethnic profiling, it substitutes common sense for reactionary idiocy. You alluded to “trained professionals” and I must agree; A trained professional is just that; trained to discern between ordinary activities and truly suspicious behavior. It is too bad that we are trading away human dignity for some unachievable ideal of security.
bill
/ September 14, 2011Shoshanna, I really appreciate that you’ve shared your experience by blogging it. I think that America needs to know what’s going on, and the better informed we are the better armed we can be to deal with these injustices. I do agree that you were unjustly racially profiled. However, I feel like there is a much larger precedent than racism. My concern is that what some are calling an “inconvenience” is actually a flagrant violation of your rights. That a citizen of the United States could be detained, searched, and questioned with no legal representation, seems reprehensible to me. Your rights were flagrantly disregarded, and due process was abandoned. Our government was breaking its own laws.
Sadly, it has happened before in US history, and your case shows that we as a nation, have not learned from our mistakes. It happened with the Japanese internments, and then McCarthyism, segregation, and even now, under the guise of the Patriot Act our government is perpetuating the flagrant violation of the Rights of her citizens.
It is the duty of this government to protect her citizens, but who will protect us from this government?
thys hauptfleisch
/ September 14, 2011It might be personal, you know?
Try to find out which passenger reported you as suspicious — maybe that person knows you and got a grudge against you — or maybe that person got a racial-history.
Al
/ September 14, 2011The “Patriot Act” is largely illegal and unconstitutional. Additionally, it is a wonderful example of Orwellian double-speak. Think about it.
Lee
/ September 14, 2011To be honest while initially the treatment seemed rude and harsh overall the authorities seems relativly nice about everything. And if there are threats of attacks of course people will suspect asian/arab appearance the most. That is natural and not the fault of people ‘seeing ghosts’ but more the fault of those are created the stigma by launching such attacks. I live in London and i am wary of pakistani looking people with big rucksucks on public transport…in fact i try and make sure i move a fair distance from wherever they are. And in London there’s a lot of pakistani appearanced people whether they be indian or arab or a british pakistani or whatever. I don’t believe im racist i just feel slightly uneasy around certain stuff like that. I believe strip searces are ivasive and should be used only in the last option scenario so im sure theres a way they could have resolved the situation without doubt that. But apart from that i suppose they have to take no chances if someone reported something.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011Lee, Pakistanis or Arabs aren’t terrorists so please don’t label a nation because of the acts of a few individuals.
Secondly, see if you can Google George Fulton. There are a number of Britishers and Americans living in Pakistan. In fact, read up on AIESEC. We have quite a few foreign AIESEC interns here in Pakistan, one of them, a Mauritian, is even my best friend.
Blame the individuals, don’t stereotype, please. 🙂
D. Stuart
/ September 15, 2011With due apology Lee, we are scared of you ching pong guys too. The pakis or Indians are not that dangerous. But the people of chines origin have been a threat to the whole universe, be it China, South Korea or Vietnam .
Reb Barry
/ September 14, 2011Unreal. It would seem they should be able to figure that nothing was going on a little bit faster, and with a little less intrusion. Because some fellow passengers are paranoid and prejudiced, you get such treatment. It’s not fair, but I suppose no one promised life to be fair. Still, we hope that in America “fair” is at least an goal…
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011I honestly don’t understand how they couldn’t figure out that nothing was going on sooner.
After all, the plane landed safely and without incident at its intended destination. What? Did they think someone was going to blow up the jetbridge now that everyone had landed safely?
This whole incident is absurd. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you are so afraid of brown skinned people flying in airplanes that you will report bathroom use as “suspicious behavior”, then maybe you are too afraid to leave your house.
Fedup with the Fed
/ September 14, 2011Just another case of an American Citizens Constitutionally Guaranteed rights being abridged for little or no reason! This sort of thing is as bad as anything the KGB did in the Soviet Union. This was not an isolated incedent. This sort of thing happens to American citizens hundreds of times every day at airports across the country. The real terrorists are those who pretend to protect the public!!!
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Fedup: historically, it is simply not the case that this is “as bad as anything the KGB did”. This is kindergarten stuff for the KGB, thank goodness; for more advanced parts, you have to get deeper into the FBI and CIA, etc. Don’t take away from the glory of Soviet skullduggery by this false analogy. !
However, I’ll say this: the “gap” between the stated ideals of the United States and this kind of behavior and the gap between the stated ideals of the Soviet Union and some of the KGB peccadilloes might indeed be equal. Although, to be fair to the soviets, for a time I think it wasn’t just nasty, brutal political cynicism–certainly Stalin amped that up big time. So there could have been a very real fall from grace. Similarly, one can say that US lip service to its ideals (“we hold these truths to be self-evident” and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” blah, blah, blah) never had any teeth (as slavery, and Native American genocide, and Japanese internment camps, Manifest Destiny, and … crud I’ve forgotten what that nonsense was that Teddy Roosevelt had about the Western hemisphere … that too) … Maybe we’ve never meant it and we’ve always been naively stupid. Which naive stupidity was more tragic? The Soviet or the US?
Hard to say at this point.
Embarrassed
/ September 14, 2011Mrs. Hebshi, I am deeply saddened to read what happened to you and the two other travelers. As a country, when we practice discriminative behavior, prejudice, persecution, and the direct opposite of democracy, we in turn perpetuate a cycle that often erupts into hatred and intolerance. We need to be able to be ourselves without fear of persecution and in order to survive and thrive in a hate free environment, we must choose to not accept society’s generalization of what is right for me should be right for you.
nittinj
/ September 14, 2011Everything can be defined and everything can be argued for and against. Racism, xenophobia, fear of death etc are age old emotions, which can be and cant be justified depending on how you look at it and perceive it. Usually all the terrorist, suicide bombers (irrespective of race, color, religion) have no previous history, no immediate connections with another terrorist or suicide bomber. Most of the fanatics are first and last generation folks, who decide to or are forced to take things in their hand, all of a sudden.
So, very rarely can any investigative intelligence, secret services can predict who will carry out the next gorilla attack and how and when and where.
Education, awareness, training is required for people on all three sides
(those who kill, those who protect, those who are innocent, ignorant victims, sufferers).
Samuel Holmes-Brown
/ September 14, 2011Far out, thank you so much for letting people see into what you experienced. Your courage is inspiring.
Ester Brym
/ September 14, 2011terrible! I feel ashamed to live here…everything has changed after 9/11 and this beautiful country will never be that way again 😦
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011I wouldn’t mind being held for questioning, if there was an actual lead for the FBI here, and law enforcement actually went through the proper legal channels. But being thrown in a jail cell because of a racist idiot’s paranoia? Getting strip searched? WTF!!!??!!!?
Also, AL Qaeda has three goals: Kill all Americans, kill all Israelis, and kill all Indians. (Which is my nationality, and the nationality of two of the people detained) I have many hindu relatives almost killed in terrorist attacks. Even if you racially profile, we’re on your side for god’s sake. (Not that I’m saying that’s ok either)
Its one thing to violate the constitution, and to racially profile, its another thing to be a complete idiot while doing it. If you want to racially profile, look up which god damn race you’re profiling.
So glad I didn’t have to be on an airplane and be brown at the same time on 9/11.
agreengo
/ September 14, 2011Get over it.
honestly it may be that a small percentage of this had to do with the way you look but more than likely it was because of the two gentlemen sitting next to you & taking a long time in the lavatory.
I travel all the time in & out of the middle east, south america & the united states.
I carry ID showing that I work for the US govt
I have quit counting the times where I am singled out & searched, questioned about the who, what, where & when of my life in numerous countries around the world.
early sept 2011 I was detained in London for 3 hours, strip searched and asked alot of the same questions that you probably heard (I was detained as I was coming off of the plane & had not made it out of the jetway when the security officials grabbed me)
I do what I am told when I am told & eventually I am released & allowed to go about my life again.
I am a white male, 50ish, so the theory about how they only single out persons because of the way they look does not hold full truth.
yes I agree it sucks that the world has gotten to this point however until a very small percentage of the population changes the way they ‘protest’ & start using a peaceful method vs. explosive devices as they tend to favor now the security posture will not change.
Until the rest of the Muslim population says enough & takes a stand against the radicals who have hijacked the religion the attitude that many people in the world have towards Muslim’s will not change either.
It is sad that anyone has to experience tratment such as this but until attitudes change throughout the world it will be a fact of life.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011That this post was left by someone working within the US Government is frightening.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011For one thing, Pakistan has been fighting in the “War Against Terror” with you guys for quite some time now. Yet Pakistani’s and Muslims are still labeled as terrorists?
I’m sorry, but I do NOT agree with you nor your government’s activities or policies. What these ‘authorities’ did was and will always stay wrong, because it violates basic human rights, and actually terrorizes citizens!
Patting down an 11 year old isn’t legal, I’d say. I’d have sued that ‘officer’ for touching my kid the wrong way, and would’ve had him charged as a pedophile, as well as the rest of the ‘officers’ there and the agency itself, for allowing that idiot to touch the kid in the first place.
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011The Muslim population has said enough many times, and has taken a stand many times.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Agreengo: it’s disheartening to me that someone working in the US government can’t use the shift key to write proper posts. Is this all it takes to get a government job? Or perhaps I am saying that I’m not convinced you travel out of the country a lot and are just making things up. Why is a US government official going around with what amounts to a bigoted screen name? Do you think that’s cute? Is it what your beloved friends in Spanish speaking countries (south of Texas?) call you?
I want to know the name of your supervisor.
Joel Durham Jr
/ September 14, 2011“Oy! Where’s the fucking bar, John?”
–Roger Waters
In other words, how far do your protectors have to go in violating you (or people of color whom they think are terrorists via ethnic profiling) and/or your loved ones before you stop bending over for them? To paraphrase a great Founding Father, they who would sacrifice liberty for perceived security deserve neither.
Get used to it, you fools who praise the FBI and prate on about “security.” If you allow to happen what happened to Ms. Hebshi without standing up for her – and your own – rights, you’re asking for more of the same.
Kelly523
/ September 14, 2011Hello Shoshanna,
I just want to say that I am very sorry that you and the two gentlemen were treated so horribly. I hope that you can take some kind of legal recourse. In the timeline of the authorities’ reactions, there was such a profound lack of common sense, of logic, and of verification of the report of so-called suspicious behavior. I believe you when you say that you were racially profiled. May you find the comfort and healing you need after this horrible incident.
Lee Brotherton
/ September 14, 2011I’m shocked by the ignorance and just plain stupidity of some of these comments simply dismissing this illegal and unwarranted detention of a citizen without any probably cause at all. The only reason anyone “reported’ these people were engaged in “suspicious” activity was because the looked like they might be arabic or middle eastern, etc… in other words, because of racists paranaoia three of our fellow citizens were, for no good reason, humiliated, illegally searched, and detained. What happened to this woman, our fellow American, is an inexcusable disgraceful and illegal (as in unconstitutional) violation of the rights of private citizens to be left alone!
Mike
/ September 14, 2011That’s it? No apologies? You don’t harass your citizens under the guise of protecting them. It is as simple as respecting the rights of everyone. Racial biases have no place in this time.
Jim
/ September 14, 2011Cry me a river. Sounds like you hit every CAIR talking point right on the head.
If you expect me to believe you were just singled out and picked on cause you look like an Arab and just ‘happen to have a blog, and Facebook and twitter and the presence of mind to give a play by play of us storming a plane (even though you have to pee) I have a bridge for sale.
You three raised suspicions, appropriate action was taken and you were released when no further need to detain you existed.
That’s how it works.
Have a nice day.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Strip searches are not appropriate for people who sit at their seat minding their own beeswax.
It would do all of us a lot of good if frightened pansies like yourself who need to storm on with a show of force would start minding your own beeswax, as well.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Silence: I appreciate it’s difficult not to get exasperated by continuous iterations of this thoughtless cant by obviously older white males who probably are antisemitic (or Islmaphobic), but that’s no reason to pay them the compliment of saying they dress well, look fabulous in sequins or a leather sling, and suck cock than 90% of women (the other 10% being enthusiasts and professionals).
I mean “ignorant” should be fine. Perhaps he’s even a “bigot”. I wish the word had stronger associations. “Bigot” seems kind of milquetoast to me finally … “You … bigot!” But if that’s the case, just call him antisemitic. There’s no need to call him a pansy (or a daffodil)..
Chetan
/ September 14, 2011What suspicions? Even the FBI can’t tell us what was suspicious.
And you obviously didn’t read the post either, they didn’t let anyone get up. How do you expect her to go to the bathroom when she’s not allowed to get up?
And even if they were doing someone suspicious, the authorities have a proper process to follow, which doesn’t include randomly grabbing someone, and strip searching them.
Thats how it should work.
miketherevelator
/ September 14, 2011Totally pathetic. This incident and what this country has become. Cowards. No better than bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Bush and now Obama justify civil liberty take aways, killing innocents, violence and perpetual war as ordained by God; just like bin Laden and Al Qaeda justified their attacks on innocents by invoking Allah. Really, this country talked a good land of the free, home of the brave, but when the chips were down. Total cowardice, I’ll trade that habeus corpus and the 4th amendment if you’ll keep my safe. You can do what you want with brown people, just keep me safe.
But we didn’t let 911 turn us into people full of fear. The hell we didn’t. The only way they can keep up with their overseas slaughter and their domestic thievery is to keep the US citizen scared to death and people are happy to oblige. They are terrified. bin, baby, you won. One morning, 3 airplane attacks, less than 3,000 dead and after 10 years of war, most Americans don’t even realize we lost this war the same day it started.
Totally embarrassed to be American. But soon to be an expatriate.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011The worst part of it is, these bleating sheep, crying to be kept safe, are no safer because when you need to kill Freedom to protect it, well then we all lose.
Thanks a lot, bedwetting pansies. I hope you’re happy with the coming oppression of more and more people, and not just the brown ones.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011have a little bedwetting problem at the orphanage did we? stop taking out your abandonment issues on everyone.
IamTheBoulder
/ September 14, 2011As a white British man I have never been singled out for the way I look (except for when I dyed my hair all sorts of funny colours as a teenager). I have, however, always been fully aware of how strangely people react to such trivial things as skin colour and race and to be honest, I think that this beautiful post sums up a problem with the western world in general. “Seeing ghosts” is the best way of putting it – fear is often unfounded in this day and age and in this case, it has victimised a seemingly wonderful person. I’m genuinely sorry you had to go through that.
Giovanni
/ September 14, 2011The person who tell the police should be controlled the same way you have been.
Chris Lee
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana,
You need to get a lawyer ASAP! I can only imagine how frightening the whole experience must have been. I love how in this day and age, you can be a complete slob on a plane, pick your nose, stink to high heaven and noone says a word, but all you need is one paranoid idiot and all hell breaks loose. Get yourself a lawyer, if I were you I would be fuming and would want a very big apology. Thanks for sharing, glad you are ok!
MichaelEdits
/ September 14, 2011I think it’s appalling that something like this could happen. Thank you for posting it.
Charles W.
/ September 14, 2011Does anyone know the racial makeup of the people dismounted in handcuffs Sunday? More importantly; If a racial inequality is found in the number of people taken into custody; is an inequality beginning at the reporting level, or at the level of who the FBI decide to to take away. I am quite sure the FBI ignored zero calls that day, I just wonder if they racially profiled regarding arrests. The general public is stupid and over-reacts to stupid things. The FBI should treat everyone the same regarding color of skin.
Charles W.
/ September 14, 2011I meant “regardless” of color of skin.
corporatewifenokids
/ September 14, 2011This country and the perceived security are a complete farce. The new “security” measures have at least done one thing for me..given me more the reason to not have children. As a veteran to this country and someone who is always picked for the full body scanners and/or felt up I am horrified by the way we have allowed our Constitution to be thrown away and have our rights violated by unellected thugs of the TSA/ Homeland Security.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for your service.
I’m sorry we destroyed the freedoms you sacrificed your life to protect.
Joel Hudson
/ September 14, 2011How did we go from proudly proclaiming “Give me liberty or give me death”, to whimpering “take my liberties” under our breath? I am ashamed, and saddened to hear of your ordeal. It’s a somber reminder that we have a long way to go to truly achieving liberty and justice, for all in this country. You have a real gift with words which gives a voice to all those who were also unjustly detained in incidents across the country that day whose story hasn’t been told. Exercising your Constitutional right to speak out and bring this to light was a profound act of patriotism. Thank you for your courage in coming forward. I would be honored to sit next to you on a plane any day of the year.
A
/ September 14, 2011In situations such as these, I always wonder what would have happened if you were to have reported a similar incident(or non-incident as yours was) to “authorities”, and had demanded that there be an investigation, for everyone’s “protection”, especially if the “suspicious” characters were caucasian.
If my guess is correct, you would not have been taken seriously, and it would have been completely in vain. In fact, you might still have been singled out and investigated. Very strange “freedom” we purportedly have.
Dustin Sanchez
/ September 14, 2011For the record – I would not have cooperated with them at all. I would not have answered any questions, would’ve tossed their badges onto the floor when they showed them to me, and demanded legal counsel. I would have been extremely belligerent in a non-physical non-cooperating fashion. I would’ve made a point to irritate them and provoke them. I’m pretty sure that during the strip search, I would’ve asked the officer conducting it if he goes home at night and “rubs one out” to this. I would’ve compared the FBI agents to Hitler’s SS openly. Can you see where this would be going?
I don’t take kindly to my civil rights being trampled under “suspicion”. I don’t take kindly to my belongings being searched without a warrant. This situation would’ve crossed a line with me and the chances are that this entire situation would get extremely messy very quickly.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 14, 2011OK. I shouldn’t — but I’ll bite. Some of the thinking here is fascinating and addictive in a very bad way. Example:
“A) Muslim terrorists are blowing up planes and buildings full of people.
B) We are trying to prevent that from happening.”
Preventing anybody – including Timothy McVeigh (not a Muslim) – from blowing up things is indeed a noble cause.
The failure comes when *anything, no matter how crazy or how patently ineffective*, is to be justified because of that.
Would someone please, please explain how the security response in this particular case would have prevented a terrorist incident.
– The ‘terrorists’ were on the plane – having got through heavy security.
– Absolutely nothing was done by air marshals on board to prevent them from doing whatever they had planned to do on the plane.
– The plane landed
– It was directed to a quieter part of the airport. Absolutely nothing was done about the ‘terrorists’ for 20 to 30 minutes.
– All through the flight and in the time the plane just sat there after landing, the ‘terrorists’ did absolutely nothing even vaguely ‘terroristic’ – well, apart from using the bathroom, which I suppose I have to admit is incredible suspicious.
– *All* checked baggage is unloaded and examined/sniffed for explosives. *All* passengers on the flight are obviously suspected terrorists transporting bombs in their baggage.
– *All* Passengers are detained and interviewed.
SO …
There are clear lessons to be learnt here. The ‘terrorists’ got through security – onto the plane and up in the air. That’s completely unforgivable!
The *ONLY* thing that prevented a major terrorist incident was the fact that they were not terrorists and that’s a piss-poor excuse. That’s a cop-out. This must never be allowed to happen again.
This is what must be done:
1) All passengers must be strip searched before boarding. End Of. Gotta be done and to hell with namby pamby libertarian butt-hurt pussies who put their own comfort before “Our Freedoms”
2) All passengers must be put in a room together and allowed to observe each other. This is to allow completely untrained people and/or racists and/or whack-jobs to flag people that make them feel uneasy. This is absolutely necessary just in case the people and systems who have been trained at great expense to spot very subtle signs have missed something. Spotting ‘funny-looking’ people after they get into the air is *too late*.
3) All aircraft bathroom cubicles to have a number of CCTV cameras placed so that one of them will always have clear view of the person no matter how they try to hide what they are doing.
4) All seats to have at least one CCTV camera pointing down at them from the overhead rack. It is possible that terrorists could assemble a bomb without the need to go to the bathroom.
5) This one is *really vital*. It seems that the requirement for the pilots to go through the same scanning / pat-down security checks as passengers has now been relaxed. This is insane. There is a distinct danger that a pilot could seize control of the aircraft. Put those security checks back! Now!
These things MUST be done. Otherwise all we have is a security theatre – just the pretence of security.
dave
/ September 14, 2011You were not searched simply due to your appearance or you would be searched every time you fly. You were searched due to sitting with some suspicious acting characters on a day that was especially sensitive.
Remember, if something had happened, you would probably expect the government to do more, not less.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Again, dave, if people like yourself are so afraid of flying on 9/11, then they shouldn’t be flying on 9/11.
Your children must be embarrassed to have such a pussy for a father.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011you’re just jealous that his children have a father, unlike you, orphan.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Seriously, what are these ad hominem attacks? I’m not an orphan, which really doesn’t matter to the discussion anyway.
Look, there are clearly people who are too afraid to fly.
Fine. Don’t fly. It really isn’t that difficult of a concept to understand.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Silence: she’s responding to your ad hominem attacks, by calling people pansies and pussies. Her point is non sequitur, but you’re allowing her to make it because of the language you’re using. Again, I share your frustration with the brain death exhibited, and goodness only knows a good verbal drubbing would seem to help (me) after nearly 10 years of Bush and Nonsense … even so, even so.
Don’t let your better self get baited by others’ stupidity. Reply and reply boldly, yes, but don’t just rant.
Having said that, however, Nietzsche did say that sometimes the ad hominem is appropriate, because the discourse some exhibit (and are exhibiting here) actually has a predictive validity in it–that is, you can anticipate what they will say and be right, so it is not “just the argument” that one can attack argumentatively, but also the person making the argument.
So, bigoted, uneducated, or merely lock-step patriot of some sort seems to be a valid category here and has predictive validity. Pansy and pussy, however, do not.
It’s also not fear of flying that’s at root for them. If only it were only that, but it’s instead the stark, white, moldy underbelly of properly pap-fed US ignorance. There might be a lot of this around the world, but we’re just too naive to believe we have it here. That’s all. And seeing it i is really yucky, to use a technical term.
Another way of saying this is I’ve been enjoying your posts. Don’t screw it up.
P. Fennessey
/ September 14, 2011Im so sorry this happened to you, christ what are people thinking these days, cant we all just get along.
Nikhil Bagri
/ September 14, 2011So Sorry this happened to you.
Racial profiling is a reality and so in paranoia among stupid poorly informed people.
People have forgotten the mere essence of coexistence and living in harmony. In case of American, this pathetic situation sounds so deliberately created…. by the Media, by the Government, by everyone of us who agrees to it.
Is the basic element of trust for fellow human beings just not prevalent anymore?
David Hilbert
/ September 14, 2011I think that your ordeal, Shoshana, was an unfortunate one based largely on racial profiling, and I think that experiences like this are highly discouraging to the many people of Middle Eastern descent who are loyal, patriotic, and productive citizens of the United States. I am deeply sorry that your personal slice of the American dream was interrupted by this harrowing interrogation, which proved entirely pointless in the end. I also gladly self-describe as a redneck, the descendant of impoverished rural whites, who loves country music, the occasional speedboat ride, flat-top haircuts and struggles with a growing waistline. I would love to share this country with people like you, why don’t you want to share this country with people like me?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 14, 2011Those people did not die in order that we should allow random strip and cavity searches of someone simply because another person said “I’m suspicious.” That kind of leeway only lends itself to abuse.
Oh, dear. That’s exactly why they died ~ to allow this abuse. The PATRIOT Act was already written, long before 9/11.
Fuckthisshit
/ September 14, 2011this is such bullshit i hope you sue the shit out of the airliner and the government
Shady_Grady
/ September 14, 2011This was patently ridiculous. Thank you for sharing this story. More people need to hear about this. This sort of slow motion shredding of constitutional protections needs to stop. Strip-searched b/c of suspicion? That’s wrong.
Joy
/ September 14, 2011I’m so sorry that happened to you!!! I really hate racial profiling – but to be honest, on most normal days, you see airport security people being so careful NOT To profile that they will allow a man with a turban on his head to go through the security check line with the turban ON his head and will do a thorough body and possession search on a 70 yr old crippled lady in a wheelchair. I’ve actually seen that happen! Someone does need to figure out a better way to do this stuff!!
M
/ September 14, 2011How do you know that’s not a better approach? Are you an expert in terrorism? I for one am glad that they’re not singling out guys with turbans anymore to make the likes of you feel “safer”. They’re of the Sikh religion of South Asian descent and unfortunately a Sikh man, a gas station owner in Arizona, was the very first post-9/11 casualty when some idiot shot him for looking like one of the hijackers. As for searching old women in wheelchairs, are you proposing that they do a light once over because they don’t fit your profiling expertise? When one day a woman in a wheelchair is blamed for an attack, you’ll be scratching your head and saying you never saw that coming.
Parent Imperfect
/ September 14, 2011Incredible story, Shoshana, and more amazing to imagine that there were 50 other incidents like yours around the country on that day. I’m so sorry you had to experience this in our, or any other, country. But what makes me even sorrier is the evidence in the comment stream of where we’ve come as a country during the ten years since 9/11/01. It pushes the limits of my understanding that people would attack you for telling your story or suggest that you suck it up because the goons who did this to you are protecting “us”. I’ll take my protection without the violation of my rights, thanks.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011This is actually why I never want to go to US. They claim to be the saviors of humanity, yet the American “authorities” are some most racist people on the planet. They’d even put Hitler to shame.
I hope you are feeling somewhat better after this horrifying experience.
Anne Freitas
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana, a friend shared your story via MSNBC on Facebook. I’m appalled and sorry for what you had to go through just because of your appearance. Much love to you for having the strength to share,
Rajesh K
/ September 14, 2011She had no ability to talk to a lawyer or the ability to contact her husband. She was strip searched (done only after an arrest). She was fingerprinted (done only after an arrest). She was asked all details about her life without an attorney present. She was not read her rights. She could not use the toilet. The evidence against her was weak at best. There was no eminent danger. She was NOT arrested; just let go with a statements saying that it was for her protection, that it was 9-11 that caused it. So this is a case where many due processes of the law were violated.
Seems like her human-rights were also violated.
Now add on: There was racial profiling.
The Government is there to keep the citizen safe, one citizen at a time by not violating their rights, FIRST.
Every time I hear people say what transpired was for the good of everyone/for the safety of everyone, I think of more totalitarian regimes. I have heard people say in those regimes: “For the collective good, we have decided to banish/kill/torture/etc. you for being different.”
Is Ms. Hebshi a human being? If yes, treat her like one and don’t take away her human-rights.Is this USA, where the rights of the citizenry is what is imbued in the constitution?
Seems like Ms. Hebshi can sue the TSA and the rest of those jerks and get some heads rolling in the FBI.
FBI and HS officers KNEW that she was being strip-searched. Guess what, this seems like passing on the buck to someone else. So they are also culpable. Finally, the airline idiots …
Megan
/ September 14, 2011Amen. To everything you said. Spot. On.
Kashif
/ September 14, 2011Agreed to 1001%!
Don McLean
/ September 14, 2011succinct and spot-on.
michaelfury
/ September 14, 2011“Fear is the mind-killer.”
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/truth-crushed-to-earth-shall-rise/
Barry Colin
/ September 14, 2011This is disgraceful and I feel awful for not only the author but also the Indian passengers who were treated in such an unAmerican manner. What’s ironic is that if an American (I say White American) was travelling in India, he/she would be given preferential treatment over Indians by the arrogant Indian security guards at the airport. I know, ironic isn’t it?! Why do Indians put up with this? Do they have a servient mentality to anyone White?
Robert Klemme
/ September 14, 2011It’s a shame, it really is. Frankly, this situation in the US (and with data “exchange” when flying etc.) is the major reason why I don’t really feel like traveling to the US currently. It’s sad to say this because of the nice people I know over there and the great country, but the level of surveillance and mistrust I experienced during my last flight does not make me feel welcomed – and I am not even from the middle east but rather “Old Europe”. The Norwegians have shown a much better reaction to terrorism recently – I think we should all learn from their example.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011this woman is obviously enraged at what happened to her and yet she reverted to inverted racism. she goes on and on about how it feels to be singled out through racial profiling and yet goes out of her way to make rude, grotesque remarks about white men, red necks, country music and fat bellies. national security is a major issue and you must understand that whether through ignorance or miseduction, people of the middle east will always be viewed as terrorists. it has been proven too many times that they are unpredictable using the mentally retarded, women and children of their lands to commit suicide bombings…among other things that they do in order to get their point across to the west. pity them if you wish, they hate you for not being muslim and would kill you [infidel, non-believer] instantly given the opportunity.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011You are just too stupid to get it, aren’t you?
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011let me guess, you’re an orphan right? from the sound of it, you didn’t learn or have anyone to teach you manners. poor thing.
John
/ September 14, 2011But… She described almost everybody… It just so happens that they were white….
Don McLean
/ September 14, 2011It is almost not worth replying to you, because it is clear by your writing that you will not ever consider any position except the one that you already dogmatically choose to adhere to. But I will make an attempt nonetheless, in the event that somehow, you might someday see the world in some different light. Clearly, the most suspicious thing that anyone did was to be born with brown skin. If there was no other reason to notice this person, then the paranoid passenger never would have noticed who was in the bathroom, or for how long; or that another man who happened to have brown skin tone went to check on his status, or the status of the bathroom. When you feel that it is ok to degrade and strip search someone based on a spurious claim that they are “acting suspicious”, it clearly confirms that the most “suspicious” thing about this person was their skin color and appearance. So, when you include Shoshana in the same group who would kill “us” as infidels, and the Indian Americans, who were strangers to her; and anyone who “appears muslim”, then by association, you are saying that it is ok to assume that they are, by your definition, evil, based upon your perception that they are “muslim” or “arabic” or “close enough for government work”. I think that you may publicly deny this, but I suspect that this could be very close to how you actually feel. That anyone who appears “middle-eastern”, or whatever your criteria is to indicate that they are “terrorist”, is fair game for cavity search, lock-up, and complete denial of any and all rights, because they look suspicious, and by god, we can’t risk AMERICAN lives by NOT doing something!!!
By that same line of thinking, I, being white, and american, must necessarily also think the same way as you, and Timothy McVeigh, and every other white person who appears american. Since you can never really be too sure whether I am an american who might or might not threaten you and your way of life, you had better lock me up or kill me, just to be sure.
Therefore, Every person who appears to be the slightest bit “middle-eastern”, or dark (might as well lump all those mexicans and cubans in there, too – get rid of the whole lot in one fell swoop, just for good measure! Then! and only then, will our jobs, our money, our lawns, our jewelry, our children, and our precious freedom and nascar and amerikkka be truly protected. Kill the lot of them, I say!!! everyone who doesn’t look like me, get in the killing box!!! You are the sworn enemy, and “the evil”:
But here’s the rub, and see if you can get your mind around this one.Following this line of thinking which you don’t want to give up on, guess what? Anyone born with dark complexion, or “persian” features, or that chooses to display any allegience to a religion other than yours, or whatever it is that you use as your criteria for “terrorist”, as a sworn enemy, will also, logically, take the same rational stance. However, they will, for reasons obvious even to you, be diatmetrically opposed to you and I, as they are, shall we say, brown, while we are pink. Therefore, whenever they see us, it shall be their prerogative, their imperative, to protect their freedom, their children, their property, and their own life, and necessarily, they will have no other choice but to lock us all up, or eradicate us. In this black and white scenario of considering what another human essentially is, you have actually simplified everything. There are no good people in the world at all; only evil pink people in the west, and evil brown people in the east, and we should just get it on, and all start strip-searching, raping, and killing each other, until we are all eradicated, or sufficiently thinned out enough to start the whole cycle over again.
To save you the time of lobbing another accusation of bastardization, I will just go ahead and say that I came from an orphanage. Why, in fact: I don’t even have natural human birth parents, the “orphanage” actually spawned me, from leftover bacon grease and government cheese. You might want to try and see that your attempt to hurl insults really falls flat and harmless, and only serves to paint you as a callous, hateful, scared bully. So what if I had grown up in an orphanage? Would that somehow make me less worthy? less human? What if you had been born in an orphanage, or, allah forbid, in pakistan? Can we agree upon that as a possibility? Isn’t it a possibility that your creator could have ordained your soul, or life force, to have been born under different circumstances? Isn’t it possible that your sister, your friend, a boyfriend, mother, father, or child, quite possibly could have a different perspective? Doesn’t it occur to you that your eyes, a “window into your soul”, are also your window out into the world? And that your mother, your sister, your child, or your friend, or a complete stranger, sees the world from a completely different perspective? Perhaps their “window” is down the hall, or upstairs, or is blocked by a tree, or they can see around the fence or camper that blocks your view. Perhaps they live in the house next door, or across the street, or country, or world. My point is that your interpretation of the world is clearly quite different from, say, your sister’s, or mine, or Shoshana’s, or Tiger Wood’s. Because you have had different experiences, you internalize things differently than someone else who had a different childhood, upbringing, or father.
Because you see the world differently, who is to say that what you see is correct, but another human, say, down the street, has a different perspective. Perhaps, to you, the car parked in the street looks grey, because the light of the sun is situated in front of you in such a way that the car is in shadow. Perhaps brother Dan, from a “window” across the street, where the car is lighted up by the rays of the sun, the more accurate perception of the car’s true color is more apparent to Dan, and he perceives it as blue. Would you steadfastly maintain that the car was indeed gray, since that is what you perceive from your vantage point, from your admittedly limited or narrow perspective?
Bottom line, I don’t think that you would enjoy the humility of being handcuffed in front of strangers, or acquaintances, or at all. I would not, I cannot imagine that you would just accept it, for any reason. You don’t seem to have a problem with someone “suspicious” being cavity searched, interrogated, and stripped of all rights that are gauranteed in our constitution. I suspect that you would be ok with it, as long as it did not affect YOU. But what if it did? Or what if it was one of your close family relatives or friends? I can already hear your protest; so I will stick to “suspicious” characters, such as folks from India, or of pigmented skin who have the audacity to come to the table of american freedom with us whites. It just seems to me that the bottom line for you, is that you see yourself as somehow better, superior, chosen, even. I have ranted about “American Exceptionalism” which is just one of many misguided cultural beliefs that many of us share as Americans. It means, that we feel that we are somehow better than someone who was not born here, with fair skin, priveledge, money, and freedom. That the freedoms of america, whenever invoked or evoked, are meant for you, particularly, not for indian americans; azerbaijani american citizens, athiest americans, and quite certainly not any muslim americans.
The point that I wish that I could drive home is this: We all share a common bond. That is humanity. We are humans. we are the same. For me, there is no other way to see it. Shoshana, Ali Abibwa, George Jetson, Lakshmi, Shing, and Johnson are all entitled to the same expectation of dignity and respect. Does a proven criminal individual deserve for his rights to freedom to be revoked? Absolutely. But innocent until proven guilty in a court of law is a phrase i am quite sure that you are familiar with. And It is NOT ok for ANYONE to be stripped of their rights, of their clothes, of their dignity, and searched without due process of law. Certainly not because of some unsubstantiated, wildly paranoid accusation of “appearing suspicious”. Consider if you somehow, by whatever sequential series of events, were to get caught up in some outrageous injustice? wouldn’t you feel outraged? wouldn’t you want to be heard, and validated? And before you reply somehow that you have been violated, by 9/11, please spare yourself this luxury. We all went through it to some degree, and it was horrible, despicable, and warrants our sadness, perhaps even our loathing – of the individuals and organizers and supporters who orchestrated this event and continue to advocate these types of senseless murders. Without question, they deserve our vitriol. Of course, in the face of fanaticism, or delusion, it does not deter them, but that is another discussion. Swift, merciful death may be the better solution, but we cannot even begin to discuss this here. What we are talking about is associating an innocent bystander, simply because he or she shares some perceived physical trait, or by someone’s deluded judgement, was guilty by association, of being “involved” or near others who engaged in “suspicious activity” (which i believe was an upset stomach).
Treating an innocent as a guilty criminal , degrading and dehumanizing her, because she “looked suspicious” does not save us from terrorist attack. It never will, and is never ok. It will do nothing to prevent anything. The only thing that is served is mistrust and the only thing that is reinforced is mutual fear. In the event that another terrorist does get through, which is a very real possibility, I will still not advocate that we give up our dignity and rights to the point where “looking suspicious”, or having an appearance that rankles someone, is enough to serve us up some interrogation, strip searching, and lord knows what else. I don’t care that it wasn’t me that it happened to. It should not happen. To anyone. Innocents should not pay for the ignorance, intolerance, fear, and hatred of others, and that includes 9/11. But THIS ACT DOES NOT PREVENT TERRORISM. This incident was asinine, and completely avoidable or reversible. Fear is eating the heart out of this country. Fear destroyed Afghanistan for the last 30 years. Fear has been hard at work in the world, and right here in America. Fear got a monster-dose of miracle-grow on 9/11, and if we don’t curb our enthusiasm, we are headed for much worse than recession or mutually assured destruction. Perspective! Use your rational brains! and find our commonality – our humanity — our tolerance for each other’s differences. Then, and ONLY then – can we combat ignorant loathing and murderous suspicion.
I don’t know that any amount of grandstanding will drive this point home to you, but I cannot in good conscience leave without at least some attempt. I don’t purport to know everything. But I know that intolerance and fear lead to horrible atrocities, over and over in history. We have to examine our prejudices and our dictums, all of us: american, iranian, pakistani egyptian, norwegian, german, albanian, canadian, brazilian, ugandan, somali, isreali, palistinian, cuban, puerto rican, peruvian, romanian, roma, chechnian, slovak, sunni, shia, rwandan, tsutsi, hutu, morovian, italian, french, austrian, bulgarian, serbian, srbian, gypsy, mexican, african american, saudi, yemeni, iraqi, pashtun, hazari, usbeck, tajik, hindi, buddhist, protestant, catholic, greek orthodox, hasidic, bahi, etc. etc. ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
Just because we are american does not mean that we should or can control who gets freedom, and who gets the dark cell with the unspeakable unknown. The degredation of human behavior and the desecration of human lives at Abu Ghraib was atrocious; the “patriot act” is abhorrent. The irrational “thinking”, fear, and jingoistic, exceptionalistic, confrontational warrior mentality, of this country is eating away at our credibility. We are not entitled to continue to abuse other nationalities and cultures that we don’t understand. The fear-mongering of the reactionary illiterati in this country are overwhelming our ability to be rational, trust-worthy citizens of this world.
And I will never show good manners to someone who belligerently attacks others. It’s a bit pointless. Much of what “SilenceDogood” says seemed rational to me, i regret that he lapsed into exasperation; but alas, I tried a different tactic, which lapsed into something almost incoherent in it’s rambling obliqueness. I think that we are both struggling to understand how someone could be as intelligent and functional as you seem to be, and yet, be completely oblivious to your own moral ineptness. Your belligerent, stubborn refusal to accept even a modicum of perspective is disheartening, at best – and maddening, at worst. Or, in plainer words, you did strike out first, several times, with your accusations of bastardization (which i believe is no longer perceived as an insult in the western world sometime since the mid-1800’s, btw.) Lighten up, Samantha, dear. If you don’t want to accept anything new into your heart or head, after all that has been written and said here, then I might politely recommend some of your own medicine, and suggest that you go ahead and reclaim your realm of sequester; be that somewhere in Private, Idaho; or perhaps somewhere “south” of boulder; in either case, if you are not from there, you should surely go to visit, and perhaps stay, permanently. for all our sakes.
andy laderoute
/ September 14, 2011I am a white American male who has never been arrested. I once was searched and detained by police for over an hour while my info was run through the system and my car searched. They found nothing and I was released. Why? A man had robbed a convience store about a mile up the road and my car was not known to them (the getaway car was a different color). It was not a big town and I was from the nearby city visiting friends. Was I profiled, yes, was i angry,yes, am I glad the police did their job….YES. I am sick of people saying that they are being picked on by the police. If the men had been up to no good this article would be about how well the police did their job. If something happened like a bomb went off then this article would be about how the cops are stupid and too lazy to do their jobs..WAH..I was searched and asked questions..WAH…if this was your country of origin you would be writing this from a prison…WAH the cops did their job.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Oh, andy, you idiot.
Having your information run through a computer is exactly the same as a strip search.
Did you actually read what happened, or did you want us all to know how much you feel her pain?
Please, do us all a favor and don’t breed.
Jerry B.
/ September 14, 2011Wow, SilenceDoGood! Sounds like you’re all about personally attacking people that disagree with you; calling them bedwetting pansies, pussies, idiots. Let me ask you something, How do you know how the feelings of these opinions were formed? What if they were on the “underwear” or “shoe” bomber flights? What if their relatives were? What if they lost someone on 9/11? You are so quick to call people fear mongers, but fail to understand where the fear may be coming from.
Yeah, it sucks that we have single out “brown skinned” Americans as threats to our safety, but guess what? It was “brown skinned” people that killed over 3,000 people 10 years ago, 15 people 4 years ago, and attempted to kill more over the the last 10 years. Radical Muslim extremist! Sorry for those that get profiled, but are as patriotic as me. Excel your patriotism, just as our soldiers do, and accept, while no fault of your own, it is what must be done, according to the historical facts & statistics, to keep Americans safe that you be profiled and inconvenienced, and perhaps violated. It’s one day of 10’s of thousands.
SilenceDoGood, keep watching MSNBC, keep drinking the kool-aide, and keep your American-hatred at full blast! It is most entertaining. PS, how did that vote for Obama turn out for you (and the rest of us…thanks!)?
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Hi Jerry: thanks for jumping in late. Are you Samantha’s girlfriend … sorry, I really did meant to type boyfriend there . Anyway, just thought I’d ask.
So let’s make sure we’re on the same page. On 9/11, brown-skinned people killed 3000 people of various colors, mostly white I suppose, 10 years ago, then 15 four years ago, and some miscellaneous failures since. That’s 3015. Gotcha. Let’s not forget to factor in, say, the odd 1,540 US people dead in Afghanistan and 5,050 or so US people killed in Iraq. Brownskined people killed them too obviously (except for Pat Tillman, so let’s subtract 1 for that)–that’s approximately 9,614 + 9/11 for some odd 12,614. Okay, good. Whiteskinned people (I’m not going to break it all out for you) have killed about 872,000 civilians (I’m leaving out approximately 40,000 soldiers and any brownskinned people lynched in the US post-9/11–add 1 for bin Laden). So, except for a confirmed 1, more than 900,000 brownskinned people have been killed (and 1.6 million seriously injured) who were not necessarily Muslims and certainly weren’t confirmed terrorists. Quite a number weren’t old enough to carry a gun, and some weren’t ambulatory enough to walk with a suicide bomb strapped on. So, not including the wounded, whiteskinned people (some of them had brownskin, to be accurate) have murdered approximately 70 people for every US casualty behind 9/11–or, if we just count civilian losses for civilian losses, almost 300 brownskinned people for every whiteskinned person killed.
Is that enough to give you a good manly erection of revenge? Or do you need a higher body count?
Who did you lose on 9/11 that licenses you to have such mocking derision? I think it’s perfectly clear where their fear is coming from–the standard smarmy answer is “Fox News,” but it’s from the media generally. For ten years now, you, we, us, have been being irradiated with Islamophobia, and it’s work. You’re living proof, although I’d wager the seeds of your opinion were there before 9/11–maybe not. I’m living proof too; so’s Silence. It must be so nice, living in ignorance of hte reality that you could be shot at any moment just for … well, really, for nothing. Stalin would tell Beria, “Arrest a tenement building.” That’s all it took. Some shit went down in Germany, Poland, Eastern Europe–you might have heard about it. How blessed you are to have spent your whole life wandering around never feeling you had to look over your shoulder. So while you’re busy telling Silence that he ought to consider where the fear is coming from, what’s preventing you from understanding his position? Are you really stupid? Or is it that you ARE scared. They elected a black, hung ex-Slave to president and now there’s pre on your tip and your scardified? Is that it? I mean, really. Come on.
What kind of silly comment is it, Jerry, to tell someone like Silence, who obviously has a modicum of historical awareness, to ask where the stampede of mob-fear arises from in people? Why is it, when Troy Davis was being executed in Georgia, all you heard from the ex-loved one of the one Toy didn’t murder screaming, “Fry the bastard?” And from a black family whose son had been murdered and mutilated by a gang of white boys who just wanted to (and I quote) hurt a “nigger” told the courts not to sentence the killer to death? Why would a family do that? Wait … they said why. Because they were aware of the historical use of the death sentence, both judicially and extrajudicially for their people.
So let’s not be disingenuous. Why don’t you just, for once, admit it out loud. You’re glad that a bunch of towel-heads are getting iced because it makes you feel like the lion of the world. How else are you going to feel special in the dismal ruins of the economy you gave so much of your life for? How much have you lost? Is your pension gone? Retirement, up in smoke? But thank the starry heavens above, the US military can still kill gooks (or whatever the hell they are, right) like they always did.
Tell me, Jerry. How much blood do you want? What’s it going to take? C;mon, don’t be why. You’ve opened up this much. I saw that swipe about Obama. Get it all out in the open for once. Show us where we’re wrong about you (cuz we do have some pretty set ideas about you). Show us where we’re wrong. You have kids, don’t you? I know you’re alive in there somewhere. Show me. Show us all. Get to the nitty-gritty for once in your life.
Don McLean
/ September 14, 2011Ring ring – oh — it’s for you: Her “country of origin” is the US of A, alexandre dumas. I’m tempted to advocate that the “lazy police” orchestrate a little bit of “do their job” on your face, because you are disturbing my peace, and the very thought of your repugnant, belligerent, and puerile reply makes me loathe the very thought of you breathing my air. You were not stripped naked in a PRISON CELL surrounded by men. You were inconvenienced, you were not violated. Surely your thick, obtuse intellect can grasp that there is a difference? Why else are we so consumed about this story of a woman, but not too terribly affected to mention the two men who were also caught up in this idiotic charade? Because men are perceived, for various sociological reasons, to be less susceptible to physical, emotional, and mental violations. You were also never in the position to truly comprehend the magnitude of the situation – as a privileged white male, your indignation was probably greater than any apprehension – yes, because you were presumably innocent, but more to the point, you were white – you really didn’t have any reason to believe that it would last much more than an hour, now did you?
Now, turn the crank up the junk inside that magnificent orb that rests upon your thick neck, and imagine, if you will, that you just spent the last 3 or 4 decades of your life surrounded by a society who see’s you as second class, suspect, suspicious. Imagine, that you are worth less, and therefore, seen as “more probably likely guilty”, because, well, all brown-skinned folks are guilty of something, right? Now, imagine, that for a decade (that’s ten years, in case you fell behind) — imagine, being surrounded by those same generous white folks, who also see you as primely suspicious, because you resemble them “dang arabs” – at least enough to make them look twice at you. Imagine, you twit, that you are a second-class citizen in this sea of privileged whites, who all see you as potentially guilty. As soon as the going gets rough, you feel somehow guilty, even as your rational brain reminds you that you didn’t do jack shiite!
Her sociological situation not-withstanding (as I doubt that you grasped it, based upon your baphometic scribblings) – do you see that there is a difference in the scale and scope of your experience, compared to hers? Can you not see that? Let me put it to you in terms that you can fathom, oh fearless one: Let’s say that it was your mother, girlfriend, wife, nea; your daughter that was locked up, and paraded around naked in a filthy, nasty prison cell, Then cavity searched, while surrounded by men in the nearby cells? do you feel violated yet? angry?
What if you were cavity-searched there, big felluh? that sound like a good time to you? Later that night, you go home, but as you’re falling asleep, it hit’s you: Damn, Dude had his arm all up in my business! Felt like he had a damn searchlight and some red tick bloodhounds rooting around up in there! I still can’t tell if i need to fart or pee?!?? I have just been violated!
And not because you were “up to no good” — but because you had a stomach problem, and spent too much “suspicious time” in the crapper — oh yeah — and you forgot to leave your brown skin at home!!!
Yeah, I can spit some vitriol. Next time, when you don’t know shia, don’t write shia. I get up in arms when folks who think they’ve seen some heavy action start to believe that they have some perspective on things that they clearly know nothing about. Come on out of your little protected, isolated, rugged individual cocoon and get some Experience, Jimi. Git some – with a heaping side of physical and gutteral pain, and i don’t mean losing a girlfriend or your beer to some other phallus on wheels. I mean some serious, soul-searching, religious-experience having, mind-blowing, identity-crisis, spiritually suffocating, existential, cosmos-bending, quagmire type of situational FUBAR-ness; then come out clean on the other side, with your sanity and spirit intact: then let’s sit down and talk about who is a “whiner”. You would sure change your song if you had been through anything even remotely approaching what some others have endured, and by the way, it is usually so far-out funky-whacked, that they never speak of it. ever. So back off, read a book, or challenge yourself in some way for crap’s sake. Stop belittling other people, it doesn’t make you look tough, or patriotic, or smart. it makes you look like a senseless, obtuse, ignoramus. Which, I suspect, you are perhaps not.
A crisis of fear does not make it ok to dehumanize, degrade, or otherwise defile people who we don’t understand, like, or agree with. Can’t you see that repeated acts like this compound the original problems; it doesn’t in any way protect a damn thing? Why can’t you see that? If it was legitimate, it would have been legitimate, and there would have been no argument! But this was clearly an asinine case of utter stupidity on a rampage.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Don: this is really probably one of the most awesome rants I’ve read online. Thank you. It has its squirrely moments, but still. Pretty epic.
Danielle
/ September 14, 2011I am utterly disturbed by what happened to you, I am horrified that so many people think that your treatment was okay. All in the name of safety. We can’t give up our liberties and treat people sub-humanely in the name of safety, it’s a step backwards for our country. If we use the logic that she should be profiled because of what happened on September 11th then using that same logic white males should be subject to invasive strip searches when trying to rent U-Haul trucks or buy fertilizer, after all all white men are capable of being Timothy McVey.
Step back, use some common sense and stop this madness.
And I am so sorry for what happened to you, there is no excuse.
jen
/ September 15, 2011what was “sub-humane”…please…do tell.
and if you feel so strongly…..do something about it! (bet you won’t)
I would LOVE to see you visit a maximum security prison and ask that all suspects (not convicted criminals….just the suspects) — be let out and then back in without being searched and be alone in a room with you.
Oh, I would absolutely LOVE to see that.
Or, why not just stop all searches, even of convicted rapists and murderers and put you in a room with them.
There is nothing unconstitutional or sub-humane about a strip-search.
Even the most hardened criminals are NOT allowed to have their constitutional rights violated — so therefore — according to you — undergoing a strip search in prison is unconstitutional and sub-humane.
Yea…right. Put your money where your mouth is and go sit in a room with convicted rapists and murderers after they’ve been permitted to acquire shanks and other items…..let’s see how your definition of “sub-humane” changes.
You have no clue what the law or constitution says, quite obviously.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011I’m sorry, why are we comparing innocent Americans traveling in an airplane to “hardened criminals”?
You just sound stupid.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Jen: you’ve got some weird fantasies going there, girl.
“I would LOVE to see you visit a maximum security prison and ask that all suspects (not convicted criminals….just the suspects) — be let out and then back in without being searched and be alone in a room with you.
Oh, I would absolutely LOVE to see that. ”
Except in Guantanamo Bay, which is an illegal detention facility, there are no “suspects” in a maximum security prison. Suspects go to “jail” not “prison” though some jails can be worse than prison (Los Angeles County, for instance) and some jails are as secure as maximum security prisons … in which case people wouldn’t be let outside. Prisoners do tend to be strip-searched before going to and from visiting, so there’s no need to let them outside–any contraband is smuggled in by visitors, sometimes during conjugal visits–hence the strip searches before and after.
Essentially, to make your argument coherent, you would want to say that visitors to a prison should be strip-searched, but prisons don’t do that. Whether constitutional or not, it certainly wouldn’t be humane. But you’d think it was fine, if I follow you, because merely sitting next to a dubious person is enough to infect you with “reasonable suspicion”.
There. I took your words that seriously.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 9, 2011Prisoners do tend to be strip-searched before going to and from visiting, so there’s no need to let them outside – any contraband is smuggled in by visitors, sometimes during conjugal visits – hence the strip searches before and after.
With the exception of knives and other things that are manufactured in the prison’s sheet metal shop and/or furniture factory, virtually all contraband is smuggled in by the guards ~ or “correctional officers” ~ who in almost every penitentiary run thriving businesses in liquor, drugs of all varieties, pornography, gambling devices like cards and dice, and the cash used by the prisoners ~ or “convicts” ~ to buy those things, drawn from outside sources for a fee, and even prostitutes, adult and otherwise. America’s “criminal justice system” is described perfectly by the first of those three words.
You write well. You would be more effective were you to avoid words that jar sensitive ears ~ words of four letters and their like. What you say has sufficient shock value by itself, the “profanity” is not necessary for emphasis.
rrthemes
/ September 14, 2011I wonder how many people on that plane and perhaps the many other planes with similar incidents have now been inextricably shaped to believe that all brown people are Muslum terrorists? How many of them will act in some small or large discriminatory way towards us? The percussion of these incidences are sure to reverberate.
veehcirra
/ September 14, 2011what happened to you was so cruel, as I read this my eyes moistened, my jaw tightened and anger started seeping in me…am so sorry for what happened to you, its so sad what shameful treatment you went through. I am proud of you for speaking up…no one deserves to be treated like that.
Glen
/ September 14, 2011I would Rather have a few people detained because of suspicious behavier than have another 9/11 incedent. if you dont understand what or why this happened then you are ignorant. freedom does have a price and some people unfortunatly have to pay that price. when something like this happens in some European and Asain countries do you think they are treated as well as these people were?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Wow. Just wow.
Glen, you’re an idiot.
“Freedom does have a price” does not equal people get strip searched for no other reason than people like you are bedwetting pansies. It means that braver people than you fight for the right of everyone to be treated with their human dignity intact.
Strip searches of innocent people is not the price of freedom, you moron.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011The price of freedom isn’t the removal of our freedoms.
M
/ September 14, 2011Nicely said. This one and all your other posts too, Allison. Don’t be deterred by people who are negative about the fact that you are defending human rights so vehemently.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you very much. This is a very nice thing for you to say. 🙂
Bob
/ September 14, 2011Well as sad as it is people profile because it works! Now imagine walking onto a plane and seeing three people of what look like the same nationality sitting next to each other, coincident I would think not. Then top it off that she is on her phone typing away as if every minute of her life is so damn important that everyone needs to know. Put the electronic device down when you are on a plane. If you ask me this is mostly lack of common sence on her part.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry, but I fail to see how profiling “works”? Perhaps you could explain.
Because, well, of all the profiling that went on here it didn’t work.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011How do three dark-skinned people sitting together constitute suspicious activity? And if you’ll read carefully, you’ll see that she was using her phone on taxi, the way 99% of people on planes do these days. She has that right, as long as everybody else on the plane also has that right.
You DO know that airlines are the ones that assign seats, right? And that if three dark-skinned people are sitting together, it’s either that 1) they are traveling together, which is still allowed in this country or 2) the airline seated them that way COINCIDENTALLY.
Ong Contrari
/ September 14, 2011I walked onto an airplane just the other day. Imagine my surprise when i saw not one group; not two sets — but an entire airplane, chock full of people of what looked like the same nationality — all sitting next to each other!!! Coincident i would did thought not!!! and it sure seemed like every durn fool one of em was on their damn whizbang, googling away as if it was the Apocalypse come nigh, and their lives was so damn important and everybody needs to know! (and we know that they lives wasn’t so damn important, cuz they was all of the look like same nationality!) i swear, not a one of ’em had any common cents. or scents. Or whatever. you know they all smell funny. so Anywayz, — I backed right back off’n that plane, right quick. They might not all be the crazy ones, but they stick up for each other when the moment comes, you better believe it!.
Now, I kant say for a hunert percent sure, but I didn’t want to take any chances, cuz we all know that they is all a dangerous bunch, them. But i swear, they all looked alike to me, and I was ascairt right what good.
I’m pretty sure they were all in cahoots — and they was definitely – every one of em – Americans.
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Bob: thank you for so ably spelling out (i.e., demonstrating) exactly how profiling works. You lumped together three people, at least one of which was not the same nationality as the other two, and then decided that the female using her phone to text was indicative of a terrorist cell in action. I’d wager that not too many seats away, there were three white people sitting together, one of whom was using his or her phone, but it’d never dawn on you that they were the ACTUAL terrorist cell on the plane, did you.
Thank you again for your lucid demonstration. We should all stampede to your comment right now to glean an understanding of how this stuff works.
Dave
/ September 14, 2011Hey, Shoshanna – Anglo-Arab American here. So frustrated you had to go through this. Now we can’t be olive-skinned and even sit near someone who behaves “suspiciously?” Sick and tired of the racial profiling…
Dawn
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry that you were treated in such a manner, but I hope that you will see the bigger picture and not allow this incident to colour your world in such a way that you become someone who would also harbour resentments against others based on the colour of their skin.
That, in my estimation, is the sorriest part of this whole episode, how one person’s ignorance and predjudice can spread. It is insidious, hatred breeds hatred. Contempt breeds contempt.
Please do not allow the idiots to prevail by taking up their banner of ignorance and intolerance.
Beth Routledge
/ September 14, 2011I can’t help thinking that the commenters who believe that this is akin to being pulled aside by security are disingenuous at best.
I am a white woman. I am ALWAYS stopped by airport security and have been since long before 9/11. I forget to take my belt off, I have something in my hand luggage that looks like it might be a bomb, the metal detector goes off for no reason, I am randomly selected. I was flying out of LAX shortly after the failed terrorist attacks in 2006 — the ones that led to the no liquids rules on aircraft — and for one flight was searched twice by security and then again by the National Guard, who were posted at the gate. I’ve never had a problem with this. It is sort of what I expect when I fly.
But what I experience and what many others of all ethnicities experience on a semiregular basis is so different from THIS experience that it’s a little like comparing apples to oranges, and you’d better believe that if I would have a problem with it if I was handcuffed and detained and cavity searched. I won’t be, though. Because I’m white. And that people who behave in the exact same way as me can be treated like criminals simply because they aren’t white is a horrific violation of civil liberties.
ShawnK
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry, when it comes to law enforcement, their procedures versus citizen’s CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, we will ALWAYS lose. It will always be a catch-22, over-react or under-react. The more security or safety (allegedly), the less rights we have. Search for quotes from Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, and other early American patriots, they warned us about governments and police states.
jeff filipov
/ September 14, 2011Well, as the son of someone who was on the first plane, I can first say this, I am very sorry this had to happen to you. The whole thing has everyone in a state of high alert and it’s a shame this is how it unfolds.
I have some unpopular theories on how what happened to you could be avoided–could have been avoided with the past ten years of progress:
1) find out what it was that made these terrorists do what they did to begin with. Instead of just bombing THEM, why not figure out what is necessary to reduce bombing over all on either side?
2) Yes, they are the bad guys and they should be gotten rid of if and when they are as bad as 9/11 terrorists were, but what was their issue? Why did they even feel the need to do this to us? This has been asked before but has anyone really addressed it, or is it so unpopular to ever show any doubt in any form, that this question alone gets subdued and is instead won over by fear, hatred and angst? Again: If these 9/11 terrorists had in their twisted minds some reason to do what they did, what if those reasons were quelled? If the things they were angry at were no longer making anyone angry maybe they would not feel the need to even DO what they DO! Sadly I have the feeling no one is listening to this angle and I will get blasted and horridly misunderstood just for thinking this way. If that does happen, then my freedom–and all of ours–has truly been lost forever. But still, I want to know WHY they even had to do this!
3) aid in fixing whatever the problems are that let people even get that angry. Aid in finding out why and making that reasoning disappear…
4) …so that those people don’t even have a reason to BE that angry…
5) …so that they don’t feel the need to bomb anyone…
6) …so that people’s security in this or any country is less threatened…
7) …so that we, while we now have better airport security for example, can feel more safe on the ground and in the air…
8) …so that people working with the airlines feel less worried or compelled to make the call they made that led to you being taken away like this.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011So, wait, you’re the son of one of the 9/11 vicitms, and you think all of this BS malarky of strip searching people is wrong?
Well, gee, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Some of these nuts with fear mongering agendas would have us believe that people like you would rather have innocent brown Americans killed than feel scared they’re on a flight with them.
Thank you for your insight, and for sharing your story!
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011Jeff: I hope for the sake of sanity you are what you claim to be. You question of why no one will listen … well, in the first place, there are plenty of people who agree with you that it wouldn’t hurt to understand how it could be that our horrific and rapacious policies of propping up non-democratic puppet states int eh oil world, and supplying billions of dollars per year to Israel to continue their disappropriation of the Palestinians, etc., etc.. And etc.
It’s very moving to me to hear someone directly affected by 9/11 speaking this way because, frankly, you’d think that someone who had been directly affected by something horrible would cry out for less horror, not more. People won’t listen to you because the propaganda (the truth of 9/11, if you will) is not about the victims or the survivors, but about using 9/11 as an excuse to occupy Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., etc., etc, to play world-politics in a globalizing market, etc., etc., etc. Your call for peace and understanding is exactly what is needed, and that’s why it’s ignored, because those in power have other plans. And it’s disgraceful how those in power leverage people who have had your experience for the ends that they are. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is perhaps the most awful other glowing example of the same kind of movie. You’re in the same strange position as a family in the South that is calling for clemency for the man who killed their son–they don’t want the horror of the death penalty to be used on anyone, even the white supremacist who murdered their son.
Not all of those directly associated with 9/11 are so broad-minded, of course. But your dismay at what people are saying here is the front of the shock wave (or maybe the center of the standing wave) as a consequence of the propaganda that’s been radiated out into the populace since 9/12. The whole US economy has been sliding into a shit-hole, so it really helps to have someone to blame, for one. And since your basic point is, “Maybe we brought this on ourselves” is the last thing a sociopath could admit aloud, your cry tends to fall mostly on deaf ears. But it’s not no one’s listening. Some are.
Thanks for your comment.
skinnymom35
/ September 14, 2011I live in the suburbs of Detroit. I am sorry this happened to you. We were watching it on the news. While we need to be safe, people also need to not be stupid and get overly paranoid. Again, I am glad you were able to get home safe and you chose to put your story out there.
William Joiner
/ September 14, 2011What a terrible price she has paid because of someone elses fear. Who do you hold accountable for what she endured and how? It seems the person or persons that caused this should be held responsible in some way, but then if you do this will it hinder someone from reporting an actual suspicious activity? Guess its a double edged sword.
Tara
/ September 14, 2011I don’t know, something smells. It’s 9/11. Events occurred which caused some kind of doubt on this plane about those involved. One of those involved just so happens to be a writer/blogger. She’s twittering the entire time! My apologies, but this all seems just a bit contrived. Honestly, how much of this story is really just about someone wanting to propel their career by pushing the buttons of authorities on such a horrible anniversary.
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011very well said!
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011I see you have a reading comprehension problem.
It may surprise you, but people are sometimes polite on airplanes. That 2 unrelated men from the same row would go to the bathroom at the same time is completely unremarkable. Unless you’re a bedwetting pansy. You see, many people who sit in the middle or window seat will actually get up to use the restroom at the same time as the person on the aisle so as to minimize disruption for everybody. That is not suspicious behavior. Though busybodies who are afraid of their own shadows might be afraid of that, they are afraid of a number of things.
And “twittering the entire time!” Uh, no, try again. She made 3 tweets on landing. That’s not unusual at all. I can send as many as 5 Facebook updates, or texts, or tweets, or any combination thereof in the taxi to the gate. It appears you don’t get out much.
So I’ll say it again, if you are so afraid of being on a plane on 9/11! then don’t get on a plane on 9/11! It really is that simple.
Tara
/ September 14, 2011Actually, it appears you blog, text, twitter and facebook a bit too much. I prefer to “live”. I voiced an opinion. While it may be ignorant to you, I feel the same of your opinion. So really, where does being nasty get any of us?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011I’m not really sure where you get your ideas from. They are clearly flawed.
I don’t “blog, text, twitter and facebook a bit too much.” You do know that I’m not the author of this blog, correct? In fact, I don’t blog at all, but that appears to have escaped your attention.
And you are correct that being nasty doesn’t get anybody anywhere. It’s good advice you should have followed when you shot your opening salvo at the author of this blog, who is not me.
Now that we have your reading comprehension problem squared up, let’s address the facts.
The excuse, “It’s 9/11” doesn’t give people the carte blanche ability to spy on, judge, and then report whomever they see doing whatever they think is nefarious. Ever heard the term “Innocent until proven guilty”? A strip and cavity search is not an appropriate way to handle someone who was merely sitting in a row where the 2 other people in that row used the restroom.
She also wasn’t “twittering the entire time!” She sent 3 tweets. That’s 3. In the course of apparently 20 minutes. In fact, it’s none of your beeswax.
Please, if you are so afraid of brown people on planes on 9/11! then do everyone a favor and stay home.
jen
/ September 15, 2011right on, tara! some of these people are worse than what they are accusing the trained pilots and flight attendants of.
The blogger herself is extremely bigoted and racist, calling people “rednecks” and “fatty” – VERY discriminatory and hateful.
Much of what she has stated is just flat-out untrue and not substantiated by the Homeland Security reports (ie: that a similar incident occurred last december. there were some 30 or 40 incidents that month, some arrests for weapons, airport security violations and some terrorists arrested in various parts of the world, but nothing like she described).
So, the blogger does not vet their story very well and perhaps is flat-out lying (hello….james frey anyone?)
Also, Homeland Security says it was the crew (which means the pilots and flight attendants) who identified the possible threat/suspicious activity and made the decision…not some “random” passenger)
Sadly (for her) and lucky (for us), we live in a world where facts can be checked.
Hers just don’t check out.
M
/ September 14, 2011Tara says: “I don’t know, something smells. It’s 9/11. Events occurred which caused some kind of doubt on this plane about those involved. One of those involved just so happens to be a writer/blogger. She’s twittering the entire time! My apologies, but this all seems just a bit contrived. Honestly, how much of this story is really just about someone wanting to propel their career by pushing the buttons of authorities on such a horrible anniversary.”
That’s right, Tara, let’s bury our heads in the sand and deny that there’s any injustice in our country. Anyone who is a victim must want to pretend to be a victim to further their own cause, right? No victim actually speaks out? The last time something happened to you, how ever small it was, and you complained, you were making it up? As for twittering and texting, how I wish I lived in your world where people aren’t doing that ALL the time like woodpeckers. I’m serious when I say that. I hate this texting. But the reality is that people text superfast (we’re actually slow in this country compared to other countries) and post tweets and FB messages in an unbelievably short amount of time. Open your eyes and observe the world around you! I don’t suppose you were watching the news last spring but revolutions took place in three countries, thanks in part to super quick texting.
Tara
/ September 14, 2011M… It’s not necessarily burying our heads in the sand, this mentality to see a situation differently. It’s plausable. Jack Kelly, Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass have all disappointed many who followed their stories and read the well put together pieces which eventually fell to pieces. I not only believe it’s possible, I believe it’s quite probable that others will use situations such as this one we are all discussing, to bring themselves fame.
M
/ September 14, 2011Add Greg Mortenson of “Three Cups of Tea” to your list of writers. Just because of a handful (less than a handful really) of dishonest people, you can’t not believe anyone! That’s way too cynical. How can you trust any source of information or of knowledge then?
Joe Edwards
/ September 14, 2011I am so ashamed of what our country has become over the last 10 years. I wish you the best and hope you can take this experience and use it as a basis for something positive in your or others’ lives. Peace be with you.
saquibd
/ September 14, 2011Good to bring all this out in public.
Now people will know what exactly is the case.
Maggie
/ September 14, 2011Since 9/11 I have flown for 3 funerals, a wedding, and to visit my mom in a nursing home. All four times I was nervous. This last time I was randomly stopped and routinely made to stand in one spot, not moving, but not searched. It was very odd, and I joked about it out loud to my daughter. It did make me more nervous because I had no idea the purpose of it. My demeanor was one of more than mild agitation throughout the airport so my daughter said I was “suspicious”. I don’t hate to fly. I hate the security because you can’t trust anyone. One person can say you did something wrong and see what happens. It’s the same unfairness that is everywhere. But it’s scarier when it’s our own government, an entity that can put people in jail for years, not charge them, based completely on false information. It’s done in foreign countries and everyone is horrified, but it happens in the US to foreigners and Americans also. I’m very sorry this happened, and it’s very upsetting, but this is the US government that is running amok and what can be done about it? By the way, if it matters, I’m a born and bred American.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Maggie, your story highlights exactly what is wrong with this system.
It’s a farce.
rush loves me
/ September 14, 2011If you were a fat white slob like Rush – you would scoot right through.
Aron Joenard
/ September 14, 2011🙂
Mzk
/ September 14, 2011I am thoroughly pissed off that you had to go through this! 9/11 or not, what you have been through is racism pure and simple.
David
/ September 14, 2011I wonder if the “Lady Profiled” was being suspicious. I was traveling by plane a few years ago, sitting next to an Asian Indian girl, who was acting suspicious and kept going into her large handbag, and by her arm movements, I suspected she was texting on her cell phone, while we were at cruising altitude. Well, everyone knows that using a cell phone is not allowed. Sure enough when we landed, she pulled out her phone and it was already on. If she would have been pulled off the plane, it would have been justified.!!! Why did she think it was okay to tweet, etc.?
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011If it was sooooooooooooooooo dangerous, why didn’t you report it?
Oh, right, because phones don’t actually work to text in the air.
Are people seriously this stupid?
Snow Leopard
/ October 8, 2011David: I smell an urban legend! STINKY!
dutterman
/ September 14, 2011So sorry that you had to experience this. This is exactly what terrorism has resulted in, people living in fear and suspicion. So sad that we have fear and hatred in a free country that is supposed to value our diversity.
Ezio
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for the Blog.
Megan
/ September 14, 2011Like your friends and family, I am sick to the heart about what happened to you. It is shameful. It is shameful that someone on your plane decided to fear you and your row-mates because of your ethnicities. It is shameful that the officers who originally detained you had to treat you so coldly (that’s an action that demonstrates presumed guilt, in my opinion). It is shameful that it’s unlikely the individual who called authorities will feel any sense of guilt over what he or she did. I am so sorry, and I will be sharing your story as far and wide as I can.
Grouchy Kirolos
/ September 14, 2011Why are we shocked? at some point or another i Know you all cheered and supported the PATRIOT ACT. You never thought of the consequences and how it was going to be used against all Americans. It is despicable behavior what they did, no one deserves to be treated in that manner, but as we can all see, these are the consequences. According to the law if you ACT OR LOOK “not normal” WE are targeted as Terrorists READ THE PATRIOT ACT,.
Lana Jackson
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry you were forced to go through this! It seems to me that we have forgotten that the Bill of Rights is NOT just a suggestion. These are supposed to be God-given, natural and unalienable rights given to all human beings. There will always be criminals and evil-minded people who are willing to injure, maim and kill others, but giving up our freedoms will not stop these injustices. It will only encourage them to continue and give them excuses for their behavior.
By choosing to ignore the rights of others based on their race or appearance gives our enemies the victories they seek and the tools to create destructive divisions within our society. We are doing our enemies’ work for them by stirring up fears and divisions based on nothing more than paranoia and prejudice. I hope we have an awakening soon that will end this self-destructive behavior.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Benjamin Franklin
B Johnson
/ September 14, 2011I honestly believe that if I were of Arab decent, or even looked like it, I would fully understand my being singled out. I would consider it my patriotic duty to comply. I would appreciate the diligence of those who are charged to protect us. I don’t think anyone, even you, would disagree that political correctness in this country has only put us all in more danger than necessary, and that includes those Americans of Arab decent.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011Are you serious?!?!?!
Seriously, are people really this stupid?
Your patriotic duty, you idiot, is to stand up against this exact oppression you would gleefully bend over for.
But since you’ll likely never be in this position by your own admission, you’ll never have to live up to your “what if” fantasy. What a spineless coward you are.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011You would consider it a patriotic duty to be handcuffed in public, detained for hours with no communication, strip searched (and have your orifices checked), and interrogated?
I don’t believe you.
Profiling people who share the same ethnicity as the 9/11 terrorists is racism, and it does not make us safer.
Larry Vigus
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for your courage. The remedy for fear is love. Blessed Be.
T Azeez Luthfullah
/ September 14, 2011Why don’t you leave America? What makes you live in such a tyrant, autocratic regime? Do you wish to change the regime there?
Roxanne
/ September 14, 2011Very moved by this story and felt greived over the way and fashion you all were treated. I was a former flight attendant for a major airline. I feel you hit the nail on the head when it comes to seeing ghost and living our lives in fear. When living our lives in fear we do not have the freedoms we so think we have you know land of the free. We paralize our minds and actions and cannot see one another for who we really are instead we judge by color, race, culture. We do this in our work settings, churches and schools. We have become paralized in our own mindsets climbing into a box and pulling on the lid and not wanting anything or anyone to disturb it. We cant handle anything that might be different than us. We need to see through another set of eyes and humble ourselves.
V
/ September 14, 2011When the American people stop giving up so much for the little bit this country gives back to it’s citizens that is when this country will change. But as long as We the people keep believing all we hear in the media and all our government spews from there mouths this country will never rise to be the powerful country we can be. We talk about the way other countries are ran but we don’t realize this country is not doing any better look at poverty, education, health care …… We are a third world country in major denial……. Wake up people and stop accepting so little for the ghetto we are made to live in.
Kendra at New Life On A Homestead
/ September 14, 2011Oh my goodness. I can’t even begin to fathom how humiliated and abused you must have felt. Absolutely infuriating. I hate this. I hate what our country has become. I hate that anybody would have to endure this “for the sake of the crowd”. None of this crap makes us any safer than we were before. We have lost our freedom for the sake of safety- a tragedy for sure. You deserved to have rights. You deserved to have a lawyer present. You deserved to retain your dignity until found guilty of doing something wrong!!! I just don’t understand those Americans who are actually comforted by these outrageous security measures. I for one and disgusted, and I refuse to fly ever again until the TSA and Homeland Security are removed. I’d rather take my chances with a terrorist. Please try to not allow this horrific act of injustice to cause you to look at others with resentment, if possible. I am not of Arabic descent, but I am absolutely sickened that you will forever have this day etched in your memory. Thank you for sharing your story. It is so incredibly important that people hear what is really going on.
GOPAL IYER
/ September 14, 2011I’d like to know if this incident wasn’t part of a bigger plan… to sustain the terror psychosis?
Was it sheer coincidence that these 3 passengers were ‘together’? Did they get to choose their seats?
Exactly how did ‘fellow’ passengers raise the alarm?
Miguel
/ September 14, 2011Quick, put on your foil helmet!
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011I’d like to know if this incident wasn’t part of a bigger plan … to sustain the terror psychosis?
My son just received his degree in Government. One of the things he was taught, while preparing for a career in government, was that lying to people was an important part of the way to govern them. This was part of a political science curriculum at an American university.
Erin
/ September 14, 2011Mrs. Hebshi, I wish you were a more positive person along with half of these comments. Safety for our country is far better then ANY ones loss of a few hours of a day. I feel like your complaining is for your 15 minutes of fame, congrats you got it.
summer
/ September 14, 2011Are you serious? You’d happily go through that for “safety of our country”? You really think the extent they went through was justified? When nothing was found on the plane – it should’ve stopped there. Nothing else did anything to help ensure ANYONE’s safety. This isn’t an issue of being delayed a few hrs – it’s a matter of the extent they went through in the name of safety with not one single piece of justified reasoning behind it.
SilenceDogood
/ September 14, 2011You are pathetic.
If you are so afraid of shadows, stay home.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Frankln
I refuse to sacrifice the liberty of others for my own comfort. You obviously feel that other people’s freedoms are not as important as your personal needs.
avery
/ September 14, 2011key word…”essential”….learn what he meant. he didn’t mean what happened to you. classic case of taking a brilliant man’s words out of context because you obviously don’t understand their meaning.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Nothing happened to me. I am not Ms. Shebshi.
I believe that essential liberty includes not be subjected to the treatment Ms. Shebshi experienced on the basis of false reports of non-existent activity. You obviously disagree.
jen
/ September 15, 2011again….”i believe”. that is different than “i know”….and I can tell YOU that I KNOW this woman’s “liberty”, essential or not, was not given up.
There were no “false reports” there were REAL reports, from the flight crew (pilots and flight attendants) or REAL activity.
Your spin isn’t working….as the FACTS are available to anyone who chooses to seek them out.
I, and many other, have and did. THANK YOU HOMELAND SECURITY for your transparency (something this blogger clearly lacks, along with the actual facts).
Learn the law and it’s meaning. Then, we might have something to talk about…but….probably not.
John
/ September 15, 2011Where do you get your so called facts? Certainly not from DHS. Look at the mirror and you see dumb, defending something that you do not even know anything about.
DHS has nothing to do with this case.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44513757/ns/travel-news/t/decision-remove-woman-airplane-disputed/
John J Diffley
/ September 14, 2011“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
Erin, YOU deserve neither. Mrs. Hebshi didn’t merely loos a few hours of her day, she was Handcuffed and Strip-Searched based upon her looks. Every been handcuffed and/or strip-Searched because of your looks? Until you are, kindly slink back under the teabag covered rock you came from.
jen
/ September 15, 2011“based on her looks”….says she.
based on her suspicious activity….says the flight crew (pilots and flight attendants), according to Homeland Security.
I believe the trained crew and Homeland Security. You lose! 🙂
John
/ September 15, 2011Are you blonde? Dumb blonde would include homeland security, they were not even around to observe any activity.
Latest update Frontier Airlines denies reporting her.
Miguel
/ September 14, 2011Give up your own rights if you’re that pathetic and ignorant. Leave the rights of the rest of us alone.
Know Your Rights!
/ September 14, 2011Got Rights? by Muslim Advocates:
Watch This Video: It will give you crucial Information about how to protect you and your family when approached by law enforcement.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs and South Asians have endured particular scrutiny by law enforcement — and in some cases, questioning and searches that infringe fundamental rights at the core of the Constitution. In this climate, it is vital that members of our communities inform themselves about our rights as Americans.
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/get_involved/got_rights.html
CAIR – Know Your Rights:
http://www.cair.com/CivilRights/KnowYourRights.aspx
ACLU’s Know Your Rights: What To Do If You’re Stopped By Police, Immigration Agents or the FBI
http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform-immigrants-rights-racial-justice/know-your-rights-what-do-if-you
Video: Don’t Talk to Police by Professor James Duane
A law school professor and former criminal defense attorney tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police.
Flex Your Rights or Lose Them.
Our mission is to educate the public about how basic Bill of Rights protections apply during encounters with law enforcement. To accomplish this, we create and distribute the most compelling, comprehensive and trustworthy know-your-rights media available.
http://flexyourrights.org/
How Police Interrogations Work:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/police-interrogation.htm
ghsts
/ September 14, 2011Know your rights, all three of them…
Tom Davis
/ September 14, 2011Thanks for speaking out. I’d like to make you aware of four trauma recovery resources:
http://www.bodytalksystem.com
http://traumaprevention.com/
http://www.eftuniverse.com/
http://belleruthnaparstek.com/
One or more of them is bound to bring you out of any after-effects of your experience. God Bless.
Tom
Erica
/ September 14, 2011All I can say is that I am so sorry this happened to you! There are so many thoughts going through my head but I can’t seem to put them together; I am just so sorry you had to endure this treatment.
Stephen A. Watkins
/ September 14, 2011This was pretty moving. I knew this kind of garbage was already going on, but it was powerful to read a first-hand account of the abuse our fear-mongering system lays on those whose only crime is looking “different” – as if looking “different” has any realy meaning in a pluralistic society.
Thank you for sharing. I hope the future will see change and improvement, and we can finally shed this bizarre fetish of fear.
v
/ September 14, 2011Wow.
Whatever happened to innocent before proven guilty?
Dangerboy
/ September 14, 2011So, so horrible. Thank you for sharing the story. We the people need to know this is happening, so we can shout out and make change.
“Fear is the mindkiller” always sounded cool in Dune, but it’s disheartening to watch so many minds die these days, overcome by the fear of the tan-skinned boogeyman.
Connie Chapman
/ September 14, 2011This is BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is NOT the system that I signed up in the military to defend. I am sorry this happened to you. I think I would be calling up a lawyer and have that man on speed dial. This is not something you should take lying down. Its when they grab law abiding citizens and detain them for no purpose that makes me angry… angry enough to start another American Revolution in fact. I would be honored to have you as a friend, just know someone cares.
brocadeblue
/ September 14, 2011America is the real terrorist.
kimberlyalohr
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana – Are you really that ignorant?The FBI etc HAS to racially profile in order to pin down the radical Middle Eastern terrorists that invade our country and threaten our well being. You would think that people would be thrilled to see the authorities take this so seriously. the fact that you have thrown the media light upon yourself is selfish and indicates that you are not interested in puttng a stop to terrorism but rather start to your media profile. Plain English you are a drama queen. And Oh by the way-you look Middle Eatsern and so does your name. SO I think they weren’t too far off. Ever hear the term- better safe than sorry? I am glad that the FBI did their job-maybe you should find something important to write about. Like World Peace and the Taliban . Or how abou t what the Founding Fathers went through to provide freedom for selfish ignorant people like you.
Stephen A. Watkins
/ September 14, 2011This was a powerful read. Although I sort of knew this kind of blatant racial profiling was already going on, it was so much more intense to read a first-hand account of the abuse created by our fear-mongering system.
Hopefully, with the light shed by accounts like this, we will one day be abled to rid ourselves of our bizarre fear fetish, and once again live in peace.
Finn Skovgaard
/ September 14, 2011This is how US immigration have been treating tourists for at least the last decade, whether from ‘friendly’ countries or not. The problem is not limited to racial profiling, as you think. If you research for example telegraph.co.uk articles on the subject over the last ten years, you’ll find plenty of stories like that about ordinary UK citizens having been treated like dirt by US immigration. Recently, there was a grotesque incident in the port of LA where a cruise ship with elderly British tourists was visiting and immigration deliberately held them for several hours, ruining their visit. No matter how much I’d love to visit the US again as a European tourist (and I’m a tall, blond, innocent-looking Nordic one), it is out of the question to do it so long as US immigration behave as banana republic gorillas. To finally tell European ‘friends’ to stay away, the US (under Obama) has unilaterally slapped a tax on visa waiver forms for Europeans visiting the US, whereas US tourists keep visiting Europe without any tax or visa. Such behaviour is how one gets rid of one’s friends. In ten years, I suppose nobody in the US government will be able to understand why nobody likes the US, not even their former ‘friends’. I’ve always been a staunch defender of the US, but they are making it increasingly difficult to hold that position. Of course we need security, but it isn’t necessary to treat travellers as criminals until they’ve been proven criminals.
tara
/ September 14, 2011Personal opinion…I think I was most offended for you by the comment in the non air conditioned car. Crazy huh?
Mike
/ September 15, 2011Yeah but were you detained for six hours and strip searched. MORON! There’s one born every minute.
David
/ September 14, 2011Remember 10 years ago. Two men leaving seats and getting in the restroom at the same time. Light OR dark skinned. What do you think would happen? You got to play it cool when flying, now. Sit down, shut up. Read a magazine. Sleep. Put on headphones. Pretend you are in public on an airplane. Use common sense. Terrorists have no common sense. They were taught that to get to heaven, you have to kill people. We were taught the opposite. They don’t care. The 2 morons who went to the restroom together didn’t care nor had any common sense. If you just HAVE to go at the same time, get a flight attendant and explain: “We are gay and want to do it. We are not terrorists. Would it be okay if we went to the restroom together?” They probably would be denied. ASK first, morons! I have not read all the other responses. I assume they all side w/this nutcase of a woman. She should have covered herself by getting an attendant and told them it is weird…2 men leaving seats together. Just remember: Play it cool on a commercial airline. Don’t be stupid. Today, there are more stupid people than not.
summer
/ September 14, 2011This is a totally unacceptable response! IF something was “suspicious” then they should’ve taken everyone off the plain and searched it. Maybe even ask a few passengers questions. The extent they went through was not only uncalled for, it was just flat out wrong!
No one should have to go through that – it shouldn’t be something we accept. I have always been for more security – if I have nothing to hide, what do I have to fear? But if extra security means doing that to people without one ounce of cause – that’s a completely different story! It’s a sad day when we can do that without having any reason to – simply going off of a bigot or paranoid person’s “POV”… that will only lead to senseless violence and humiliation of innocent people. It adds nothing to our security – in fact, it makes us less secure by our own hands.
Jerry B.
/ September 14, 2011I’m very sorry that this happened to you! But, you shouldn’t be mad at the police or even that you were profiled by crew members. The fact of the matter is, there was a threat on Sunday. As has been proven, the terrorists will use anyone, anything, and deceive anyway they can to accomplish their mission. You should have never had to go through that experience. While I can’t imagine having to go through what you and the others went through, I can’t help but be thankful that the authorities operated at that level of caution.
Put yourself in the opposite shoes. Say there was a terrorist, female, looking similar to your ethnicity, you were on the plane a few rows away, but the authorities didn’t want to assume she was a terrorist because of exactly what happened to you. Plot is carried out, people die. Now the authorities are in an even more tough spot because they did nothing. It’s a no win situation for them.
Don’t be mad at the authorities and the act of profiling. Truth is, profiling protects people. Be mad at the people who created the profile in the first place! Condemn them! They’re the ones violating your rights!
Diane Croley
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry this happened to you. Thank you for having the courage to write about it. I wish there were words that could reach across the internet and give you a big hug.
Tricia
/ September 14, 2011Your story brought me to tears. I don’t even know what to say but that I am terribly sorry that you had to ever go through such a horrific event. We are a country of bigots and racists but that should never be an excuse. I wish there was something that could be done to give you back what they took from you. I only hope that your voice brings light to this awful series of events taking place in our country. Thank you for remaining strong and speaking out. You are an amazing woman and your children AND your country should be very proud of you. Your country should be very ashamed of themselves. Days like this often make me wonder why bother with patriotism at all; nobody’s safe.
Richard
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry for your ordeal. It is very scarey what is happening in this country. The sad thing is that I suspect this prolonged chaos is exactly what the instigator’s of 9/11 had hoped for: “Security” at the expense of Liberty. also, Did the officer suggest that your middle eastern descent would make the hot car more bearable – or am I reading that wrong (ie your own thoughts about his apology after this tradgedy?)
Munir
/ September 14, 2011I think its time to reintroduce segregation at least at the airports. Brown people should go through special security and given a specific corner of plane and would not be allowed to go to bathroom without special permission from flight attendants.
At least people can fly with peace of mind. Sorry MLK, safety comes first.
Charlie
/ September 14, 2011Its about the greater good! Quit being so focused on “whoa is me”, had it been someone else and/or there had been an issue while in flight…it would have been “why” didn’t someone do something. On 9/11/01 had similar happened, all would have been safe – yet, would be hi-jackers would have complained (or blogged) they were profiled though only had a box cutter. I applaude the response, I apologize for what occured but it was the right thing to do and next time you fly i’m sure you’ll be hoping everyone on the flight was well screened and that everyone on the flight is just as vigilant to keep you safe.
Paul V
/ September 14, 2011Your “accuser” — and any accuser in a situation like this — must be held as strictly to account as you were held. You must have the opportunity to hear directly from the source that called down the police on you what in your behavior provoked their suspicion. They should be prepared to be detained alongside you, as long as you were detained, and questioned to the same depth and with some sensitivity about educating their perceptions. My god, if I complain to the city that my neighbor’s dog’s barking annoys me, I must identify myself at the time of the complaint and be prepared to have a mediated meeting called by a city official face to face with my neighbor. It is utterly unacceptable that the police “response” in a situation like this ignores the accuser while going to work on grilling the accused. Such is the formula for a security-surveillance society of the first order. At the very least, any person in a situation like yours has the right to an advocate of their own choosing at their side throughout the “investigation.” No matter how apologetic the FBI agent acted, you were subjected to “rights rape.” I am shamed as an American to hear of such civic savagery, and wonder if your accuser has any sense of shame themselves over what they caused.
Anonymous
/ September 14, 2011Please sue everyone who was involved including the airline.
emerson
/ September 14, 2011i think the government is using the system to keep fear enstilled in the americans to justify the war on terrorisam……. sad thing is our own president did this to us and we let it happen………… and another truth is, if it were 2 white men on that plane gettin up at the same time , it WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR…..P E R I O D……. and you kno it……ppl use 9/11 as a safe guard fot profiling and ITS WRONG………true, it is a pre 9/11 issue, but has only gotten worse because of it……bigotry,paranoia and ignornce has always excisted and will never go away, but there are WHITE AMERICANS WHO ARE TERRORISTS TOO and we have turned our heads to look the other way….why? beacuse its impossible to fathaom……..thats our down fall,
emerson
/ September 14, 2011“what the hell is :moderation” i am not modifying my post ty…….
emerson
/ September 15, 2011ok, why did one of my coments NOT need moderation and the other one does……….my first one isnt any worse than any of the other OPINIONS…………
Steph
/ September 14, 2011I’m so sorry. We will look back at this time in our country’s history with so much regret. Fear has hijacked the good sense of many Americans.
Karen S
/ September 14, 2011“They who can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety,
deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
–Benjamin Franklin.
Part of his notes for a proposition at the Pennsylvania Assembly, as published in Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin (1818).
Andrew
/ September 14, 2011So sorry to hear about your detainment. You were quoted as saying “I can understand they were just doing their job,” which strikes me as funny (strange) because this defense was not valid at the Nuremburg Trials and I would think you would be sensitive to that being of Jewish heritage.
You were illegally detained with no probable cause other than someones feelings. This is wrong, even on 9/11. I would have not answered any of their personal questions, that is just me.
Trishia
/ September 14, 2011Your arrest and strip search are justified in the name of “safety,” in the name of “the greater good.” Several people ask: how could they know? how could they know? A 60-second Google search would make your life quite transparent via this blog, your Facebook account, etc. etc. In 10-minutes a credit card company or a bank can look at your ‘life’ and decide whether or not to loan you thousands of dollars. Indeed, with just a few numbers and a name, the average American’s life is pretty transparent. But a 60-second Google search isn’t as ‘shock and awe’ as armed police storming an airplane, now is it? The next time you fly, I hope you specifically request to sit by WHITE people:)
Kaye
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana:
I apologize for our nation for that grotesque treatment and the mindless fear that fuels it. I hope you can forgive us our paranoia. I was once attacked and threatened in airport security for insisting that the buzzers going off were due to the bling on my shirt. Needless to say, I will never wear metal on my apparel again when traveling. And I am a 68 year old silver-haired wasp.
Joel Harding
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana, your story moved me. Thank you! Life is sometimes not fair and I wish there were a way I could apologize and make you feel better. If I could, I would. Now I am more sensitive and I have you to thank for your patience, understanding and sharing your story.
Charles Bloch
/ September 14, 2011As a U.S. citizen, I wish I had some sort of protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Such actions should not be permissible without a court order of some sort. And I would want to have a lawyer present before answering any questions.
Suresh P
/ September 14, 2011Hi Shoshana,
I am extremely sorry that you had to go through this ordeal. I am from India. Yes it is racial profiling. Yes they will seldom suspect caucasians because the white folks have not threatened America yet. If they also commit flight related terrorist acts then everyone will be suspected in the future. But until then, are you not glad that the bigger picture of keeping all of us in America safe is taken care of? So what if the non-caucasians have to endure a few hours of this security hassles, but atleast we are relieved that America is safe correct?
Hope you understand,
Suresh
Angel Graham
/ September 14, 2011This should have never happened. Please forgive us.
Snow
/ September 14, 2011I feel like the proverbial Pablov’s dog at times. After ten years of being exposed to pictures and videos of Osama Bin Laden and other bearded, angry looking men I have nightmares about being the huddled shrouded figure in the center of the semi circle of violence, about to be beheaded with a rusty knife. Are we all crazy here? Where does it end? Who is to say that a blond, blue eyed child of ten could not carry a bomb? My nephew who fits that description was pulled out of the boarding line because of his ‘sparkle’ shoes. I am sick of being afraid all the time. That is how the masses are controlled – through fear. Anybody read George Orwell 1984? Is Big Brother Iranian? We need to talk to each other and stop creating monsters in our heads!
Juliana Gaul
/ September 14, 2011It’s stories like these that make me ashamed to be an American….You know, being the nervous flyer that I am, I’m really glad that there are procedures in place to deal with the threat of terrorism, HOWEVER, there should also be moderation. I’m completely disgusted by this story and the abuses suffered by Shoshana. I hope you slap the US Government with a several million dollar lawsuit so that they will take stock and realize that there has to be a better way to conduct these investigations. And I hope you win!
kgroob
/ September 14, 2011I am outraged at what you had to go through and sick of this red-neck mentality that is prevalent in our American society today. Thanks for your courage to tell your story. I will spread the word and will post your story on ElectWomen Magazine. (www.electwomen.com)
Gil
/ September 14, 2011To “Old Cop” and others who say if you don’t like how things are, just leave. Well, I’m not going ANYWHERE. I’m proud to be an American and a Veteran. However, I’m not proud of instances where innocent citizens are subject to fear and the subsequent abuse of power by government and law enforcement.
One of the rights of being an American is to criticize our government when it clearly oversteps it bounds and violates the rights of people like Ms Shebshi who wanted nothing more than to go about her business and travels. ANYONE who considers themselves supporters of our Constituion should be both outraged and ashamed without reservation.
So in conclusion, when we collectively voice our displeasure at such atrocities, then only will they subside.
themadjewess
/ September 14, 2011Welcome to Obama the Bush’s MeriKa
Martin Benett
/ September 14, 2011I don’t care if a million people are questioned like this, if it saves one plane load of passengers, it’s worth it. How many would be screaming why wasn’t more done to prevent a plane going down if it did happen. How many problems have been avoided just because we are being so diligent in trying to prevent deaths? If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the so called moderate Muslims that have done nothing to round up the radicals that are causing trouble and causing the rest of them to be looked at with suspicion. If the vast majority of them don’t agree with the radicals, why aren’t they policing their own? Could it be that maybe they may really side with them?
Myra's papers
/ September 14, 2011Reading this gave me goose bumps. Really. Thank you for sharing your experience. Amazingly enough, we do live in a country still rattled with fear, and because of that fear, scenario’s like these will continue.
You are forever changed, dear, American citizen.
reality hits the fan
/ September 14, 2011I am sorry this happened to you… I know that Homeland Security has some tweeking to do when it comes to their tactics.But, I rather be safe than sorry…. If they don’t take some form of precautions then they have failed us all… I believe that they are doing a great job. I am from New York City,and i cannot believe that you feel so violated when so many people lost their lives for you to continue to live your life… With or without the security measures. Please stop complaining about this because we all need their protective services… I get targeted everyday I leave my house, Not b/c I am Arab or Jew. You see, you can change your look and you won’t be targeted. I can’t change my look. Why? b/c I am black.. So please stop the nonsense miss Shoshana. It’s not a big deal…Tell me that you got beatup, raped or even thrown in jail for being and Arab/jew, But you won’t and can’t. Why b/c you can walk anywhere in this country and have a pretty decent life.. PLease relax and stop being a drama queen…Sincerely a black person with real black problems….
Donna
/ September 14, 2011I think there is a big point being missed in a lot of these comments. Yes there are protocols in place and yes things need to be done in order to ensure safety. Yes these “tips” need to be taken seriously. The authorities were kind to her. Had I been in her situation, I would have started feeling the same way about country music and the like. Feelings like that occur and there is no denying that everyone has the capability to be even a little bit racist, especially in a situation as maddening as that. But the big thing everyone is missing is that she isn’t badmouthing the system that is in place here. She is merely recounting her terrifying and humiliating ordeal. She never mentioned that she was mistreated by the authorities. The fact is she was racially profiled by someone on a plane. I think that’s what upset her. Everyone is focusing on protocol as if she’s saying that’s what needs to be changed. I think she’s saying what needs to be changed is people’s mentalities. I highly doubt that had she been next to two white people or two black people, or chinese people, etc. that this would have happened. But had it happened, the same protocol would have been put in place. The big thing here isn’t what the government is doing to help us, it’s what we, as Americans are doing to hurt us.
mistah charley, ph.d.
/ September 14, 2011Bob Dylan:
“Sometimes I think that this whole world
Is one big prison yard
Some of us are prisoners
And some of us are guards”
But what that verse leaves out is that the victory of the terrorists is also the victory of the Very Big Prison Corporation Inc., and the very big slice of the pie they take of all the “security-related” expenditures.
Follow the money.
Scott
/ September 14, 2011On 9/11/01, Terrorists Seized Airlines.
They still have them.
emerson
/ September 14, 20119/11- STATISTICS: Times of impact: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. 2819 dead from 115 different nations. 343 Fireman/paramedics, 23 NYPD, 37 Port Authority officers. Also flight #93 ……….
look up there, it really wasnt just AMERICA that was attacked…..there were also115 differant NATIONS in thoese towers ………115……….
Susan Pease Banitt, LCSW
/ September 14, 2011I am amazed at the author’s restraint. There is something very wrong about the ability of a flyer being able to get other flyers treated this way just because their racial paranoia has ben tickled. And the violation of strip and cavity searches is completely unacceptable! What did they think they were going to find in there, a nuclear bomb! Truth is, I have friends well trained enough to kill people with their bare hands and feet. Are we going to keep them off planes, too?
Ted
/ September 14, 2011I would sue. The only thing that will change any of this is if someone starts having to fork over dollars.
Patricia Bee
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry for what you and the two gentlemen went through, sorry for what my country has become. Because everyone was on alert that day and there was intelligence (NOT confirmed) of two or three American citizens planning an attack, doubtless airline employees were instructed, “If you see something, say something,” only some people see only their fears, not what is actually there.
Bin Laden is laughing in his grave
Chris Black
/ September 14, 2011Kudos to Homeland Security for quickly following up on a tip from a concerned citizen. Better your inconvenience than risking the lives of many people, don’t you think. You should expect this kind of response in the future and as long as devout Muslims continue to act upon the instructions mandated in the Koran. . . I think that instead of considering legal complaint you should be applauding our Security Personnel for an outstanding job in this instance.
Jen
/ September 14, 2011I am horrified by what Ms. Shebshi had to endure. Those who say that she was merely “inconvenienced” need to think about what it would feel like to stand in a cell naked and have your body cavities probed. This was due to her “suspicious activity” – sitting quietly in her seat, sleeping and playing on her phone.
Others have posted that this is the world we live in and we should get used to it. I disagree!! This is unacceptable and we should not tolerate it.
Ms. Shebshi, I appreciate your blog and bringing your situation to light. I beg you to take this further and see what legal action you can take regarding the violation of your rights (all of our rights). The Center for Constitutional Rights may be able to help. The number is 212-614-6464.
Maybe this will prevent someone else from having to go through the same thing. I’m sure you didn’t wake up that morning thinking that you might be a catalyst for change, but hopefully you will become one.
Joshua Arritt
/ September 14, 2011Uggh, what so many are missing here is the simple fact that like the FBI told her, people were seeing ghosts because it was 9/11. Authorities were notified of people acting suspicious, so they responded with force. I don’t blame the authorities for their actions at all. If you want to blame anyone, blame the person who said that the two guys with you were suspicious. You just happened to be sitting in the same row and looked like you might know them. I would have pulled you aside as well, especially after we’ve heard stories of increasing female Arab bombers. Blame the extremist suicide bombers, not those trying to protect the US.
Angie Joy
/ September 14, 2011I was crying reading your blog. How terrifying that must have been. It’s sad that terrorism and 9/11 has left everyone paranoid. Personally, I wouldn’t step on a plane if I won a years free unlimited airline flight. I’ve flown before and after 9/11 and its just getting progressively worse. I am a blond haired blue eyed Canadian citizen so I’m sure I wouldn’t have to endure a situation such as you did but you never know. Again, I’m sorry the people are a bunch of paranoid fear mongers and you and your fellow row mates had to bear the brunt of the nonsense. Hang in there girl and hug your children tight…..the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket!
Eric Jaffa (@EricJaffa)
/ September 14, 2011I doubt that the government response was racial.
The passenger who reported you was probably influenced by race.
But the airport cops probably would have jailed and strip-searched and finger-printed a white person accused of acting suspiciously by another passenger.
At most, the cops should have questioned you without jailing you or strip-searching you or finger-printing you.
I hope you sue to produce a more proportionate response from the airport cops the next time someone is accused of acting suspiciously by another passenger.
Socially aware American
/ September 14, 2011I hope you keep writing on this subject and make it known like you are doing so now, it’s beautifully articulated. It enrages me to see this happen because there are enough people who cannot go beyond the superficial color of our skin and what we look like.
I am glad you are a writer because there is nothing more powerful and empowering to write and let others know of this injustice. I am supporting you and cheering you on from California. ^^
blah
/ September 14, 2011we need to make these government employees get a real job.
Quattrone
/ September 14, 2011Good thing this is the land of the free.
Jan H
/ September 14, 2011I read this story with my mouth hanging open – I’m SO sorry this happened, particularly at a time when flags were proudly being flown and bagpipes playing and the National Anthem, God Bless America, and America the Beautiful were being played and sung all over this country – by Americans of all races and creeds.
I don’t know what we’ve come to that a thing like this can happen to a woman who is simply sitting in her seat. Perhaps the airlines should assign seats based on profiling; then it wouldn’t be a problem.
As far as not liking fat deputies and red neck country music, if it had been me I’d have hated everything and everyone in sight as I waited to find out why I was there instead of driving home to my family.
Again, I don’t understand it – or I guess I do, and that’s what makes it so incredibly sad.
A.
/ September 14, 2011I wonder what would have happened if your blog were political and determined to be “suspicious?” Speaking out against injustices is dangerous these days. And the worst part about situations like that is that so many people then assume that suspicion of criminal activity is warranted and you “deserve” your treatment.
michael
/ September 14, 2011Do we want to be free, or do we want to be “safe”? I would rather risk getting blown up by a terrorist than have my freedoms stripped from me. Anyone who is fine with giving up their rights for the illusion of safety is not a real American. Those of you who have posted in favor of what happened here are sheep, and it is the apathy of people like you who have allowed some of history’s greatest atrocities. The road to hell is paved with “good intentions.”
I hope the individuals detained sue all those involved. And I hope you don’t settle but take it to trial–this is the only way to have these procedures changed. Your rights were violated on many fronts. Use this experience to make sure it doesn’t happen to others…
polandro (@polandro)
/ September 14, 2011Was this what happened on your flight?
http://www.skyscanner.net/news/articles/2011/09/010502-canoodling-mile-high-couple-cause-military-jet-scramble.html
It seems incredible that your story should be reduced to this farrago of innuendo and misdirection…
s.
/ September 14, 2011i was in nyc that day. and i agree with allison.
Blanche
/ September 14, 2011The author, herself, profiled the female uniformed officer as a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”. I think she could have chosen another descriptive adjective but she chose a word that, as we all know, signifies contempt of an individual’s physical appearance, no matter what the reason. So, we should ALL be aware of how we treat others and the way we want to be treated and what we say. On the same note, what happened to her was reprehensible but African-Americans have been profiled for decades and experienced far, far worse (try lynching). I wonder how many times Ms. Shebshi experienced indignation when she saw other people of color experience events similar to her own and felt compelled to speak out? In no way are my comments meant to demean Ms. Shebshi. She is correct to speak out but please not to forget that there were many people before you right here in their own country who weren’t even allowed to express their righteous indignation the way Ms. Shebshi has. Freedoms come with a price.
Tiff
/ September 14, 20119/11: ten years of self-righteous victim-hood and a steady race to become as villainous as we were accused of being. Horrifying story, glad it ended relatively happily. I hope you find healing and hope, Shoshanna!
Joe
/ September 14, 2011The way you were treated is disgusting.
There is no way that the kind of scrutiny you endured would ever lead to the capture of a real terrorist. I find it appalling that they would ask you for all kinds of personal information and collect it under the guise of homeland security.
I wonder what would have happened to you, if you had asserted your rights not to answer any questions without an attorney or simply refused to give them personal details.
Jane Doe
/ September 14, 2011While I’m completely empathetic to your situation, I can’t say that its the end of the world. You wrote yourself that hundreds of men were carted away in the days, weeks, and months after 9-11-01 events for questioning. I too would be incensed but we went from being totally unprepared to being totally on edge at every little thing. Homeland Security isn’t something to completely snark about. European and most advanced Asian countries have stringent transportation guidelines that require passengers to comply with. While you’re were not violating these, the system shows our civilian defense mechanisms in place.
Freedom (from any color or perspective) comes with a price.
Jerry B.
/ September 14, 2011White people are profiled, by the way. In situations where there is a know threat to an abortion clinic, targeted homicide, insurance fraud. My cousin is a PI and profiles whites everyday. The only difference is, nobody reports it on the news, writes a blog, or has minority groups make a big stink about it. Certain white peoples’ houses are being profiled to this day because of suspicions they may be a uni-bomber, or a drug dealer, or an arms dealer. A guitar company, Gibson, is being profiled and raided by the FBI, being told to close their plant in the USA and open one in Madagascar, simply because the CEO is republican and donates to the GOP Party…
Just because you don’t hear about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. WISE UP…
emerson
/ September 15, 2011HA…… tell ur cousin to take a flight and PROFILE A WHITE GUY/GIRL who is acting SUSPICIOUSLY, and see what kind of lash back he gets then…………being a thug of cocation decent id differant than being a person {wife or other} of ARAB/MUSLIM decent………no matter what ppl say, 9/11 CHANGED E V E R Y T H I N G…………………
emerson
/ September 15, 2011and furthermore, profiling a white guy for murder is not the same as profiling a woman on a plane for sitting next to 2 INDIAN men who just happened to get up to pee at the same time…….YOU WAKE UP………
Rvn
/ September 14, 2011For a person that cries “racial profiling!”, you’re doing a lot of it yourself.
Justin
/ September 14, 2011Allison has a one track mind and does not possess the ability to examine situations objectively. I respect her right to her opinions, and have served in our armed forces to protect it. There have been numerous cogent and logical replies to her comments, but her ideology doesen’t allow her to step back from her subjective opinions. There is no reasoning with a person like this, they are unable to assertain simple logic.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Simple logic tells us that allowing any unsubstantiated report of suspicious activity to be the basis of detention, strip searching, and interrogation is a system that is primed for abuse. Objectively, Ms. Shebshi’s shared ethnicity with the 9/11 terrorists does not justify profiling her as a terrorist. Ad hominems are not valid debating techniques.
Thank you for your service.
Jeanine
/ September 14, 2011Justin, I happen to agree with Allison. I would add that many persons of color (including middle eastern peoples), have served with honor, yet they are subjected to such obviously bigoted treatment. OUR BILL OF RIGHTS CLEARLY STATES NO ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE, GUARANTEES US DUE PROCESS AND YET THE MORONS AND NEO-NAZIS WHO HAVE CRAFTED THE LIKES OF ‘PATRIOT’ HAVE NULLIFIED OUR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS. I WOULD URGE MS HEPSHI TO PURSUE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF THE AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE IN AN INTERNATIONAL COURT. NO PRESIDENT, CONGRESS OR JUDGE HAS ANY RIGHT TO WITHDRAW OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. NO PRESIDENT, CONGRESS OR JUDGE HAS THE RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE VIA RACIAL PROFILING. HOW WAS IT THAT AFTER TIMOTHY MCVEIGH’S MURDEROUS CRIMES—NO GOVERNMENT GROUP WAS PROFILING WHITE CHRISTIAN MALES? SORRY JUSTIN, BUT YOUR PREJUDICE IS SHOWING.
Sign me,
UNAPOLOGETIC RADICAL LEFTIST WHO STILL BELIEVES IN OUR BILL OF RIGHTS.
Finn Skovgaard
/ September 14, 2011“National security” was the excuse the USSR and communist eastern Europe used for locking people up behind closed borders and in prisons and subject anybody they like to interrogation any time anywhere. The West is on a dangerous slope towards such conditions. You can obtain 100% security by locking the entire population up and restricting and controlling their every move. Just don’t call it freedom and democracy (the official name of former communist East Germany was the German Democratic Republic). You can reduce traffic accidents to zero by making car travel illegal. After all, we don’t want anyone killed, and some commenters seem to consider that the end justifies the means. There is a 9/11 EVERY MONTH on US roads (nhtsa.gov/PR/NHTSA-05-11). Wouldn’t it be better to use resources to reduce that? But to obtain 100% security and safety, we’ll end up with a Big Brother nanny-state dictatorship. There is “US” in “USSR”. Wake up before it’s too late.
fornormalstepfathers
/ September 14, 2011Have you heard about this artist who in response to a similar situation decided to report his plans and travels to the FBI?
Hasan Elahi
http://www.squarecylinder.com/2011/03/hasan-elahi-intersection-5m/
fornormalstepfathers
/ September 14, 2011Have you heard about this artist’s response to a similar situation?
Hasan Elahi
http://www.squarecylinder.com/2011/03/hasan-elahi-intersection-5m/
John
/ September 14, 2011Boycott Frontier Airlines, too much power given to cabin crew.
turkhits
/ September 14, 2011It is unfortunate that you had to go through this, but I agree with others when they say that this is all part of protocol and people need to STOP raising the race card whenever they feel it is convenient.
annarose
/ September 14, 2011Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen;
Ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen, ich war ja kein Jude.
Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte
(Martin Niemöller)
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
greetings from Germany
DW
/ September 14, 2011September 2011 Public Forum Topic – National Forensics League
Resolved: The benefits of post-9/11 security measures outweigh the harms to personal freedom.
Right now, the above topic is what high school debate all across the US is tackling. 1000’s of kids across our nation are, right now, building and defending pro/con cases that are directly focused precisely on your experience. This topic was picked long before you endured that awful day. Your personal experience and blog post is likely going to be the subject of a lot of debate in the US this month.
From your post you have no idea what exactly was said, or the context of “suspicious activity” that you were accused of. So here’s the thing, the back story that would be very interesting to know: As I understand my rights in court, I have the right to face my accuser. Did you ever face the person/people who singled you out? Do you want to? Is it important to you? Do they need to be held accountable to you? And most importantly, how do you move on from something this soul wrenching?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011Did you ever face the person/people who singled you out?
No one singled her out. Someone on the plane became suspicious about someone of another skin color spending longer than a couple of minutes in the bathroom, followed by another person of that skin color doing the same thing, and reported their suspicions to a member of the plane’s crew. Shoshana happened to be sitting in the window seat next to the two men of Indian extraction who had been in the bathroom. Read the reports ~ Shoshana wasn’t even mentioned by anybody, she just happened to be sitting in skin that isn’t white, in the same row of seats as the two gentlemen who needed to use the bathroom.
DW
/ September 20, 2011Yet, she was singled out by someone as a threat of some kind at some point. Someone told the crew they were suspicious. Someone told her interrogator that she was suspicious (Read: “It’s 9/11 and people are seeing ghosts. They are seeing things that aren’t there.”) That implies that somebody singled her out at some point in the process. Whether it be a fellow passenger, crew member, or other non-airline authority, it happened – and she became a target. And it likely happened because of guilt by association due to race. And it sucked for her and her family. And it sucked for the two gentlemen next to her.
As baseless as it is, you are entitled to your opinion.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011As baseless as it is, you are entitled to your opinion.
She was scooped up in a dragnet aimed at two people sitting next to her. That’s the extent to which she was “singled out.” There was nothing ~ absolutely nothing ~ making her “suspicious” except the unfounded suspicion about the people sitting next to her.
To legally detain or arrest someone, there must be some specific, identifiable, individualized reason. In her case, there wasn’t any ~ she was not “singled out,” she just happened to be sitting there when they came for the two other passengers in that row.
Eddybanana
/ September 14, 2011This lady needs to shut her yap and be grateful that the system is at work to protect, especially on an anniversary. You and the people that have swarmed over this, do you want some cheese with your whine? This just infuriates me of how entitled, pampered, and self-centered the majority of Americans are. This kind of crap against a system that provides liberties with a few of mistakes, does not need to be held to perfection. Shoshana and the rest of the people who are in uproar of infringement of rights, if you don’t like who things are done here then leave. I am positive that you have made mistakes in life. To attack someone else for an insignificant (or what seems like the end of your ‘civil’ world) problem is pure hypocrisy.
Jake Jabbs
/ September 14, 2011The actions for security of course were wrong, but this woman should just move on and skip the million dollar lawsuit for how it ruined her life. Racial profiling, while wrong, has been going on forever. Middle Eastern looking people on planes on 9/11 are not gonna fly.
ReelBadArabs
/ September 14, 2011Suspicion of Arabs began over 100 years ago with a systematic vilification of ‘Arabs by Hollywood as researched and documented by Dr. Jack Shaeheen:
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/atlintel/culture/blogentry.aspx?blogEntryID=10263598
http://www.wolfmanproductions.com/shaheen.html
http://www.reelbadarabs.com/
Reply
Liberty and Justice for All
/ September 14, 2011You were extra-Constitutionally kidnapped. Your first question, when the bully-boy cops approached you should have been:
“Am I free to leave?”
If the answer was “yes,” you should have left, even if it meant merely barricading yourself in the lavatory.
If the answer was “no,” you should have asked, “Am I under arrest?” If they said “no,” you should have left. If they said “yes,” you should have asked to see a warrant since you were not obviously doing anything illegal, and you should have asked for ID then.
If they did formally place you under arrest, you should have said only one more sentence: “I want a lawyer.”
Now your principal recourse is to sue the bastards for false arrest and false imprisonment.
M
/ September 14, 2011This is really useful information. Everyone who reads this blog and is concerned that their rights too might some day be violated, should also read this and memorize these questions and options. Thanks.
M
/ September 14, 2011The only thing that worries me about this is that very often, the people who have kidnapped you in this manner are determined to go through with their charade (or theater, as someone else has called it) and may treat you worse if you assert your rights. It could be interpreted as resisting authority or noncompliance or whatever terminology they want to use — interfering with their “job” of security. What do you think?
J.E.E.
/ September 14, 2011Hey children, let’s act like adults now! No need to insult others, its quite rude.
EVERYONE has the right to their own opinion. If you do not like opinions, simply do not read them. Learn to be tolerant of others, as this woman deserved tolerance, she did not recieve it most likely because there was an uninformed, uneducated, paranoid, racist person on her plane that filed a bogus complaint.
David Lohnes
/ September 14, 2011Strip searched – I’m so disgusted with my “free society” right now.
SlammoFandango
/ September 14, 2011.If the United States Military occupied the lands, raped the economies, and subjugated the people of countries populated by White Lutherans with virtually no political representation, we would have a problem with ’Radical White Lutheran Terrorists’. These tactics are absurd. However I do take a little exception to the authors own underlying premise that all Redneck beer-drinking powerboat owners are all somehow racist or that female Semitic Jews are all so intellectually and emotionally sophisticated that her particular demographic could never stoop to racism. Certainly I’m outraged that these things are occurring and can clearly empathize with her feelings after such a degrading incident but her own fear and rage exposed her own predilections toward racism which have spilled all over these pages.
This is a political problem and always was a political problem. If we blame race instead of politics for this political issue we will only exacerbate racial tensions while ignoring the need to change strategy which effectively would go far beyond these ridiculous tactics to address what is a political problem resulting from an aged and flawed US foreign policy.
Anna
/ September 14, 2011Interesting how you judged the officers and said they were “fat” or had “beer bellies.” But you were so upset that someone judged you by the color of your skin. I call that a hypocrite.
M
/ September 14, 2011The victim is less of a victim because she’s not politically correct while expressing her feelings? If it had been me, my political correctness would be out the window too. She wrote this the day after she was detained. Give her a break. I actually think that she’s a really good writer and that all this made her all the more human.
John
/ September 15, 2011She isn’t the hypocrite. The real hypocrites are the officers who handled the case on the ground. If there was credible threat the plane should not have been allowed to land in detroit.
A.
/ September 15, 2011Don’t people read anymore? What she did was use a literary technique to illustrate a larger point. The point, for those who missed it: being mistreated can lead to generalizations about those who share traits with those mistreating you, and that, combined with fear and anger, can lead to bigotry. I could be wrong, but that’s how I took it.
That being said, she does seem to overuse “fat” as a descriptor. Enh. People attribute all sorts of things to overweight people–who knows what it represents to her.
Shellah Garrett
/ September 14, 2011We have a government that ignores the Constitution, ignores the 4th amendments, ignores the prohibition of search and seizures without a warrant based on probably cause signed by a judge. Don’t wonder how a Hitler comes to power or how a state becomes totalitarian. We are watching it unfold. To pull out of this nosedive to tyranny, we must realize that the PEOPLE are ASKING for this treatment. “Please, big strong government, keep me safe! I don’t mind if you stick your hands in my pants and haul away my fellow citizens and give them no rights. It’s worth it!”
We must bring about a R3VOLution — an understanding of what Liberty IS and HOW it works and that it DOES work. “An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government.” (Ron Paul)
fearnotruth
/ September 14, 2011her impressions of and reactions to her jailers is telling – listen up America: this is the most philistine, capitalist paradise of all time, where the price of everything is widely known, yet the value of nothing is ubiquitous – be certain that the FBI will uphold this standard at all costs
Daniel Littell
/ September 14, 2011Have you talked to any lawyers? Don’t you think their actions were a violation of Civil Rights. You bought a ticket, you had every right to be on the plane, you definitely have basis for a formal grievance.
If you don’t stand for and claim your rights then you don’t have any… I hope you and the other two guys sue the F**k outta Frontier. Since when is going to the restroom deemed suspicious activity?
Rosemarie
/ September 14, 2011The only thing that stops this sort of over-the-top behavior by law enforcement is to sue. Repeated judgments cause higher ups and the public to take notice, people are demoted or terminated, and the behavior is modified. I hope you have the courage and energy to really pursue this in the courts and I think your efforts will bear fruit at the end. Good luck.
J.E.
/ September 14, 2011Hey children, let’s act like adults now! No need to insult or harass others, its quite rude.
EVERYONE has the right to their own opinion. If you do not like opinions, simply do not read them. Learn to be tolerant of others, as this woman deserved tolerance, she did not recieve it most likely because there was an uninformed, uneducated, paranoid, racist person on her plane that filed a bogus complaint.
Great post and well written, it does make me re-evaluate and think about how our country has changed over the last 10 years. I am truly sorry for what happened to you.
David
/ September 14, 2011Too bad. It is gonna keep happening. Thanks to a few rotten apples that screwed up flying for everyone by hijacking some planes 10 years ago. That is the price we have to pay now for living in America. Maybe more people will be inconvenienced and leave. Then our population levels can go back down to sustainable levels and all these liberals can go live where they have no freedom. Don’t complain about it. Take the good with the bad. We still have it better here than anywhere else in the world. You don’t like it then leave.
David Lohnes
/ September 15, 2011Don’t count on it. This liberal fully intends to stay in the country made great by liberal philosophies. You can leave if you’d like. kthxbai!
A.
/ September 15, 2011This comment actually made me LOL! Talk about cognitive dissonance.
I wasn’t aware that “freedom” means getting thrown in a cell and having my orifices invaded because the people next to me were in a plane bathroom too long. We don’t have “freedom,” we have liberties. Correction: HAD.
pepe
/ September 14, 2011Wow. Reading this, I can only say that the terrorists have won already. Multiple times. I can’t understand how the US citizens keep voting for those idiot politicians that are dragging more and more the country into the toilet. Guess bipartidism today is choosing between bad and worse.
It’s sad that you had to go through that, Shoshana. Hope things go better for you in the future.
Elaine
/ September 14, 2011Oh please….”it’s because of what I look like” — then how is it, I, as a BLONDE-HAIRED, BLUE-EYED woman with light skin, freckles and an American/Irish/English/German ancestry been screened, taken out of line for the extra once-over, had my luggage invaded, lingerie gone through and held up for all to see, been re-booked on another flight….and the list goes ON….over and over over again. There are MANY times I could say I was being selected “because of what i look like” (ever hear a blonde joke – been harassed by men at work, or even women for that matter, been stalked, told ‘dumb’ blonde jokes over and over?)
If we ALL wanted to say something happened “because of what i look like” — BELIEVE me — we could – – but we don’t!
We SUCK it up — this was 9-11…..YOU were in the wrong — YOU were using your phone on the tarmac — (the only allow you to use your phones once you are AT THE GATE…NOT on the tarmac — i fly enough to know that!)
But that is not your goal — yours is a snookie/real housewives — get attention for your blog king of goal. very obvious and transparent.
you are lucky you are not sitting in prison right now. selfish and immature — and not even thinking about the people who were brutally killed that day 9-11
I don’t know what you ‘look like’ — but you sure sound like you are not too bright.
you may want to work on educating yourself about ALL cultures, races and creeds and what we ALL have to deal with on a daily basis. It’s not all about you — whoever you are.
M
/ September 14, 2011You’re comparing your experience to being handcuffed and then strip-searched? I’m stunned that you would be so insensitive. This is NOT the experience of all people on a daily basis, as you put it.
I also fly a lot and I know that depending on the airline, you can switch on your phones on the tarmac. You’ve *never* been on a plane where everyone’s standing in the aisle waiting to get out while half of them are making phone calls saying, “Hi, I just landed and we’re waiting for the plane doors to open”? I’m guessing you just fly one or two airlines.
Elaine
/ September 15, 2011No, I have never been on a plane when the plane is taxing to the gate and people are standing. Absolutely not. They try, are told to keep seated and guess what — they pay attention and do as they are asked.
Imaging that!!
Of course there is always the ONE person who thinks they are “special” — and they are dealt with accordingly — the pages of Homeland Security are littered with stories of people who like to push the envelope or violate regulations — but the majority of people have RESPECT for the rules and regs (unlike the serial tweeter).
People are on their phones when the plane is AT THE GATE and passengers are told it is okay to turn on their electronic devices.
That is NOT what happened here — so don’t even try to play that homey!
This plane was NOT at the gate and was not at a standstill. Completely different scenario.
Yes, of course I am comparing my instances of being singled our or searched to hers, because she was NOT racially profiled!
The difference in the circumstances is – I chose NOT to fly on the 10th anniversary of 9-11 when there was a serious, credible, identified threat of terrorism in America on that day. And on top of it, tweeted away against airlines rules.
Of ALL days! Amidst a credible terrorist threat!
I’m just not that dumb!
pete
/ September 14, 2011This is truly shocking and disgusting. I can’t even imagine how humiliating this experience must have been. It saddens me deeply that we’ve come to the point where this treatment is possible.
B Johnson
/ September 14, 2011Oh my God! How do I get rid of this thing. I’ve gotten a thousand email and I can’t figure out how to unsubscribe! Help!!
avery
/ September 14, 2011Mark as “SPAM”…and Voila! all gone! 😉
J.E.
/ September 14, 2011Hey children, let’s act like adults now! No need to insult others, its quite rude.
EVERYONE has the right to their own opinion. If you do not like opinions, simply do not read them. Learn to be tolerant of others, as this woman deserved tolerance, she did not receive it most likely because there was an uninformed, uneducated, paranoid, racist person on her plane that filed a bogus complaint.
Obese Middle Aged Redneck
/ September 14, 2011Shoshana, I have mixed emotions about this incident. First and foremost, I am terribly sorry for what you and the Indian passengers had to go through. Especially the strip search. What a humiliating and degrading situation. Unfortunately racial profiling still runs rampant and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. Even before 9/11, it was going on. I do not condone what happened and I believe you should have been treated with more respect. On the other hand, when I read through your blog of this incident, I counted numerous times where you made slurs against people and this bothered me. “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”, “fat bellies and rednecks”, “chubby middle-aged white guy”, and “middle-aged white cop with a beer belly”. It’s obvious that you have an issue with overweight people as you make sure to point it out in your descriptions. I’m making this assumption because I don’t believe I noticed any descriptions of fit, trim, skinny, muscular, etc. people in your blogs. You also made it known that you have hatred for “…fat bellies and rednecks”. Is this considered profiling? What is your definition of a redneck? Have you had a bad experience with an obese person to cause this hatred? Do you know for certain that the individual in an adjoining cell was guilty of stealing that watch? It appears that way from your statement “As we walked, I got a glimpse of the watch-stealer, a chubby middle-aged white guy with a buzz cut. He didn’t look too different from some of the officers.” Could he have been in a similar situation where he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, however because you heard a discussion about him, you automatically assumed he was guilty. I gather that your blog was written shortly after your experience and you were still experiencing a range of emotions. What bothers me is that you are not so different from that suspicious person on the plane that pointed the finger at the “Arab-looking” individuals sitting next to you who may have just drank too much liquids and had to pee a few times during the flight? Again, I’m sorry this happened to you and I hope this never happens again. I also hope that you can resolve your differences with obese people and the people you label as rednecks.
T. William B.
/ September 14, 2011Here is something to think about….you drive on the road and encounter a car swerving left to right, not really to the extreme but enough that it makes you feel uncomfortable by your own standards. There might even have been a few near misses with other cars, but that’s also debatable. You can’t see inside the car because the windows are tinted so you don’t know who is driving it. So what do you do? Mind your own business and get away from this car or call the cops because it is clearly suspicious driving by any standards? Well? Let’s call the cops because we are all such model American Citizens trying to prevent bad things in the first place and this seems clearly like a bad accident waiting to happen, or not? Now there are a few scenarios that could play out after someone called the authorities; a drunk driver, an inexperienced Cell phone user, a person on heavy medication, or, like in our case, let’s just say there is a person with inner bleeding in the passenger seat while the driver tries hard to calm him/her down rushing to the hospital……the result: the person dies! The reason: the delay which was caused by pulling the car over because someone called the cops. How would anyone feel if they find out that they just contributed to a person’s death simply because of an “assumption”? I could paint this picture in racial colors or put an ethnic stamp on it, but in the end – they are all humans! So here is the deal, and we don’t even need to further elaborate about what happened here since it’s totally wrong to begin with, what happened to the person who called in to trigger this unfortunate incident in the first place? Will he or she be held responsible AND accountable for initiating this arrest? Will this person have to pay for the mass resources that have been wasted? How about a public apology so people can put a face on this idiocy? And of course, reimburse all the people who were affected by wrongful arrests, Airplane delays and anything else along these lines? Well, here is my thought for the aftermath; if anyone calls 911 just to ask what time it is, they’ll be thrown in jail so quickly that they wont even know what hit them. Now, with having the power of the “Freedom Act” things seem to be very one-sighted, and never from a victims point of view, specially if the victim is wrongfully accused. So what does the Government actually do if people place a call about “suspicious activities” without having even a shred of evidence nor any law enforcement training? And trust me on this, people WILL keep calling……I believe it all boils down to responsibility and education, or the ignorance thereof; so in essence the Freedom Act shows the real lack of understanding and it doesn’t define clear guidelines to prevent such things in the future. On one side it is mandatory for Homeland Security and law enforcement to respond to every knucklehead who thinks he/she knows something. On the other side there is no preventive activity that actually “forces” people to get educated about the difference between a Indian Thakar or a radical Muslim, or how to analyze or determine a real terrorist threat, no, it’s just not there because Democracy gives us the right to be ignorant without suffering the consequences of wrongfully accusing another person. And that, must (not should, must!) be addressed at all levels and throughout all layers of society, until things change and the Government feels obligated to call all the shots (because we are all uneducated children), we’ll continue living in fear, see our rights diminishing because of ignorance and stupidity of a few, and people will question the color of your skin, your beliefs and your actions. Some people actually have tried to move on after 9/11 which is good news, while others still live inside a Fox news bubble and believe the moon is a pancake, hence, gives them right to make irresponsible calls to authorities w/o being held accountable because there is a date in our history when bad things happened. Oh, by the way, is Japan on high alert when the anniversary of dropping an atomic bomb on them comes around? Do people leave New Orleans every year on the day when Katrina hit? Well,……enough of my ranting………and finally, before judging a book by its cover, people should really read it, they might actually find a term called “Common Sense”….
Joe Jericho
/ September 14, 2011Just read the blog entry. White male and outraged! But take care in feeling like this was strictly a race-based incident. Napolitano says that straight, white, Christian men are the real danger in this country. The fact of the matter is that we now live in a police state and none of us are immune. I haven’t flown this calendar year because of what the TSA is putting us all through. The stories of civil rights violations continue to pour in. I am sorry for your experience and I feel bad about it. That could have been my wife, who is Hispanic. I’d probably never fly again in this country until the TSA was dismantled and we regained our rights. God Bless you and your family.
piblogger
/ September 14, 2011I wrote a piece that touched on this very subject titled “CONSTITUTION SUICIDE PACT DEBATE WITH 911 HARD HAT PLEDGE FOUNDER ANDY SULLIVAN IS AT THE HEART OF THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE CONTROVERSY.”
Going back to Jefferson and Lincoln the spirit behind the term “the constitution is not a suicide pact” is based on the following principles expressed by Jefferson regarding of all things the Louisiana purchase:
“a strict observance of the written law is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means.”
Here is the link to the entire post (http://wp.me/pydAP-28I), however and undoubtedly given your experience it is indeed indicative of just how slippery a slope we are on when personal rights and freedoms are at odds with the state’s perceived self-preservation interests.
Quilvio
/ September 14, 2011Al of you boo-hooing what happened to this woman probably cheer TSA agents detaining and searching 6 year old girls and grannies because it’s “fair”. Stop being stupid. If 3 people sitting next to eachother spend lots of times in the bathrooms over and over and get up at or near the same time over and over I’m going to report it, regardless of their color.
M
/ September 14, 2011Why? Because it’s your idea of what a terrorist would do? Don’t pretend this has nothing to do with color. You would never report it if those people didn’t fit your idea of a terrorist. Just the fact that you think that 6 year old girls and grannies should be exempt from searches tells me that.
Quilvio
/ September 17, 2011Yes because there are soooo many 6 year old and granny terrorists we should strip search them just because they want to get on a plane. You can pretend all you want but you would have done the same as whoever expressed concern over the behavior of the 3 passengers. Or maybe not. Perhaps you’re like the agent who had a bad feeling about 2 men who were indeed 9/11 terrorists bur failed to report them because he didn’t want to appear racist. By the way, what race are Muslims?
Chill
/ September 14, 2011Ah, fingerprinted, now your in the database of criminals. I have to get fingerprinted in my field of work, but I can’t be hired because I’m a smoker. My personal freedoms are holding me hostage.
Michael
/ September 14, 2011What happened to you was wrong and criminal. People need to get on with their lives instead of shaking in fear over every imagined terrorist. These people are so terrified that they actually hallucinate! I remember the tale about ‘a boy who cried wolf’ as a kid; what we have is a nation of children who cry wolf. No, there’s not a terrorist under your bed, around every corner or hiding in the closet. You have better odds of getting struck by lightning than seeing a terrorist in the act. Stop cowering, people!
Here’s a video done by the non profit organization Architects & Engineers.
The various physicists, engineers, molecular physicists, and metallurgists in the documentary provide their evidence and conclude there is some major holes and falsities in the official narrative of 9/11. It’s very compelling and non-speculative.
Here’s an open peer reviewed journal exclusively concerning 9/11. It has very compelling evidence and is a necessary read for a deeper understanding of the event translated to physics. The studies are impartial and not speculative.
http://www.journalof911studies.com/letters.html
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011When are people going to start discussing the order of the Port Authority of New York that the Towers be dismantled ~ not demolished, which would endanger nearby structures, but taken apart, piece by piece, safely, at a cost in excess of $14 billion? This was ordered around 1990, according to a photographer who testified about the engineering study of the outer steel-aluminum shells of the Towers, which were deteriorating due to electrolytic reactions between the steel and the aluminum. I’ve never seen this discussed by professionals.
Then in 1994, Plan Bojinka ~ which evolved into 9/11 ~ was discovered on a laptop left behind by a fleeing associate of bin Laden. Originally a plan to simultaneously detonate twelve airliners over the oceans, it became a plan to fly airliners into eleven U.S. landmarks, including the Towers, the Pentagon, the Sears Tower, and the U.S. Capitol. The progress of the plan, and those who carried it out, were closely monitored all the way to the airport gates on 9/11, although not directly by U.S. intelligence.
I really appreciate knowing that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was forced to falsify its report on the destruction of the Towers and WTC7. It’s significant. But what about the fact that the 9/11 hijackers conveniently solved a $14 billion dollar problem, along with advancing a few other agendas like the Project for a New American Century? Like I’ve said before, “The terrorists, with a little help from bin Laden, have won” ~ so far. But is there more to their plan, perhaps involving “black box” computerized voting machines that leave no paper record of how people voted?
It certainly does look as if a lot of Americans would be quite content to live in Orwell’s 1984 ~ the Kafkaesque 21st-Century version, with desktop, laptop, and cell phone surveillance devices filling dossiers on everyone who can read and write …
Call it a conspiracy “theory” if you like, but in the mid-Sixties I was part of the conspiracy I’ve been watching from a distance ever since. I’m just curious to see which “power to the people” vanguard will eliminate the other after the people vote them into office … now that “The Revolution” is being televised …
rotorman
/ September 14, 2011It seems the Indian chaps and the writer went through security and in to the airplane without any problems.
I think the trauma was carried out on the behest of the pilot and crew. It was the pilot who threatened consequences. The police made a great show of there arrival so they did not think there was an imminent threat irrespective of what “intelligence” they had.
The writer needs to sue the living daylights out of the airlines and post this story on every Indian website she can find so that Indian people learn what the American state thinks of brown people. There are plenty of white American people abroad that need to learn what this sort of terror feels like.
M
/ September 14, 2011Oh come on. As an Indian person, let me say that no one needs to learn what this sort of terror feels like. And why American people abroad? They’re out there traveling and learning about the world and broadening their horizons – that’s a good thing. I agree with you on your other points though — there needs to be an investigation into who cried wolf here.
J
/ September 14, 2011It is pretty clear that whoever reported you as suspicious had nothing to go on besides your appearance. More importantly, your brave and dignified response to being imprisoned (am I supposed to say ”detained”?) for your appearance makes outstandingly clear the lack of those two qualities in the actions of those whose decisions led to your being placed in a prison cell. It was a historical response on your part, and it was fitting of what is certain to be a historical, albeit painful, moment that many in this country will remember for a long time.
ruserious
/ September 14, 2011I hate to say this but if the same thing happens to white female then hell will break loose. All the people be talking about how govt violating privacy. Hundreds of thousands of white people complain about simple pat down search(which should be must). But the same white people think its okay to do a strip searched , cuffed , interrogated for just using the bathroom as they don’t look white
You are punished because you look different . You are punished because your name does not sound like white American name.
So the moral of the story is that all minorities should bleach their skin , hair( blonde ) and change their names like heather , Britney , or ginger
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011I hate to say this but if the same thing happens to a white female then hell will break loose.
On Monday, May 4, 1970, four white students at Kent State University in Ohio were murdered by the Ohio National Guard and the country went nuts ~ the largest demonstrations in American history, before or since, filled Washington DC and every State capitol the following weekend. On Monday, May 11, 1970, six black students were murdered at Jackson State in Mississippi ~ and by the next day it was virtually forgotten.
Hell doesn’t need to “break loose” ~ it’s been running free in America for a long time.
What is "suspicious activity"?
/ September 14, 2011DHS | “If You See Something. Say Something.”
http://www.dhs.gov/files/reportincidents/see-something-say-something.shtm
Descriptions of “suspicious activity”:
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/suspicious-activity/
tdepaepe
/ September 14, 2011I am speechless and so sorry this happened to you. I appreciate Allison’s and SilenceDoGood’s comments. Nothing to add that hasn’t already been said.
Socratesfoot
/ September 14, 2011I have to ask where this kind of thing stops. 911 claimed about 2800 lives and that’s very sad. But this year alone 10,839 people will die in drunk-driving crashes…do we ban alcohol? 20,000 will get injured or killed in accidental shootings, do we ban guns? 112,000 are associated with obesity, should we start locking fat people in detention centers until they thin up? Statistically, no matter how terrible and frightening terrorism is, it is ridiculous to limit individual freedoms and suspend constitutional law to make us “safer” when statistically the risk is so low. Anyone who claims to defend the constitution and still says otherwise is a hypocrite.
Jeanine
/ September 14, 2011You are a brave and eloquent lady. It is days like this that make me ashamed to be an American. I am also Jewish and look ‘middle eastern’ . You should find out which IDIOT made the complaint and sue them and the airline for everything they own! Frankly, the only reason you and these gentlemen were singled out for such blatantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL ABUSE was your appearance. I might suggest starting a national BOYCOTT OF ALL AIRLINES until these abuses cease. The airlines don’t really care–they just want the money. You have my sincere apology for our fellow bigoted Americans. The feds know this type of abuse doesn’t prevent ‘terrorism’–they do this to psychologically rape all of us into blind slave-like submission. The Patriot Act and similar laws MUST BE ERADICATED AND ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH VILE FASCISM SHOULD BE CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED FOR TREASON AGAINST THE BILL OF RIGHTS. I believe it was Ben Franklin who said that those who would give up their rights for security–deserve neither. God bless you Shoshana.
Gopi
/ September 14, 2011People are so paranoid that they miss the real culprits and run around the casual passengers. I f i were a cop, i ask myself this questions…
If the suspects are terrorists,
1) Will they sit in the same seat when the cop took 30 mins to arrive in the flight to arrest him.
2) Will they sit together?
3) Will they really involve in any simple suspicious activity like going to restroom at the same time?
And again i will ask basic questions like… Even though they are suspects..
1) Should i hand-cuff them while they are cooperating enough?
2) Why should i keep them in suspense and deny their rights of knowing the reason behind why they are detained?
3) Why in the hell should i strip-search before doing basic verification on the authenticity of the suspicion.
Finally i would be happy to see TSA and this people get sued heavily.
Liz
/ September 14, 2011I can’t believe some people here saying that Shoshana should be happy about her ordeal. So i can call on anyone who looks suspicious and this person will be detained for questioning?! Don’t you see how crazy and Hitler like that is?
I am a white woman in my 30es who never had any problems with the law and who, before 9/11 was enjoying traveling all over the world , now i am being treated like some sort of criminal in the US airports. To make everyone feel safe i have to be bathed in radiation (which i refuse) and touched by some goon with the IQ of a monkey. Here is the question, how many white women terrorists taking over the planes do we know? I could not find a single one. So why am i being treated like a criminal every time i fly in the US?
s
/ September 14, 2011all terrorists to US have looked a certain way. profiling is the best logical course.don’t like it-too bad.
they should detain you + the two next to you. letting the profiled type go by, but detaining + searching babies + old white or black grammas, is more offensive than you getting searched.
Miguel
/ September 14, 2011“all terrorists to US have looked a certain way. profiling is the best logical course.don’t like it-too bad.”
Timothy McVeigh looked that “certain way” too? Really? Christian fundamentalists who set off bombs to kill people look that “certain way” too? Ignorant and hateful white people who terrorize non-whites look that “certain way” as well, huh?
I’m guessing that “S” you’re going by stands for stupid.
I hope that the next time you bend over and give up YOUR rights and you end up feeling wronged by it, you blog about it so we can all tell you, “too bad.”
faraz
/ September 14, 2011Things would have been different if everyone spoke like the way you did.
It is good that you are back and safe with your husband. May Allah’s blessings on you.
George Washington
/ September 14, 2011After reading most of the bleeding heart replies regarding this post, I am left with several questions and a few comments of my own.
1. How does anyone know (including the alleged “victim”) WHO reported WHAT? Many comments relating to “un-trained” reports are un-warranted.
2. The writer does not mention being read her rights? (although she speaks eloquently about not knowing her rights) No agency, including Federal, State, County or City would jeopardize an investigation for failing to read someone their rights.
3. Why did the writer not ask for an attorney? (She says she thought about needing one)
4. The writer mentions that we should, “…truly try to be good people who practice compassion–even toward those who hate.” So, why is she not practicing what she states when she says that SHE HATES: Rednecks, Speedboats, Fat Bellies, Country Music, etc.? The writer is actually practicing what she is complaining about.
5. Why did the writer make a point of saying “some undisclosed building” and arrived at an off-site building” when states later that “for the first time I saw that we were at the airport police station”? Was she not paying attention when she was in the squad car? I guess is helps with the sinister aspect.
6. How does anyone reading the original post KNOW that the person who wrote it ACTUALLY went through it? Honestly, it is written like a scene from a “Bourne” movie.
Now to my comments – If this person actually went through this ordeal and she is truly traumatized by this, then I genuinely feel compassion for her and what she experienced. However, this experience pales in comparison to what she would have experienced in other countries, under the same or similar circumstances (a report of suspicious behavior). She may have been only detained for a few hours here in the US, but she would/could have been detained for days or weeks in other countries. A true (and not concerned with sanitary issues) cavity search in other countries would have been conducted rather than a simple strip search here.
I fly regularly and since I am usually one of the first people on the plane I watch those that come on board. If I see something suspicious – I DO REPORT IT! I report behaviors and actions – not skin color. I chose not to fly on 9/11 this year (I flew the day before). Not out of fear – but out of respect for those innocent people that perished on that fateful day. 19 cowardly, fanatical, mindless idiots took the lives of over 3400 people in less than three hours – all because they were so weak minded, they allowed other fanatical idiots talk them into killing themselves.
Finally, no constitutional rights were violated. I have been in situations where I have been detained for up to 24 hours. Since I know I did nothing wrong, I did not worry about it. If the writer did nothing wrong – why is she making such a fuss about her rights? Was it an inconvenience? Yes. Was the strip search a bit much and humiliating possibly? Yes. I am sick to my stomach of people making a big deal about violating people’s rights, for example, stating that detaining and questioning someone is a violation. If someone has done nothing wrong, why would they be worried about being questioned? Flying through US airspace is now much more intrusive than before and you know what? I am glad it is! I thank every TSA agent I see for the diligent work they do. Does our country tend to go to extremes when something like 9/11 happens? Yes. Is it something I am proud of? Not always, but it is OUR country and we must do what we must to prevent this from ever happening again. As long as there are people in the world who have a hatred for the USA, we will be faced with situations like this.
Bottom line: Quit whining.
Miguel
/ September 14, 2011You’re right! Detaining and violated the rights of innocent people IS making the country safer! How did nobody see this before??
And you’re right, no constitutional rights were violated (with the exception of those rights that were violated) and we know this because you say so and you were detained before. You’re obviously an expert and we should all listen to you. Also, you make a great point about people who are innocent not needing to be worried about being questioned. I’m sure every innocent person would love to be cuffed, detained, humiliated, and have their rights violated because their innocence makes it all ok in the end.
“Hey, I just got stripped naked and probed like a criminal but it’s all good people! I’m innocent so I sure showed them! Now excuse me while I go take a hot shower in the fetal position…” – Nobody Ever
Errol
/ September 14, 2011As a 48 year-old white male who’s never experienced anything like this, I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be an innocent passenger on a plane and be taken off and interrogated like that. It’s a shame that this is what we’ve come to, but I suppose they wanted to be safe and not take any chances, and your skin color made it appear as if you could have been with them. Again, I’m truly sorry that this is the state of affairs in the US these days, and hope and pray that this is the last time you will experience ANYTHING even remotely close to this. Just know that the majority of people DON’T work or operate this way- it was just an extremely unfortunate misunderstanding that got carried far beyond where it should have.
s
/ September 14, 2011all terrorists to US have looked a certain way. profiling is the best logical course. don’t like it – too bad.
they should detain you + the two next to you.
letting the profiled type go by, but detaining + searching babies + old white or black grammas, is more offensive than you getting searched.
Another American
/ September 14, 2011For those that feel the current system isn’t working, get yourself elected and fix it. Bitching on a blog certainly won’t make changes.
I served my country for 2 tours. I’m fine with having my belongings x-rayed, my id examined, and when requested, a personal search of my person and possessions. Do I feel 100% safe? No….but I am comfortable enough with the process that I continue to fly for both business and leisure. Don’t like the process? Drive…take a train….take a bus….take a boat. I’d prefer to not be on a plane used as a device of devastation and loss of life because YOU don’t like the ‘loss of freedom’.
As a side note, the OP described the female office as “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”. Isn’t that profiling someone because of their physical build? Profiling is profiling….
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Your comfort with strip searches may not translate to others, and does not justify the treatment received by someone who is not you.
Flying actually is a right, as has been detailed in previous posts on this discussion.
Thank you for your service.
M
/ September 14, 2011Another American writes, “As a side note, the OP described the female office (sic) as ‘fat Jada Pinkett Smith.’ Isn’t that profiling someone because of their physical build?”
No, that’s describing. Profiling is when you pick someone out based on their physical characteristics and make a decision to do something based on that.
Gabriel (@gabeh31)
/ September 14, 2011WOW!! I wonder how many people on that plane reported suspicious white people after Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma?How many people were on the look out for white crazy christian folks?Did the people who reported this “suspicious” activity ever think that everyone on that plane went Through great amount of security to be on that plane? Keep it real…they were RACIALLY profiled from the get go! I find it convenient for those who left post stating that they would welcome such an event because “they would feel safe”.,until it happens to them.I would like to know how many “suspicious” activity were reported that day in regards to non minorities? I find it irritating that the same people who talk about stopping “terrorism” don’t do squat to stop citizen on citizen crime,were is your mouthpiece now!Between 2005 and 2009 there were 82382 reported murders in the USA.I would like to know where were these “I want to feel safe” people at to assist in theses victims!it saddens me that Americans join in unity to Mourn the victims of 9/11 thou do not mourn the victims of yesterday .today and tomorrow who do not get headline news.Were is the voice for them?where are the profilers at now? hmm as long its not in your backyard right? hypocrites!If you get on a plane and you have to be fearful sitting next to a person being “suspicious”…..the airport security didn’t do its job,the TSA didn’t do its job and homeland security DID NOT do its job!Thou if you trust these entity’s are doing its job and you still get on a plane being fearful….you have some real issues you need to sort out within yourself or seek a therapist because your projected fears are interfering,infringing and causing havoc in innocent peoples lives.
whocares
/ September 14, 2011Radical Muslims usually conduct acts of terrorism. What’s the problem here? Should we be profiling Mexicans?
Melissa
/ September 14, 2011Sounds like whoever was sitting in the seat with those men would have had the same treatment. The flight attendants have better things to do than dream up suspicious activity by passengers. They are trained to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior. Let them and the police do their fu**ing jobs and quit your whining!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011There was no suspicious activity. Standing by and allowing people to be treated the way Ms. Shebshi was treated violates the values that are supposedly the foundation of our country.
We should not allow the police to do their jobs if those jobs involve racism.
A.
/ September 15, 2011“Radical Muslims usually conduct acts of terrorism.”
Can you clarify, please? Do you actually mean what the sentence says, or do you mean most acts of terrorism are committed by radical Muslims? Neither statements are true, according to statistics, by the way.
Why would people CHOOSE to be afraid rather than do a little research and lose the fear? Is it because fear justifies an unjustifiable hatred?
ms
/ September 14, 2011Wow, that must have been a horrifying experience. This is just sad and unfortunate. The FBI guy said it very correctly: “People are seeing Ghosts”
Adam Paul
/ September 14, 2011The day (and may that day never come) after that next terror attack succeeds in killing scores or hundreds or thousands of Americans, and the authorities start to review all of the warning-signs and hints that were overlooked or not fully pursued, will you be there, Allison and Shoshana, to laud the powers-that-be for putting cultural sensitivity above public safety?
The fact is that racial-profiling and religious-profiling are two entirely separate animals. Racial profiling – which presupposes that people of a certain skin color might be more apt or likely to commit crimes – is blatantly evil, misguided, racist and wrong. A person’s skin color has no bearing on his morality or behavior, so to imply that Person A’s racial background makes him more or less likely than Person B to commit a crime is absurd.
But religious beliefs is a different story altogether. While there are, and always have been, crazed and fringe extremist members of virtually every religious ideology who believe that their faith sanctions murder in the name of God, there is only one major religion in the world today wherein a substantial number of adherents and spiritual leaders preach murder and terrorism as a path to salvation and spiritual bliss. And since there is no way to tell, on-sight, whether a particular individual subscribes to the peaceful interpretation of Islam or the dangerous, terror-advocating interpretation, anyone who professes to be a ‘Muslim’ should be viewed as a potential threat.
I am no scholar on Islam. I do not know what Mohammed and his acolytes did or did not believe in, or what Shariah actually preaches, or whether the ‘peaceful’ or ‘terrorist’ iteration of Islam is ‘correct’ and in keeping with the actual teachings of the Koran. What I do know, however, is that a not-insignificant number of people who call themselves ‘true Muslims’ believe that their faith advocates, sanctions, condones and encourages mass slaughter and terrorism. The enormous number of terror attacks perpetrated by said ‘true Muslims’ all around the world over the past century only serves to underscore the seriousness with which they take their faith’s supposed advocacy of terror. As such, Western society is right to both fear Muslims, and to treat them with greater suspicion than it would others.
And if peace-loving Muslims don’t like that or think it’s fair, they should take their grievances up with their own brethren who twist and distort their peaceful faith, and who have wreaked havoc on innocent people in the four corners of the globe – not with non-Muslims who are just trying to keep themselves alive.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011There was no warning sign or hint involved here. There were three dark-skinned people sitting together on a plane, one of whom used the bathroom for longer than someone thought he should.
One cannot determine another’s religion, most of the time, simply on sight. I cannot look at someone and determine that they are a Christian or a Jew (unless, of course, they are wearing something obvious like a cross or yarmulke). Since none of the people involved seems to be wearing obvious signs of religious identification, it falls to reason that they were identified on racial grounds.
There are non-Arab Muslims, so using ethnicity to identify possible terrorists isn’t effective, and that’s even if you’re arguing that only Muslims are terrorists. McVeigh wasn’t.
There have been a number of calls by “peace-loving” Muslims for Muslim terrorists to stop their attacks. The number of Muslim terrorist is, in fact, a relatively small fraction of Muslims in relation to the total number of Muslims on the planet, just as the number of Christians who engage in domestic terrorism (shooting abortion doctors in church, or bombing abortion clinics, for example) are a small fraction of Christians.
Adam Paul
/ September 20, 2011Allison –
You are correct that one’s religion can OFTEN not be determined on sight alone. But if one is wearing a tangible manifestation of one’s faith (a yarmulke, a hijab, a cross, etc.), or has a name common to a particular faith (Mohammed, etc.), or even has the ‘look’ of someone from a country whose population is predominantly one religion (i.e. anyone from the Arab world), it’s fair to assume that they are a member of the faith. And although, as I mentioned above and as is well-known, there are many streams of Islam, and not all promote or advocate terrorism, if one professes (via dress, name, look, etc.) to be a member of the Islamic faith, society has a right to wonder – and fear – whether that person belongs to a ‘peace-loving’ stream of Islam or a ‘terrorism-advocating’ stream. In a tense, terror-prone atmosphere like an airport, screeners have a right, in my opinion, to give extra scrutiny to anyone who appears to be a Muslim for that reason.
In the incident that precipitated this blog post, it’s fair to assume that the airline had the names of the passengers who were acting suspiciously. Surmising, then, that the basis of the airline’s ‘prejudicial’ treatment of the passengers was based on race or skin color alone, is false. Given the enormous tension associated with the day, the unusual behavior, and the Islamic identities of the passengers, the airline was well within its right to subject those passengers to additional questioning.
Your citing McVeigh is a tired and weak argument. McVeigh was a freak – a lone wolf acting on his own crazed impulses (like Kaczynski), not because he was following the dicta of some sadistic priest, minister, rabbi, or imam. McVeigh, in fact, never claimed that he he did what he did out of some twisted sense of fulfilling the desire of the divine. And even if you could point to an example of a particular Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or Jew who did commit a terrorist act in the name of their god or gods, you would be talking about an isolated, unusual event. The same cannot be said of Islamic terrorists. There are untold numbers of imams that advocate terror and madrassas who inculcate such values into the young, all in the name of God. No, the majority of Muslims may well not be terrorists, but when you’re talking about a religion with over a billion adherents, even a minority of people who support and advocate and engage in terror is a very, very significant number of people. Fear of anyone who professes to be a Muslim, either through speech, dress, or name, is warranted, sane, and not in the least bit ‘racist’.
Your effort to compare ‘the number of Christians who engage in domestic terrorism’ with ‘the small fraction of Muslims’ who engage in terror is similarly false. Are there Christians (and members of all faiths and non-faiths) who believe in, if not practice, terror? Of course. But show me a collection of priests/ministers that preach and advocate terror in the name of God, show me a Christian government that believes in terror, show me a mainstream, widely-followed interpretation of the Christian scripture that believes that bombing abortion clinics is valid, show me a Christian school that teaches kids to strap bombs to their chests and blow people up in the name of Jesus, show me a Christian government that funnels money to terrorists and funds training camps for bomb-making. They don’t exist. Isolated cases of extremist nuts in the non-Muslim world cannot compare with the institutionalized advocacy of terror that exists in some (though a minority!) part of the Muslim world.
Apologists for Islam love to jump down the throat of non-Muslim society whenever a ‘discriminatory’ incident like the one described by the blog-poster arises. If they would only channel their energy and outrage towards their co-religionists who use the Koran to advocate, support, and excuse terror, the world would be a much better place…and anti-Islamic prejudice, to the extent that it exists, would disappear.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011Apologists for Islam love to jump down the throat of non-Muslim society whenever a ‘discriminatory’ incident like the one described by the blog-poster arises. If they would only channel their energy and outrage towards their co-religionists who use the Koran to advocate, support, and excuse terror, the world would be a much better place…and anti-Islamic prejudice, to the extent that it exists, would disappear.
As a professor of Islam commissioned to articulate the faiths of Abraham in contemporary American idiomatic English, and not an “apologist” for anything, I have this counsel for you: Be afraid ~ be very, very afraid.
But not afraid of muslims, unless you’re aiming a weapon and trying to kill muslims in a muslim community. Fear God, Who is The Just and The Requiter of wrongful harm to others, and you won’t fear anything else.
And you’re mistaken about another thing: prejudice against muslims will never disappear as long as the skies and the soil endure. We (muslims) accept that, and live with it, and do not condemn or disdain others for it but pity them. We do not act against it, but only against actions that cause harm to others as a result of it ~ actions such as destroying the liberties of Americans and replacing it with coercive tyranny and oppression, against which we raise our voices to expose lies and half-truths with the truths behind them that the enemies of humanity seek to hide and cover up.
You might also want to investigate the instructional materials prepared for the Deobandi madrasas of Pakistan and Afghanistan by the Central Intelligence Agency to foment terror against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and certainly the whole set of facts regarding the very real terror inflicted on Shoshana when her plane arrived in Detroit.
And should you fail to recognize what happened to Shoshana as State terrorism, then may God help you.
Adam Paul
/ September 20, 2011Afraid we’ll have to just agree to disagree, Shaykh.
If you honestly believe that the only reason/justification for a non-Muslim to fear Muslims inculcated with Wahabbist and other extreme Islamist teachings is a situation in which the non-Muslim intends to ‘kill muslims in a muslim community’, then you are turning a blind eye to 9/11, the Bali bombings, the Mumbai attack, the London train bombings, the Fort Hood massacre, and thousands of other terrorist acts committed in the name of Allah.
Peace-loving Muslims, as I assume you to be, do themselves and their people and their faith no service by pretending that Islamic terror doesn’t exist and isn’t advocated, supported and funded by a substantial number of Islamists and Islamic governments. The religion has a problem, and that problem is not non-Muslims who discriminate against it and its adherents – it is the millions of people who have co-opted the name of Islam and Allah to justify the slaughter of innocents. Whether that does reflect Mohammed’s teachings or is entirely antithetical to them is far less consequential than the fact that it exists, and exists on a widespread basis.
Prejudice exists for a multitude of reasons, including ignorance and xenophobia. All of those may well contribute to the anti-Islamic sentiment many in the Western world feel. But one very real factor contributing to the disdain is fear of the very real and very vitriolic hatred of Westerners and Western values harbored by many Muslims. This hatred manifests itself in a penchant for terror, which, in turn, causes deep-seated resentment, mistrust, and sometimes, even mistreatment of Muslims.
I find it tragically comic that you can highlight and pinpoint a specific example of Western efforts to radicalize Muslims, but give no credence to the idea that that Muslims themselves are continually training their own to hate and wreak havoc, hatred and violence. Instead, you say that non-Muslims have nothing to fear from Muslims, which is as ludicrous as it is blind.
Call the treatment of Shoshana what you will. If only the extent of the ‘state terror’ perpetrated by Islamic governments were as vicious as the ‘state terror’ committed by the US government in Shoshana’s case. The world would be a much better and safer place.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 21, 2011Afraid we’ll have to just agree to disagree, Shaykh.
That works for me, but I don’t think we do. We’re just looking at different facts upon which to base our views.
If you honestly believe that the only reason/justification for a non-Muslim to fear Muslims inculcated with Wahabbist and other extreme Islamist teachings is a situation in which the non-Muslim intends to ‘kill muslims in a muslim community’, then you are turning a blind eye …
We’ve been fighting Wahhabi/Salafiyya influence in America for sixty years. It was difficult at first, because we were up against oil money. But the Wahhabi/Salafiyya are not “Islamist” parties.
I could go through the list of the parties of contention, but it would put you to sleep. Your “other extreme Islamist” phantasms are busy in their isolated enclaves discussing which of their absent brothers are actually CIA or FBI agents and how they will run the world and finally be able to “practice Islam” when the Imam Mahdi and Jesus arrive to establish The Islamic State with their honorable mujahideen selves in charge.
Peace-loving Muslims, as I assume you to be, do themselves and their people and their faith no service by pretending that Islamic terror doesn’t exist and isn’t advocated, supported and funded by a substantial number of Islamists and Islamic governments.
I’ve never met any such muslims. The forty percent of the would-be terrorist muslims who were turned in by muslims and arrested by the FBI were the ones who got away before we could catch them ourselves.
Adam Paul
/ September 22, 2011I’m not sure if I understand what you’re saying.
If you’re arguing that the only instances in which Muslims commit acts of terror and violence in the name of their religion is as a result of undue influence by demagogue FBI or CIA agents, then I’m afraid you are either delusional, or not being honest with yourself and others. Radical Islam, Militant Islam, Islamist Islam, Wahabbi Islam – whatever you want to call it – is real, it exists and is supported by untold numbers of Muslim. Whether their beliefs conform to the true teachings of Mohammed, or are a gross distortion of them, is of no importance to a victim on a schoolbus or in a discotheque or in a cafe, blown to bits by a fanatical sociopath murdering in the name of Allah. What is important is the fact that these radical elements exist in wide numbers, and they are supported by Islamic schools, governments, and societies on a level unmatched by adherents of any other faith in the contemporary world. To suggest, as I think you are doing (if I’m understanding your post correctly), that the only such incidents stem from hostile rabble-rousing by undercover CIA agents, is patently ludicrous.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 22, 2011I’m not sure if I understand what you’re saying.
Clearly, you do not. My ineffective use of this medium is probably at fault, I have yet to master miscommunications caused by the vagaries of web forum dynamics.
Your 9/22 12:35 am reply is to my 9/21 3:40 pm comment, which was excerpted from my original 9/21 1:09 am response to your 9/20 10:33 pm comment. My original response was erroneously appended by the forum software to coakl’s 9/14 1:25 pm comment (below). I thought it had been deleted and posted the excerpt (at 3:40) to replace it.
Please see my original 1:09 am response. It includes a skeletal history since the early Sixties of the “Islam” that you’re seeing presented in the media, which lends itself to the terror inflicted on the American people ~ the “Islam” that your comments show that you are seeing. It is not Islam.
I realize that “Whether their beliefs conform … is of no importance to a victim,” and that the “terror” being experienced by Americans today has a very real basis. It is also true that many of today’s muslims consider America’s experience since 9/11 to be a direct consequence of what American governments have been doing in the muslim world since the Eighteenth Century after the defeat of Barbarossa ~ largely seen as a continuation of the Crusades, much more so since the American sack of Baghdad stole or destroyed irreplaceable cultural artifacts of Mesopotamian histories reaching back before ancient times. I understand these things in their larger historical context, from before the dawn of civilization all the way through the human history accurately recorded ~ in advance ~ in the Hebrew/Aramaic Scriptures.
What Americans fear ~ with good reason ~ is not a religion, but a resurgence of conflict among the falsified religions. This resurgence is quite correctly described as “a clash of civilizations,” which has been continuous for two thousand years, but today is credibly exaggerated by dramatic occasions of violence of which 9/11 and its consequent wars are only the most recent. This ages-old conflict has readily identifiable roots in falsifications of the religions of Abraham.
Just as the heirs of Moses completely reversed the course of Israel in the time of Solomon, and as the heirs of Jesus completely reversed the course of Christianity after Constantine, so also the muslims completely reversed the course of the Millennial Kingdom less than half a century after the death of the Messenger Muhammad. In each case, the reversal led to coercive dominion and a continuing series of dehumanizing domesticated societies purportedly ruled according to principles of the virtually abandoned faith characteristic of all respectively succeeding “civilizations.” And in each case, the “reversal” was, in essence, a change of focus from the improvement and well-being of the domestic society to imperialism. What we are seeing today are the latest “grasping-at-straws” attempts at imperial dominion ~ and, according to Scripture and prophecy, the last.
Everything called “terrorism” must be understood in this context. America, as prophesied, is momentarily the most powerful imperialist “terrorist,” as the heir of European imperialism ~ bin Laden and his successors are by far the least, as heirs of Arab imperialism. In between, we find not only lesser heirs of European imperialism and greater heirs of Arab imperialism, but also Christian zionist imperialists, Israeli imperialists, cocaine and crime imperialists, and all manner of armed and unarmed ethnic, ideological, nationalist, race-based, or other quasi-companionate societies hopelessly struggling to preserve whatever remnants of their former imperial dominion, if any, that remain.
I am sometimes considered, at least locally, to be a “terrorist,” despite our known prominence ~ again locally ~ in so-called “good works” (that we think of as due and casual “neighborliness”). People who seek to coercively impose their will on me or the people around me live in constant fear of being Summoned to Court, believing that without the burden of attorney fees, we took title to this parcel of residential real estate we now possess, bankrupted a would-be real estate developer, overthrew a town government, banished a police chief, and appear to be very close to forcing this Town to disincorporate in bankruptcy, all done in the local State and federal courts. We didn’t, of course ~ but in every case our opponents have discovered that their “official” powers have not been what they imagined them to be. Had we hired attorneys, we would be seen as of the “rich and powerful untouchable powers-that-be” (which we clearly are not); but because we were not able to hire professional terrorists in three-piece suits, we are seen as terrorists ourselves. No one seems to realize that their fear of legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, which are ultimately backed up by the potential of coercive armed violence (“police power”), is just another form of terrorism. In fact, we have never had any choice about going to court, it has been a “last resort” every time ~ and always a matter of opposing someone’s attempt to use the terror of the State against us.
Americans are ~ justifiably ~ afraid. But they are being terrorized by their own government and media, not by any massive organized resistance to American imperialism, extremists pursuing a falsified faith, common criminals, psychopaths, or the occasional victim of imagination who simply loses his mind for a few fatal moments. “American” leaders seek to establish imperial dominion over the Eastern Hemisphere, and are meeting very little effective resistance and will probably succeed. That is simply an observation of history, it’s not a “judgment” of what they’re doing or even a criticism of how they’re doing it ~ although what some individuals and groups are doing is thoroughly reprehensible. And it’s not “new” ~ it’s been going on for a long time. Americans are reasonably opposed to this, say so, and even vote accordingly ~ hence Obama’s election. So in the judgment of those “American” leaders, we need to be terrorized, and shown an “enemy” that doesn’t exist in anything resembling the scale and power that we are shown.
And people who travel by air ~ those who are of the economic classes potentially influential in public affairs ~ are being conditioned to accept unreasonable and unConstitutional strip searches and body cavity inspections and Gestapo control over their everyday lives. And that’s just the tip of this “no more liberty” iceberg.
Now let’s see whether the forum software will accept a 6721-character comment.
coakl
/ September 14, 2011File a lawsuit against the airline.
Even if you don’t win outright, the airline will likely settle out of court and offer you compensation to drop the case.
That should teach their pilots and attendants to use a little more common sense and less racial harassment in the future.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 21, 2011Afraid we’ll have to just agree to disagree, Shaykh.
That works for me, but I don’t think we do. We’re just looking at different facts upon which to base our views.
If you honestly believe that the only reason/justification for a non-Muslim to fear Muslims inculcated with Wahabbist and other extreme Islamist teachings is a situation in which the non-Muslim intends to ‘kill muslims in a muslim community’, then you are turning a blind eye to 9/11, the Bali bombings, the Mumbai attack, the London train bombings, the Fort Hood massacre, and thousands of other terrorist acts committed in the name of Allah.
We’ve been fighting Wahhabi/Salafiyya influence in America for sixty years. It was difficult at first, because we were up against oil money ~ the Rabetah al-‘Alam al-Islamiyyah parties, after they bought the Muslim Student Association of the United States and Canada (MSA) and built their Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on the ruins of it, at one time were the owners (through the North American Islamic Trust, NAIT) of most of the masjids in the U.S. They were opposed first by the Council of Masajid of the United States (CMUS), then by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), later by other somewhat pretentious “national” parties, all of whom developed the capacity to build masajid without Saudi funding and the “strings” attached. But the Wahhabi/Salafiyya are not “Islamist” parties, they’re lawyers ~ scribes and pharisees. Although there were some few Saudis, including a prince or two, behind the Arab component of 9/11, those were revolutionaries, not Wahhabis per se or the more sophisticated Salafiyya, and certainly not the Saudi family or the Rabetah. 9/11 ~ or more specifically the vast numbers of Americans embracing Islam after 9/11 ~ changed the demographic character of Muslim America, and the Saudi/Wahhabi effort to colonize Muslim America and make it an Arab lobby just collapsed. There are still Wahhabi masajid and Salafiyya parties in America, but they’ve been marginalized. The money they poured into Black America bought a lot of Volvos and BMWs, but no influence. Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein had the same experience. When Hisham Kabbani gave his little Naqshbandi speech at the State Department, his information was ten years out of date.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir, al-Muhajiroun, the Murabitun, and their “Restore the Khalifat” analogues are keeping a low profile in America, making no headway ~ their garrison mentality has kept them stockaded on the fringes ever since they found half a dozen followers in America. Shaykh Jilani of Pakistan, who took over the Darul-Islam Movement out of Brooklyn (which had already split before he came), continued his war against Hindus and scattered his “Fuqara Movement” all over the continent. They’re immobilized, atomized into three- and four-family groups waiting for “Imam Mahdi,” and another uninfluential fringe group.
I could go through the list of the parties of contention, but it would put you to sleep. Your “Wahabbist and other extreme Islamist” phantasms are busy in their isolated enclaves discussing which of their absent brothers are actually CIA or FBI agents and how they will run the world and finally be able to “practice Islam” when the Imam Mahdi and Jesus arrive to establish The Islamic State with their honorable mujahideen selves in charge.
Peace-loving Muslims, as I assume you to be, do themselves and their people and their faith no service by pretending that Islamic terror doesn’t exist and isn’t advocated, supported and funded by a substantial number of Islamists and Islamic governments.
I’ve never met any such muslims. The forty percent of the would-be terrorist muslims who were turned in by muslims and arrested by the FBI were the ones who got away before we could catch them ourselves.
Jon Readman
/ September 14, 2011aw call the Waaaambulance
Ray Martinez
/ September 14, 2011“Detained” is different from being “arrested” how!? You were apprehended and they ignored your Miranda Rights. They questioned you without an attorney and never informed you that you had the right to have one present. (Lawsuit #1). They confiscated your cell phone, fine those can be triggers, but you still have the right to a phone call. Not sure how that works, I’m sure they can reverse trace a call to ensure it’s a land line or something and provide a local phone. (Lawsuit #2). I’m sure there are many more lawsuits you can file regarding the strip search and the “sorry about the broken A/C…desert people” comment, which clearly exhibits the discriminatory nature of the officer’s actions. (That and the “do you speak English?” question at the start… Your boarding pass and seat assignment have your name and credit information from purchase. They can easily find the identity of every person on a flight!) The only way for ordinary citizens to protect our “liberty” is to remind law enforcement that it needs to respect our rights and follow procedure. If the Patriot Act somehow circumvents habeus corpus on airplanes and in airports, then citizens need to be informed that they wave certain rights when they board the flight. Similar to when a ship goes into international waters. I think you should talk to an attorney, the HCR, ACLU, etc. and pursue some sort of redress over this.
I’m sure it would seem easiest to just move on with life and put this episode behind you, but consider the future. You are a peaceful person, you are an American Citizen, doesn’t that mean anything anymore!? Why should you have to worry about when your chances being profiled and harassed are highest? Or who it’s ok to sit next to, lest you become ‘guilty by association’.
It sounds like a few of the officers performed their duties respectfully, but there were also some obvious bigots who showed their uglier side on this 10th anniversary. That doesn’t mean they’re taking the rest of the year off!
Ray Martinez
/ September 14, 2011I forgot to wish you the best, sorry, I got all riled up. Hopefully nothing like this ever happens to you or your loved ones ever again.
Mark Brandon
/ September 14, 2011Rest assured that on September 11, 2011, Shoshana Hebshi and her co-detainees made a sacrifice for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, just as sure as our men and women in uniform do every day.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Men and women in uniform voluntarily signed up to perform their duties. Ms. Hebshi and her seatmates were not given a choice whether or not they wanted to endure the treatment they endured. The analogy is not valid.
John
/ September 14, 2011Men and women in uniform do not voluntarily sign up to perform their duties, they get paid for what they do.
Allison
/ September 15, 2011Obviously, that is true, but their enlistment is voluntary and not imposed upon them by an outside force.
John
/ September 15, 2011All these started from the cabin crew of Frontier Airlines who are probably untrained and inexperienced and cried wolf. Obviously the flight crew did not feel so much of a threat as not to request for a diversion to a less populated landing site or to put the plane in the ground earlier than expected. Even on the ground the plane was allowed to taxi to a populated area then taxied off to an isolated area.
After disembarking and searched that there are no explosives on her, they should have stopped questioning. She should not have allowed them to take her finger prints.
Solution to this, boycott Frontier Airlines, have a lawsuit for the airlines, to show other airlines not to be too quick on the trigger or in this case radio, sue the FBI, DHS and TSA for illegal detention, illegal search that is based on toilet movements of seat mate.
What happened to the body scanners of the TSA? On the departure point? The feds have systems in place on suspicious ticket purchases. Even the handling of the situation is iffy, again what can F16s do if there was indeed a bomb and why was the plane allowed to land in Detroit and taxi to the main terminal.
Obviously there was no threat nor imminent threat on board but still on the ground it was taken too far. Why the handcuffs? Handcuffs are normally used for violent arrest, where is the pat down before entering the squad car?
This just shows how much resources are wasted on innocent people. Simple search on the tarmac that yields negative should be just that, negative and let people get on with their lives.
John J Diffley
/ September 14, 2011This is a prime example of how the GOP led Fear Campaign has allowed the Terrorists to win. An innocent woman, mother of two, and a US Citizen handcuffed and strip-searched because she looks Middle-Eastern, and two men sitting near her treated the same way (apparently Police and FBI agents can’t tell an Indian from a Middle-Eastern person). Our Founding Fathers would disown us if they could.
Mrs. Hebshi, you have my heart-felt regret that the US has become this way, and a promise I will do all i can as a Political Activist to undo the laws that allowed this to happen.
ghsts
/ September 14, 2011“Horrifically Stupid Individuals Given Temp Jobs In Airline Security For 9/11 Anniversary” should have been the headline. Nothing says security like letting the most inept folks, glorified peanut delivery persons, handle security on flights. All of the “incidents” on Sunday were the results of these amateur mediums, employees that should have just called in sick. The pure waste and misdirection of resources would have been a wetdream for real combatants. So wagging fingers unite, it wasn’t the terrorists, evil doers, panic stricken white bread flight crew or Mall of America surveys to blame…it was the the law and security enforcement services putting on there version of a ‘parade of clowns’ for really dumb Americans that would rather see a show than be safe.
I would express remorse over the treatment Shoshana Hebshi received but watching this nonsense over the past ten years makes me wonder how much of this is chickens coming home to roost. She, like myself, is an US citizen and collectively we allowed this to be the solution to: two men of color going to the bathroom when the sign clearly states “Whites Only”.
On a lighter note, you got to love the fact that two kids trying to get membership in the Mile High Club received similar treatment.
Passanger 57
/ September 14, 2011Allison If we see someone acting suspicious on an airplane what should we do?
Allison
/ September 14, 2011What would you consider suspicious?
Passanger 57
/ September 15, 2011Causing one to have the idea or impression that something or someone is of questionable, dishonest, or dangerous character or condition.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011Like, say, using the bathroom? Tweeting on the ground? Or staying in your seat for the entire flight?
Which of those scenarios, all of which are at play in this instance, is suspicious enough to scramble F16s, then perform both a strip and cavity search?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011Like, say, using the bathroom? Tweeting on the ground? Or staying in your seat for the entire flight?
How about this:
Saying or doing something that would cause a person of ordinary prudence to anticipate an articulable harmful or wrongful action of a specific identifiable nature.
The pertinent phrase in this case would be “of ordinary prudence.” This is what was lacking throughout the entire episode ~ and is lacking in Passenger 57’s revelation of an irrational paranoia (although attempting to cause someone to be suspicious is, itself, not an action typical of a person of ordinary prudence).
Passanger 57
/ September 16, 2011SilenceDogood,
I was asking a question, I wish you would have answered it.
BTW I did not see the line about the cavity search in the original text. Can you tell me where I missed it?
Thanks
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011What sort of answer would you like? What happened in this case is that a woman, who slept most of the flight, and then used her phone on the ground like practically everyone else I see these days on planes, was hauled off for “suspicious behavior”. Just a few days ago some college dude had his mom call the TSA because the crew were eating cookies. After all, everyone knows that cookies are often poisoned enough to kill an entire plane full of people. Seriously? This hysteria has to stop.
Because this hysteria does indeed lead to cavity searches. You’ll find the reference in paragraph 29 of the original blog post. I imagine it is somewhat buried because it is the most embarrassing aspect of this ordeal to a modest woman who hadn’t done anything wrong:
“They also needed to make sure all my orifices were free and clear.”
What do you suppose that means? After they got all of her clothes off someone just asked, “Hey, lady, are your orifices free and clear of bombs?” Uh, no.
So, I guess, to answer your question when you see something suspicious, if one isn’t a complete coward, then ask the passenger spending “too much” time in the bathroom if they are OK. Who knows? Maybe they’re ill, and would appreciate your concern instead of hysterical judgement making that they’re about to blow up a plane.
Back to the dude and the cookies. He saw a 12 year old child give a flight attendant a tin of cookies, and then panicked. He spent the entire flight (also on Frontier, BTW) in sheer panic that the pilots had eaten cookies and had somehow died in the cockpit and that’s how terrorists where going to crash the plane. And then, AND THEN, the flight attendants started passing out these cookies to the ENTIRE plane. Well, except that on Frontier that’s a practice they adopted from Midwest in their merger: they pass out cookies to the entire plane. But when you’re a hysterical nut hellbent on believing that there’s a terrorist on every plane, yeah, handing out cookies is probably the most nefarious thing anyone could do. And so he was so terrified that he did absolutely nothing, except not eat the cookies himself and freak out the entire flight. And then he told his mom, who called TSA after his flight had already landed a few days later. This behavior is nothing more than abject stupidity and cowardice. You had a terrorist on your plane and you had your mom call TSA after you landed safely? How stupid does someone have to be to do something like that?
People, look, you are going to die someday. I’m sorry to break it to you. Some of you are fatty rednecks who may die of heart disease or a drunk driving accident. Incidentally, these things are FAR MORE common by an order of magnitude than dying in a plane-related terrorist attack, and yet you still sit around on your fat asses eating pork rinds, guzzling beer, and then getting in your car. Meanwhile you freak out that someday, somewhere a terrorist is planting bombs in an airplane bathroom. Stop this madness. Stop it! It is sheer insanity.
If you see something, talk to your seatmate, talk to the “suspicious character”, don’t sit around and get yourself all freaked out over nothing. Every single incident has turned out to be exactly that, nothing. Ergo you are freaking out over the wrong things.
Do you know why Wal-mart has greeters at the front door? They’re a deterrent. It’s the same thing as talking to the “suspicious” person. Had Trevor Gray turned to his seat mate and said something along the lines of, “Hey, those flight attendants are passing out cookies. Do you think they might be dangerous?” His seatmate very well may have been a frequent flyer on Frontier and said something along the lines of “Oh, ever since Frontier merged with Midwest they hand out cookies. Isn’t it great?! They’re so good, you really should try one!” After all, you are FAR MORE likely to sit next to a frequent flyer on your plane than, well, a terrorist. People about to do “bad things” are nervous. Or he could have confronted the flight attendant directly who would have told him what we have since learned, that the cookies were from a friend of hers. Someone she knows.
If someone had approach one of these “terrorists” on Ms. Hebshi’s plane, then they would have found out one of 2 things:
1) The dude was ill and maybe you had some immodium or tums to help him out
2) The dude was a terrorist who WAS about to blow up the plane. But then you’d know and could recruit other passengers to help subdue the attack.
Really, this stuff isn’t hard.
Instead what we have are people like Trevor Gray who literally freaked out over cookies. Can you think of anything more ridiculous?
Instead we have someone on this flight freaking out over 2 people using the bathroom in succession, which happens all the time. It is not abnormal behavior.
This OMG! 9/11! hysteria is nonsense, as exactly this incident proves.
People, stop, just stop.
Passanger 57
/ September 19, 2011SilenceDogood,
Thanks for telling me where to find the text I asked about. Also I like your answer about talking to the person who seems to be actting adnormaly. Not sure why you called me a redneck.
I will not becoming back to this post, I wish you well.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Silence: part of the reason why people imagine their plane will be blown up is because that would give meaning to a life in a vacuum. The conceitedness of actually believing that you, YOU, would find yourself (I mean the generic you, not you of course) on a plane bound for that kind of history is, statistically, less likely than a science fiction story.
I truly believe that you have to almost half want it to be true, that a terrorist is going to blow up your plane, to believe that you can spot someone on board who will actually do it. What’s curious to imagine is that there may have been some such fantasist on one of the 9/11 planes, but of course whoever they profiled (unless they profiled everyone) they probably got it wrong. Or, rather, right but for the wrong reason.
People could perhaps use more meaningful lives, that way they wouldn’t have to imagine that every brown-skinned person in the world was plotting to rob, murder, or blow them up.
Conor Mccartney
/ September 14, 2011I’m very sorry that this happened to you. It never should have. this is truly terrible.
rjb
/ September 14, 2011really people…
DaveM
/ September 14, 2011I think what happened to the author was outrageous. They could have held and questioned her without a strip search. That seems way across the line. This was an unreasonable search in my opinion (for those of you who keep asking “what constitutional right was violated?”).
We need to distinguish between descriptions of people and racism. If there are two people outside (one black man and one white man), and I hand you something and ask you to “please give this to the black (or African American) man outside”, is that racism or a description so you can deliver the item to the correct person?
In her blog she referred the the “Indian man”, not the “other detainee”. Is she being a racist? I don’t think so. She decided she doesn’t like country music, fat bellies and rednecks… is she being racist? I think you could make that argument… How about describing a rather kind, according to her own words, officer being described as a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith?” Is she a bigot… or just venting in a bigoted way? I don’t know. I’m not judging her a bigot, but her words seem to indicate she’s not the most nonjudgmental person about whom I’ve ever heard.
How about “watch stealer”? He was not convicted of anything. How dare someone call someone a thief…? Based on what? Just because she hears someone else comment about it, she now identifies that person with the pejorative moniker? That’s not very American (please note a tone of sarcasm).
How about the “middle-aged white cop with a beer belly and a flat top”? What benefit does she get from letting us know he was white? Or fat? or how his hair looked? This could be both descriptive and racist. Does her use of that language make her a racist? I don’t think it’s certain, but I’ll bet a bunch of other people do.
I understand she was pissed off, and you can bet I think she has every right to be. I’d consider legal action. If “standard procedure” includes a strip search for “safety” before there’s any credible evidence of wrong doing then we need some changes to “standard procedure”. Was she under arrest? Was she combative? If she’s locked in a cell and has under gone a pat down, then she’s not a credible threat to anyone. If she had a bomb, she certainly would have set it off before then.
All this yelping back and forth about racism is interesting. Racism is not the sole purview of the white race. If you think it is your head is up your… well, in the sand. Given the diversity in the US, I think the white citizens, in general, do as well as anyone else.
Were nerves on edge because of the situation? You bet. Was she forced through an ordeal? You bet. The system goes too far too often. I think this is one of those cases. However, even given the descriptions of the fat bellies, hair cuts, and discolored necks, it seems that most everyone treated her well, was apologetic, polite, and concerned for her well being… after the initial “threat” was removed. I think the people working the report did a reasonable job given the rules under which they operate. Remember, the officers did not make the reports of suspicious behavior; they responded to it. The system is bad. It seems the people involved did the best they could.
I’m sorry she went through this, and I don’t find it acceptable at all. For the most part, the people she dealt with were not persecuting her because of her race. The argument that the original reports of suspicious behavior were based on race have a much stronger basis.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011DaveM: I want to gently take issue with some of what you said; I’m not being facetious. It is misleading to analyze the original poster’s descriptions for whether or not they are racist. First off, let’s just wildly assumes she’s the most militant, US-hating terrorists in the history of the world–does that justify her treatment more than the current set of circumstances? The current situation being what it is, that might get you a permanent trip to Gitmo but that would still be a travesty of all we claim to hold dear, wouldn’t it.
More importantly, I take it as a given that people’s brains are full of uncharitable thoughts. We’ve spent the last 10 years at the very least being inundated and irradiated on a daily basis by perfectly awful stuff daily. A whole generation has been raised from the starting point that muslims are evil incarnate, without ever having met a single one that they know of. Whites have hate-filled thoughts for everyone else; everyone else has hate-filled thoughts for Whites. It’s absolutely axiomatic, when people are in an ugly confrontation with someone, the strength of will to hesitate in going for the obvious jab is usually too powerful to resist–the overweight person will be called a tub-of-lard, the person making the poor argument will be called a retard, and whatever socially constructed of race you appear as will be the epithet you’re going to get smashed wish, or your sex, or “Nazi” if all else seems unavailable.
What we do with such thoughts is where social problems begin and end.
The original poster was under duress, she had uncharitable thoughts, she was honest enough or cheeky enough to present them, when she was still under the aftermath of the distress, in a way that her better self might wish she hadn’t. What are the regrets of the person who turned her in–are they akin to those people scattered all throughout this post who call the terrorizing she was subjected to an “inconvenience,” who (from their likely white privilege) declare, “well that’s how it is, get used to it” and so forth. Review the consequences of the uncharitable thoughts that her persecutors had (and her persecutor’s defenders are having here, including the people who are saying that she was on a trial run or made the whole story up or did it all just to be famous). I find calling someone a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith” much less socially alarming than saying someone who was terrorized by State organs a “fame-seeker”.
Again, there are very few people, if anyone, who have utterly pristine thoughts, and so what? Again, it’s what we do with such thoughts is where social problems begin and end. To voice them proudly is ugly; to voice them honestly is better; to acknowledge them contritely is better still–pretending they don’t exist is absurd.
If you said that attempts to demonize her persecutors is as socially useless as attempting to demonize the original poster as a liar or what not, I’d be closer to agreeing.
Socially, racism cannot be construed as merely the contents of one’s thoughts. And if people must insist on being racists and other horrible people, then so long as it stays in their head, not only is there no way I’d have cause to do anything about it, I probably wouldn’t if I could. Not to act on our grotesque impulses is an extremely conscientious and social thing to do, and I appreciate it a lot. I could argue I can’t imagine how a person could be happy allowing such thoughts to have a life in their head, but that’s for the person to decide.
Yes, she has presented a record of those thoughts, so they’re no longer in her head. My reading of it doesn’t have anything in it that isn’t contextually related to the stress of her situation, if not being merely factually descriptive (a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith”). And it’s simply grotesque stretching to pretend that anyone saying they hate country music isn’t a throw-away line, etc. Contextually, there’s a massive difference between having the thought that she’s a terrorist and then reporting her (much less detaining and interrogating her) based upon her skin color and remarking that a fat white Detroit cop is this or that.
Ken C.
/ September 14, 2011The way you were treated was a travesty.
If there was a VIABLE threat to the passengers or the aircraft, the aircraft should have been isolated, and the passengers swiftly evacuated…but this did not happen.
A lengthy ground delay, followed by a “dramatic & theatrical storming” of the aircraft accomplishes nothing.
Did the authorities ever explain the strip-search? That also accomplished nothing…the assertion that it was for your own protection was glib and self-serving.
Government authorities [federal, state, municipal] have asked ordinary citizens to report “suspicious activity.” The problem is that any yahoo can give free rein to his or her prejudices, unfounded fears, and smouldering racism. The “authorities” [such as they are] haven’t quite thought through what to do with all these “reports.” Should there be fighter-jet escorts, SWAT-team responses, and strip-searches EVERY TIME an alert citizen reports “suspicious activity?”
No. Certainly, the airlines, airport security personnel, Homeland Security, and the FBI and do MUCH better.
These “reports” must be evaluated at a lower level; if a flight attendant had chatted with the “bathroom” gentlemen, I doubt he or she would have noted anything unusual. Likewise, a quick look at the offending bathroom reveals nothing. Therefore, perhaps a report, but no need to storm the aircraft. Perhaps the gentlemen are noted in someone’s database, but with an asterisk noting “unverified, presumed innocent.”
I am really sorry you were treated so shabbily…it was absolutely inexcusable.
Davos
/ September 14, 2011WHAT F**KING MORONS.
I’m an ex-airline captain with 15,000 hours: What terrorist would blow up a plane after it landed at the gate?
Jeff Larson
/ September 14, 2011You, sir, have entirely too much common sense to work in aviation security these days.
jackie
/ September 14, 2011“I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.”
Dang! This lady is a SERIOUS BIGOT! no wonder she was handcuffed and held! scary!!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011People generally are not handcuffed, detained, strip searched, and interrogated for being bigots.
I think you might need to go back and re-read the post. You seem to be misunderstanding some of her points.
Fiona Havlish
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry this happened to you and am so grateful you shared your story. It will help others.
Raishel Dion Wasserman
/ September 14, 2011I truly hope you file suit against the government for their actions. No American citizen deserves to be treated this way. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty” and “no unlawful search and seizure”? What happened to you is a great travesty, and I hope very much that one day we as a nation will take a stand against such things, instead of perpetuating these crimes against innocent people.
Sophie Kaboré
/ September 14, 2011Unsure I like the world we are living in now. Fear is blinding common sense
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011You ain’t kidding.
Just before this incident, some moron was terrified of cookies on a plane. He was so terrified, in fact, that he had his mom call the authorities.
You can’t make this stuff up.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/ct-met-getting-around-0912-20110912,0,1978649.column
David Stabler
/ September 14, 2011I’m sorry for your recent encounter. It sounds very unnerving, to say the least. We all have “biases” that overcome us. Obviously someone on the plane made a rash/stupid/incorrect decision based on your appearance.
But….is that really all that surprising to you? You seem to do the same thing in your article:
–“As we walked, I got a glimpse of the watch-stealer, a chubby middle-aged white guy with a buzz cut. He didn’t look too different from some of the officers.” (comparing a “watch-stealer” and the “officers” based on their common appearance)
–“a middle-aged white cop with a beer belly and a flat top returned me–without handcuffs–to the cell.” (the cop’s weight has to be connected with his excessive drinking based on his appearance)
–“She looked like a fat Jada Pinkett Smith, and in a kind but firm voice explained what was going to happen.” (the female officer has a weight problem based on her appearance)
Even you, in your written blog, judge people based on appearances. Its a sad but true reality that all of humanity engages in.
Maybe the airport security behavior was a bit over the top. No…more than a bit. I agree with you there. Then again…..had some of these measures been in place pre 9/11 perhaps I wouldn’t have lost so many people from my home state in the attacks on the WTC buildings. I don’t know. If you know people personally who died in the 9/11 attacks I wonder if you don’t view these issues from a different perspective.
I’m conflicted on this issue of loss of freedom for better security. Its not as cut and dry as we make it out to be.
Again though…..all of us (including you) make judgments based on appearance. There’s no way around it. its just a part of the brokenness that exists within the human race. This shouldn’t surprise us anymore……
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011David: why do people named David keep making this argument. I’m getting more succinct in my decimation of it, however.
If you read what you’ve written, you are adding inferences to the author’s descriptions. If the officer looked like a “fat Jada Pinkett Smith” that’s what she looked like. If a woman was being sexually assaulted, you would say she’s profiling the guy when she reported, “He sexually assaulted me.”
The profiling that people did of the original poster led her to being dragged off a plane at gunpoint, detained, interrogated, strip-searched, etc. What possible parallel is there with that in the consequences of the author saying that so and so had a beer belly, which (again) is merely descriptive.
Does her post terrify you so much in its implications that you can only address it trivially. Are you going to say that I am now profiling you. If there’s an orange on the table and I say “It’s a fruit” are you going to accuse me of being homophobic.
IN the first place, our brains tell us what we see, whether those thoughts are charitable or not. What we do with those thoughts is what matters. The author gave a record of her experience, and could have engaged in some accounts-taking with those who terrorized her after interacting with them for quite a while. Does that really seem equivalent to you as the person who decided she was a terrorist because she was sitting quietly in her plane seat?
Joel Mielke
/ September 14, 2011Isn’t it great to live in the home of the brave?
Ziz
/ September 14, 2011Everyone in the US is judged by their looks. People are attacked verbally and sometimes physically because of their skin color, weight, height, gender…. so welcome to the club. Personally, flying on 9/11 when you know you look like a middle eastern person probably isn’t the smartest thing to do, just like a white guy with a shaved head and tattoos probably should avoid going to a black club in Harlem. Its legal, it should be safe, but its just not smart.
jackie
/ September 14, 2011wow lady….your bigoted remarks just continue.
I’m glad your father isn’t alive, too, to know what a racist, bigot he raised. Thankfully, he has been spared that pain and embarassment.
AND I suggest you walk next time you need to get from A to B, since you don’t seem to be able to follow simple instructions, as nearly ALL passengers (except maybe a french actor who likes to piss in a bottle on the plane) are able to do.
And I am more than happy to spend MY tax dollars (and I contribute ALOT) to throw your racist behind in jail until you understand the laws against using electronic devices and carrying weapons on board planes is ILLEGAL! (I do believe you fessed up to your hubby breaking the law) – and being supremely dumb.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011People generally are not sent to jail for being bigots.
She was using her phone during the taxi to the terminal, as is allowed under FAA regulations and is currently done by almost all passengers on planes I fly these days. SHE did not have a weapon, and the suspicious activity for which she was detained wasn’t because her husband had a weapon on a plane.
I think you might need to go back and re-read the post. You seem to be misunderstanding some of her points.
A.
/ September 16, 2011Some people will never understand her point in writing that passage. It’s sad, but true.
bored
/ September 14, 2011Wow. Allison. You post whore!
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011And you’re a busybody. What’s your point?
smintheus
/ September 14, 2011Don’t allow this to pass, take action. Hire a lawyer and sue. Make sure that the people in charge of your arrest and degrading treatment lose their jobs, and that those working under them at least suffer sanctions for taking part in this charade. They took you into custody and mistreated you without cause. The government should not continue to employ such unprofessional people.
David
/ September 14, 2011This sort of thing, at least in my opinion, should have never happened in our “free” country. At the very least, she should of been notified from the start what the problem was, instead of being basically ignored.
It seems that either out of fear or not caring that people dont get shocked as much by rights being violated like this. Yes, we of course need to have increased security in airports and such, but not in a way that violates people’s rights and puts up stereotypes of certain races and countries.
Whether or not this incident was caused by racial profiling, lots of incidents such as this run rampant, people getting ridiculed for being Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent is just wrong.
stayingalivemoma
/ September 14, 2011I am so very, very sorry that you went through this ordeal. I don’t think I could say I’m sorry enough. As a Black woman, I know all too well the unfair practices against people whose skin is the “wrong” color. However, do not let that sway you from being a good person to the best of your ability.
I am originally from Detroit, where I grew up with Blacks and Whites segregated. Now, here is Phoenix, there was some culture shock as people from all races mingle and form friendships and romantic relationships. It is very good to see. But it is only a start. I have seen such racial hatred for Hispanics here that it makes me sick to my stomach. I have had my first racial incident out her in Arizona with an older white woman.
Unfortunately, there are people that are raised to be this way. Shame on their parents for that. I wish you nothing but happiness and blessings….and tough skin; ignore the hatred that comes towards you for it will be those that hate who will get their “just” dessert.
steven
/ September 14, 2011THERE ARE OVER 1700 COMMENTS. I READ A LOT OF THEM AND I HOPE A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL READ MINE…….INCLUDING SHOSHANA. YOU COMPLAIN THAT YOU WERE RACIALLY PROFILED BECAUSE THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN. YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT YOU PROBABLY WERE……AND SO WHAT……..I DON’T MIND THAT HAPPENING. MOST OF THESE PEOPLE WHO WRITE ON YOUR BLOG WON’T ADMIT IT……BUT THEY DON’TMIND EITHER. AL QUAIDA AND TALIBAN AND MOST EVERY OTHER TERRORIST CELL ARE WHAT RELIGION AND COLOR????…….THERE YOU GO.
I’M A CAUCASIAN AMERICAN AND I LIVE IN GERMANY AND I TRAVEL A LOT…..I MEAN A LOT. I GET PROFILED EVERYWHERE I GO. I GET HARASSED AND I’VE BEEN UNNECESSARILY SEARCHED. BUT I DEAL WITH IT BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE AND IT’S MY CHOICE TO TRAVEL TO THE PLACES WHERE I WILL BE PROFILED, STARED AT, AND NOT ALWAYS TREATED NICE. I’VE BEEN TO QATAR AND DUBAI AND ABU DHABI AND BAHRAIN…….AND THEY DO THE SAME THING TO AMERICANS……..AT THE AIRPORT AS WELL AS IN THE COMMUNITIES.
IF WHAT HAPPENED ON 9/11 IN THE U.S.A. EVER HAPPENED IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN I GUARANTEE THAT IT WOULD HAVE THE SAME EFFECT IF NOT BIGGER.
I DON’T LIKE THE FACT THAT YOU MADE A COUPLE COMMENTS “WE’RE STILL CARRYING 9/11 BAGGAGE” AND “IT’S 9/11 AND PEOPLE ARE SEEING GHOSTS…SEEING THINGS THAT AREN’T THERE”.
WERE YOU TOO BUSY BLOGGING TO NOTICE THE BOMBINGS IN KABUL BY AL QUAIDA/TALIBAN????? LET’S SEE……THEIR TARGET WAS THE U.S. EMBASSY AND THE NATO BUILDING. THIS DAMN SURE WASN’T THE FIRST TIME SINCE 9/11 AND IT WON’T BE THE LAST.
I DON’T BELIEVE YOU’VE EARNED THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW YOU’RE TREATED IN THE U.S.A.
WHEN YOU LOSE THE NUMBER OF LOVED ONES FOR NO REASON AT ALL DUE TO THE RELIGIOUSLY MISGUIDED…..THEN YOU CAN TALK.
ACTUALLY, I ALWAYS HEAR MUSLIMS COMPLAINING ABOUT BEING PROFILED AND BEING MISTREATED WHEN THEY ARE GOOD MUSLIMS WHO BELIEVE IN PEACE.
BUT WHAT I DON’T HEAR IS THESE SAME PEACE LOVING MUSLIMS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST WHAT THE TERRORISTS ARE DOING. WHY IS THAT?????
I’VE READ YOUR BIO AND YOU APPEAR TO BE PRETTY SMART AND EDUCATED. IF YOU ASSUMED THE AIRPORTS WOULD NOT BE BUSY AND THE LINES WOULD BE SHORT, THEN YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN WHY. IT WAS YOUR CHOICE TO FLY ON THIS DAY.
FINALLY, NOT TO BE MEAN, BUT YOU HAVE A CHOICE OF WHERE YOU WANT TO LIVE AND YOU CHOOSE THE U.S.A.
YOU MUST LIKE IT FOR THE MOST PART. IF NOT, THEN YOU CAN ALWAYS RELOCATE AND TRY TO FIND A BETTER COUNTRY.
UNTIL THEN……
bearfairie
/ September 14, 2011I find it odd that the blog post is by someone named Shoshanna Hebshi, and doesn’t mention anything about traveling with a young daughter. The original article that I keep seeing this blog post linked to from the Las Vegas Sun (link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/11/us-airline-passengers-detained/) says the woman detained is Ilona Hadjar, and was traveling with a 2 1/2 yr old daughter. The facts of the article don’t match the blog post… Were there 2 different incidents involving Frontier Airlines Flight 623, where 3 people were arrested, then released, from a flight getting in, involving 2 men and one woman with an Arab last name starting with H? I hate to down-play the significance of this situation, but I don’t think the woman on the plane is the woman who’s blog this is. I’m still feeling a bit cautious after the whole “Gay Girl in Damascus” debacle…
If you are who you say you are Shoshanna, I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you. I am a Jewish woman who keeps her head covered for religious reasons, and I had to travel by air last Sunday. The story of the woman traveling with a child, detained for no other reason than looking Arab while traveling, is exactly my biggest nightmare, what I was so afraid would happen to me. I was thoroughly searched before boarding, but I didn’t have any other trouble beyond that. If you are not who you say you are (and after reading through your blog I suspect you are not, for a number of reasons), I am really appalled that you would fabricate this.
bearfairie
/ September 14, 2011I believe I misread the original AP article. Ilona was a woman interviewed but not named as the woman removed from teh flight. I apologize for any hurt my comment may have provoked, Shoshanah. It’s a trully appalling thing you went through, and like I said, my biggest fear of last Sunday was your reality. I am so sorry you had to live through this.
jen
/ September 14, 2011This person obviously doesn’t understand what the law is.
One the one hand, she complains that she was singled out because of her heritage.
On the other, she keeps calling a ‘suspect’ in a theft case the “watch stealer”
Perhaps she needs a lesson in how the law in America is applied to EVERYONE.
In other words, innocent until proven guilty.
She should practice what she purports to preach.
Her words belie her own racism, bigotry and guilt, as she is calling someone else merely being questioned – – guilty. shameful!
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011You are unbelievable.
That’s the law! You screech.
Well, I imagine you would have yelled that at a runaway slave in the 1800s as you returned it to its master. You probably also would’ve yelled it at a fellow woman in the 20’s trying to vote.
Well, then, hopefully someday the law that allowed Ms. Hebshi to be cavity searched will be used for you, as well.
steven
/ September 14, 2011ALLISON NEEDS TO GET A CLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’VE READ MORE THAN ENOUGH OF HER COMMENTS.
CRYING ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION AND FREEDOM OF THIS AND FREEDOM OF THAT.
THE CONSTITUTION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. WHAT I MEAN IS THAT WE HAVE ALL THESE ILLEGAL ALIENS AND GREEN CARD HOLDERS AND VISA HOLDERS THAT WEREN’T BORN HERE AND AREN’T U.S. CITIZENS………(YET ANYWAY)…………AND THEY USE OUR OWN CONSTITUTION AGAINST US TO PROTECT THEM.
BIG BROTHER NEEDS TO START TAKING CARE OF BIG BROTHER!!!
M
/ September 14, 2011Wait a sec, I was a green-card holder for 9 years and then became a citizen. Nothing dramatic happened to me the day I became a citizen that made me any different than the person I was the day before. I wasn’t more or less deserving of my rights than I had been the day before. The constitution provides rights that apply to everyone in the United States regardless of immigration status (except the right to vote). “Our” constitution, as you put it, applies to “them” and “they” too. The reason that Allison speaks out about the constitution is that far too many of us (you and me both) know too little about it. We should be thanking her for educating us.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011It really is difficult to take someone who uses ALL CAPS seriously.
Besides, you really aren’t saying anything intelligent, which also doesn’t help.
emerson
/ September 15, 2011i think the government is using the system to keep fear enstilled in the americans to justify the war on terrorisam… and another truth is, if it were 2 white men on that plane gettin up at the same time , it WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR…..P E R I O D……. and you kno it……ppl use 9/11 as a safe guard fot profiling and ITS WRONG………true, it is a pre 9/11 issue, but has only gotten worse because of it……bigotry,paranoia and ignorance has always excisted and will never go away, but there are WHITE AMERICANS WHO ARE TERRORISTS TOO…..PROFILE THEM…… and we have turned our heads to look the other way….why? beacuse THEY ARE WHITE…… please, open your eyes……
A.
/ September 16, 2011BIG BROTHER NEEDS TO START TAKING CARE OF BIG BROTHER!!!
I am so confused.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011HI steven: it’s rare to get it so refreshingly honest: “THE CONSTITUTION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM”.
It sure is, isn’t it. Insisting that human beings have human rights and all, and protecting them from just any old goober who wants to trammel all over them.
Durn constitution … have to get another at Wal-Mart or somewhere. Where do these things come from anyway?
Walt Gekko
/ September 14, 2011As I continue to read the many, many posts that have been made here, it amazes me how much hatred there really is here.
Ms. Hebshi looks like many other women I’ve known over the years, so I don’t know where whoever said she was a terrorist got any idea she was even remotely possibly one. It’s obvious whoever said this was basing his/her belief on stereotypes, and in the case of the men it’s not the first time those who are Indian for instance have had problems (there was a case earlier this year in New York of an Indian man mistaken for looking like a terrorist who was brutally punched in the face by a black man who spouted out a lot of hatred for example). For all three, their crime was simply happening to be seated together and one of them needing to use the bathroom a bit more than one person (or more) was comfortable with. Growing up in New York, I’ve been fortunate enough in my lifetime to have gone to a school with many who were Jewish and later having lived in about a racially mixed a building as anyone could live in, and what that does do is give me a perspective on many of the cultures out there, including those who are Muslim. Most who are Muslim are like everybody else, and they have to deal with the fact the extreme factions in many ways WORSE than others just because of their religion.
What I’ve also seen since 9/11 is the fact many people have grown increasingly paranoid in many ways, and others using that to take advantage and in many cases advance their own personal agenda.
That seems to be the problem. We have no way of knowing if someone really was scared or otherwise paranoid of Ms. Hebshi or the two men or if they were acting that way as an excuse to try and cause problems, as it’s clearly obvious Ms. Hebshi and the two men were NOT doing anything wrong. There is a thread about this on the Too Smart To Fail Message Board at: http://www.toosmarttofail.com/forums/showthread.php?15546 that shows the level of disgust everyone who has read this article has on it.
What to me was even more disturbing than this incident is one that has for the most part been totally played down, and that was what happened while Ms. Hebshi was being detained on Sunday night about 1,200 miles away or so at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ (just outside NYC) as a man came into Met Life Stadium to see the Dallas Cowboys-New York Jets game dressed in Cowboys gear managing to get a stun gun past security at a game where former President Bush was attending (there is a thread with video of that incident at: http://www.toosmarttofail.com/forums/showthread.php?15528). While he “only” used that stun gun during a brawl in the stands, the fact he was able to get that past security on the anniversary of 9/11 should be sending many more alarm bells than anything else, as it’s possible terrorists have seen or heard of this incident by now. That is something that should be of a much bigger concern than whether or not three people who CLEARLY did not know each other and happened to be seated together looking suspicious, at least in my opinion.
Gevurah
/ September 14, 2011Recently, on Alaska Air, a really, really ignorant flight attendant raised a ruckus because she thought some passengers were behaving suspiciously. The malefactors were some Orthodox Jewish men PRAYING!
How awful! PRAYING!!!! With their gear on (tefillin & tallit)
I won’t be flying Alaska Air any more. Any flight attendant that dumb needs to be flipping burgers instead of annoying passengers.
This latest story is more proof of how under-trained and jittery the plane people are. So sorry it happened to this poor lady and the other people.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011That story was disturbing.
About a week ago a United flight attendant had a man removed on suspicion because he was reading a book! No lie.
avery
/ September 14, 2011by the way, I wonder if this person’s story is really a ruse to try to get people all rile up and rail against Homeland Security….so her hubby CAN get his knife (or WORSE!) on a plane and slit the throat of a pilot and flight attendants?
I mean, she admits he tried to carry-on an banned article….a pocketknife!! Who does that!?
Anyone thought of that?
Her story doesn’t add up. She claims that the FBI says the last time something similar happened was last December.
But I guess she didn’t count on people like me actually checking the FACTS. According to the United States of America Federal Homeland Security site, there have been a myriad of terror-related instances since last December — that month alone had the following occur:
12-29-10
“Bomb Scare at US Airport Over Ammunition Primers
A US man was detained Tuesday after ammunition parts in his luggage exploded as baggage handlers were moving it from one plane to another at Miami airport, officials said.”
12-26-10
TSA: Man Caught With Loaded, Stolen Gun at Miami International Airport
A local man responsible for a scare at Miami International airport yesterday is now out of jail. The West Palm Beach man was caught with a loaded gun while trying to leave the United States for Havana, Cuba
Now, there are about 30 other stories about planned airplane, subway and other terrorists threats across the globe, and many arrests last December alone (not including all the ones since then), but NONE involving what she claims the agent said happened. hmmmmm!!!!
Also, this campaign was stepped up:
” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department’s national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign”
Apparently, people on the plane were just following orders — if you see something, say something!
If this lady knows anything about the “shoe-bomber” – she knows he made multiple trips to the bathroom and was there for extended periods of time….exactly what she describes happened on her flight (she even admits the one guy had NO SHOES!! yes….where were they?)
In this case on the 10th anniversary of 9-11 — DURING A CREDIBLE THREAT and HEIGHTENED AWARENESS ALERT that everyone on the planet was aware of (except, seemingly…..her!)
She claims that she thought flying on 9-11 would be a breeze — why?
There was a known, widely broadcast CREDIBLE TERROR THREAT — that would not seem so easy, breezy, to most people.
Perhaps she is a plant. Perhaps she thinks she’s going to get a campaign going to get our security measures relaxed so she can stroll on a plane and blow it up!
How do I know what this lady’s motivations are?
I don’t know her at all.
The only thing I know is “thou doth protest to much” for a reason, perhaps.
I know nothing about her, other than what she writes, which sounds very, very, very UNAmerican and very, very, very judgmental, racist and bigoted…..just the kind of people involved in terrorism. They hate our freedoms and way of life.
Way to target yourself for the rest of your life lady. Good luck with that.
I know I don’t ever want to see you on any plane I, or my family will be flying on….ever.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011LOL! I seriously laughed out loud at the raving paranoia in this post.
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. People like avery probably wet themselves just walking into an airport.
You know, avery, that TSA has a 100% failure rate at detecting weapons. Even if her husband wanted to, it wouldn’t be very hard to get one past the crack ass-sniffers at TSA. Here are just 2 incidents of their complete incompetence. You should probably just stay home. You appear to be a very delicate flower.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/TSA-Agent-Slips-Through-DFW-Body-Scanner-With-a-Gun-116497568.html
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/tsa_misses_knife_in_passenger_luggage_DHAqwDkno9JMO1hOdWPG6L
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011avery: don’t be disingenuous. If you really meant, “How do I know what this lady’s motivations are? I don’t know her at all” you wouldn’t allow yourself to run your mouth like that.
Your statements go so far beyond the pale that is becomes rational to assume that you are actually an antisemite; the first I’d feel comfortable saying so about in this post. I say antisemite because you are obviously trained to read “half-Arab” as terrorist, but garden-variety vomit about that is not the type you are spewing here.
I would invite you to look into your heart and your thinking. I know there’s a better person in there than the obviously scared boy who wants to believe that Shoshanna Hebshi is the mystical terrorist come, with her husband, to slit your throat with a pocketknife. No, I mean it. You’re better than that, avery. I know you are. Or at least you once were, and you can be again. Give up this fruitless spasticness, which only harms you and pollutes the world of others around you who want to love you.
the wolf
/ September 14, 2011Wow Allison, for somebody trying to fight racism you sure come off looking like a bitter racist yourself. you “hate” white people with crew cuts, country music, boats, and “red necks.” way to show yourself for the miserable loser you are.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011I did not make those statements. Those statements were in Ms. Shebshi’s original post, and were repeated in several comments. I was remarking that people are allowed to have those opinions. You misread the comment.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011I did not make those statements.
You needn’t respond to comments that so obviously confuse or contradict the facts. It’s not necessary for the benefit of those who will recognize the confusion of the writer (because they’ve been keeping track of the real story), and an exercise in futility for those who will not benefit from the correction (because it will do nothing but add to their confusion).
It is characteristic of public, free-for-all discussions like this that there will be those who comment only to muddy the waters and distract readers from the actual focus of the conversation. The comment to which you’re responding ~ confusing you with the victim ~ will be repeated in various forms for as long as you keep responding to correct it, and probably long after that. It’s a left-handed ad hominem attack against the salient points you make that shred the contentions of the police-state-mentality comments. “Divert, distort, denigrate, disrupt or destroy any discussion that impedes your agenda” is the aim of most of these would-be dictators. For any reasonable reader with an atom of common sense, these comments refute themselves as well as the arguments of the writers. For others, your corrections will be of no help at all.
mefoley
/ September 14, 2011That’s horrendous — I’m SO sorry that happened. But thank you for telling the story so we can know what’s happening in the name of safety. Gee…two guys use the restroom, scramble the fighter planes. My husband flew on Sept 11 this year, too, but he wasn’t in the US and he’s protected by the privileges of having white skin, so he got to use the restroom without it becoming a major incident. (I was in the air on 9/11 10 years ago, but not this year. Pretty scary, even though I was probably in one of the safest places I could have been.)
So, so, so sorry. And grateful that you’re making it public. We all need to know what’s really going on.
RAVI SHORI
/ September 14, 2011YOU CAN CERTAINLY FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE AIRLINE/SECURITY.. I AM SURE YOU WOULD BE HEARD AND BE COMPENSATED….
Issa
/ September 14, 2011We’ve operated in fear for 10 years. So very true.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I can’t even imagine.
david prescott
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry you went thru this. This didn’t even happen to me and I’m angry. If it DID happen to me there would not be a large enough container to store my rage. I would seriously think about leaving the country. I have no illusions about ‘Merica being the greatest country on earth (don’t think there is one) and now clearly it isn’t one of the freest either.
Again, from the bottom of my heart I am so sorry. Not all Americans are ignorant racist bullies but their numbers (Teaparty) are rising.
And to anyone who wants to tell me to leave if I don’t like it, people like you are ruining this country and helping to turn it into the Police State it is becoming.
Cecily
/ September 14, 2011I am horrified by what happened to you. I read the alert on Sunday about how 3 people were detained under suspicion because two went to the bathroom…my first thought was “Mile High Club” and about racist morons. I have flown since 9/11 (actually only after 9/11).
The question is do we want to be free or do we want to be safe? You cannot have it both ways. I would rather be free. Since safe by government standards is Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and pretty much any totalitarian government. That is “safe”. Where you can be detained, stripped down and humiliated to keep everyone else “safe” for no reason. I was 17 when 9/11 happened. I grew up thinking this kind of action couldn’t happen and wouldn’t be tolerated. And, apparently, everything I was taught about this country was a lie. I fear for my child. After all if this could happen to Shoshana, a US citizen, it can happen to anyone for no reason whatsoever.
@Mr. Aloha: You, sir, are clearly ignorant…didn’t you know that the Old Testament also declares the same (as well as stoning anyone who uses the lord’s name in vain as well as many many other laws and rules that are not followed)? All the Muslims I have met have been fairly intelligent, hardworking, accepting people.
Cecilia
/ September 14, 2011I’m so sorry that this has happened to you. This is definitely not the way to keep people safe.
Will
/ September 14, 2011I shared your story on my website and denounced what happened to you as a gross violation of your 4th Amendment rights.
I hope you sue and I want to see some people get fired. Look at the 4th Amendment:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
* You have a RIGHT not to be detained and strip searched.
* The basis of the actions against here were UNREASONABLE
* There was NO PROBABLE CAUSE
Your constitutional rights were trampled upon and mauled.
The law was so clearly broken here. People should be held accountable for doing this to another human being.
Even if the police or whoever thought this was such a big deal:
* Did they have to handcuff you and put you in a cell?
* Did they have to strip search you?
* Could they not have just put a bomb-sniffing dog near you or put you threw an x-ray? Could they not have done a more thorough background check on the three of you?
Did they take into account that you are a human being, or was that ignored because you have tan colored skin?
I would like to see people held accountable for what they’ve done.
Best luck to you.
Will
So sorry this happened!
/ September 14, 2011For those of you who support this type of treatment so you can feel safe,
How many people are killed by drunk drivers every year? Would you support banning ALL drinking? How many people have been killed by guns? Would you support banning ALL guns? How about the ones that are suppose to help protect you?
You supporting this treatment is like me supporting banning ANYTHING that could hurt me. Ban all planes because I fear one crashing into my home. cars too! Assholes too!
This treatment is unacceptable!!
Mark Baker
/ September 14, 2011Let me see if I have this straight. Three people, suspicious to some, fly all the way from Denver to Detroit, get up and use the bathroom several times, and the authorities stop them from entering the terminal. If they were going to blow up or hijack the plane wouldn’t they have done it while the plane was in the air? Why not let them disembark and detain them in the terminal?
Samantha
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you. There is no doubt that the security system needs to be revamped, and it’s an immediate concern. As others have said, without probable cause or giving you a reason for your detainment, this infringes on your Constitutional rights. Also, the way they treated you like you were not an American citizen and assumed you were going to “flush something” and that you didn’t speak English would have made me livid. Americans apparently have learned nothing from history and similar situations that come from fear. Will we ever learn and actually be strong as a country again?
conseen1keven
/ September 14, 2011So sorry that happed to you it makes them all bad not every one in this world is like at I hope…sorry.
Philip Turner
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for writing after your absurd and painful ordeal. I hope you are feeling better and are able to have some justice in this matter.
Susan
/ September 14, 2011I have a total girlcrush on Allison. She’s right on point here.
I really hope you sue these people. I would be filing against the TSA, FBI, Detroit police, the airline, possibly individual airline employees, and if there was any possible way of tracing the “tip” I would file suit against the person who filed the suspicion. Every single one of them contributed to violating your civil rights, and if you let them get away with it, they’ll do it to others as well. I’ll totally kick in $50 towards your legal fees if you go forward; just email me 🙂 Good luck!
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you very much. You made me literally LOL.
Mrs Everheart
/ September 14, 2011This is NOT racist. This is a very measured and logical response eloquently expressed.
This is well written and of important to every citizen in our country! Definitely worth the read.
Open Letter From An American Airlines Pilot
CANADIAN COMMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND IS MEANINGFUL. THERE IS ALSO SOME RECENTLY ADDED BRITISH COMMENT.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter.
The paper stated that some Muslim doctor is saying we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane. The following is a letter from a pilot.This well spoken man, who is a pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart, beautifully…
If you truly believe in fair & reasonable objectivity – Read, absorb and pass this on.
……………………………………………………….
YOU WORRY ME!
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I’ve been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn’t. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don’t blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can’t help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don’t fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children’s mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don’t want to be worried. I don’t want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America … Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? ? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent…. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America – our great country – at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting ‘Allah Bless America ‘. I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing ‘leaders’ like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your ‘leaders’ ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world’s Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us — our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American…… But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, “YOU WORRY ME!”
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about the ‘political correctness’ mandate we’ve had rammed down our throats, and see if this doesn’t ring true in your heart and mind. For Canada , with all the multiculturalism we’ve been told is so important…..why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS:
At last a clear non racist example of the concerns that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The pilot’s letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national pride and protection of one’s national culture. I fear it may be too late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views. If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of someone with honest commendable national pride.
THIS IS TOO GOOD TO JUST READ AND DELETE — LET’S SATURATE NEW ZEALAND , AUSTRALIA , UK , EUROPE, USA , CANADA AND THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD WITH THIS ONE!
This is NOT racist. This is a very measured and logical response eloquently expressed.
This is well written and of important to every citizen in our country! Definitely worth the read.
Open Letter >From An American Airlines Pilot
CANADIAN COMMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND IS MEANINGFUL. THERE IS ALSO SOME RECENTLY ADDED BRITISH COMMENT.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter.
The paper stated that some Muslim doctor is saying we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane. The following is a letter from a pilot.This well spoken man, who is a pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart, beautifully…
If you truly believe in fair & reasonable objectivity – Read, absorb and pass this on.
……………………………………………………….
YOU WORRY ME!
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I’ve been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn’t. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don’t blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can’t help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don’t fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children’s mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don’t want to be worried. I don’t want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America … Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? ? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent…. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America – our great country – at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting ‘Allah Bless America ‘. I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing ‘leaders’ like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your ‘leaders’ ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world’s Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us — our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American…… But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, “YOU WORRY ME!”
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about the ‘political correctness’ mandate we’ve had rammed down our throats, and see if this doesn’t ring true in your heart and mind. For Canada , with all the multiculturalism we’ve been told is so important…..why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS:
At last a clear non racist example of the concerns that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The pilot’s letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national pride and protection of one’s national culture. I fear it may be too late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views. If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of someone with honest commendable national pride.
THIS IS TOO GOOD TO JUST READ AND DELETE — LET’S SATURATE NEW ZEALAND , AUSTRALIA , UK , EUROPE, USA , CANADA AND THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD WITH THIS ONE!
Donny Hay
/ September 14, 2011I am really sorry you had to go through what you went through. -Donny (San Diego, CA)
Mrs Everheart
/ September 14, 2011This is NOT racist. This is a very measured and logical response eloquently expressed.
This is well written and of importance to every citizen in our country! Definitely worth the read.
Open Letter – From An American Airlines Pilot
CANADIAN COMMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND IS MEANINGFUL. THERE IS ALSO SOME RECENTLY ADDED BRITISH COMMENT.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter.
The paper stated that some Muslim doctor is saying we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane. The following is a letter from a pilot.This well spoken man, who is a pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart, beautifully…
If you truly believe in fair & reasonable objectivity – Read, absorb and pass this on.
……………………………………………………….
YOU WORRY ME!
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I’ve been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn’t. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don’t blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can’t help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don’t fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children’s mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don’t want to be worried. I don’t want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America … Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? ? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent…. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America – our great country – at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting ‘Allah Bless America ‘. I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing ‘leaders’ like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your ‘leaders’ ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world’s Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us — our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American…… But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, “YOU WORRY ME!”
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about the ‘political correctness’ mandate we’ve had rammed down our throats, and see if this doesn’t ring true in your heart and mind. For Canada , with all the multiculturalism we’ve been told is so important…..why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS:
At last a clear non racist example of the concerns that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The pilot’s letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national pride and protection of one’s national culture. I fear it may be too late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views. If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of someone with honest commendable national pride.
THIS IS TOO GOOD TO JUST READ AND DELETE — LET’S SATURATE NEW ZEALAND , AUSTRALIA , UK , EUROPE, USA , CANADA AND THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD WITH THIS ONE!
This is NOT racist. This is a very measured and logical response eloquently expressed.
This is well written and of important to every citizen in our country! Definitely worth the read.
Open Letter >From An American Airlines Pilot
CANADIAN COMMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND IS MEANINGFUL. THERE IS ALSO SOME RECENTLY ADDED BRITISH COMMENT.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter.
The paper stated that some Muslim doctor is saying we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane. The following is a letter from a pilot.This well spoken man, who is a pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart, beautifully…
If you truly believe in fair & reasonable objectivity – Read, absorb and pass this on.
……………………………………………………….
YOU WORRY ME!
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I’ve been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn’t. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don’t blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can’t help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don’t fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children’s mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don’t want to be worried. I don’t want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America … Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? ? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent…. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America – our great country – at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting ‘Allah Bless America ‘. I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing ‘leaders’ like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your ‘leaders’ ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world’s Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us — our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American…… But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, “YOU WORRY ME!”
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about the ‘political correctness’ mandate we’ve had rammed down our throats, and see if this doesn’t ring true in your heart and mind. For Canada , with all the multiculturalism we’ve been told is so important…..why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS:
At last a clear non racist example of the concerns that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The pilot’s letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national pride and protection of one’s national culture. I fear it may be too late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views. If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of someone with honest commendable national pride.
THIS IS TOO GOOD TO JUST READ AND DELETE — LET’S SATURATE NEW ZEALAND , AUSTRALIA , UK , EUROPE, USA , CANADA AND THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD WITH THIS ONE!
walthamolian
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for sharing this painful, embarassing story with the world. I bet it was tough to write, but we need more people to speak up and complain when the security apparatus takes advantage of them. You deserve high marks for courage and intelligence. While this incident is the worst I’ve heard yet, it’s only an extension of the paranoid, TSA-led invasion of privacy that has taken over this country. I am fortunate not to have had to share my orifices with some government goon, but I have had to take my shoes off because the bureaucrats deem it right, and the scared sheep who bleat “better safe than sorry!” refuse to fight back. Soon it will be the x-ray scanners, and next – who knows? Perhaps we all should get good with the idea of orifice examinations.
J.
/ September 14, 2011Yea, yea, whatever. Its because of how I look, o yeah and that other than looking like many other dark complected people in America, I actually happen to be a whiner. The real question is: Would they have treated her differently if she was not sitting between two strange acting men, whom she apparently, as a freelance reporter-editor-mother of twins, didn’t even notice, and during a period of heightened security. Come on, give me a freakin break. How can you be half Jewish, Jews aren’t a race, Judaism is a religion. Heck I’m half catholic and half agnostic. Besides airport security is a joke. Taking your shoes off is like a prophylactic. There are a lot of other places to hide things, that’s why they do body cavity searches. Wonder how violated she would have felt then. Wonder if the security team members were gentiles. I wouldn’t give her a job as a reporter-editor, or mother for that matter, that’s for sure. And what was she doing on her phone, sending a play by play. Last time I flew I wanted to kill the jackass in the seat next to me for constantly being on his phone after everyone had been told to secure all electronics devices. If It wouldn’t have grounded the flight, I would have.
A.
/ September 14, 2011Allison: Will you be my friend?
But seriously, yours is the sort of comment/forum behavior that I always hope to encounter and rarely do. It made my day.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Let’s be friends! 🙂
Thank you very much. That is a very nice thing for you to say.
rjp
/ September 14, 2011By decree of Mark Pottok and the $PLC, you can not be racially profiled. The right to complain of racial profiling is the exclusive domain of blacks, the $PLC, and those who represent them.
Mark is sincerely sorry for the ordeal you had to endure but asks that you refrain from using the term racial profiling regarding this incident.
Concerned, and Sorry
/ September 14, 2011I’m so sorry this happened to you.
Very sad days
/ September 14, 2011It is so sad that Muslim terrorists, came to our country for the purpose of killing 3000+ innocent people, whose greatest crime was being non-Muslim and having the audacity to live as free people, and not under theocratic tyranny. It’s too bad that people are made afraid to fear death while flying on an airplane, because of those heartless terrorist bastards. And it’s REALLY too bad that this beautiful, American wife and mother and these Indian gentlemen were caught up in all of that fear. I would be deeply hurt and offended if it had been me, instead of her, no matter how it ultimately ended.
However, when I think of the way Islamic led nations crush the rights of women, imprison and kill Christians and people of other faiths, as well as their own citizens, and how they teach their youth to hate Jews, I really don’t lose any sleep over what happened at Abu-Ghraib. Most of those who were released from there are right back at it with Al Qaeda, trying to kill Americans. And force is the only thing that keeps them at bay because pacivity is just what they need to crush freedom. The fight against viciousness and hate should start in the Middle East with Muslims. Then, we don’t have to be on alert all the time and good, innocent people like these folks can live their lives in peace along with the rest of us.
Melody Elliott Koontz
/ September 14, 2011Disgusting behavior on the part of Homeland Security and the FBI. Horrifying. Next time I’m on a plane I’m going to get up and go pee several times and play on my Iphone. We’ll see what happens. This poor woman didn’t even leave her seat!
Don't pull that card...
/ September 14, 2011This really bothers me…
Not just this story, but all stories when people feel the need to bring up their race/religion/cultural background or whatever as a reason why something has happened to them.
We live in a rapidly changing and sometimes quite turbulent world. Although I believe in freedom as much as anybody, I am also very realistic. There are a lot of dangerous people in the world that for whatever reason want to hurt innocent people. They don’t play by the same rules as you and I. It doesn’t matter to me one bit whether they are White, black, Asian, Middle Eastern, Gay, Straight, man or woman blah blah blah. What I do care about is that my family, friends and I are safe.
Your story doesn’t sound likes a case of racial profiling, like you seem to be suggesting, in any way. First of all, I find it really hard to believe that you were the only person of Middle Eastern decent or just one of the three people of a “darker complexion” on that plane. Why wouldn’t they question everyone that fit that description if that were the case? The other two gentlemen that were questioned were Indian, why would they have questioned them if they were singling you out because of the way you look? Two Indian men look quite different than a woman of Middle Eastern decent.
As an example, think about this; Say you are driving on the freeway staying in your lane driving the speed limit (or safely with the flow of traffic) and no mechanical issues with your car (taillights working etc) but you were pulled over by an officer just because he saw you were a Mexican male with facial tattoos. If this were the case, it could be considered as racial profiling. Now, imaging the same situation, but with the added information of knowing that the officer was told to look for a car that matches the description of your car that was said to be heading from the direction you were heading , driven by a Mexican male with facial tattoos who allegedly just robbed a liquor store. Knowing all this, would you still think the cop is racial profiling? The officer was putting together multiple clues that he was given which led him to a possible suspect. The person being pulled over would of course not know all of this information which created the reasonable cause to be pulled over and therefore thinks that it’s just because they were Mexican. This is exactly the way of thinking that people need to get out of. People blame it on paranoia, but in reality it is that person, not the system which is paranoid.
My point is that there is usually more to the story than you are aware of. If you know that you have done nothing wrong, cooperate with the officials and you will be treated appropriately and released. Is it inconvenient? Probably. Might it be embarrassing? Maybe. Is it the right thing to do to protect the public? Yes. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there aren’t times that someone crosses the line, but if everyone cries wolf, we know what can happen when the real wolf shows up…
I can only imagine how you must have felt, being pulled off a plane, questioned and searched by police. It must have been terrifying. You handled yourself as any good citizen should, by cooperating with the investigation and I commend you for that….Then you had to go and blog about how you were singled out just because of your Middle Eastern decent…It was then that you faltered by not stepping back from the situation for just a second and realizing that from another passenger’s point of view looking at movements and actions by you or the people directly around you that something may have been a little suspicious. Freedom and security, like most meaningful things in life, come at a price Ms. Hebshi. Don’t belittle the price that has been paid by so many for you to feel safe by pulling the race/background/color/religion card.
Regardless of whether other passenger’s hunch was wrong or not, I would much rather have been pulled out, searched/questioned and released with an apology (and a great story) than have multiple people dismiss their objective suspicions and end up with another tragedy that could injure or kill numerous innocent bystanders.
I am sorry that you had to go through something like that, but it makes me feel a lot safer knowing that people are being attentive to their surroundings and looking out for possible threats to everyone’s safety.
You can’t always be right, but if you never go with your gut you’ll never be right.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Don’t pull that card: well, see, the thing is, I think your comments are suspicious, so I’m going to turn you in as a terrorist. And I also think the actions of your family is suspicious, so I’m going to report them too. And, since you have nothing to hide, you’ll cooperate and be glad, in the final analysis, for the “inconvenience” and the “embarrassment” and the stink of rifle oil that lingers in your nostrils and the bruises on your wrists from the cuffs on those you love, etc.
Part of the reason I’m turning you in is because you’re a terrorist; I know so, because you’re a liar, and terrorists are liars, of course. You lie, for instance, when you say “Although I believe in freedom as much as anybody.” You don’t believe in freedom as much as anybody. I’m anybody, and you obviously don’t believe in freedom as much as I do. You believe in freedom so much that a woman can be effectively raped by the State with impunity and you want to say she made a mistake by telling anyone about it (in a blog). You say that you’re sorry that she had to go through something like that; I don’t believe you. If someone told you, “I’m sorry to say it, but people like you should die”–that doesn’t sound like much of an “I’m sorry” does it? I believe in freedom so much that I’d rather be blown up in a plane by terrorists than have “people who appear to be Arab” hauled off airplanes at gunpoint. Quite apart from the trauma inflicted on the author, do you suppose the children on board that flight enjoyed the sight of men dragging people away. How was that moment of terror explained by the kids’ parents? “Oh, well honey, sometimes bad people try to hurt others on planes and they get dragged away.”
Basically no one has said it yet, though SilenceDogood has been drilling on one of the notes: we hired the intelligence community (so to speak) to ensure that terrorists don’t get on planes in the first place and/or don’t fly into the United States (or ideally anywhere) on planes. So if a terrorist has gotten onto a plane, someone we’ve hired to do their job has already failed us–turning around and administratively assaulting passengers on a plane merely shifts attention from the situation’s real blame to “the usual suspects” by appealing to the bigoted, xenophobic sentiments that enough people are proud to proclaim, given the right circumstances, like this.
Debra Manning
/ September 14, 2011And WHY would terrorists attack Detroit anyway?? After years of major decline, someone believed terrorists would view Detroit as a serious target they could somehow inflict further damage upon? Now that’s crazy!
JaiGieEse
/ September 17, 2011Well. Lessee. Most people hear “terrorist attack on U.S. soil, they immediately think New York. Los Angeles, Washington D.C. We have come to expect that these cities are terrorist targets, just as they were ICBM targets during the cold war.
But the terrorists want to spread fear everywhere, right down to the smallest village. The way to do that is to strike in places that most of us would not expect.
Chani
/ September 14, 2011The people who can justify this frighten and disgust me more than the terrorist. Glad I’m old and gonna be dead sooner than later. Welcome to the Sh*thole police state that your great grandchildren are going to have to fight and die to take back.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 14, 2011This thing about giving up civil liberties in the cause of fighting terrorism:
A recent Pew Research poll http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=1316 has
54% say *not* necessary to give up civil liberties
40% say it is necessary
The respective numbers right after 9/11 were 35% and 55%
Why did 9/11 happen? What was the motive?
43% think that American wrongdoing might have motivated the attacks
45% apparently think that “they hate us because we are free”
The respective numbers right after 9/11 were 33% and 55%
One might have assumed that the Republican party would be one solid wall of “they hate us because we are free”.
However, it seems Ron Paul redeems the GOP by having a clue.
He has the guts to stand up and call the bullshit despite the booing from the “they hate us because we’re fantastic” crowd.
43% of America seems to agree with him according to the poll.
What does he think about the TSA?
I love the bit about the TSA groping the pilots.
Brad
/ September 14, 2011Freedom To Travel USA http://fttusa.org/ Great site, lots of interesting reading on our out of control “security apparatus”
Etha Williams
/ September 14, 2011Hi, Shoshana – this is my first time reading your blog (though I suspect not my last), and I just wanted to say that what happened to you was appalling and disgusting, and that I’m really glad you took the emotional energy and time to write your thoughts about it. By describing and analyzing your experience in such an articulate way, I think you really helped underscore what’s so terrible about the depths of fear, suspicion, and capricious & self-justifying authority to which we, as a society, have sunk.
Along these lines, I wanted to share with you a much more minor, but still (for me) jarring, experience I had last January. I hope you don’t mind my using this space to do so – your experience resonated so much with my own that I guess I think the reciprocal may be true as well.
As I was going through security (on a domestic flight, but with a passport due to my lack of other ID), a security guard judged that I look somewhat (though not radically) different than I did when my passport photo was taken (longer hair, etc), and he asked me my age. It was early in the morning, I was tired, I couldn’t remember my age with the alacrity the security agent desired; so on that very solid basis, he decided that I was not in fact the person I claimed I was — a “fact” which he presented to me in very definitive terms.
For an hour or so I was asked various questions; like you, many of them centered around things that seemed very unconnected to the matter at hand, including my educational history and family and various sundry from my life — things that made me wonder how much these strangers knew about me. What was the strangest about all of it was feeling that the question of my basic identity had suddenly and capriciously been externalized, become a matter not for me but rather for these TSA agents, people whom I had never met before that morning, to decide. Moreover, it wasn’t clear how, or if, they would ascertain my innocence; I felt – as I gather you did – divested of my own agency in the situation and uncertain of my rights. In retrospect I think this was at least somewhat deliberate: I think the TSA devises its strategies in such a way as to make the individual under suspicion feel as small as possible, and consequently the agents’ authority appear as absolute as possible.
I was, happily, never arrested and can only imagine how it must have felt for that to happen to you. The worst it ever came to were a couple threats of arrest, when the officers felt I was giving too bitter or sarcastic responses (something I did realize was counterproductive and but could not always succeed in avoiding), and that alone was pretty frightening. More broadly, though, I felt like anything I did would further implicate me in the imagined crime of which I was being accused: if I was too vociferous in giving means to verify my identity, it would seem that I’d worked out these defenses ahead of time; if I didn’t try at all, it would seem as though I had resigned myself to being ‘caught’. Any lapse of memory (like the simple recall-delay that had landed me in the situation to begin with) could condemn me, too. Ultimately I just ended up crying and answering whatever they asked without trying to figure out where the questioning was going, and they finally decided I was myself after all (without ever deigning to explain how this reversal of opinion had come about), and let me through security, though not without patting me down and searching all my luggage.
Overall, the whole absurd experience, and the way it was handled, just gave me a feeling of extraordinary powerlessness; and I think subjecting people to such experiences, of which my own little story is after all still a quite minor example, does no good, and a lot of harm, to our society.
Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and feeling somewhat less shaken about what happened to you last Sunday; and thanks again for sharing your experience.
Miguel
/ September 14, 2011Thank you Chetan. My thoughts exactly.
What’s funny about the type of people who support this kind of violation of rights, is that they’re also the same type of people who scream bloody murder when they feel their rights are violated in any way. They already speak of revolution against our “racist, fascist, nazi, communist” (oh, the hilarity in those outbursts) President and anyone who steps on their beliefs or what they feel they’re entitled to. But it’s all good if it’s done to others.
Kathleen Uehling
/ September 14, 2011My daughter recognized your picture on the front page of the Des Moines Register. She was in daycare with your sons. When we told her what happened and why, even though she’s only 6, she knew it was just plain wrong. We hope you are all adjusting to Ohio. How do the boys like first grade? Tell them Maya says “HI”!
VoxPop
/ September 14, 2011People should revisit the “Federalist Papers” that describe the thinking behind the US Constitution.
Well folks, guys like James Madison (one of the winners) was most concerned about preserving private property for the rich & definitely did not want ‘the mob’ to have any role (like direct democracy) in government.
Well, we are now very close to becoming a fascist state where personal rights, including liberty, have no significance but you can be assured that the private property of the rich will be well protected.
Joe Milwarde
/ September 14, 2011Well, I read about half the comments, and then I finally did a couple of word searches. Exactly two people seem to have a grasp of what really happened on 9-11-2001, though others may just have decided not to drift off on that tangent. But it is an important tangent. All physical evidence indicates that the collapses of three high rise buildings at the World Trade Center on 9-11-2001 were the result of controlled demolition, and that, along with almost all of the numerous eye witness accounts of explosions at various times throughout the day, almost all of the physical evidence was ignored by the official government investigations. Valid logical reasoning applied to the evidence leads to the scientifically irrefutable conclusion that no known cause other than controlled demolition could cause collapses like those three. Once you manage to wrap your head around that, you will understand that things are even worse than the civil rights abuses this innocent person has experienced. That is, based on a sinister fairy tale for 10 years the United States has been waging wars of aggression and occupation in the Middle East and now North Africa. Hundreds of thousands (some estimates put the number at more than a million) of innocent people have been killed, and whole countries have been destroyed. Meanwhile the people of the US think god has blessed them, because he has enlightened someone enough to think of creating TEEVEE programs like dancing with the stars.
Things will get worse. Soon you won’t have to be non-white to be victimized. Soon expressing sentiments similar to the ones I have just written will be enough.
abrooks
/ September 15, 2011wow….you sound just like a 9-11 terrorist! not gonna work — more true Patriots and Americans here than you, the few trolls and this bigoted blogger.
you lose! again!
Joe Milwarde
/ September 15, 2011So, it appears, you contend that “…true Patriots and Americans” prefer both to ignore eye witness accounts of explosions and to believe in miracles as the official government account requires. As I said “…dancing with the stars.”
JaiGieEse
/ September 17, 2011What I contend is that you have absolutely no c lie whatsoever what it takes to mount a controlled demolition of the sort you claim took place. What you wish to believe happened flatly could not have happened. This has been investigated several times and debunked several times.
Troubling thin g his that in the cacophony of conspiracy charges mounted to date, there seems to have been forwarded not a single rational reason for the government’s anting to destoy several buildings are to snuff out the life of thousands of our own people.
Wake up and smell the friggin’ coffee, fella.
Quilvio
/ September 19, 2011In fact a controlled demolition happens in the exact opposite way the towers fell. A demolition destroys the lower floors and the upper floors collapse into them. The 2 towers collapsed from the top down. And before Joe brings up WTC7, 20 stories of one side of the building were blown away by falling debris before it fell itself. But it too collapsed from the top down as you can watch the penthouse fall into the top of the building before the entire structure fell.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 20111500 architects and engineers with an aggregate 25,000 years of experience say you’re lying:
No surprise …
A
/ September 14, 2011sorry to hear about what happened to you. just horrible. didn’t get through many of the comments as i imagine they’ll just make me angry/sad.
i’m brown. born in england and now living in canada. i have never in my life felt like i’ve been singled out because of the colour of my skin, but i’m sure i will be at some point. i travel a lot and have never had any issues. i am actually more worried that it will happen to my younger brother. he’s just 19 and so lovely.
Tom Saxton
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for your courage to share your story with the world.
Pamela D. Lloyd
/ September 14, 2011What happened to Ms. Hebshi and the other two passengers who were detained was the direct consequence of racism, prejudice, and fear. These attitudes are not new, but the willingness of our general populace to see them as acceptable has regressed as a consequence of a number of factors, 9/11 being one factor and a catalyst for others, such as our government’s decision to focus on terrorism and its involvement in wars that have contributed to the current economic downturn. Our society is quickly becoming one of the most unequal in terms of income distribution, with the gap between the rich and the poor growing at increasing rates. As Dorothy Allison said,
“The horror of class stratification, racism, and prejudice is that some people begin to believe that the security of their families and communities depends on the oppression of others, that for some to have good lives there must be others whose lives are truncated and brutal.”
This incident, and many of the comments in response to Ms. Hebshi’s post, just confirm Ms. Allison’s statement.
Dirka Dirka
/ September 14, 2011Waaahh. Too bad. So you decided to hate country music, beer, boats, flat tops, beer bellies,etc…all things you identify as representative of a white American and each thing capable on its own of victimizing hapless brown people like yourself. Stereotype much? You sound like a racist to me. Yah, all “authorities” are white men out to get brown people. Get over yourself! I’ve seen muslims murder people. Maybe I should hate head towels, wailing “music”, halal, muhamad, jihad, carpets, 3 foot long beards, rotten teeth, falafels, cobras in baskets, camels, rocket launchers; oh, wait, I already do.
iitotoro
/ September 15, 2011>You sound like a racist to me.
That’s quite a brain, Dirka Dirka. Is that all you can get from this whole incident? Now I know that there are some people who can watch and appreciate Fox News :-p
Eileen
/ September 14, 2011My heart breaks to read your story. Thank you for sharing this horrendous experience. The terrorists have won when we treat each other with such disrespect.
Pamela D. Lloyd
/ September 14, 2011I agree with Kwame, that Allison’s comments have been reasoned and well stated.
Allison
/ September 14, 2011Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind words.
Paul
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for sharing. I’ve also been detained, and this brings it all back.
Michael Hoffman
/ September 14, 2011I am so sorry to hear about what happened to you. I am a Caucasian male born here on US soil and I consider you as American as myself, no matter how you may appear. I think you deserve an apology from the President of the United States for how disrespectful you were treated. Detaining you to ask you a few questions is one thing but they could at least remember that you deserve respect and that are innocent until proven guilty. They could have at least spoken to you like you are a human being and said something to the effect of, “Excuse me ma’am. I’m sorry to bother you, but I need you to come with us off the plane”. US law enforcement really needs to be taught some manners and etiquette. I think they should be more discrete with matters such as this. The other thing I wanted to mention to you to maybe help you put this into a broader perspective (i know that is easy for me to say), is that America is gripped with paranoia and we know who is to blame for that. Let’s not beat around the bush here. If it wasn’t for the Islamic radicals flying planes into buildings and killing over 3000 innocent people who didn’t deserve to die, we wouldn’t be reading about your detainment right now. Those are the people who are really to blame for all of this hysteria. I know of course you are not an Islamic radical. However, if one has similar physical features to those who are radicals then, unfortunately, you get labeled one. There are also home grown terrorists too and anyone could get singled out. I myself have been searched at airports because they saw my mp3 player and weren’t sure what it was. I was asked politely to step out of line and my bags searched. It has happened more than once. Blaming America or Americans for acting this way is like blaming a female rape victim for being scared of dating men. It is understandable to some degree. America is suffering from a form of post traumatic stress disorder. It doesn’t mean that you or the other two men should just be dragged from the plane kicking and screaming. No, that would be Nazi America. I believe that it could have been done more professionally and respectfully. What I can’t understand is why didn’t a member of the flight crew simply ask the gentleman who was frequenting the bathroom, if he was feeling alright? I would have asked him out of concern that maybe something served on the plane made him ill. That could have cleared up at least some suspicion. Not to mention what exactly did they think the three of you were planning to do? Cause a terror by constantly using the bathroom? yeah, that will show those Americans. We’re going to make you hold it in! Not to make light of what you went through. I hope you can put this behind you and not judge others too harshly because of it, which is something I think everyone should do.
Mark Williams
/ September 14, 2011I think everybody else has covered the big stuff. I just wanted to ask, you still didn’t know what time it was even though you had used your phone? There’s a clock readout on any modern mobile phone I’ve ever seen.
myhaphazardthoughts
/ September 14, 2011This is unfortunate but seems to be happening a lot more, especially around 9/11. There isn’t much your people can do about it, the country will always target you first.
joe brown
/ September 14, 2011Someone pointed out this is becoming a lot like the Salem Witch Hunts, when all you have to do is point your finger at someone to provoke persecution.
I’m wondering though, just what did those stupid cops think they were preventing? Did they really believe you were going to blow yourself up *after* the plane had safely landed and taxied to the gate? Because that’s about all their actions could have prevented. What were they thinking?
I hope everyone reading this will contact their representatives in congress and the senate and let them know how you feel about this:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Finn Skovgaard
/ September 14, 2011If it’s suspicious to use the lavatories on a plane now, maybe people should just start doing as the French actor Gerard Depardieu who peed in the aisle – but only AFTER the plane has taken off …
monado
/ September 14, 2011I’ve experimented with taking photographs around airports–legal actions that will get some hysteric to report you as a potential terrorist gathering information if you look foreign, but have yet to be arrested or even told to stop.
The only effective way to deal with these hysterical xenophobes is to post and follow a policy that if anyone on the plain is detained and questioned, the same precautions will be taken for all passengers.
monado
/ September 14, 2011For “plain,” read “plane.”
Bill
/ September 14, 2011So sorry you had to go thru this. I was really impressed by your calm demeanor thru it all. I would have been belligerent and angry. God bless you.
Sarah
/ September 14, 2011Sorry you had to go through this ordeal. Thank you for sharing your story.
John
/ September 14, 2011Why the finger printing when there was no charges or arrests?
Deminer
/ September 14, 2011The last time that I had a photo exhibition in New York, at a major commercial gallery, the owner took out of the show the only photograph in the exhibit that was of a mosque. He said that it would insult and anger his neighbours to show a photograph of a mosque in the gallery. This wave of contempt for Islam has been intentionally created, while those who worked to head it off have been marginalized, largely by the complicity of the elite class who fear for lucrative jobs, and academics. Go spend an hour on the internet looking at who owns America’s newspapers, tv networks, and internet corporations, how control is in the hands one tiny group. Americans are amazing yahoos to let such an obvious partisan ploy drive them into a whole series of ludicrous, but for some remunerative, wars. Turning a blind eye to the obvious Mormon control over the media, finance, congress, and foreign policy will one day come to haunt America.
John
/ September 14, 2011WHY the fingerprinting? she was not arrested nor charged/
Grant Johnson
/ September 14, 2011I’m so ashamed that this happened to you. Can you possibly forgive people for this? You were singled out and submitted to this horrible incident. I can’t begin to understand what that must have been like.
monado
/ September 14, 2011Some of you who think the actions were justified: buy one of those T-shirts that says “I am not a terrorist” *in Arabic* and wear it on your next plane flight.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 15, 2011Buy one of those T-shirts that says “I am not a terrorist” *in Arabic* and wear it on your next plane flight.
ROFL! “Ana lashat arhaabi” at best says “I annihilate terrorism,” and that’s a stretch. The Arabic is so garbled on the T-shirt that the dictionary is useless. “I am not a terrorist” would be “Laa ana irhaabee,” which literally would say “Not I terrrorist.”
Amusing, though.
dickerson3870
/ September 14, 2011It’s your own fault for not looking more like the blonde bimbo news presenters on Fox News!
Just kidding.
constance ferguson
/ September 14, 2011Holy cow . . .I wonder what would happen on a row boat. People would point and stare then the navy would show up. What one person can say and others will do. NUTS.
Alyssa (@buttscar)
/ September 14, 2011Thank you for sharing. Sharing stories like this helps our nation as a whole understand how much we have truly sacrificed in the name of “security.”
John
/ September 14, 2011Sacrifice? The sacrifice is before the boarding of the plane, dealing with inept TSA agents.
The Janitor
/ September 14, 2011If you haven’t sued the pants off of these jokers yet, you should. This would be a lawyer’s DREAM suit. Heck they’ll probably line up to take your case pro bono. I know I would.
42 U.S.C. § 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights
How Current is This?
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress
John
/ September 14, 2011Exactly, boycott the airlines, illegal detention and why in the world she allowed herself to be finger printed.
Brendaniel
/ September 14, 2011What were they talking about? what office did they represent? After all, K. lived in a state governed by law, there was universal peace, all statutes were in force; who dared assault him in his own lodgings?…”Here are my papers, now show me yours, starting with the arrest warrant.” “Good heavens!” said the guard, “you just can’t accept your situation…you’re behaving worse than a child. What is it you want? Do you think you can bring your whole damn trial to a quick conclusion by discussing your identity and arrest warrant with your guards? We’re lowly employees who can barely make our way through such documents, and whose only role in your affair is to stand guard over you ten hours a day and get paid for it. That’s all we are, but we’re smart enough to realize that before ordering such an arrest the higher authorities who employ us inform themselves in great detail about the person they’re arresting and the grounds for the arrest. There’s been no mistake. After all, our department, as far as I know, and I know only the lowwest level, doesn’t seek out guilt among the general population, but, as the Law states, is attracted by guilt and has to send us guards out. That’s the Law. What mistake could there be?” “I don’t know that law,” said K… Franz broke in and said: “You see, Willem, he admits that he doesn’t know the Law and yet he claims he’s innocent!”
Oh the prescience of literature.
delia ruhe
/ September 14, 2011This is a stunning piece of writing. I’ve encountered the boys from Fatherland Security only once. And that was once too many. I’ve had invitations from American academic colleagues to visit and read a paper, but I’ve replied that I won’t be travelling to the US again until Americans do something about their outrageous paranoia. The “new normal,” my ass! This is totally abnormal and inexcusable.
John
/ September 15, 2011Exactly, why spend a penny in a country that treats non whites like trash.
JeremyS
/ September 15, 2011Piggy pigs is what those thugs are. Your average cop has the IQ of a turtle.
Next time. Don’t talk. They’re not worth your words. Plus, this lawyer has good advice:
David
/ September 15, 2011Does anyone know what the 2 dudes were doing in the restroom at the same time? I didn’t think 2 people would even FIT in one. Remember Chris Farley in “Tommy Boy”? This all seems to center around the poor womans experience. No biggie, lady! It’s part of life, now. Live with it. Quit crying about it. Just a minor inconvienance. Not like you had all your body orfices poked by some hulking lesbian security. You should be glad people are looking out for you and your fellow passingers. Do YOU want to fly into a tall building? probably not. So, let it go and take a train, hitch-hike, bicycle…whatever. Just don’t be stupid in public on an airline.
SilenceDogood
/ September 15, 2011You answered your own question. If 2 people can’t fit in a restroom at the same time, then obviously the 2 dudes weren’t in the restroom at the same time. Have you ever been on a plane? You do know that there are actually 2 restrooms at the back of a plane, and that 2 people actually can go to the restroom at the EXACT SAME TIME? It’s genius, really, which apparently you are not.
Anyway, these aren’t the times, and she doesn’t have to deal with it.
Oh, and if you actually read the account she actually did have someone perform a cavity search on her.
Every one of your points? Wrong.
Sunil Mukhi
/ September 15, 2011As an Indian (living in my own country) reading this blog and the reactions of many different Americans, I’m fascinated. It’s a matter of record that the terrorist acts carried out in India (26 November 2008) were organised by a US citizen, David Coleman Headley. On the other hand, no Indian citizen has ever been involved in a terrorist attack on the USA. Might this cause some of you to re-evaluate your somewhat limited perspective of what’s going on in the world?? Would you (be very honest now) recommend open season on white people with names like “David” who use toilets on airplanes in India?
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Sunil: first, thank you for the courtesy of your people toward the US in not attacking it. Second, I don’t think any such command should be limited to people named only David. Terrorists can use false names after all.
Marc Brooks (@IDisposable)
/ September 15, 2011I see you’re hesitating to approve my prior post. I guess that means you feel it might be true? We ALL have to watch it… not just the white-skinned Christian males.
El
/ September 15, 2011I favor a Gandhian approach to this whole problem.
Ummer F
/ September 16, 2011Poop on the rail road tracks?
A. Non
/ September 15, 2011Dear Shoshana,
First, my apologies for remaining anonymous, but I think it is justified in my case. Second, please, please sue over this. I am sure the ACLU will be happy to represent you. I would represent you myself if I lived in Ohio . You have a duty to take the goverment on over this. You are articulate, intelligent and well-educated. For every person like you that something likes this happens to, there are hundreds that do not have your advantages. It falls to you to speak up for them. It sounds kind of corny but to whom much is given, sometimes, much is asked. If people like you will not stand up for, not just your rights, but everyone’s rights, who will?
This is not, of course, legal advice, but the government’s position that you were not arrested is completely laughable. The police are entitled to do investigative detentions that do not rise to the level of a full custodial arrest, but strip-searching and fingerprinting goes pretty far over that line. It seems apparent that they had no probable cause — or even an articulable suspicion — on which to arrest you.
So make the government come clean and defend their actions in court. Regardless of what happens in your case, perhaps the government — and certainly the airport police in Detroit — will think a little harder before they arrest and strip-search the next completely innocent person. Once again, it sounds corny, but you owe it to America. Many people complain about America’s problems. You have a unique opportunity to help fix one of them. I hope that you do.
Good Luck and hang in there,
A.Non
A.
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for saying this.
Daniel Motz
/ September 15, 2011People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.
Ben Franklin… Enought Said
Rob
/ September 15, 2011Wow I would have lost my mind right at the point where he asked if you could speak English. I dont think I would have been able to nicely reply to that. Sorry for what you have been through, I wouldn’t wish that on any innocent American. You took the situation quite well.
John Bowen Brown II
/ September 15, 2011You were stripped searched. For what? As far I am concerned you were sexually assaulted
A Friend
/ September 15, 2011Shoshana – My condolences on your ordeal and praise for your courage in speaking out. I am shocked but I can’t say I’m surprised. I saw this kind of thing coming a while ago. I renounced my U.S. citizenship after the so-called P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act was enacted and moved overseas. A radical move, sure. But I sure am glad I did. Your experience is just another confirmation – unfortunately there have been so many – that I did the right thing. Look, the United States we all thought we knew is finished. Individual rights and the rule of law are over, but for their inertia. The government is bankrupt, financially and morally. Read history: things are not going to get better. You – and all of us – deserve better. The idea of America is what attracted so many. That idea is no longer welcome in America. Consider a move across the lake to Canada. (After you sue the bastards responsible for this outrage, of course). Just get your money and go, while you still can. Best regards, A Friend
OCTraveler
/ September 15, 2011Sue the airline to learn the name of the person reporting “suspicious” behavior. Sue that person for slander..
Alex O'connor
/ September 15, 2011We can thank Pres. Bush, Goppers, cowed Democrats and ourselves for nonsense such as this. We get what we deserve. Elections have consequences; especially if one doesn’t win the popular vote.
I only hope we can muster the courage and have the perspicuity to rid ourselves of the siege mindset & the horrible concomitant policy choices
Urban permaculturist
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. And I am very sorry to read about your ordeal.
Perhaps it is time for a new narrative.
4th is lost
/ September 15, 2011Happened in NYC as well. I have Christian Syrian neighbors and one of their sons was stopped 3 times in Astoria Queens while in a car with 2 other “middle eastern looking fellows”. NYPD asked them to step out of the car and submit to a full vehicle search. They refused and said “not without a warrant”. 30 minutes later the beat cop showed up with a warrant. I question the warrant’s legality. My gut tells me the warrant was faked. What judge would issue a warrant for a vehicle search without probable cause? Is being brown now probable cause?
I’m Hispanic too! Great!
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 15, 2011Jen and Jackie (for example) are examples of the unthinking disease at the heart of this.
What happened was *security protocols*
A passenger expressed concern about security.
No matter what the opinion of the crew, once a passenger reports a concern, there is nothing that can be done other than follow the protocol.
In the case of the New York flight in which the bathroom use triggered F16s scrambling, handcuffs, etc, the airline was straight out saying the the pilot an crew determined that there was no problem.
That didn’t matter. They were obliged to follow protocol and flag the concern – even though they knew it was ridiculous.
That’s where the problem is. The protocol has been designed as a one-size-fits-all by some faceless unaccountable bureaucrat.
From the moment that a passenger expresses a concern, no matter how stupid, the protocol takes complete control. There is no option to behave intelligently.
The persons about whom the concern was expressed cease to be persons. Anyone in the vicinity with a brain ceases to become a person. Their humanity is denied to them. They become mere components in a machine that grinds them all down.
I’ll give you an example that I personally observed. It’s not as extreme, but it illustrates the insanity.
I was by a few people behind a family going through the security check at an airport.
Something in the father’s hand luggage caught the attention of the scanner operator.
It turned out to be the fob on his set of keys. It had a tiny fold-out screwdriver – it seemed to be about an inch or so long.
They confiscated the fob and gave him back the keys. OK. In theory, this man travelling with his wife and kids could have attempted to hijack the aircraft using a 1″ miniature screwdriver – or maybe could have disassembled the aircraft using it.
BUT – included in the keys that they gave back to him was a rather vicious-looking key. It was maybe 2″ long including the handle. WTF ??? Now *that* was a weapon!
THEN – they swabbed his hands everything in his bag for explosives. They didn’t pay any attention to his family, although they were clearly with him.
The agent who confiscated the key-fob and swabbed him for explosives did appear to me to be somewhat apologetic about it, but he still *had* to do it. The protocol demanded it even id the reality of the situation screamed bullshit.
This was a few years ago an in a European airport. I dread to think what might have happened to him and his family in an American airport these days.
That’s the problem, you see.
In the protocol, people cease to be considered human – other than being able to respond to questions and having orifices that can be examined. There is absolutely no room for intelligence or respect. There is no room for staff to exercise judgement. The protocol is ALL.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 15, 2011Just to round that off.
Why does the security protocol exist? What is its purpose?
It is *not* there you protect *you*.
If it was designed protect you, it would have taken into account the possibility of a pilot saying. “A passenger is freaking out about an air-sick passenger frequenting the bathroom. There is no problem.” (as happened on the New York flight).
If is meant to protect passengers, it wouldn’t have them carted off in handcuffs, detained for hours and strip-searched.
The protocol exists *primarily* to protect the administration from any blame should anything happen. It was designed by soulless drones who have absolutely no feeling of empathy towards the people – passengers, airline staff and agents – who will be subjected to it. The protocol is ALL.
Zephirus
/ September 15, 2011Mister Aloha,
As a white male american, I wish you would just get fucked.
What a dumb bigot you are. You make me sick to be american. People like you…I can’t honestly think of anything harsh enough. What Shoshana went through was inexcusable! What use if freedom if we give up personal liberty? Have we become such cowards that we chose absolute safety over civil rights? That is NOT what our founding fathers fought for! If they had chosen safety over freedom they NEVER would have rebelled in the first place! All they had to do was accept tyranny and live on in perfect safety.
But now we are all ready and happy to trade that same Freedom away in favor of tyranny not from foreign agents but our own government! Who cares if a few people who aren’t you get screwed over as long as you and yours are safe right? You and those like you absolutely disgust me.
Freedom and liberty for all, or the idea of America is worthless. We should freely accept the danger that this entails, lest we accept the imagined “safety” of tyranny of our own making.
Perfectly “safe” until it is YOU that they come for next.
Ashish
/ September 15, 2011I first came to the US as a student in 1997. I remember thinking what a great place it was, full of nice and friendly people, living good and happy lives. That changed after 9/11. Suddenly some of the warmth was gone. By the time I left the US, angst and fear had largely replaced that which I loved the most. Today things are only getting worse. As an “Indian looking” man, I feel scared and vulnerable when travelling to America.
Don’t get me wrong. I love America. I think it is one of the freest, most open and just societies in the world, an example to the rest of the world. Its just that now when I travel, the tension is palpable. I know that given my skin color, I can never be completely above suspicion. There is also nothing I can say or do which will change that. And if something does happen, my innocence will not be enough to ensure that I don’t pay the price for other’s people’s fears.
Do I blame anyone for this? No. Ultimately we are all victims here.
alec Holloway
/ September 15, 2011I’m only an old Man but I know when God is speaking through men and so it goes……”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” Yes It brings tears to my Eyes every time I read it as it means you have lost your way and will pay a terrible price to rightly recover your freedoms.
Even the questions I must answer to post this truth is a restriction on all our freedoms
iitotoro
/ September 15, 2011If they suspected only the guys (as they told MSNBC), why should the lady be stripped and searched?
@Jackie: It indeed is a random event with high likelihood (ask a math teacher) that two guys in a plane with hundreds of passengers get up to go to the restroom at the same time. Not good enough to cuff and search people, I reckon.
>what is the point of having a brain if it is not used?
We should ask that question from the security people involved.
Shorah (@soylentverde)
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for sharing your story.
It saddens me that people still look around and see nothing but skin color. My prayers are with you and those two men as you work through the emotions that this has brought up.
Richard
/ September 15, 2011Beautifully written, and as someone who is half Indian, I can empathize. Whenever something like this happens it leaves a mark of insecurity and I hope that your family brings back the sense of belonging to you.
Jennifer
/ September 15, 2011I’ve been ashamed of America’s reaction to 9-11 for a long time now, but your blog post about broke my heart. Please know that there are many out there who would rather risk a terrorist attack than engage in this horrible racial profiling and loss of freedom and dignity for their fellow citizens. This is horrible.
TrulyRoxie
/ September 15, 2011I certainly hope that the flight crew has been made aware of this incident and feel like the lowest of low for having suspected you of anything. I am so sorry that you had to endure that and I must say that you were much more calm that I would have been.
As far as the FBI saying they didn’t do strip searches? I know many FBI agents, and they are told to deny, deny, deny whenever it comes to the press.
earth2ivy
/ September 15, 2011It is an absolute shame that innocent people have to endure such maltreatment – this gives an entirely new perspective on the reach of fear the terrorists had and still have on our culture. I admire the dignity, composure and courage with which you wrote this eloquent piece but I am saddened because nothing can take this experience away from you. It’s unforgettable. Continue to convey your story to whomever will hear because this account will only help our Nation. Endeavors of raising such awareness are the acts of a true American, standing in the face adversity and prejudice. Thank you for sharing.
Angel
/ September 15, 2011Ah, McCarthyism is alive and well except now, there is the added bonus of physical violation to go alongside the erosion of civil liberties, low moral behaviour and mental abuse. Disgust is how I feel, shame for anyone who can justify this as being right and horror that there isn’t an uprising as this American citizen clearly had her rights taken away from her. I’ve been told there has been some disgusting comments left, I choose not to read them as I already know what they say and what…not who…these people are; we see them everyday, contorted in rage, spittle flying out of their twisted mouths as they raise a fist in anger at ‘brown’ people everywhere. They have to live with themselves and their hatred burns away at their very soul. I pity them but reserve my sorrow and sympathy for those who are innocent victims. I am truly sorry this happened to you and want you to know that worldwide, people mourn for what was clearly a loss for you that day.
Dr Menrad Kambewe
/ September 15, 2011I am very sorry for this.When you started explaining this I thought it was a drill to test how efficient a security system is after 9/11 but what follows left me dumb.
I must say America has been psychologically and politically affected by that action 10 years ago and I believe this will dimish with time.
God bless you Americans and heal all.
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011What struck me about this incident was how little “ink” it got. Nobody in the media seems interested.
The other thing is that in this age of instant info on everybody they could have known everything about her in minutes – if not she would really have been a suspicious person – which I doubt.
Wouldn’t it make a good thriller plot if the person who “reported” her is a sleeper terrorist. (Or maybe the FBI SAC or one of the cops is) and, by systematically causing false alarms and outraging more and more of the population, makes us drop our guard.
If she sues she may be able to use discovery to find who turned her in and make their lives unpleasant. If the government refuses to disclose on security grounds she could accuse them of making the whole thing up and not having articulatable grounds sufficient for their actions. Indeed they may have done so – it sounds as if they may they may have arrested her having a bad seat assignment.
She would also get the names of all the personnel involved and, win or lose, cause them maximum embarrassment by all kinds of legal means.
BTW though I’m not as expert as some of the writers here (Notably pompous Dan from NY) I have passed the Bar in several very different jurisdictions from sea to shining sea. In fact I’ve never failed a bar exam.
Gordon
/ September 15, 2011Sorry for what you had to go through. Obviously, even the TSA has zero confidence in its screening/molestation process. You are a great American for dealing with this indignity so graciously.
Carol
/ September 15, 2011Everyone should get behind this woman and let the government know that what happened to her isn’t acceptable and shouldn’t happen again. http://news.yahoo.com/shoshana-hebshi-ordeal-put-end-security-lunacy-152800980.html
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011Just a quick question before you report “suspicious” behavior in mid-flight: What do you think the fighter escort is going to do?
If you know the answer then don’t be too hasty making that report – it could be your last.
winky
/ September 15, 2011I hope she sues the bastards. This is just sick.
Someone said it was “weird” that 2 people in the same row used the bathroom right after each other. I seriously would like to know why. I have often used the bathroom at the same time as others in my row, simply because it’s easier when everyone gets up at the same time, given how cramped the seats are. Now I’ll have to worry I appear “suspicious.”
Oh, except I’m white, so I doubt anyone would report it. I do agree that if these people had been white no one would’ve said anything.
Also, don’t know if this was addressed above, but I wonder about the actions of the flight crew. 10 mins in a bathroom is not long (I’ve definitely had to wait that long for someone to get out of there), but if it was indeed 20 mins, that is long. Why didn’t the crew address it then? Knock on the door, ask if there is a problem (there could well be; a person could’ve passed out for ex). And if they don’t get the response they like, open the door w/their pass key? I was on a flight where the smoke detector accidentally went off in a bathroom and attendants were pounding on the door w/i minutes.
Really disgusting, sick and hateful. Sue the bastards!
Eureka Springs
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for telling the story. You tell it so well… which is no small feat after such violation of ones liberty, ones dignity. I sincerely hope this goes viral.. people really need to read it, think about it and the fact it happened 50 times that day.
Mary Swander
/ September 15, 2011HI, Shoshana,
I’m so sorry this happened to you. What an indignity. Thanks for writing such a strong piece about the experience. We miss you in Iowa and I miss working with you at the IA Dept of the Blind.
Best,
Mary Swander
Dan Miller
/ September 15, 2011“The actions taken do not make any sense. If somebody wanted to blow up a plane and had taken multipl trips to that bathroom to do so, then they would have blown up the plain in mid air or have planted explosives in the bathroom which could have simply been detected via a thorough search of the plane's bathroom. I hate it when government officials take stupid actions which would not prevent a terrorist attack just to say they are doing something even if it useless. If the flight crew had really believed the indviduals to be a threat they should have had an armed pilot or US Marshall to question them and they could have found out that one dude was sick and the other had bladder problems or something. And this whole thing could have been averted. I believe that the flight crew was biased against these individuals because of their ethnicity and would not have reported passengers of European decent for doing the same thing. They should sue the airlines for discrimination.”
hairenvy
/ September 15, 2011That is awful, and I’m so sorry that you were treated so poorly. My fiance is african-american and Indian and every time we fly he always gets the “random” search. It would appear to me that they are really not so random, as I am caucasian and have never been subject to one, and have flown numerous times. The last time we flew, I wasn’t aware that you could not pack your laptop inside your carry-on suitcase, security was very kind and removed it for me and ran it through the scanner then repacked it for me. The man then said to me “ma’am you can’t put your laptop inside your carry on suitcase, It has to be placed in a basket of its own to go through the scanner. There are some very bad men out there who can do a lot of bad things with a laptop”. All this while my fiance and his 12 year old daughter are taken to the “special box” to be searched. Please tell me why it’s ok to assume, that because your a “white woman” vs a “colored” man, that you are not a threat and should be treated with respect vs my fiance and his 12 year old who didn’t have anything to be checked for, getting detained and thoroughly searched (can we say racial profiling? I think so, they were the only ones of color in our line). It’s horrible that our society is still so racially charged it’s 2011 C’MON. BAD PEOPLE come in All colors!!! I was grateful that i didn’t end up in a heap of trouble for not paying more attention to the rules concerning packing your laptop, but truly, I should have been the one in the “glass box” not my fiance and his little girl…..
PrometheeFeu
/ September 15, 2011I hope you’re filing charges and a civil suit against everybody involved. It is perfectly understandable if you decide to not given how stressful a lawsuit can be, but what law enforcement did is unacceptable and they should be made to understand that in no uncertain terms.
John
/ September 15, 2011My most sincere condolences for what you have suffered. As a person who has spent my life under the gaze of profilers, I can understand how stripped you felt of your dignity and your citizenship. Since you are such a nice person, please allow me to wish serious evil upon the person(s) who found your presence “suspicious.” From that day forward, may they suffer the most inhumane treatment possible. May their viciousness be inflicted upon their children and their children’s children. May those detractors who post here who find nothing wrong with the way you were treated suffer even more so. Best regards to you and your family.
Lady Di (@2LadyDi)
/ September 15, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. I am at a real loss of words. I am wondering how you feel this may days later and what steps have you taken since then? Have a blessed day/night.
Kavius
/ September 15, 2011A few years ago I was at the shooting range for a friend’s bachelor party. One of the guys there (a friend since Grade 10), started to comment on some of the T-Shirts for sale. He’s genetically Arabic, and some of the paraphanalia for sale was “war is fun”, he wondered if he should have been offended. He felt a little harrassed.
I laughed at him, told him he was being paranoid, and informed him he was thinking too much for a bachelor party. After reading this, I think I was wrong, I think he had every reason to be concerned.
Jarom Smith
/ September 15, 2011I guess you shouldn’t use the airplane lavatory during 9-11. Maybe we should all piss our pants and take a dump in the airplane seat in protest. Sounds pretty stupid that she had to go through all that. It’s a pity that a few extremists have ruined the civil liberties of the law abiding citizens of this country.
tboswell
/ September 15, 2011I find it rather confounding that the author complains about racism and prejudice as the cause of her pain, while at the same time she finds it appropriate to refer to the weight of the police officers and them being “rednecks” who listen to country music with their fat bellies and beer coozies. While the author may think she was victimized by police who were doing their jobs to protect our country, on a day that surely had a number of legitimate terror threats, she loses my sympathy when she foolishly degrades their appearance in the same way she feels persecuted because of hers. I am not sure which is worse, racism or hypocrisy.
SB
/ September 15, 2011It doesn’t matter. She is an individual person who cannot be held to the same standards as US government agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security. They should have known better than to treat her and the two men like that, esp after they had been taken off the plane. There should have been due process that should have assumed doubt if not innocence.
Kavius
/ September 17, 2011tboswell: That’s a good point. Allowing racism to occur, and justifying it based on the race of the harraser does not sit well.
I was teaching a class for disadvantaged youth (Native American) and was talking to their social worker. I was telling her about my run in with my cousins on the reserve who used to stand around while I got beat up because I was white. She said, well, they were just trying to live in their cultural surroundings. I walked out saying she could tell that to the 10 year old with the broken nose.
This article is about a racist attitude that is permeating North America (I’m Canadian), and racist attitudes are about gradients of behaviour. If we want to put a stop to it, we need to adjust our attitudes in general, and racism does not make racism alright.
blb
/ September 15, 2011Help! Can anyone tell me how to unsubscribe to this blog? I’m being inundated with these horrible e-mails and I suspect a lot of the vitriolic responses are from paid internet trolls. If any of the more sane respondents on this blog can suggest a way to jump ship please let me know soon. Many thanks.
alytron
/ September 15, 2011go to subscribe.wordpress.com to manage your subscription
divinealign
/ September 15, 2011Someone please help me out here: exactly what IS an American and what does a terrorist REALLY look like?
Ummer F
/ September 16, 2011This is what a real terrorist looks like:
Amy
/ September 15, 2011I am sorry for what you went through, as you are innocent, but I also think we need to remember ‘the greater good’. When a 6 foot white man in a red baseball cap robs a bank, the authorities don’t go looking for a 5’5″ black man in a blue hat. If you are a 6 foot while male resembling the description given by witnesses, you may be subjected to interrogation. Profiling is essential to solving a crime. Profiling is essential to preventing future crimes and catastrophes – to keeping ‘the bad guys’ at bay. The military, FBI, CIA and other intelligence groups have a whole division of highly trained professionals who strictly work in profiling. I think it is ridiculous to see TSA doing an invasive search of an 80 year old wheelchair bound non-middle eastern descent grandma as part of a random security check. That is not the ‘profile’ of who has been terrorizing our country. It is a waste of time, and this ‘no profiling’ approach to investigation gives people a false sense of security. So yes, you were a suspect because of the ‘way you look’, and it was an unfortunate coincidence that you were seated with other passengers who ‘look’ like people who have threatened our security and safety in the past.
Treating suspects (who are innocent until proven guilty) like dirt is wrong – the way you were so forcefully removed from the plane, intimidated and given no information – is wrong. The process these particular authorities used, even though their fears and precautions may be warranted, sound like they were unnecessary and they could have gone about their interrogation in a different manner. Then again, we only know one side of the story. Also, it is easy for those of us who have no experience with conducting law enforcement and dealing with the REAL menaces and horrible people they come into contact with all the time, to judge. We don’t know what they have already been through that year, that month, that day…and interacting with threatening, awful people can make you jaded and suspicious.
I think it is important to note two conflicting things you said. At the end of your blog you noted:
“I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying–as hard as it sometimes may be–not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress. I admit to have fallen to the traps of convention and have made judgments about people that are unfounded.”
While within the same blog, at the beginning, you state:
“I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.”
During this traumatic, but brief and safely ended, experience you have decided that you HATE anyone who looks like the officers you dealt with, that you HATE country music and fat bellies…that you can sum up a group of people based on the kind of music they listen to, what they drink and their weight. I would say that’s a pretty bigoted comment. And you criticize those who are tentative and nervous, suspicious of people who ‘look like’ those who killed over three thousand people on 9/11/01, who left widows, widowers, orphans, family and friends in heartache they will never heal from…who want all Americans dead. And these cells of terrorist groups are active as I write this – they continue to be a real threat, and we SHOULD be suspicious and careful as a country and as Americans. As much as people may seem bigoted when they are suspicious of people who ‘look’ a certain way these days, I’d say they just might have a legit reason. You may want to look deeper past this experience and what YOU went through, and think about what so many others went through, and still go through, that got us to this point. Your hypocrisy rings loud and clear in your blog, which makes you just as paranoid, judgmental and intolerant as those you criticize.
Amy
/ September 15, 2011I am sorry for what you went through, as you are innocent, but I also think we need to remember ‘the greater good’. When a 6 foot white man in a red baseball cap robs a bank, the authorities don’t go looking for a 5’5″ black man in a blue hat. If you are a 6 foot while male resembling the description given by witnesses, you may be subjected to interrogation. Profiling is essential to solving a crime. Profiling is essential to preventing future crimes and catastrophes – to keeping ‘the bad guys’ at bay. The military, FBI, CIA and other intelligence groups have a whole division of highly trained professionals who strictly work in profiling. I think it is ridiculous to see TSA doing an invasive search of an 80 year old wheelchair bound non-middle eastern descent grandma as part of a random security check. That is not the ‘profile’ of who has been terrorizing our country. It is a waste of time, and this ‘no profiling’ approach to investigation gives people a false sense of security. So yes, you were a suspect because of the ‘way you look’, and it was an unfortunate coincidence that you were seated with other passengers who ‘look’ like people who have threatened our security and safety in the past.
Treating suspects (who are innocent until proven guilty) like dirt is wrong – the way you were so forcefully removed from the plane, intimidated and given no information – is wrong. The process these particular authorities used, even though their fears and precautions may be warranted, may have been unnecessary and they could have gone about their interrogation in a different manner. However, we only know one side of the story. It is also easy for those of us who have no experience with conducting law enforcement and dealing with the REAL menaces and horrible people they come into contact with all the time, to judge. We don’t know what they have already been through that year, that month, that day…and interacting with threatening, awful people can make you jaded and suspicious.
I think it is important to note two conflicting things you said. At the end of your blog you noted:
“I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying–as hard as it sometimes may be–not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress. I admit to have fallen to the traps of convention and have made judgments about people that are unfounded.”
While within the same blog, at the beginning, you state:
“I stared at the yellow walls and listened to a few officers talk about the overtime they were racking up, and I decided that I hated country music. I hated speedboats and shitty beer in coozies and fat bellies and rednecks.”
During this traumatic, but brief and safely ended, experience you have decided that you HATE anyone who looks like the officers you dealt with, that you HATE country music and fat bellies…that you can sum up a group of people based on the kind of music they listen to, what they drink and their weight. I would say that’s a pretty bigoted comment. And you criticize those who are tentative and nervous, suspicious of people who ‘look like’ those who killed over three thousand people on 9/11/01, who left widows, widowers, orphans, family and friends in heartache they will never heal from…who want all Americans dead. And these cells of terrorist groups are active as I write this – they continue to be a real threat, and we SHOULD be suspicious and careful as a country and as Americans. As much as people may seem bigoted when they are suspicious of people who ‘look’ a certain way these days, I’d say they just might have a legit reason. You may want to look deeper past this experience and what YOU went through, and think about what so many others went through, and still go through, that got us to this point. Your hypocrisy rings loud and clear in your blog, which makes you just as paranoid, judgmental and intolerant as those you criticize.
SB
/ September 15, 2011Sorry, but if a 6 foot white man robs a bank in Florida that doesnt mean that every 6 foot tall white man in America is looked at suspiciously for all of eternity when they enter a bank. Are you suggesting that every brown person in America even if they are white people with a deep tan are all suspects and should be strip searched as soon as a white person reports them to the authorities ? And attacking the poster for her statements doesn’t change the fact that profiling and mishandling of minorities is Anti what America stands for and that’s the whole truth.
I hope she and the two Indian people gets a lot of money for her trouble.
Ummer F
/ September 16, 2011The FBI and CIA are 90% criminals. Drug toting, fast and furious selling, terrorist creating criminals!
And by the way, when pigs kill a china man… the china man kills many pigs.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 16, 2011Throughout the discussion, there has been a thread of “Well, you’re bigoted too, so why are you complaining about other people being bigoted?”
This is to entirely miss the important point.
It’s always been – and no doubt will continue to be – that for many people the answer to “Can’t we all just get along?” will always be “Shit, NO!”
We’re all human. No matter how wonderful we thing we are, we all get unthinking/knee-jerk reactions to some things or types of people. The trigger might not be race or nationality. It might be just a mannerism – some little thing.
The reasonable challenge for a society is not to find a way to end all feelings of bigotry.
The challenge is to avoid situations in which bigoted people are given power over others. Giving great power to small people corrodes society.
Another challenge is to avoid imposing systems on people that end up making those people act in a stupid apparently bigoted way. If you make them walk and talk like ducks, they might as well *be* ducks.
What happened and what is happening in other cases is a gigantic clusterfuck. It’s a clusterfuck that has cost billions to develop and will continue to cost billions to maintain. It’s bureaucracy gone mad. It is dehumanising everyone.
What happened with those bathroom incidents wasn’t just a 9/11 anniversary one-off:-
This one relates to the JFK flight http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PN2D400.htm
“Asked late Sunday if authorities may have overreacted, airport spokesman Scott Wintner said the airport’s response wasn’t unusual and the same steps would have been taken any other day of the year.
“Regardless of why it was triggered, whenever we get a radio call of a security problem on board, our response is the same one we would have had yesterday, tomorrow,” Wintner said.
“We always react as if it’s the end of the world,” he added. “If it isn’t, so be it.”
It is of course very advisable to react to notification a possible threat. The problem comes when the reaction is a completely OTT dehumanising bureaucratic exercise that forces/permits people to abandon all intelligence that they might have – and can empower any that are bigoted to exercise that bigotry with being held to account for it.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Sling Trebuchet: this is, indeed, the key distinction: “The reasonable challenge for a society is not to find a way to end all feelings of bigotry. The challenge is to avoid situations in which bigoted people are given power over others.”
US ARMY Veteran
/ September 15, 2011Sue the living Crap out of them. They will never learn until they feel it financially. Nothing will change unless the US Citizens revolt. I am an X Soldier and this is a Crock. Our Rights are all at jeopardy here, and we need to fight for them, so it’s time to Lawyer up and Sue the government…
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011But don’t forget to sue Frontier too!!!
Walter Dexter
/ September 15, 2011When did we become so afraid of everything? That’s what I don’t understand.
Quilvio
/ September 15, 2011Fuck you Shoshana! You and your friends were performing a dry run or were probing the system. Your “poor innocent me” blog doesn’t fool anyone with a brain. The 3 people who repeatedly went to the bathrooms for long lengths of time just happened to sit together and travel on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Uh huh! By now you’ve passed your intel to your comrades in Al Qaeda. How will you live with yourself when what you’ve gathered results in hundreds or thousands more dead? Judging from this blog, probably great pride and accomplishment.
Bill in LV
/ September 15, 2011Thanks Quilvio for a wonderfully well-thought out reply.
When we bring back the inquisition there’ll be a place for you (on the staff side, of course).
If what you say is correct then the FBI is even more incompetent than I thought. They had 3 dangerous terrorists in their hands but let them go?
Quilvio
/ September 17, 2011The FBI is incompetent when it comes to terror activities — hence 9/11. FBI agent to Soshana: “Do you know either of the other 2 passengers?” Soshaha: Heavens no! FBI agent: “Ok, that’s good enough for me. Oh wait, it was reported that you spoke to and showed one of the gentleman your cell phone.” Soshana: “I was showing him a picture of my poodle.” FBI agent: “That’s nice.”
You do know that the Koran condones lying to us infidels? The Hadith tells Muslims not to lie but it has an asterisk called Al-Takeyya, The peaceful verses, written while Mohammed was in Mecca and quoted by most Muslims, are overruled by the Koran’s later verses written when he was living in Medina.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011You do know that the Koran condones lying to us infidels? The Hadith tells Muslims not to lie but it has an asterisk called Al-Takeyya, The peaceful verses, written while Mohammed was in Mecca and quoted by most Muslims, are overruled by the Koran’s later verses written when he was living in Medina.
That’s false. The Qur’an instructs us that falsely denying our faith is not an offense when that’s necessary to avoid being killed, such as during the Spanish Inquisition ~ or today in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Palestine. That’s the entirety of “taqiyya.” The hadith do not speak of “lying to infidels” ~ there is no Arabic word that can be accurately translated into the Christian word “infidel.” And none of the Qur’an has been, or ever will be, “overruled” either by some other part of the Qur’an or the hadith. “War is a ruse” is as close as anything of Islam gets to what you are lying about.
Whose deluded fool are you? Or are you just one of the Deniers who knows the truth and hides it behind lies and half-truths?
Quilvio
/ September 18, 2011I own a Koran. I will find the verses of which I spoke and post back.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011I own a Koran. I will find the verses of which I spoke and post back.
Sure you will. While you’re looking for them, check http://www.muslimamerica.net/mp/mtmaff.htm and get yourself an Arabic dictionary and grammar book so you can give people the impression that you have some slight idea of what you’re talking about.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011The FBI is incompetent when it comes to terror activities
That’s false, too.
SilenceDogood
/ September 18, 2011If the FBI is incompetent, then we sure as hell shouldn’t be putting our trust in their inbred brothers DHS and TSA.
Archan Bahulekar
/ September 15, 2011Hi,
You are all over the news now. There’s an article on Yahoo which writes about you specifically and mentions the blog post.
This is one of giving it back to them!! It just shows how deeply insecure they are and quick to generalize and racially profile to be “logical”.
shame
obafuntay
/ September 15, 2011Awwwwwwwww …. sorry.
You hit the nail on the head! (Y)
Ronit
/ September 16, 2011Unfortunately, Americans it would appear are so fearful that they are willing to sacrifice basic liberties for the appearance of security. Sometimes, I wonder whether all this talk about “the constitution” and the “bill of rrights” is just that – talk. Are Americans really committed to democracy or deo they just like to wave the idea around?
Given what happened to you Shoshana, and the other innocent people detained that day, I’d have to say that the 9/11 terrorists have accomplished their goal – they changed the outlook of this country from tolerant and optimistic to suspicious and dark, even as the economy slid from reasonably healthy to pathologically depressed. Likely we never got out of the recession and perhaps we’ll stay in it for the foreseeable future. The mood of the people has changed too – I think many other people have noticed that – it is as if we all sense that our empire has entered an irreversible decline. From outgoing and forward looking, we are now busy bombing people around the world, for reasons no one is sure about – maybe the somalis and yemenis who get periodically demolished by drones were thinking bad thoughts?
A healthy country would have it’s security people ask some questions before concluding that “suspicious activity” must be acted upon as if this was Stalinist Russia. That out security apparatus is becoming more like the East German Stasi is – or should be – clear to all. They go after Shoshana today, but could it be one of us tomorrow?
The saddest thing of all is that this entire episode – and others like it – precipitated by mere “suspicions” – followed by security-crazed over-reaction- point to the woefully under-educated citizenry of the country. The ignorance about other places, countries and cultures by the avergae American is astounding – and growing. Only to be matched by the lack of critical thinking skills., and absence of curiosity about things not part of a “reality show”.
bad days are coming to this country. Alas, it is no fun being part of a declining empire. And few things speak decline more than this reprehensible incident – and others like it.
Dave
/ September 16, 2011More people have been struck by lightening than by terrorists since 9.11, and the jury of world opinion is still out on who was really responsible that day. I suspect we’re lookin’ for the bad guys in all the wrong places! We’ve all been victimized by huge lies.
Rishi, from India
/ September 16, 2011I am from India currently in Ottawa, Canada and I’ve given up on mankind. I am 25 and I hate our species. I want to make loads and loads of money to buy a boat and I would live on the Ocean away from man-stuff forever and ever.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 16, 2011That’s the problem with online exchanges. We miss out on all the history and body language clues that would tell us that someone is pulling our legs.
I read Quilvio’s post, and my interpretation was they were taking up an artificial and extreme position simply to poke fun at the crazies. What was missing was a little wink smiley at the end.
A number of people seem to post after consulting their emotions only and ignoring whatever intelligence they might be blessed with. It would seem advisable to avoid stirring up a shitstorm via inflammatory posts that require some effort on the part of the general reader before they can detect a leg-pull. Some people might not be up to the task.
Although – it is possible that Quilvio is a troll – deliberately attempting to inflame and derail the thread. I do not know.
Either way, it illustrates the traditional advice for online fora – don’t respond to flames with flames.
Bill’s response combines humour with a logical build on the post.
LT
/ September 16, 2011Um, why are we believing this woman’s story? Of course she is going to say she didn’t know the men. She may not have. But there is no evidence of that at the time.
She says she was detained only because of her skin color. My guess is that there were a number of similarly complected people on that flight and they were not detained. So that statement is clearly false. Whether she likes it or not, she was not detained because of skin color.
The bottom line is that she could have driven and not taken this chance. But she chose to fly, on Sept 11, knowing the situation. That’s on her.
You can say, as one person did here, that there was no threat. But you have to remember that you don’t know that, and the police/FBI didn’t know that at the time. Living in hindsight is easy. But they don’t have that luxury.
And I promise you that if something had happened, this same group of people complaining here about the “unjust interrogation” would be complaining that the authorities didn’t do enough.
So get over yourselves and realize we live in a messed up world. That’s not going to change.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 16, 2011“And I promise you that if something had happened, this same group of people complaining here about the “unjust interrogation” would be complaining that the authorities didn’t do enough.”
A lot of people don’t seem to understand that *absolutely nothing* that the authorities actually did in response to the alert would have prevented whatever destruction the ‘terrorists’ intended to carry out.
Detaining and strip-searching three completely quiet, inoffensive and cooperative people after the aircraft landed did absolutely nothing to make that flight safer for anybody on the flight.
Nothing happened on that flight – apart from one guy who was ill and spend some time in the bathroom. Spending time in a bathroom is not in itself a suspicious act. The airline staff and the air marshall(s) could have checked him out on the spot if there was any concern on the flight.
*Not* checking out a suspected terrorist *on the flight* would be a gross and extremely dangerous incompetence. If he had been preparing a bomb, then waiting until 30 minutes after the aircraft landed was way too late to do any checking.
Don’t you get it? If the airline or the air marshall(s) were *actually* concerned about him, they would have checked him on the spot. If you were an air marshall, would you just sit there waiting for the explosion?
They were not concerned. They did absolutely nothing.
They were obliged by the protocol to inform the ground that a passenger had raised a concern.
That is all.
What you are saying in relation to *yourself* is this.
If you were on a flight, and someone sitting in the same row was flagged by some random passenger just because they spent some time in the bathroom, you would not be in the least indignant if you were hauled off in handcuffs, detained and questioned for hours and strip-searched.
Are you *really* saying that?
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011LT: please examine yourself and answer the simple question, “Why do you want to believe what you’ve written in your comment?” Merely to say something is “possible” is to say nothing. It’s possible you’re a shill … so what?
Why do you want to believe that it must be a hoax that a woman was detained on an unsubstantiated rumor and administratively raped?
Maybe that was a leading question.
Doug
/ September 16, 2011Please continue to ‘racial profile’ or continue to be ‘cautiously bias of’ the few so the individual liberties of the many are not blown away (literally and figuratively). Thank you.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 16, 2011Doug,
I challenge you to explain logically how anything done on that day prevented anyone from being blown away.
PC
/ September 16, 2011LT,
You missed the point. The point is
1. I am sure there might have been several other non dark skinned passengers that used the restroom on the same flight before and after these guys used. How many were suspicious of them using the restroom?
2. Whats your point about she choosing to fly instead of driving. Just like all skin colors, she has the freedom to book a flight ticket and fly. You mentioned that “She chose to fly knowing the situation”. Doesnt that imply that skin color is a cause of racial profiling that she should have known.
3. You said police/FBI didnt know that at the time. I am sure the Police/FBI has access to all the passenger information. If flight crew notified of passengers on so and so row, they had access to all passenger details and I am sure the FBI did all the background check and the history of passengers before the flight landed. And the point is the flight landed safely. Whats the point of all the high drama after flight landed safely.
The fact is this. The passengers were suspected for using restroom because of their skin color and that cannot be denied. Because nobody else that used the restroom were suspected, arrested, strip searched.
Finally LT, you ask yourself a question. How would you react if a non dark-skinned used restroom for 10 minutes vs a dark-skinned using restroom for 10 minutes.
PC
/ September 16, 2011LT,
You missed the point. The point is
1. I am sure there might have been several other non dark skinned passengers that used the bathroom on the same flight before and after these guys used. How many were suspicious of them using the bathroom?
2. Whats your point about she choosing to fly instead of driving. Just like all skin colors, she has the freedom to book a flight ticket and fly. You mentioned that “She chose to fly knowing the situation”. Doesnt that imply that skin color is a cause of racial profiling that she should have known.
The fact is this. The passengers were suspected for using bathroom because of their skin color and that cannot be denied. Because nobody else that used the bathroom were suspected, arrested, strip searched.
Finally LT, you ask yourself a question. How would you react if a non dark-skinned used bathroom for 10 minutes vs a dark-skinned using bathroom for 10 minutes.
Michael
/ September 16, 2011If people were to revisit what happened on 9/11, they would realize that there were too many coincidences which led to the tragic events that day.
In my mind, it is clear that the attacks were allowed to happen.
America’s airspace is supposed to be protected by NORAD, but they were coincidentally conducting exercises that day – Donald Rumsfled was in charge of them. When the fighter pilots who were part of the exercise asked for confirmation about reports that there was a real plane hijacking, they received no response.
I am not American, but i travel to America and Americans are to a large extent, warm-hearted, hospitable, nice people.
Several of your administrations have let you down and betrayed you, including the current one. if you do not fight for justice, you will end up fighting each other. Good luck, America!
The rest of the world hopes you kick out the bad guys in your country.
Hint:: they are mostly Caucasian and work for government or financial institutions.
John
/ September 16, 2011I really hate articles like this because they promote and encourage racism. Sorry, but that is the truth.
In your opinion it had to be racist because of your skin color. But when this happens to a Caucasian person traveling it is not racist? You were lumped into a group of people around you, it has happened to people of all colors and creeds. Obviously the person reporting you was racist. They couldn’t have been a concerned African American..or even Arab American *gasp*. You have no idea who reported it, but most likely it was one of those ‘rednecks’ you profess to hate.
DW
/ September 16, 2011I really like articles like this because the promote public discourse and debate. Sorry, but that IS the truth.
And in her opinion, the one she is entitled to just like the one you are entitled to, she was racially profiled because of her ethnicity. I wasn’t there, nor were you. So I won’t be so bold as to assume it wasn’t the root cause.
But even if ethnicity wasn’t the cause, and no matter what race the person was that decided those three people on the plane were “suspicious”, the reality is that the person reporting them was wrong. Dead wrong. And when someone who is dead wrong causes you to:
* have an automatic weapon to be pointed at you
* be handcuffed;
* be detained in a cell;
* not just be searched, but stripped searched;
* be subjected to a background check;
* be fingerprinted like a criminal;
* have your friends and affiliations placed under scrutiny,
I’d question the ability of that person to make a valid judgement where this type of response is the outcome. And, I’d further suggest that they consider not stepping foot on any mode of public transportation if they are that worried about losing their life.
Tristan
/ September 16, 2011I never fly anymore… but if I do find myself flying, or taking a bus or train, I will print out this post, and others like it, and leave it behind for the next rider. I hope some of you will do the same.
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011Better yet, print it out and mail it to all 3 of your Congresspeople (both Senators and the Representative). Tell them this madness has gone too far and The People are tired of it. If they don’t hear from us, then they think it’s ok. It isn’t.
Kevin
/ September 16, 2011I don’t care what color this woman’s skin is, she is an American citizen and is thus as fully entitled to the rights of the United States Constitution as any other American citizen. As such, she is entitled to the rights of the Fourth Amendment, said right being:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
What happened to you, m’am, was a GROSS violation of this right, and I am terribly sorry for it. From what I’ve read above in the comments and from what I perceive is the general attitude of our society, I am also sorry that so many Americans feel that life is so dear that it seems they would pay any price to keep it, including their freedom. Not so our Founding Fathers! Patrick Henry: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
JaiGieEse
/ September 16, 2011Whatcha got here is your basic no-win situation. IF the authorities had NOT acted and those Indian chaps HAD been terrorist and had successfully blown up that aircraft, or hijacked it with aid from others who might have escaped notice in all the hoop-la, then some several someones, including, no doubt, many of those who’ve posted here, would have been screaming for the prosecution of those responsible for not acting more to stop the disaster from happening.
The authorities are unfortunately in a position wherein they simply cannot afford NOT to act, flimsy information or not. Recall if you will that the national media was ablaze that day with news of a credible terrorist threat involving attacks to be carried out on 09/11.
Don’t know about you, but I would prefer that our security people not stop to engage in discussions about whether their actions might be seen as politically incorrect. I assure you that the terrorists do not stop for such things.
That said, I would think it appropriate for those officers such as the ones described in this post might be more properly trained in such niceties as politeness and compassion. Should have been fairly clear early on that these three arrestees were not dangerous. Then again, it’s usually the most dangerous ones that look the most innocent….
Err on the side of caution rather than have to explain to a kid why you allowed his father and mother to be blown to smithereens.
SilenceDogood
/ September 16, 2011Oh for Heaven’s sake, how many times does it have to be repeated?
The 3 people who were hauled off at gunpoint, handcuffed, then strip searched who allegedly were acting suspiciously could possibly have blown up the plane? Did you leave all of your clues at home?
Here’s what transpired:
1) 3 innocent people were hauled off of a plane under suspicion that apparently they were going to blow it up
2) Though it may sound crazy, the best place to blow up a plane to cause the greatest fear, paranoia, and, you know, terrorism, since comments such as yours assume they are probably “terrorists”, is in the air
3) Yet this particular plane, and the alleged 50 others mentioned by the FBI agent, all landed, safely, without incident, at their intended destinations
Now, let’s pretend you’re a terrorist. Are you going to blow up a plane after it has landed safely without incident at its intended destination? Or are you going to blow it up in the air?
I’m going to guess that the coward who reported this “suspicious” activity was probably sweating bullets in an unmitigated panic that this flight continued on, even though someone was in the bathroom trying to blow it to smithereens.
Nonetheless, everyone fingered here was innocent.
There’s a reason “the authorities” are bound by the 4th Amendment, and it’s precisely to keep things like this from happening.
I personally would rather our security “professionals” do what is required of them, and that is to act like professionals and not a bunch of untrained monkeys with big guns.
JaiGieEse
/ September 16, 2011It has happened. Twice now, such people, such terrorists were stopped before they could detonate a bomb on an aircraft, including the infamous underwear bomber, who waited until the plane landed before he tried to detonate his bomb. Terrorists will blow up their bomb wherever they can.And they don’t always make what you and I would consider to be a wise, well-thought out decision, else they wouldn’t being where they are trying to kill people along with themselves.
Oh, and do n to forget the plane was escorted down AFTER reports of suspicious behavior came to attention. The plane did land safety, but it was escorted down by two fighter jets. These combat pilots are very good at what they do. I am fairly certain that the lady who started this conversation was not aware of the fighter escort. That isa the while idea. One does not wish to spook the bad guys.
Note that the innocence of these three was NOT determined until AFTER the plane landed and the investigation was conducted. No law officer or security would accept a protestation of innocence at face value.
AS to the person who reported the activity, this is hardly an act of cowardice. It is the act of a person whom had the guts to speak up, even knowing they might just the wrong. Sorry, but given the stakes, the authorities MUST err in the side of caution these days. But as I said first time, they do need to work on their manners and professionalism.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 17, 2011It’s fascinating (in a dirty sort of way) to see postings from people who
– possess enough intelligence to type stuff but not enough intelligence to read and comprehend.
“Twice now, such people, such terrorists were stopped before they could detonate a bomb on an aircraft,”
Incorrect. In both cases, the terrorists had carried out the detonation action *before* anyone noticed anything. The *only* thing that prevented disaster in both cases was that the bomb failed to work.
In both cases, the terrorists had come to the attention of the authorities *before* they got on the flight.
Have we got that? The bombs were faulty. That’s the only reason that the acts were ‘stopped’.
What should be the lesson from that?
Hint: When you suspect that someone on a flight is a bomber, you don’t wait until 30 minutes after the aircraft has landed before you check them out. Did that happen on the flight we are discussing? No.
“Oh, and do n to forget the plane was escorted down AFTER reports of suspicious behavior came to attention. The plane did land safety, but it was escorted down by two fighter jets. These combat pilots are very good at what they do. ”
You do realise, do you not, that the reason the F-16s were scrambled was that they were to shoot the flight down should it stray from the flight path and start heading for populated areas or infrastructure.
They were not – *repeat NOT* there so that a co-pilot could be lowered on a wire down to the aircraft and assess the situation. They were there to kill everyone on board, just in case.
I know that “escorted the flight safely” might sound a bit like they were there to protect the aircraft from being attacked by missiles or other aircraft, but that’s not why they were there.
“I am fairly certain that the lady who started this conversation was not aware of the fighter escort. That isa the while idea. One does not wish to spook the bad guys.”
Don’t spook the bad guys. Good idea. Let’s be really, really subtle so they won’t suspect anything. Let’s roll the aircraft off to a quiet spot. Let’s surround it with security vehicles and flashing lights. Let’s keep it sitting there for 30 minutes. They won’t suspect a thing. They will think that the ticket included free entry to a disco. We’ll grab them before that have a chance to set off the bomb.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 17, 2011Don’t spook the bad guys. Good idea. Let’s be really, really subtle so they won’t suspect anything. Let’s roll the aircraft off to a quiet spot. Let’s surround it with security vehicles and flashing lights. Let’s keep it sitting there for 30 minutes. They won’t suspect a thing. They will think that the ticket included free entry to a disco. We’ll grab them before they have a chance to set off the bomb.
I think we need to put bomb-sniffer devices in the lids of all shopping mall wastebaskets and trash receptacles, and guards at all the soft drink bottling plants to make sure nobody on the assembly line puts C4 into a soda can rigged to go off when someone pulls the tab to open the can. And I remember seeing in Godfather III where the guy went to whisper in someone’s ear and grabbed his glasses and stabbed him in the neck ~ we’d better put people on buses and trains to guide people to their seats after giving them a receipt tag for their glasses. And rental cars ~ terrorists use rental cars ~ we need to have GPS monitors in all the rental cars to keep track of where they’re going. Oh, wait a minute ~ we’re already doing that …
But why are you sitting at an angle ~ are you trying to hide something? Would you bend over, please?
http://www.muslimamerica.net/911/shea.pdf
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 17, 2011“I think we need to put bomb-sniffer devices in the lids of all shopping mall wastebaskets and trash receptacles.”
Now, now! You are being completely OTT there.
The best place for the bomb-sniffers and pat-downs would be at the mall entrances. Those sniffer things cost money y’know.
Inside the mall, all that needs to be done is for people to watch out for anyone putting something in the receptacles. If a person is seen to put something in (say bigger than a very small candy-wrapper), then the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse should be let loose.
The person and anyone near them should be detained, interrogated and strip-searched. The mall should be locked down, and everyone in there should be brought to a safer place in order to be interviewed.
It would be advisable to have some helicopters circling the area. There should also be at least fifty police cars with lights flashing and sirens sounding so that people will feel safer.
JaiGieEse
/ September 17, 2011“It’s fascinating (in a dirty sort of way) to see postings from people who
– possess enough intelligence to type stuff but not enough intelligence to read and comprehend.”
Well, gee, kind one, at the least I am intelligent enough to attempt to engage in a discussion without stooping to personal attacks upon others who post here. My existence seems to offend you.
Ask me if I care, dipweed. Feel better now that you’ve vented your angst?
Oh, and you are right that the bombs I mentioned WERE faulty. The terrorists were stopped in the act of trying g to detonate them by …um…people who noticed suspicious behavior or circumstances. Now, gee, where have I seen that before?? Oh, and the as yet unidentified person who filed the initial report that something might be amiss did NOT wait until after the plane had landed. That report was why the plane was escorted down. Or are you not in possession of intelligence sufficient to have comprehended that?
“You do realise, do you not, that the reason the F-16s were scrambled was that they were to shoot the flight down should it stray from the flight path and start heading for populated areas or infrastructure.
They were not – *repeat NOT* there so that a co-pilot could be lowered on a wire down to the aircraft and assess the situation. They were there to kill everyone on board, just in case.
I know that “escorted the flight safely” might sound a bit like they were there to protect the aircraft from being attacked by missiles or other aircraft, but that’s not why they were there.”
Thank you for restating the obvious. I do, of course, know why those fighter aircraft were there. I never suggested there was any other purpose.
“Don’t spook the bad guys. Good idea. Let’s be really, really subtle so they won’t suspect anything. Let’s roll the aircraft off to a quiet spot. Let’s surround it with security vehicles and flashing lights. Let’s keep it sitting there for 30 minutes. They won’t suspect a thing. They will think that the ticket included free entry to a disco. We’ll grab them before that have a chance to set off the bomb.”
What the eff else would you have them do? ignore the report? The responders duo NOT know anything about the situation having not been on the plane, They HAVE to respond in this manner. Like it or not, this is the world the terrorist have left to us. Until humankind grows beyond this sort of things, we will continue to see such incidents as the one which prompted this discussion.
And people? I do hope you all understand that the kind of personal attack, the kind of bickering and finger-pointing that is proliferating here is just exactly what the real terrorists want to see. They WANT us to be frightened and angry with one another. So go ahead, continue to snarl and belittle your neighbor. Who knows, we may yet come to our senses. I pray with all my might might that we do.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 17, 2011Hi there! How are you today? 🙂
Your thought processes are sub-optimal.
You seem to equate the noticing of someone’s underwear being very obviously on fire, the noticing that someone is attempting to set fire to one of his shoes and the noticing that someone had used the bathroom a lot as being of equal significance.
Again, the *only* reason that the shoe/underwear bombers failed to destroy the aircraft and kill people was that their bombs did not work. Action was taken against them in the aircraft, because they were actually giving off clouds of smoke. The only reason that it was possible to take that action *after* the event was that the bombs failed.
Do I think that the report by a passenger should have been ignored?
Of course not.
The problem. Think about it. Pause – breathe – think.
*Effectively* in terms of preventing one of those ‘suspects’ from detonating a bomb on the aircraft, the report by the passenger *was* ignored. Nothing whatsoever was done to prevent them from doing so.
*If* one of those people actually was a bomber, then – despite the concern raised by the passenger – the bomb would have detonated.
What should have happened when the passenger raised a concern?
The airline and the sky marshall(s) should have checked the situation *immediately*.
It’s pretty obvious when someone is throwing up.
Say you are on a flight. You notice that a passenger is raising some sort of concern with a cabin attendant. You are given to understand that the gentleman in seat 11B may be about to detonate a bomb.
You say to the cabin attendant “Isn’t anyone going to do anything?”. She say’s “No. We’re just going to wait until after we land – that is of course if we don’t get blown up first. But don’t worry. Be happy. Here’s a complimentary flight magazine.”
Go on. Admit it. You’d freak out.
What actually happened was theatre. It was the pretence of action.
Evaluate:
Indications that the two gents were bombers:-
One of them spent a while in the bathroom. A query and brief examination would show that he was sick.
The other also went to the bathroom.
Indications that the two gentlemen were not bombers:-
No bomb went off.
Being sick in a bathroom or visiting a bathroom are not in uncommon occurrences.
They sat quietly in their seats when not going to the bathroom.
When the aircraft landed – and was moved away – and was surrounded for 30 minutes by security vehicles, armed police and military – they say quietly in their seats. No bombs, no guns. No shouting of slogan. No lashing out at anyone just so that they at least do some damage.
I mentioned the F-16s only because you appeared to thing that they and their well-trained pilots were in some way helpful to stopping bombers on aircraft.
For the sake of the gentle readers, I didn’t add that the presence of the F-16s – or indeed any unarmed aircraft – would be useful in case the aircraft in question disappeared off radar. It would be clear if this was due to an explosion/crash or due to the flight losing altitude in a controlled fashion.
They would also be in a position to observe who was in the cockpit and whether the suspected passengers were in their seats (say 2nd and 3rd seats in from the 10th window on the port side – and here are the check-in photographs of the passengers concerned.)
The problem with a lot of posts here, yours included, is that they seem to take the view that *any* response is justified no matter what the counter-indications are. They also seem to be missing the point that waiting until the aircraft has landed and then encircling it with an open-air disco for 30 minutes is not actually the most intelligent way of dealing with a situation in which a passenger might detonate a bomb.
The situation could have been entirely resolved in the air – within minutes of the passenger raising a concern about the time in the bathroom.
JaiGieEse
/ September 17, 2011Um. Sub-optimal. No surprise to see that, really. I have read quite a lot of these comments, including several of yours, and it has become clear that you are incapable of offering counter-points without including personal attacks against those with whom you disagree. Um, the word, “Troll” comes to mind.
Let us consider that you were **NOT** on that aircraft, ergo, there is NO way you can credibly make the statement that the situation could have been resolved in the air. You have no way of knowing the level of training given to the flight crew, whether there was an air marshall or any other accredited law enforcement officer there.
The people involved did what they thought best under conditions of heightened tension. How would you like to be, say, a flight attendant who has to board an aircraft on the tenth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in this nation’s history, an attack that was carried out with aircraft very like the one you are required to board, on on a day that every news media in the country is reporting that authorities are in possession of impending terrorist attacks.
Do you not understand that these folk just might be a bit nervous? Until you find yourself in such a position, you have no reason to be so judgmental against these people.
Oh, and by the way, I never stated that the fighter aircraft were scrambled in order to insure the safety of the aircraft and those aboard it. They most certainly were not there for that reason. They were there to safeguard the safety of those who might be injured or killed because of the actions of this aircraft. They knew only that there was a possibly that some dangerous people might be aboard that aircraft. They carried specific orders. They were there to make it clear to whoever may have been flying the plane that he/she had to land or else.
They did not know what was occurring inside that aircraft. Apparently, as you seem to think was not done, someone or several someones on that plane satisfied themselves that the danger was slight. If they had not done this, I assure you that aircraft would never have landed at Detroit or anywhere else.
As for what happened afterward, it is the job of the HSA, the TSA, the FBI and any other involved law enforcement to ascertain EXACTLY what happened. Sometimes that effort does indeed trample upon the rights of individuals. It’s the price we pay for law and order. Besides, IF any of those people HAD been up to no good, then the hoopla certainly would have at least slowed it down.
Again, suppose one of these people had been a terrorist, which was NOT known until the investigation was done, then the authorities would rightfully have need to find out who they were working with and whether there were other people on other planes up to the same thing.
Excuse me, but the law enforcement community is there to seek justice when the law is broken. They are ALSO there to PREVENT the breaking of the law. They HAVE to err on the side of caution. Niceties and politeness cannot always be observed. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 17, 2011“Apparently, as you seem to think was not done, someone or several someones on that plane satisfied themselves that the danger was slight.”
Actually, I believe that it was done. My pantomimes above on the sheer insanity of them not actually doing something has at last obtained a result.
With that statement, you are coming around to my way of thinking. Welcome 🙂
Yes indeedy-doody. “someone or several someones on that plane satisfied themselves that the danger was X”
Let’s hear it again for the people at the back
“someone or several someones on that plane satisfied themselves that the danger was X”
A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y F-C-U-K-N-L-U-T-E-L-Y R-I-G-H-T they did. Wouldn’t you?
Of all the people on the planet, the ones that would want to assess the true situation were the ones on that flight who were aware of a potential bomber on the flight. Nobody in all of creation could possibly be more motivated to do so.
You might note that where you used the word “slight”, I used “X” when I quoted you.
You see, we still have a way to go.
What is a “slight” problem – if a terrorist/bomb is in question?
Could it be that “someone or several someones on that plane satisfied themselves that” they might only be “slightly” blown up?
C’mon. You know the answer.
Just as for the JFK flight, they satisfied themselves that there was nothing to worry about.
Nevertheless, that were obliged by protocol to inform ground that someone had raised a query – even though there was no actual problem. This was exactly the situation on the JFK flight (see quotes in comments above)
Somewhere way up above, I quoted what the airline said
================
“The crew on Frontier Airlines flight 623 followed security protocols on Sunday, spokesman Peter Kowalchuk said in an email Wednesday to The Associated Press.
The crew “responded to concerns expressed by passengers on their aircraft about the suspicious activity of two gentlemen . and only two gentlemen,” Kowalchuk said. “After that, what happened was out of the control of the Frontier crew or anyone at Frontier Airlines, for that matter.
“When they arrived and boarded the aircraft, the authorities did not consult any member of the crew . not the pilots, not the flight attendants . before taking action and removing the two men and a third person, Ms. Hebshi.”
====================
I followed that up in the comment with
====================
What appears to have happened is the the procedure involved giving the seat numbers of the passengers that had been flagged. When the swat team boarded the went to that row, took the two gentlemen that had been flagged, and took Ms. Hebshi as well because she sorta kinda looked interesting.
====================
It’s very simple. It’s very logical.
The mandatory report on the two passengers for whom the concern had been raised would obviously include the seat numbers.
On the ground, they checked the seat allocations and also reviewed all passengers.
They found that sitting beside the two gentlemen was a lady with an unusual name. They decided that, although not reported, this person could be of interest.
When the flight landed, they held the open-air disco for 30 minutes. They then boarded and removed the three people that they were interested in.
They didn’t need to consult the airline staff to find what they were seeking. They knew the seat numbers and had the check-in photos.
So ..
Where have we got to?
Aircraft landed. Airline staff and presumably air marshall(s) satisfied that there is no problem. Right?
Then what happens?
Dear oh dear!
You raise me to joyful heights up with your realisation that the people on the flight *must* have determined that there was no problem – and then you destroy all the celebrations with your:
“Again, suppose one of these people had been a terrorist, which was NOT known until the investigation was done, then the authorities would rightfully have need to find out who they were working with and whether there were other people on other planes up to the same thing.”
Hello?
Suppose one of the other people on the flight had been a terrorist etc.? Why didn’t they strip-search *everybody*? Why didn’t they investigate *everybody*. Why limit it to the two gents and the lady with the strange name?
Suppose someone on some flight is a terrorist? Why not strip-search everyone on every flight?
Going to the bathroom is *not* a suspicious activity. Staying in there while being sick is *not* a suspicious activity.
Given that the people on the flight must have been satisfied that the reason for the long bathroom visit was illness, give us a *rational* explanation for treating three innocent people like that.
What took place was not very far from completely random detention and strip-searching.
What took place was an insane bureaucratic piece of security theatre. It was done not to make the world safer for all. It was done to cover the ass of some faceless bureaucrats who had been tasked with drawing up a mandatory protocols for security. That is all.
Three people were humiliated and dehumanised for no better reason than someone had some forms to fill.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 17, 2011As for what happened afterward, it is the job of the HSA, the TSA, the FBI and any other involved law enforcement to ascertain EXACTLY what happened. Sometimes that effort does indeed trample upon the rights of individuals.
The point of this entire discussion ~ 3285 comments now, with this one ~ is that those WE elect or appoint or hire to “do the job” are NOT to “trample upon the rights” of anyone, the guilty or the innocent. And in this case, no consideration was given to this requirement of “law enforcement” or whatever people imagine this totally ineffective “security theater” supposedly was.
Article I, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution states it very clearly: “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” The Declaration of Independence holds certain “truths” to be “self-evident” ~ including “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …”
This is the “optimal thinking” that built America, that made America able to defeat German imperialism and dictatorship in World War I when all of Europe was unable to do so, and again in World War II when all of Europe and Asia were unable to defeat the Nazi war machine. It’s “American” thinking, and it’s fundamental. We learn it in school, we see it in our entertainment media, and we hear it from every direction whenever we don’t “tune it out” because we’ve heard it all before. It’s the basis for the “They hate our freedoms” nonsense propaganda explaining why nineteen maniacs unable to fly a Piper Cub, directed by an ignorant rich kid dying of kidney failure in a cave on the other side of the planet, flew giant airplanes into two tall buildings as a cover for controlled demolitions that murdered nearly three thousand people ~ most of them Christians, several hundred Jewish Americans, as many as a hundred American muslims, and three Israelis ~ and just happened to save Larry Silverstein the billion-dollar cost of removing asbestos from the obsolete Trade Center Towers as well as the fourteen-billion-dollar cost of dismantling them piece-by-piece before they collapsed from electrolytic corrosion of their steel-aluminum outer support shells, not to mention providing an excuse for invading Afghanistan to build an American pipeline from the Caspian petroleum deposits through Afghanistan, and Iraq to take control of the second-largest oil region on the planet.
The incident and events under discussion ~ Shoshana’s nightmare experience ~ are a holograph of what has been happening all over America since the passage of the Alien and Sedition Act of 1789. In our lifetimes it’s become endemic, not just with air travel but in neighborhoods, business districts, church sanctuaries, private homes, and literally in every variety of “public places.”
Every government of every form with coercive powers in human history has attempted to establish tyrannical, dictatorial control over the lives of its people. In ancient Israel, any violation of The Law was a capital crime ~ and still is, if you’ll read the Talmudic writings. This is exactly what the Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Bill of Rights to restrain and prevent from corrupting the liberty of the American people. By 9/11, people blindly trusting government had allowed those restraints to be so eroded, and had ignored so many failures to prevent violations of individual rights, that the Constitution might as well not have been written. And today a lot of Americans afraid of every shadow are screaming “Protect me!” because today’s bogey-man golem-gollum isn’t just under the bed or in the closet, but on television, in the newspapers, movies, classrooms, minds and eyes of people who can’t see beyond their own skin color. What’s the difference between “Uncle Sam is watching over you” and “Big Brother is watching you?”
That’s what this conversation is about, not Chicken Little The Sky Is Falling airplanes landing safely at their destinations with no reason whatsoever to suspect it might have been blown out of the sky before it got there if paranoid armed gangsters hadn’t been waiting to meet it and strip-search a tan-skinned American handcuffed woman because someone sitting next to her had to go to the bathroom.
The Big Bad Superpower America looks like a nation of wimps and cowards and spineless ninnies ~ the last American heroes took down a plane in Pennsylvania, they’re all gone. Where we used to have a handful of cops out looking for a handful of bad guys, now we have mini-armies called “swat teams” raiding farmers for selling raw milk.
And you people are cheering it on. I think I’d call that “sub-optimal thinking.” It’s certainly not anything resembling sanity.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011JaiGieEse: no, the no-win situation is in accepting the premise that “Whatcha got here is your basic no-win situation.” No amount of what-if can change the fact that there was no danger present, except from the people who assaulted three innocent US travelers. If for the sake of protecting freedom, we had to cut off every third traveler’s leg, you’d be for it, apparently, and many other people here besides.
Your fanciful wishing that this woman or the two men sitting near here would REALLY turn out to be terrorists belies an odd train of thought in your head. It’s not a no-win situation–it’s a lost situation. Every day, thousands of travelers, doing exactly the same thing as these three people, take off, fly, and land without being molested except by security on the way in, with everyone else. Some of those people might ahve been terrorists, but none of them blew up any planes. And none of them were administratively raped for (obviously) no reason.
Trying to twist the discourse around to talk about what-if is exactly what the security organs seem to be after, and you are falling in right with it, lock-step. Stop trying to pretend there was a danger there when there wasn’t. That’s like saying a homosexual is a pedophile because he DIDN’T molest a little boy.
Cut it out, please.
Kajal
/ September 16, 2011Homeland security should trace the person who started this, and fine them the cost of this operation. If people start having consequences of their idiotic paranoid ignorant actions, these might reduce in frequency. But this is not the first time humans have behaved this way. Nazi Germany started with small incidences like this, where some went paranoid and another turned the other way. In light of the fact that there is such a thing called Tea Party in the horizon with possibility of governance, this is bone chilling scary!
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 16, 2011The U.S. Supreme Court, in the term just starting, is to consider strip searches:
“In *Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders*, No. 10-945, the Court will
address the procedure required prior to strip searching a prison inmate; in
particular, the Court will decide whether an official can conduct a strip
search without a specific basis for suspicion.”
This will not decide whether “someone else spent too much time in the bathroom” or “sitting next to someone with the same skin color” is “a specific basis for suspicion,” but should be useful in Shoshana’s lawsuit (should she file one).
Irene Cowley
/ September 16, 2011Oh, wow! I am soooo sorry that this happened to you, or to anyone! Yes, we are all a little more careful these days, and “law enforcement” is feeling the pressure, especially those in Detroit, where they have already stopped one crazy person (and probably feel proud of it?)
As I read your description, I couldn’t help wondering about the person who complained in the first place. What happened to her/him? Were they allowed to go home right away? Were they escorted to an ‘offsite’ facility? Were they allowed to use the bathroom?
I ask because, when my kids were little, we had a ‘house rule’: the tattler knew she would suffer the same consequences as the tattlee, Thus the one would have to think over clearly how serious the situation was before actually reporting it. If it was “She took my ‘whatever’,” they could both be sent to their rooms (next time, figure out a solution on your own!) If it was “She’s running into the street”, and it was true, the rule was forgotten, in the haste to prevent serious damage.
Makes you think twice about tattling. Maybe we non-Arab-looking (whatever that is!) folks should start thinking twice! And start communicating and learning more about each other!
Mark
/ September 16, 2011I hope this isn’t a duplicate… the web site keeps freezing when I try to post:
This is horrible that this happened to you. But, you need to learn about what your rights are. There’s thing thing called the Constitution, which is supposed to still be the law of the land… it overrides any invalid “laws” that the people detaining you may claim apply, e.g. Patriot Act. They can’t detain you for a long period of time without arrest. You have the right to face your accuser – I don’t recall any accuser being mentioned, or any details on what the charges are. You have the right to remain silent; they are not your friends and will use anything you say against you — you’re not doing yourself a favor by answering every question. You have the right to a lawyer. If charged, you have the right to a jury of your peers. They violated all of these.
It is fortunate that after this ordeal, they let you go. But, you got lucky. They could have very well used what you said against you… ANY information you give them can be used against you, no matter how benign. The correct thing to do would have been to repeatedly insist that you be able to call your lawyer, refuse to answer any questions, repeatedly ask if you’re under arrest and if not then are you free to leave, and if not then what are the charges. Keep it up until they are sick of you trying to assert your rights that they are denying.
Here’s a great video on the subject:
Phyllis Stein
/ September 16, 2011Sending you love. Your heart is in your post and if this awful event caused a lot of hearts to open to yours, the planet is a better place for it.
orangecountyresident
/ September 16, 2011Shoshana, as an American, I want to apologize to you for how my fellow Americans have treated you. Sadly as a result of 9/11, my fellow Americans have become more paranoid and more racist than ever before. Unfortunately, this is how my fellow Americans behave anytime security becomes an issue. Fifteen years ago (four years before 9/11), I was terminated from a job in Phoenix for political reasons. About a few weeks after I left, I get a call from one of the security people from my former employer saying that the unit I used to work in have been getting “disturbing” phone calls over the last few weeks and that my former co-workers falsely assumed it was coming from me even though I made no attempt to contact anybody at my former job and that I am not the type of person to do such childish things. If anybody acted childish, it was my former coworkers and the security personnel that contacted me. I believe how some Americans reacted to 9/11 was much worse than the terrorist act itself.
ed
/ September 16, 2011Shoshana,
My sympathy for your ordeal, and gratitude for documenting it.
To some of the negative commenters who say they would report “suspicious” people like you and your seatmates, I have one question:
Do you give your full attention to the pre-takeoff emergency briefing?
If so, no further questions.
If not, . . . much more to say, but off topic.
Benjamin Witz
/ September 16, 2011Are you thinking of a lawsuit? Do you have a trust fund set up that people can donate to to help with your legal expenses?
Yogesh
/ September 16, 2011Damn it, now Indians also have to suffer for no fault of theirs, even when no Indian has been involved in such activities. Generally I feel safe when I see officers being cautious but what happened was really terrible.
Greg Hadaller
/ September 16, 2011I’m so sorry that this was done to you.
songthen
/ September 16, 2011so sorry this happened to you.
sue them. get a great lawyer who’s not afraid of a fight and sue their pants off. it wont make it right but it might just stop it happening again in the future.
Louis Nardozi
/ September 17, 2011So they DID win. We traded what was most beautiful and precious about our country, formerly the greatest ever known, for THIS. 9/11 was a resounding success, they got us to trade our liberty for a notion, a hope a phantom of security. All I can say is WE DESERVE IT. When we start treating our wives this way, what’s next?
The words of Dr. Ron Paul compel me to say, “I AM NOT AFRAID!” Keep your fearful drivel for some craven weakling. I am NOT afraid.
Bill in LV
/ September 18, 2011Wonderful comment, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576512722234185038.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_8
Atticus Dogsbody
/ September 17, 2011Everybody sing
America! America!
Don’t stomp your boot on me,
A moral void, all paranoid
From sea to polluted sea!
SilenceDogood
/ September 17, 2011This is the sad truth of this post 9/11 world.
That so many would willingly, nee gleefully sing this tune, makes me nauseous.
Thank you for putting it so succinctly. If only those cowards could understand.
Rebekah
/ September 17, 2011This post had me on the edge of my seat and I am left speechless. I am horrified that this happened to you, and it sounds like, 50 other innocent people that day. I will definitely share this post – the more awareness that comes to this issue, the more likely we will be able to demand change. Thank you for sharing your story!
Parminder Kaur Dhillon
/ September 17, 2011Life in America has changed for everyone, for us it has changed for ever. I am a Sikh American, my husband wears a Turban. We go through extra scrutiny evertime we board a plane. I am sure we make a lot of people on the plane very uncomfortable, though non of the terrorists who blew the planes ever wear a turban. Lot of this suspicion and hatred comes from ignorance and bigotry. Sikh advocay groups like the Sikh Coalition, SALDEF etc have been working hard to train the TSA, Homeland security, local police departments, FBI and other law enforcement agencies to educate them about who Sikhs are. After 9/11 the first victim of Hate crime was a Sikh man, Balbir Singh Sodhi, from Arizona. The person who killed him thought he was doing his Patriotic duty. Turban wearing Taxi drivers have been killed in hate crimes. Turban wearing Sikh Professionals who fly everyday, ride the trains and busses have to face these situations every day, we are trying hard to educate people around us.
Just this past Tuesday I was traveling back from CA after visiting my children, my husband and my mom were also traveling with. My mom is in a wheelchair, she is 85, she walked through the metal detector, did not beep but had to be patted down. We go to the airport prepared, make sure we do not have any metal on us, 99% of the times we walk through with no problems. Sometimes my husband has to go through some extra scrutiny, he has to pat his turban down himself and then his hands are swabbed for any explosives. Things are getting better for Sikh travelers, mainly because of the hard work of our advocasy groups. Sikhs have been in the US for more than a 100 years. These are changing times, as any other person in the US, we want to be safe too. I am sure we make a lot of people on the plane uncomfortable, usually these are people who do not know who Sikhs are, hopefully this will change too.
God Bless America!
rigger54 - cdn
/ September 17, 2011I have known but 1 of my grandparents, the others gave their lives or died early from Injuries received in the 2nd great war. The patriot act has given me the understanding of what they fought and died for, before it the word freedom and liberty really had no meaning. We started with sticks and stones and graduated to guns and nuclear bombs, but fear is the weapon we that is being used against us. The only defence is courage.
I applaud your courage, to write, and to rise against.
Gnat
/ September 17, 2011Thank you for sharing your story. You certainly did spark desperately-needed conversation on a very important subject.
To anyone who thinks that the security personnel acted appropriately, I am reminded of this quote:
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.” Pastor Martin Niemoller
Tamara PAndolph-Peary
/ September 17, 2011I am so sorry that this happened to you and others on this day. I thank you for sharing your experience so it can be known. There are still so many ignorant, scared people in this world. If people only took the time to stop, talk and get to know people this world would be such a better place. I am sure that if a person was up to no good they would not want to talk or be friendly or have attention.
I am sorry that this happened to you. My heart hurts. My prayers are offered for peace and healing of your heart and soul. I am glad your children were not with you but still it touches them. It adds fear to them. I will share and pass your story along. Hopefully thru sharing and making it known this is not acceptable will we as a people make a change.
God bless you. Thank you for sharing and SHAME on those who were ignorant and caused this terror in your life.
Rose
/ September 17, 2011note to self: “never ever use the airplane lavatory EVER”—i would say a whole lot more but everyone else has pretty much said it all—i agree that if your security feels threatened you have the right to report it—but how do we protect ourselves against bigots who see nothing beyond colour and succumb to stereotypes and basically have really over-active imaginations and believe that all arabs or brown looking people are terrorists, all blacks must be criminals, all asians are terrible drivers, all Jewish people are miserly, (fill in your choice of stereotype)—i am sorry, people have lost the sense of humanity, they have lost common sense, and have been totally- consumed by their hatred towards someone they don’t even know!!!
I am an overtly-visible Muslim woman..I am outspoken and will speak against atrocities committed against humanity irrespective of colour, race, religion, or ethnicity…this kind of fear-mongering freaks me out–I am angered everytime I travel because of the humiliation i feel because I am made to put my hands in between pant belt and waist and then be swabbed–you wanna ensure security, MAKE EVERYONE go through the same rituals, irrespective of their colour, race, religion etc—I have NOTHING to hide and i sure as hell am never gonna blow myself up bcz i like my life, i love my family, but everytime, i am forced to be under the radar bcz of who i am and what religion i follow, my heart-beat does pace up, i do get nervous—who wouldn’t? and in light of the experience soshana went through, i have even more reasons to be a nervous wreck when traveling—
people are idiotic—and actually, the only reason 9/11 will never be forgotten but something like oaklohoma city bombing wil be forgotten is because it doesn’t further the cause of war –nor does it act as a justification for such wars–
I know, i set out to not say anything and said a whole lot—-i wouldn’t wish such humiliation on even the worst of my enemies—
oh and btw, if these people were really terrorist, wouldn’t they blow themselves up whilst the plane was sitting idly? Think about it—!!!!! why would anyone sit and wait to be arrested and risk getting caught—if their primary purpose was to blow up, they would do it once the plane was being escorted by f-16’s or while the bomb squad and the whole nine yards were being rounded up!!!!!
STUPID, STUPID, PURE STUPIDITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
soshana, keep on trooping sister—speak the truth, for it deserves to be told
orangecountyresident
/ September 18, 2011Because of the horrible way many ignorant Americans responded to 9/11, I did not do anything differently on the tenth anniversary that I have on other days. I didn’t watch any 9/11 specials and I didn’t go to any memorials because if I did, I would be supporting the racists that engage in racial profiling and hate crimes committed against anybody that looked Muslim, like that racist murderer in Arizona that gunned down that Indian Sikh gas station attendant just days after 9/11. I am certainly not proud of this country now, especially with our politicians who have enacted legislation to strip public employees of their bargaining rights and threats to take away our entitlement programs. That is on top of the ignorance many Americans have towards Muslims or dark-skinned people and the support of racial profiling. I believe some Americans’ ignorant reactions to 9/11 is worse than 9/11 itself.
Jim Poplin
/ September 18, 2011Your rights include the fourth amendment to the Constitution: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched,
and the persons or things to be seized.”
This type of travesty is going to be repeated over and over again. We have allowed our fear to destroy our freedom. It seems our politicians have seized the moment to protect themselves from the great unwashed to create a police state based on irrational fear. For those of us old enough to remember the warning: if you trade liberty for security you will have neither. You can thank the patriot act and the foreign intelligence surveillance act for consolidating the loss of our fourth amendment rights. Even the right of being allowed to protest imprisonment to a court has been denied to many Americans. You are lucky, that you didn’t wind up in some prison being tortured. God protect us from our elected officials.
gaycarboys
/ September 18, 2011I remember landing at LAX pre 9/11. Even then it was like the Spanish Inquisition.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 18, 2011Little House of the Waltons
A tale of Patriotism
By Sling Trebuchet
This story is respectfully dedicated to those fine upstanding patriots who think that it is acceptable for (other) people to be handcuffed and strip-searched for no particularly good reason – other than some vague ill-thought-out woolly notion of security.
It is late evening in the Walton home.
A tired-looking John Walton enters.
Olivia: John. You’re six hours late. I was worried to death.
John: Sorry honey, but our country needed me. In the name of freedom I was handcuffed, dragged away to a cell –where I had to stand naked while a guy put his hand up my ass.
Olivia; Oh that’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you. Children! Come and hear your father’s news!
(Seven bright-eyed kids bundle into the living room. Happy to see their father and eager to hear the news.)
Olivia: Children! Your father did a brave and wonderful thing today for us and for our country. He stood naked in a cell while a guy stuck a hand up his ass.
Children: Oooooh!
John-Boy: Wow! I can’t wait to tell all my friends. They’re going to be so jealous.
Jason: I wish that I could stand naked in a cell and have some guy shove his hand up my ass.
John: Don’t worry Jason. Your turn will come, and for all you children and for your mother.
(Everybody cheers)
Mary-Ellen: Does it hurt Father?
John: Don’t think about the pain. Think of how it is protecting this family, our neighbours and our country.
John: You women will be even more important in this, because they will put their hands up your vaginas as well.
John-Boy: Aww. I wish I had a vagina. It’s not fair.
(All the male children nod in agreement. All the female children smirk.)
Ben: But we will all be able to do it won’t we?
John: Yes indeed. You remember how Andy Warhol said that “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.”? Well, we do better. In the future America, everyone will stand naked in a cell while someone shoves a hand up their ass – and vagina . Plus it will last a lot longer than 15 minutes. Plus it doesn’t have to happen only once.
(Everybody cheers)
Jim-Bob: Should we start practicing? So we know how to do it well when our time comes?
(Everybody shouts “Yaaaa!”)
Olivia: Yes. We can start tomorrow. Your father is a bit tired tonight.
Louis Nardozi
/ September 18, 2011Wow… that is ARTISTRY… U da MAN, Sling Trebuchet!
Bill in LV
/ September 18, 2011Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
You have been pretty much on target throughout this discussion.
I imagine the FBI is at this moment subpoenaing your ISP as a 1st step to your forthcoming colonoscopy.
Please let us know how it all comes out.
Bill in LV
/ September 18, 2011Re the efficiency of the FBI anti-terrorism effort (and FBI ethics or lack thereof) : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576512722234185038.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_8
Q.E.D.
anon
/ September 18, 2011My question is this, why isn’t everyone who looks Irish being detained for heightened screening? Am I the only one who remembers the IRA bombing shopping centers and buses to kingdom come? Why aren’t we investigating all the Americans who sent money to support them? Oh wait, silly me, they’re WHITE.
dk - purposeinc
/ September 18, 2011I actually was dumb enough when I was reading this half way through, to have the thought cross my mind, “Thank god I live in America, where things like this don’t happen”. Then I remembered that this story took place in the U.S.
Fed Up
/ September 18, 2011Do you ever think that maybe God put the Mexicans in Mexico, the Blacks in Africa, the Chinese in China, the Middle Easterners in the Middle East, etc., etc., for a reason? We never had the problems we presently have until this influx of foreigners to this country. There are those who like to argue that “none of us are originally from America” yes, you’re right, but the FACE of America has always been predominantly white and culturally the same. Back in the 50’s up to about the 70’s, you didn’t see Mosques, and entire sections of town turned into Chinatown or a taqueria on every corner. “Bombing”, “terrorism” and “illegal immigrant” wasn’t part of our everyday language by a long shot. So when someone who originated from another country does something that impacts America in a highly negative way, then you bet your bottom dollar we will not trust ANY of you. This co-mingling of the races in this country will always be a problem. In an ideal world, we would all get along just swell, but this is far from an ideal world. I can’t even imagine moving to a foreign country and assume that I would NOT be looked at or treated differently, mistrusted, or singled out for being different whether or not someone of my “color” had done something awful to their country or not.
strega42
/ September 18, 2011What damn part of the country are YOU from? I seem to recall that when the Irish came over, they had strong problems being discriminated against. Same with the Italians. And the Chinese. There was crime, and mob violence, and gang violence – mostly instigated by “whites”.
You remember, back when the Chinese were building our railroads in the 1800s? The same approximate period the Irish and the Scots and the Russians and the Poles and the Germans and the Swedes were coming in through Ellis Island? And of course the blacks showed up here at close to the same time as the primarily English whites did.
Oh, and we had “bombings” during Prohibition, if you’ve forgotten that as well. And “terrorism”, too. Committed almost entirely by “whites”. Look up “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” if you need a refresher course.
The “face” of America has not been “white” for a couple of hundred years; and it certainly has NOT been culturally homogenous. Maybe you should get out more, or maybe you don’t travel anywhere outside your little corner of the country, but I can assure you that White People in Boston are not culturally the same as White People in Louisiana or White People in Virginia or White People in Nebraska or White People in Michigan.
I understand that you want to take the moral high ground here, but you might want to consider that all that heavenly backlighting makes you a fabulous target. Try coming down to join the rest of us lowly Americans who have, I’ll bet, had families native to this country much longer than yours.
My family can trace our history here back before the American Revolution – on BOTH coasts. Your talk about “back in the ’50’s” does NOT impress me. If you really want to go back to racially segregated, homogenous cultures, take your ass back to Germany. You’ll probably need a time machine to get back to where you’d feel comfortable, though.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 18, 2011There are those who like to argue that “none of us are originally from America” yes, you’re right, but the FACE of America has always been predominantly white and culturally the same.
The face of America was red for over fifteen thousand years until you people brought us smallpox, whiskey, fences, savagery and lies.
orangecountyresident
/ September 19, 2011Fed Up, you sound just as delusional as your friend Rick Perry who wrote the book “Fed Up”. People like you have caused me to lose respect for this country. Very soon, the U.S. is going to veto a U.N. resolution calling for a Palestinian state. This will only cement Arabs hatred of the U.S. Besides, the Palestinians don’t owe Israel anything. It was the Israelis who took away the Palestinians’ homeland.
Ian
/ September 19, 2011No. I never DID think that. God didn’t put MY ancestors here in the United States. They came from Nova Scotia, Italy, Poland, and Russia. And, before THAT, the folks from Nova Scotia were Acadians, which meant that they were from France before they were in Nova Scotia, and the folks from Russia and Poland were Jewish, so they were from the Middle East before that, and the folks from Italy were probably from the Indo-European migrations that displaced the Etruscans. And, you keep tracing those back, and eventually you end up in the African savanna, just like everyone else.
The Bible, of course, says we all came from Adam and Eve, somewhere in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates, and the reason it says that is SPECIFICALLY so that nobody would ever be able to use the argument YOU just made.
For that matter, “bombing”, “terrorism”, and “illegal immigrant” may not have been part of the language in the 50s, but “nuclear holocaust”, “fascism”, “Communism”, “McCarthyism”, and “lynching” were. I wouldn’t trade it.
Oh, wait — also, “bombing,” “terrorism”, and “illegal immigrant” were part of the language, too.
Sling Trebuchet (@SlingTrebuchet)
/ September 19, 2011Fed Up: “So when someone who originated from another country does something that impacts America in a highly negative way, then you bet your bottom dollar we will not trust ANY of you. This co-mingling of the races in this country will always be a problem.”
I know *exactly* what you mean. Bang on there!
During the Cold War, the CIA co-mingled with the people of other countries who had elected left-leaning governments. The worked to destabilise and overthrow those governments – and install right-wing dictators in their place. Thanks to the co-mingling of the CIA, thousand of people in those countries were butchered by thugs of dictators.
The same US Foreign policy applied everywhere. Interfere in the affairs of other people for the benefit of US corporate interests. Palestine?
Why did the US invade Iraq immediately after 9/11? There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction there. There was no Al Qaeda there. Hint: There was a huge amount of oil there. There was absolutely no 9/11 connection.
But, the US military “co-mingled” with the population of Iraq. And before that, US foreign policy “co-mingled” with the freedom of people in any country that the US had interests in.
Then you get people sitting around chatting about their day – which might have included gathering the pieces of their children or relatives – or maybe caring for their child who has limbs, eyes or whatever missing. This could be due to direct or proxy US action.
They say something like “Well, this is all terribly regrettable. We should perhaps draft a strongly-worded letter to the newspapers.”
Alternatively, some of them might say, as you yourself say above “(this) impacts (us) in a highly negative way”. “Let’s go and bomb the crap out of their cities so that they get some clue about how it feels.”
For an unthinking American, all those innocent foreign people being slaughtered in foreign countries is (if they are even aware of it taking place) is just collateral damage. Unfortunate of course, but necessary in order to “defend our freedoms”.
You understand that people from other countries flying airliners into American buildings is something that should be discouraged. You don’t seem to want to even ask *why* they would do such a thing. Hint “They hate our freedoms” is not the answer.
The people who died on 9/11 were not hated. They were “collateral damage”.
If you get killed in a terrorist attack, they won’t be trying to kill *you*. You will simply be collateral damage.
The best way to stop people from other countries coming to the US in order to kill and destroy is to S-T-O-P F-C-U-K-I-N-G with their lives
.
DW
/ September 19, 2011You need to go back to a basic Jr. High level American History class. This country, this experiment in democracy called the United States of America has been filled with bombings, terrorism and illegal immigration throughout it’s history. Read about Prohibition – a very violent and turbulent time in our history – full of terrorism. I don’t know where you grew up but Mosques have always existed in the modern US culture. You just didn’t know to look for them, or or sadly care much about them or the culture surrounding them.
“…we will not trust ANY of you.” implies that you have an entire ethnic group supporting you. I beg to differ and compel you to open your eyes, and your mind a bit. Here’s some history you apparently missed wherever it was you received your elementary education:
* In the early 1800’s, thousands of slaves actually became illegal immigrants because of laws that were passed at that time. So, we not only created illegal immigration, but also protected it!
* In the mid-1800’s half a million Irish immigrants arrived here. The response was terrific. “Nativists”, those born here started an all out assault on their culture. One of the icons of this era is the burning of St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia. An act of terrorism.
* Also in the 1800’s, Pres. Lincoln signed an act to stop the “Coolie” trade – the importation and enslavement of Chinese people. But, the act allowed any free Chinese person to enter the US. So your ancestors (and mine too), and their friends were actually responsible for the making it okay for, as you say, “… co-mingling of races…” to exist.
We are a unique nation in that we enact laws protecting our citizens no matter the race, creed, color, religious belief, or sexual orientation of the individual citizen. Your fed up? Perfect! That’s your right – as an American citizen you have the right to be fed up and express your distaste for your own US culture. Go try that in Iran, Iraq, China, most of Africa, parts Central and South America or Libya and see how long it takes for you conveniently disappear from the face of the earth.
Now that I’ve got this off my chest I’m going to drive in my American made car that was engineered by Germans, and enjoy some sushi.
trudy
/ September 18, 2011many arabs/arab-americans think that they are white. this author was more appalled that she was reduced to the level of her co-detainees, those filthy indian darkies. in her post she insults the black guard (who was doing her job) describing her as a “fat jada pinket smith” moonwheel, how much do you want to bet that the other female officer (that she doesn’t insult in the post) is white? this author received a serious wake-up call, as most arabs and arab-looking folks did post-9/11. paul mooney describes this as a “n*ggah wake-up call” these are the same people (arabs) that tend to make the erroneous distinction between black and northern (white?) africa. the same people who single out, abuse, lynch dark-skinned AFRICANS in so-called north-africa because they are migrants or alleged mercenaries. the same people who before the trans-atlantic slave trade was ever heard of, unleashed a UNIQUELY brutal form of slavery in so-called black africa. these delusional arabs are mostly mad at the fact that these days they are treated worse than american blacks.
Bill in LV
/ September 18, 2011Trudy, Honey,
Yes the guard was doing her job – that is the exact excuse the Belsen guards gave at Nuremberg. Irma Grese gave that excuse but we hanged her anyway.
Look at what you wrote, Trudy. It is the raving of a sick woman You are ill, Trudy. Get a psychiatrist.
Don’t fixate on US born women who happen to have some Arab blood, or for that matter, on any innocent Arab wherever born.
Snow Leopard
/ October 9, 2011Bill in LV: actually, you are unjustly dismissing most of the historical realities that Trudy is alluding to, even if she’s too briefly presenting them. I think she’s overreading the (racist) intent of the original poster’s comments, but it’s no over-reading of history to bear witness to the part that people from the Middle East played in what Trudy is pointing to, including complicity in the maintenance of apartheid in South Africa.
I don’t see how you can read Trudy’s post as arguing she’s saying “the guards just did their job.” She’s not saying that, and immediately assuming that she’s crazy for saying what she wrote is a pretty dubious move on your part, especially given the history of this country of dealing with trouble-makers by labeling them mentally retarded or insane–a move the Soviet Union used extensively after it lost the murderous nerve of Stalin. Women, and especially women of color (Black and Native American particularly) have been involuntarily sterilized in this country because people loosely threw around accusations of “you’re crazy”. So if you’re saying it as a joke, it’s pretty grotesque. The fact that you resorted to an example from Nazism is suspect in its own way, but it also means you’ve run afoul of Godwin’s law. You’ve been amusing elsewhere in this thread, Bill. What’s happening here? Has Trudy hit a historical nerve with you or something?
As a fat white male, I have no sympathy for the disingenuous ire of fat white males objecting to characterizations that are physically accurate and perhaps even accurate, if not as regards the one described, then at least as regards the one making the objection. It’s another matter entirely when a person of Middle Eastern descent (from the US or not) is called out under the possibility of repeating a racial slur that is accorded Scriptural truth. It may be a controversy what Genesis 9:20-27 means, but it is not a matter of controversy that it has been used “to promote racist religious ideologies, typically based in Abrahamic religions, to justify the enslavement of Black Africans” (Curse of Ham, from Wikipedia, as the most immediate source). Again, I think that’s not the original poster’s intent here, but Trudy is absolutely not insane to raise concern about the issue which, now that she’s raised it, is not completely void of plausibility. We’d do better to learn that slurs like she’s pointing to in circumstances like these might themselves cross the line from “innocent description” to a much broader and disturbing historical pattern.
I’ve defended the original poster against the contention that anything that smacks of “racism” in her post should not be be considered profiling and at most only a shameful indulgence that she gave voice to if she isn’t merely presenting her thoughts as they occurred to her at the time, and we all have similar thoughts under duress. That’s hardly comparable to the profiling she experienced, which resulted in her gun-point removal, handcuffing, and strip search that profiling resulted in for her. Any claim of an equivalence is absurd. That’s still true. But Trudy’s point is, in one sense, simply “Payback’s a bitch.” Might be my ignorance prevents me from seeing what Trudy sees in the original poster’s words; same ignorance as you, if you’re not not being ideological yourself. Maybe we could realize our insensitivity (here and in other situations like it) and learn so as not to be made party to reproducing historical offenses without realizing it.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 9, 2011It may be a controversy what Genesis 9:20-27 means, but it is not a matter of controversy that it has been used “to promote racist religious ideologies, typically based in Abrahamic religions, to justify the enslavement of Black Africans” (Curse of Ham, from Wikipedia, as the most immediate source).
One of my favorite prophetic verses in the Bible, Gen. 9:27. I’m a descendant of Japheth, I’m prejudiced.
Translating into Arabic the original Hebrew text usually rendered into English as “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant,” we find that Genesis 9:27 actually reads:
God Opens to Japheth, and he abides in the tents of Shem; and Cana’an shall be “servant” to him.
The word “Opens” is of particular significance ~ God Closed His Mind to Adam, He Opens it to Japheth. Reading history sequentially from the passage, God “blesses” Shem with Abraham and the religions (the abodes with God) of Abraham, and then Opens to Japheth who abides in those tents of Shem.
The “tH” below is two consonants, not a diphthong: the word is pronounced yafat-Hal-lah, the “H” is a guttural “hard” h. The “a” of “Ha” alliterates into the “al” of “Allah.”
The first clause reads “yafatHa’allah (God Opens) li-yafatHa (to YafatHa)” (“Japheth”) ~ and is a play on words: YafatHa is a transitive present-tense verb meaning “He opens” ~ the corresponding past-tense verb “he opened” is “fataHa.” “FatiHa” (the title of the first chapter of the Qur’an, of seven “Ayats” or Signs) means “Opening” ~ it “Opens” the Qur’an. The “tents of Shem” are Judaism, Christianity and Islam ~ no other houses of faith are established in Abraham wherein Shem would be “Blessed of God.” The word “servant” is denominative ~ Cana’an is to be the example of a servant of God, and prototypical: subservient, compliant, obedient, unpretentious, devoted, etc., all the things that white American slave-owners expected (and sometimes demanded) of their slaves.
In the event, Cana’an went south with his father Ham and his uncle Shem to what would become The Promised Land ~ Japheth stayed in the north with his father Noah. There was never any opportunity for Cana’an to be a servant of Japheth, any more than any nephew would be a servant to his uncle for the brief time they were together with Noah before Ham and Shem were sent south.
The Hebrews (‘Abara) of Shem were given Moses and Jesus, then the Arabs (‘Araba) of Shem were given Muhammad. And today the descendants of Japheth abide in the tents of Moses, Jesus, and now Muhammad.
A Biblical verse means exactly what it says ~ “He fled from the drawn sword and the bent bow and the grieviousness of war” means exactly that, literally. It was a delight to find out, after reading the many variant translations into Greek, Latin, German, English, and legalese, what Genesis 9:27 actually says in the languages of Shem, literally.
God does Open to Japheth. I don’t know when He started doing that, but He is, at least in America, now.
Of course that’s off-topic and few, if any, care, but you mentioned my favorite Biblical verse.
Quilvio
/ September 18, 2011Another thing, most of you act as if terrorism began and ended on 9/11. Since that date 10 years ago there have been almost 18,000 Muslim terrorist attacks worldwide, all against innocent civilians attending funerals, weddings, having dinner, riding a bus, in line to get a job.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 19, 2011Since [9/11] there have been almost 18,000 Muslim terrorist attacks worldwide, all against innocent civilians attending funerals, weddings, having dinner, riding a bus, in line to get a job.
Not in America, not in the world. Go peddle your hasbara propaganda where no one knows any facts ~ you couldn’t prove your fantasies of your salary depended on it. “Innocent civilians attending funerals, weddings,” or simply carrying irrigation pipes to water their crops are dying from .50-caliber machine-gun bullets fired from American helicopter gunships and “smart bombs” dropped from American planes. Killing cranked-up invading murderers, or their lackeys, is not “terrorism.”
Quilvio
/ September 19, 2011Are you in denial about the thousands of Muslim terrorist attacks annually? What do we hear about in Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, England, Spain, India, Israel and many other places? Men are standing in a line to seek employment in Iraq and are blown up. For what? A family is celebrating a wedding in Afghanistan, or grieving at a funeral in Indonesia and they’re murdered. Amd I’m suppose to be upset if a prison guard touched a Koran without wearing gloves???
Here’s a list of the attcks from this month alone:
2011.09.19 Pakistan Peshawar 5 35 Five people are killed when fundamentalists set off a bomb at a market selling DVDs and music.
2011.09.19 Pakistan Karachi 8 12 A teacher and her child are among eight who lose their lives to a Tehreek-e-Taliban suicide bombing outside a house.
2011.09.17 Pakistan Akka Khel 5 3 Four members of a peace committee are among five killed at point-blank range by Jihadi gunmen.
2011.09.17 Afghanistan Faryab 9 1 Five children are among nine civilians ripped to pieces by a Taliban bomb.
2011.09.16 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 Boko Haram radicals kill one of their own for holding peace talks.
2011.09.16 Thailand Yala 2 3 Islamists gun down two persons at a mosque.
2011.09.16 Thailand Narathiwat 4 118 Four tourists, including a 3-year-old child and his grandparents, are blown apart by Islamic bombers.
2011.09.15 Thailand Pattani 5 1 ‘Islamic separatists’ set off a landmine under a vehicle, then drag out five injured soldiers and shoot them in the head.
2011.09.15 Pakistan Lower Dir 45 62 A suicide bomber detonates in the middle of a packed funeral, killing at least forty-five mourners.
2011.09.15 Dagestan Kadar 1 0 Muslim radicals enter an imam’s home and shoot him 57 times.
2011.09.14 Iraq Hillah 17 46 Seventeen people die in a car bomb blast outside a restaurant, including three children.
2011.09.14 Thailand Narathiwat 2 2 A Muslim soldier murders two Buddhists in a suicide attack.
2011.09.14 Iraq Ramadai 6 10 Six Iraqis at an airport are sent to Allah by Jihad bombers.
2011.09.14 Pakistan Tirah 1 0 Islamists behead a civilian.
2011.09.13 Iraq Taji 1 9 A Shahid suicide bomber kills a civilian.
2011.09.13 Pakistan Khyber 3 3 Three tribal elders are executed by radical Muslims.
2011.09.13 Pakistan Matani 5 19 Sunni militants blast a school bus full of children with machine-gun fire, killing four kids and the driver.
2011.09.13 Afghanistan Kabul 21 31 Over twenty people are killed when a wave of Fedayeen assault the US embassy.
2011.09.12 Iraq Mosul 1 0 Mujahideen behead a man in his own home.
2011.09.12 Indonesia Maluku 6 80 Six people are killed when machete-wielding Muslims attack a Christian village on a false rumor.
2011.09.12 Iraq Anbar 22 0 Sunnis stop a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims and shoot twenty-two of them in the back of the head.
2011.09.12 Nigeria Misau 7 7 A suspected Boko Haram assault on a bank leaves seven dead.
2011.09.12 Nigeria Maiduguri 4 0 Boko Haram Islamists shoot two bar workers and two patrons.
2011.09.11 Afghanistan Wardak 5 94 Children are among the casualties when Fedayeen detonate a truck bomb.
2011.09.11 Iraq Baquba 1 7 A journalist at a cafe bleeds to death following a Mujahid bombing.
2011.09.11 Afghanistan Charkh 6 0 The bodies of six civilian contract workers are found five days after being abducted by Sunni militants.
2011.09.11 Afghanistan Bermel 6 9 The Taliban take out six civilians, including two women, with a roadside bomb.
2011.09.11 Afghanistan Gortepa 5 0 Three children are among five civilians disassembled by a homemade Sunni bomb.
2011.09.10 Yemen Zinjibar 2 4 An al-Qaeda mine takes out two local soldiers.
2011.09.10 Afghanistan Bagram 2 0 Two security guards are killed by a Taliban rocket.
2011.09.10 Nigeria Vwang 14 6 Fourteen Christian villagers from the same family, including a woman in labor, are hacked to death during a midnight Muslim raid.
2011.09.10 Afghanistan Ghazni 1 0 Religious radicals assassinate a police chief.
2011.09.09 Nigeria Kunsen Gashish 3 0 Three Protestant farmers are hacked to death by machete-wielding Muslims.
2011.09.09 Somalia Mogadishu 5 10 An al-Shabaab bomb left on the street sends five souls to Allah.
2011.09.09 Afghanistan Manogai 4 0 Four local security personnel are killed by Taliban bombers.
2011.09.09 Nigeria Barkin Ladi 9 0 A Christian father and his seven young children are among nine shot to death in a Fulani raid on their home.
2011.09.08 Somalia Coast 1 2 Muslim ‘pirates’ shoot an unarmed French sailor on his own yacht.
2011.09.08 Afghanistan Khost 5 0 Five Afghans lose their lives to roadside bombers.
2011.09.08 Afghanistan Sangin 7 5 A Shahid suicide bomber takes out seven Afghans with a nail-packed car bomb.
2011.09.08 Afghanistan Heart 3 0 Sunni bombers take down an engineer and two other employees at a construction company.
2011.09.08 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A man driving a pickup truck is shot in the head by Muslim ‘insurgents’.
2011.09.07 Iraq Dujail 1 0 Terrorists enter a home and shoot a man to death in front of his wife.
2011.09.07 Pakistan Quetta 26 80 Twin suicide bombers send over two dozen souls to Allah including a woman and three children.
2011.09.07 India New Delhi 15 89 Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami cadres use a suitcase bomb to murder fifteen others outside a packed courtroom.
2011.09.07 Iraq Baghdad 1 6 One Iraqi is killed when Jihadis bomb a marketplace.
2011.09.06 Thailand Narathiwat 2 5 A 9-year-old boy is among the victims of two attacks by Muslim gunmen, one at a teahouse.
2011.09.06 Yemen Abyan 5 3 An al-Qaeda attack leaves five local soldiers dead.
2011.09.06 Nigeria Kuru 14 13 Fourteen residents of a Christian village are hacked and shot to death in an orgy of Islamic violence that lasts an hour.
2011.09.06 Nigeria Zakaleo 4 0 Four Christians are burned alive when militant Muslims set fire to their house.
2011.09.06 Iraq Anbar 9 0 Terrorists machine-gun a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers at point-blank range, killing all eight passengers and their driver.
2011.09.06 Afghanistan Kabul 1 0 The Taliban are suspected of killing a U.S. citizen.
2011.09.06 Thailand Yala 1 0 Islamists kill a 38-year-old Buddhist teacher, then set his body on fire.
2011.09.05 Pakistan Faisalabad 1 0 Islamic seminary students shoot an innocent member of the Ahmadi sect to death.
2011.09.05 Thailand Pattani 2 1 Muslim prisoners target and murder two Buddhist inmates.
2011.09.05 Nigeria Tatu 8 0 A Christian family of eight including the parents and six children are hacked to death by Muslim militants in their home.
2011.09.05 Afghanistan Parwan 2 0 The bodies of two German hikers are found three weeks after they were abducted and shot to death.
2011.09.05 Afghanistan Qaisar 5 0 Sunni militants take out five civilians with a well-placed roadside bomb.
2011.09.05 Pakistan Humrang Beebak 2 0 Two brothers are abducted and murdered by Islamic terrorists.
2011.09.05 Iraq Kirkuk 2 0 Jihadis shoot a skilled neurologist to death along with his brother.
2011.09.05 Nigeria Dabwak 4 0 An elderly Christian couple and their two grandchildren are shot to death in their home by Muslim raiders.
2011.09.04 Iran Ahvaz 3 0 Three people are hung for ‘forbidden acts against religion’.
2011.09.04 Nigeria Zannari 1 0 Boko Haram Islamists assassinate a local scholar.
2011.09.04 Pakistan Godhra 5 7 Five people are killed when two rival Islamic groups work out their differences.
2011.09.04 Pakistan Mariamabad 1 0 A Catholic pilgrim is kidnapped and murdered while walking to a shrine.
2011.09.04 Afghanistan Kandahar 3 21 A Holy Warrior detonates in the prayer area of a security office, killing three others.
2011.09.04 Iraq Mosul 1 1 A man is shot to death in his home by Mujahideen.
2011.09.03 Yemen Aden 3 7 A Shahid suicide bomber kills three local cops.
2011.09.03 Kenya Madera 1 3 Somali Islamists are suspected of a bomb attack that leaves a Kenyan dead.
2011.09.02 Somalia Hudur 1 0 A convert to Christianity is kidnapped and beheaded by Muslim activists.
2011.09.02 Iraq Baghdad 1 0 A government official is assassinated by Islamic terrorists.
2011.09.02 Ingushetia Nesterovskaya 1 0 A local religious figure is shot to death by suspected Muslim militants.
2011.09.01 Pakistan Kurram 7 1 Seven Shias riding a minibus are machine-gunned to death by Sunni rivals.
2011.09.01 Dagestan Khasavyurt 1 3 Women are among the casualties of an Islamist car bombing.
2011.09.01 Pakistan Lakki Marwat 5 35 Five civilians are crushed under collapsing buildings during by a Fedayeen suicide car bombing.
2011.07.22 Iraq Baqubah 4 0 Four policemen are assassinated at point-blank range by terrorists with silencers.
2011.07.22 Iraq Baghdad 2 8 Two people are killed by shrapnel when fundamentalists bomb a liquor store.
2011.07.22 Iraq Baghdad 3 9 A Jihadi bomb targeting medical responders leaves three people dead.
2011.07.22 Pakistan Surjani 1 0 A Shiite doctor is shot to death by Sipah-e-Sahaba Wahhabis.
2011.07.22 Dagestan Makhachkala 2 0 Islamic radicals murder two “non-believers” in a shooting attack.
2011.07.21 Iraq Riyadh 1 2 A bomb intended for first responders to an earlier attack kills a civilian.
2011.07.21 India Alwar 1 0 A Hindu girl is gang-raped and murdered by a Muslim gang.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011Are you in denial about the thousands of Muslim terrorist attacks annually?
“Thousands”? Nonsense.
What do we hear about in Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, England, Spain, India, Israel and many other places?
It depends on where you get your information. See http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html so you’ll know where this propaganda crusade is coming from. Or see the detailed analysis from the Southern Poverty Law Center at http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2011/summer/jihad-against-islam
“The number of night raids on civilian homes by international forces in Afghanistan has increased substantially, according to a study.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967254
American forces have been slaughtering innocent farmers at weddings for almost ten years now.
“Firing from rooftops and from the back of pickup trucks, security forces turned heavy-caliber machine guns and other weapons on demonstrators here on Sunday, setting off battles between army defectors and forces loyal to the government in the worst day of violence in the capital since March.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/world/middleeast/yemeni-forces-open-fire-killing-protesters.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
Any defensive action against American invaders ~ regular military forces, mercenaries not subject to any law, their support forces, or quislings ~ in Afghanistan or Iraq is called “terrorism.” Any resistance to American-supported tyrants and dictatorships is called “terrorism.” Virtually all of the “Islamist terrorism” arrests in America for the last few years have been the result of “confidential informers” giving FBI-provided dummy bombs or cell phone “triggers” or some such “sting” set up by the FBI. See “Terrorists for the FBI” at http://motherjones.com/special-reports/2011/08/fbi-terrorist-informants
You list Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Thailand, Dagestan, Indonesia, Yemen, Somalia, India, Iran, Kenya, and the Russian muslim republic of Ingushetia ~ which of these is not a former European colony now tyrannized by an American-supported “post-colonial” puppet government? I see one that was not a colony (although it has been temporarily occupied by foreign armies on occasion), one that has a government not subject to American control (for less than half a century now), and none that have no American military bases, military “advisors,” American clandestine forces, or American-sponsored “terrorists” waging terror and sabotage against their muslim populations and civil governments. How curious that “most of today’s armed conflicts involve muslims” in muslim-majority countries and regions.
Meanwhile, there hasn’t been an actual “Islamist terrorist” event in America since 9/11, just a couple of deranged psychotics and a few FBI “sting” operations.
In the American mainstream media, anyone with brown skin and a non-Anglo-Saxon sounding name who sneezes is called a “jihadi terrorist fundamentalist” ~ the Murrah Building, in the first reports, was an “Islamist terrorist” action. The slaughter of Norway’s ruling class youth by Anders Behring Breivik was reported as an “Islamic terror” event until they found out it was a white boy who imagines himself a Knight Templar. See “Kingdom of Heaven” ~ http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Kingdom_of_Heaven/70021633 ~ for the Crusader history of the Knights Templar. And Breivik was inspired by people who spread the hasbara propaganda like you do. Every crime of violence committed by someone with any real or imagined association with Islam or muslim history is an “Islamic terrorist” in the media-frenzy American imagination. Sikhs, Mexicans, and Hindus are being murdered in America because idiots like you imagine that they’re muslims. Who’s the “terrorist”?
And you either buy into it, or you’re selling it.
The biggest “terrorist” problem today is cocaine traffickers, according to FBI statistics. Terrorism from a handful of “Islamist” parties accounts for less than 5% of all terrorist actions. The biggest terrorist in today’s world is the United States of America, my country that in my lifetime has become something quite different from what my father fought in World War II ~ in the Pacific on an ammunition ship ~ to preserve.
He’s dead now, and I ~ thank God ~ soon will be. But I pity my children and grandchildren who’ll have to live ~ hopefully not for long ~ in a world run by the likes of you.
BayAreaBiker
/ September 20, 2011Please Dawud, do not turn this incident and subsequent discussion into muslims vs. rest of the world. We are talking about the civil rights that we enjoyed here in US, and how can we let the authorities be sensitive to dignity and the rights of innocent civilians, while they carry out their drill to “safeguard” us.
The list of terrorists attacks that Quilvio posted above is very accurate, and it will appear such to you as well only if you try to verify it. May be, there are not thousands but in Hundreds of attacks on innocent civilians per year around the globe by islamic terrorists.
Your use of words like “American forces are slaughtering” and then immediately posting a news link about Yemeni forces firing from rooftops, moving vehicles is another attempted propaganda just like the hasbara and other islamicphobia links you are posting.
Lets fix things at home first and then worry about rest of the world.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011I’ve been trying to reply for over an hour, the software won’t add what I wrote to the thread.
There is no “muslims vs. rest of the world.” Others have been trying to turn the discussion into that paranoid fantasy, implying that defense of American imperialism requires divesting Americans of our liberties. Nineteen million American muslims, the majority indigenous Americans with no muslim religious or ethnic heritage, have not been “versus” anybody. Muslims in the eastern hemisphere are defending themselves.
Quilvio
/ September 20, 2011So you’re excuse now that I posted 40 attacks against civilians is that they live in countries under some sort of American “control”. In your diseased mind, if you happen to live in such a country, you are a target??? Doesn’t matter if you’re a woman just going about your daily life, Islam says you must die. Fuck you and your filthy Islam! You just exposed yourself for what you are. You justify any atrocity. What would happen, in one of your lovely Islamic countries if this Shoshana, strayed from Islamic law, by appearing in public with her face visible or driving a car? Death by stoning? Yours is a death cult, not a religion. I will not defend the targeted killing of civilians by Americans but you defend it by Islamists.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011Your copy-and-paste catalog accurately lists crimes, but it’s not a list of “terrorist attacks.” It’s a list of actions in defense against American imperialism, common felonies, actions of governments that our allegedly “American” leaders seek to destroy ~ and includes a few other actions utterly opposed to Islam, mostly against muslims, carried out by madmen who imagine they are muslim mujahideen (which they definitely are not, most of them are either imperialists or otherwise completely deluded). Most of those last in your list are falsely alleged to be actions of groups falsely labelled as “terrorists” by the “Special Investigations” office of the U.S. Justice Department (the office originally established to track down Nazi war criminals). It’s all part of an effort to convince Americans that “the terrorists” are a monolithic party representative of the world’s 1.5 billion muslims, to justify the “war on terror” that’s bankrupting our great grandchildren before their parents are even born ~ and not coincidentally eradicating American liberty.
You can find lists like that all over the Web ~ there are dozens nearly identical to yours. They all read like a Washington DC daily crime report, with everything attributed to “suspected Islamic militants” or some huge “terrorist organization” with a name made up by the media and actually comprised of half a dozen psychopaths. It’s not “muslims vs. rest of the world” ~ it’s a paranoid lunatic fringe in America aimed at keeping Americans from becoming too curious about Islam, and you and your team-mates are doing their “internet forum” leg work for them.
That lunatic fringe has been trying for over a century to convince Americans that “Islam” is “the end of the world for everybody but muslims” (and mostly failing). It just happens that one of my ministerial roles, for the last forty years, has been directing muslim defenses of faith communities (in the courts, on the Web, and sometimes in concert with the DOJ or the FBI), and I am (too) familiar with attacks by the enemies of humanity against all religions except their own.
if you happen to live in such a country, you are a target???
Anyone living on top of a sea of oil that American companies want, who doesn’t actively support America’s invasions to occupy the country and control that oil, is a target.
But you knew that ~ the rest of your comment reveals your real character.
Quilvio
/ September 20, 2011You’re still justifying terror against innocents because they happen to live in a country you say is under US control. That is cowardice, attacking people you know have no way of defending themselves. You know it doesn’t really matter if the 40 attacks I listed are part of a larger group or many are acting individually. The common thread is Islam as an excuse to kill. It also doesn’t matter if some are against other Muslims. That just shows the utter bankruptcy of the religion. Yes Christians used to do the same thing, half a millennium ago.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011You’re still justifying terror against innocents because they happen to live in a country you say is under US control.
More libelous nonsense. Understanding how something happens is not “justifying” it, and fighting against and killing aggressive armed invaders and those who help and support them does not need to be “justified,” it’s the epitome of justice already. But to call a simple crime of unjustifiable violence “terrorism” when it has no political purpose or intent but is simply a crime of violence or a psychotic reaction to a perceived wrong is merely a lie, and that’s what’s been going on for a long time, before and after 9/11.
Putative muslims account for less than 5% of contemporary terrorist acts according to U.S. government figures. Cocaine traffickers account for most of the other 95%. This is not “secret information,” it’s been published on the internet for years. Saying otherwise is just a lie. It’s loudly proclaimed that “most of the armed conflicts in the world involve muslims,” which is true. What’s omitted is that all of those conflicts are taking place in muslim-majority countries invaded for their petroleum resources or pipelines to move petroleum resources. So that’s a half-truth. And that’s all that makes it into the mainstream media in America about “Islamist terrorists” ~ lies and half-truths.
That is cowardice, attacking people you know have no way of defending themselves.
Which is what America has been doing in Afghanistan, systematically and regularly, for years, and also in Iraq, neither of which can bring down an Air Force bomber from fifty thousand feet, “stealth” or otherwise. The Afghan mujahideen brought down Soviet helicopters with ground-to-air missiles provided by the United States ~ they don’t have any left to bring down American helicopter gunships that fire fifty-caliber machine-gun bullets into wedding parties, or in Iraq, people leaving a mosque with their children.
The common thread is Islam as an excuse to kill.
Ah, yes ~ it’s so much better to murder people in the name of democracy or the freedoms Americans are losing in the name of “security.”
But were you to embrace the truth of the matter, you’d find that most of what is called “terrorism” is a response to invasion, and purely political, and not “religious” at all. That was the finding of some capable researchers who studied ten or fifteen years of “suicide bomber” cases.
JaiGieEse
/ September 18, 2011I am afraid that this thread has degenerated into mindless and vicious attacks on anyone and everyone who posts here. Racism is rampant, hatred abounds, and in continuing this, we do noting but forward the cause of those who would divide us.
I beseech the lady who began all this to put this thread out of its misery.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 19, 2011I am afraid that this thread has degenerated into mindless and vicious attacks on anyone and everyone who posts here. Racism is rampant, hatred abounds, and in continuing this, we do noting but forward the cause of those who would divide us.
It’s become a showcase of the diseased hearts of the Americans behind Shoshana’s ordeal. It should stay running until every perverted racist coward whose only god is himself, whose religion is damnation of everyone else wedded to blind patriotism, and whose Temple is the U.S. Capitol, has had an opportunity to show the true faces of America’s real enemies.
Quilvio
/ September 19, 2011I just posted over 40 Muslim terrorist attacks so far this month, every one against civilians. You are either the king of Al-Takeyya or blissfully ignorant. The diseased hearts are in the people committing such atrocities, not in the people who are watchful against them.
So too bad if you think I’m racist (again I ask what race is Islam?) if I see a group of people acting suspiciously on a plane, train or automobile I’m going to say something.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011I just posted over 40 Muslim terrorist attacks so far this month, every one against civilians.
You posted some of your usual hasbara propaganda baloney.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011By the way …
I own a Koran. I will find the verses of which I spoke and post back.
When? If you don’t, then you prove yourself false. Changing the subject doesn’t exempt you from being exposed when you say you’ll prove your lies and then fail to even try.
Quilvio
/ September 20, 2011It’s a big book but I guarantee I will find them.
orangecountyresident
/ September 19, 2011JaiGieEse, you want this thread nuked because you want to silence people who speak the truth about how stupid your country is.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 19, 2011Not “stupid,” but deluded ~ which can reasonably be expected to change in the foreseeable future.
Most Americans live in a carefully crafted fantasy world. Many will continue to do that, despite the changes taking place that will make them somewhat uncomfortable until they adjust to the new yokes being placed on their necks. However, many others will realize the character of the deceptions, escape the delusion, realize their humanity, and turn to their neighborhoods (where they can accomplish something) and learn to avoid the harm of the deluded (about which they can do very little else).
It’s not difficult to see, in this conversation thread, the signs that identify those about to have their twisted utopian dreams turned into living nightmares. It’s much more difficult to enable them to see themselves in the mirror of reality.
Rebecca
/ September 19, 2011Thank you for sharing…. This is something that I believe happens so much more than many are aware of because those that are being victimized are doing exactly what the authorities want and not speaking out about what is really going on. “If it isn’t talked about, then it didn’t really happen”, this has essentially been protecting all the illegalities and complete violations of YOUR civil rights that the authorities seem too be all too comfy disregarding. Our country is operating on fear and allowing that to make it ok for OUR rights to just not even be acknowledged. This is not OK.
You said you wouldn’t be flying on 9/11 any more, which surprised me to hear. I beg of you to please keep talking, people need to stop turning heads, and giving up so freely entitlements. If you need to fly on 9/11, it is your right and entitlement to not only fly your country’s airways, but do it with pride. Our future, the children we have brought into this world deserve respect. And, unfortunately, assuring that respect for them will not be without a bit of determination and some serious motivation; a price worth paying for them.
Louis Nardozi
/ September 19, 2011Yes, and the 15,291 murders committed HERE in America are probably due to bad lighting, or perhaps indigestion. The Christian is not any better a person than the Muslim. Muslims in some foreign countries are poorly educated, and so tend to believe their ridiculous teachings more than we believe OUR ridiculous teachings. Someone making $200 a year has very little to lose and is much more susceptible to stupid talk than we are. That being said, the way to fix the problem is to declare war, fight a total war, quickly win their unconditional surrender, impose an onerous tribute, and move on.
Observer
/ September 20, 2011To all you comfy white Americans who think this can never happen to you, think again.
You are next.
D. Kennel
/ September 20, 2011It is a sad tale of our national panic, of our now-ingrained racist security practices. However, while I empathize with the author on how she was mistreated and can’t possibly imagine what it’s like to be profiled, let alone strip searched, what I do know is this: I have been targeted by TSA many times myself.
I am the whitest white male you could ever meet, red hair, blue eyes, and I live in the Detroit area, hence I’m always flying through DTW. I’ve flown many times for work since 9/11, and have repeatedly been one of the guys pulled aside at the terminal gate to be subjected to ‘additional screening.’ I’m the guy they almost always pull into the scanner lane. I’ve gotten the explosive-detecting wand through my bags many times at the gates, pulled aside from my coworkers as well as my family while they board. I’ve been pulled aside and patted down, had my carry on rifled through.
I’m not sure what it is about me that sets flags off in the minds of the TSA – do I look like I’m Irish mafia or something? Do I fidget nervously while waiting for the gate to open? I’m a very relaxed, laid back fellow and I can’t imagine either one of those to be true. My only answer is this: I am the control, I am the guy they pull aside to say “we’re not racially profiling, see: we’re pulling out the whitest white guy too!”
However, my criticism here is that I’m a nobody. I’m white, and if I were to record all of these times and report it to the news I would be a non-story. I’m white, therefore it’s not newsworthy. I’m white, therefore my rights aren’t being infringed upon like the author’s above. I’m white, therefore it’s not racism. Or maybe I should view it as: I’m white, therefore I shouldn’t be offended.
But I am offended. I’m offended for the author above. I’m offended for myself. I’m offended for anyone else put in this situation. I don’t know what the best alternative is, but I do know that the current system isn’t right.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 20, 2011I am the whitest white male you could ever meet, red hair, blue eyes …
Our Imam (congregational prayer-leader) has red hair and blue eyes, he flew to Turkey three days before 9/11 and flew back the following month. He takes the train now when he travels.
SL
/ September 20, 2011I really hope you do file some type of lawsuit, not just for your case but to try to stop these kind of abuses in the future. No one should have to endure the humiliation of being strip-searched without some REAL probable cause, not simply flying while brown on 9/11. Our constitutional rights are being chipped away; you were strip searched when you were NOT even arrested for a crime.
Most people think our freedom is what makes this country great, yet our very freedom is being destroyed in the pursuit of safety, and I should note some people are very willing to give up their freedom to feel safe. However, we’ve given up way too much for way too little. We have NO rights at airports (and for those who say just don’t fly this can happen at train or bus stations and other public venues), but any research into the matter will show us how ineffective many of the “new” safety inspections are such as the scanners that can’t even detect PTEN. The only thing that will keep 9/11 from happening again is something we’ve already done: we have secured the cockpit doors, so most of the extra billions of dollars spent are wasted money, which is really shameful given our budget woes.
Anonymous
/ September 21, 2011This is so disturbing. I in no way want to down play the seriousness of it potentially being racially motivated but I think this is a huge violation of rights regardless. Had that been a row of Caucasian people and the same thing happened, it would be just as horrifying to me. It scares me that there is bigotry in this country but it scares me more that something like this can happen at all. To be strip searched on the basis of a rumor? If you can refuse to let an officer search your car without probable cause, how is this legal? I’m sure it would have been much worse had you refused but I think there is a lot more wrong with this type of justice than racial motivation.
Joe Zzyzx
/ September 22, 2011what do arabs have ? nothing but some oil, camels and sand. The terrorists everyone is reffering to include AIRPLANES. go back to when they were hijacked then blown up. Always an ARAB.
they want to live in past. Until they get rid of their “kings and cheiftans” , most will have NOTHING. Keep women uneducated in all sorts of constraining clothing . In their place like the “old days” ?
Its going to get a lot worse. Some of the more well to do children in Arab or Muslim countries can get an education. where? AMERICA or the west for sure. Then go back home – but no jobs are available.
Disillusionment breeds hatred. Its easy for the handful of recruiters to get them . Preach a very distorted view of Islam , and new suicide terrorists are born.
some day oil will not be nearly in demand . then what? only sand and camels. Theyre leaders have let their countries down. The real smart are bringing these assholes down–see Libya and Egypt.
yea– they all think they hate the west. why?– They all like and use airplanes,computers, internet, vehicles and all have a use for OIL.
What do they all have in common. all were invented or used or locations discovered by the WEST. How many things were discovered or are useful,by anyone in an Arab or Muslim centered country?? Cant think of a damn thing. can someone help me here?
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 22, 2011can someone help me here?
Probably not. Your knowledge of history and the people of The Promised Land is everything we have learned to expect from compulsory public education, and it doesn’t look as if you’re too interested in learning anything else, such as what life has been and is like beyond the delusional fantasy of the American Dream.
DW
/ September 22, 2011Okay. Just had to respond.
You are the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to education. Sorry, but it’s true and presented here in black and white for all to read – or at least try to get through.
You clearly don’t have a handle on the history of science and discovery. Arab nations have not innovated in the way the western world has in recent times. How many things were discovered or are useful, here’s a teaser list of Arab discoveries/inventions:
* Surgical instruments many of which have not changed since they were invented,
* Distillation – and not just for alcohol, but essentially how oil is refined
* The fountain pen – yes, they evolved us from the quill!
*Even flight via the first parachute long before the Wright bros. existed.
Did this help you?
MelissainMO
/ September 22, 2011The mechanical fan in around 1830. But maybe you would rather just sit in your own sweat. Shampoo, coffee, The crank-shaft in 1206. Vaccinations, which were noticed by the West. The Muslim world had been vaccinated against smallpox 50 years before it was even contemplated in the West.
But, someone I know wanted to start a school and eliminate all the heathen and pagan concepts and only teach what they considered Christian. I guess math was eliminated from the education plan.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 22, 2011I’ll try this for a third time …
Written constitutions
Federalism
Universal franchise
Individual private property rights
Women’s rights
Animals’ rights
Equality before the law
Religious liberty
Freedom of speech
International law and comity
Rules of war
Astral navigation
Spherical trigonometry
Algorithms
Algebra
Chemistry
Relativity
Optics (telescopes and microscopes)
Empirical scientific method
History (replacing praises of kings)
Street lighting
Sanitation and soap
Indoor plumbing and chimneys
Pharmacy
Quarantine
Hospital wards
Naturopathic medicine
Refrigeration
Private enterprise open market consumer capitalism
Socialized medicine, education, and other social services
Remediation and elimination of poverty
International banking
Corporations
Interest-free and grant capitalization
Stable currency
Standardization of weights and measures
Sherbets
Open architecture
Postal services and long-distance communication
Arabic numerals to replace Roman MDCLXVI
Guitars and much more …
… all came to Europe from the muslim world.
All of this came from The Promised Land during the Dark Ages of Europe. The serfs weren’t allowed to know about it, or American public school students until about 1970.
BayAreaBiker
/ September 23, 2011It’s amazing how shamelessly you are attributing the inventions/discoveries of all the above items to the “muslim” world. Just shows that plagiarism was alive then as it is very much present in the corporate world today. And I’m sure you didn’t bat an eye before copy-pasting that list, calling it your own.
I’ll cover a few from this list and help displace some incorrect notions while giving credit where it really belongs.
Let’s take example of soap.
The first signs of Soap use were documented in Babylon in 2800 BC. Yes, Babylon is current Iraq, which is predominantly muslim now, but 4800 years ago, nobody there knew islam. Heck, before islam took over in that area, it was predominantly christian.
Sanitation, again, was first in use in Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa, which were Hindus (Indus) Valley civilization again some 5000 years ago. As the name describes, it was Hindus who first used it. Yes, now this area is in current Pakistan, which is predominantly muslim, but wasn’t until 900 years ago before Arab invaders.
Arithmetic including Algebra was first use in Indian subcontinent in 400 AD by Aryabhat. Aryabhat was also responsible for approximating the value of Pi (though he didn’t call it Pi until 1761 when Lambert took the credit). Aryabhat’s book Aryabhatiya was translated into Arabic (c. 820 CE) by Al-Khwarizmi who incidentally too wrote a book on algebra.
Astronomy – Mesopotamia (~1000BC), China (4 BC), and India (final centuries of BC) were very advance in astronomy during medieval times before islamic nations picked up after 900 AD (and I’ll tell you how it picked up in 900s in next paragraph).
Arab Numeral – As for this greatest steal of the millennium, “Arab” numerals including the use of zero and decimal were stolen also from India, and are actually Hindu Numerals and were in use there from 1200 BC. After the repetitive attacks and massive muslim invading from the arab land in 900s, tens-of-thousands of Hindus were taken back to the mid-east as slaves along with the other spoils of war. In this process, they gave their Arab slave masters an effective means to count their loot from the war.
So, you see the pattern here. The Muslims, in this case mostly Arabs, took credit for the inventions and never did anything by themselves. After islam was introduced in arabic peninsula, they were busy fighting and converting each and every tribe by sword around Saudi Arabia for couple of hundred years, and didn’t have time to invent things. Prior to that, it was mostly consists of shepherds, gypsies, etc. They had NO culture, technology, or medicine that they didn’t steal from others and claim it was their own.
Ah! And couple of more –
Street light – first documented use was in Greek/Roman period.
Women’s rights – Women in the Arab land did have rights but all were gradually taken away when islam took over. So, using that for muslim world doesn’t really work in your favor.
I can go on and on covering each item form your list but we went way off tangent and must stay on the topic, that is, how we can get our liberties back from the authoritarian rule.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 23, 2011It’s amazing how shamelessly you are attributing the inventions/discoveries of all the above items to the “muslim” world.
It’s amazing how quick you are to accuse me of what I did not do. Nowhere did I say or suggest that all of those things new to Europe that produced the Renaissance were “invented” or “discovered” by “the muslim world.” What I wrote ~ in plain English ~ was that “… all came to Europe from the muslim world. All of this came from The Promised Land during the Dark Ages of Europe.”
What we call “Arabic numbers” came from India. The empirical scientific method came from ancient China, so long ago that not even Mesopotamia could claim origination. There was a “free trade” federation of city-states in ancient times that lasted until one of them took over all the others that it did not annihilate. Some of the other things I listed ~ notably religious liberty ~ originated with the Qur’an.
I’m sure you didn’t bat an eye before copy-pasting that list, calling it your own.
Those things I listed were what I could remember without trying to find my archived copies of what I wrote that was published in an early 1970s issue of Analog Science Fact/Science Fiction and the scores of articles I’ve written since then, for a more comprehensive list of what Europe inherited ~ not “stole” ~ from Muslim Spain and Fatimid Egypt.
I’ll cover a few from this list … soap … sanitation … algebra … astronomy … zero and decimal “stolen” …
I deliberately did not list astronomy. I didn’t identify anything you listed as an “invention” or “discovery” of the muslims. “Algebra” is an Arabic word, al-jabra, like “almanac” and “alcohol” and dozens of other “English” words. Western scholarship has regarded modern algebra as of Arabic origination for a thousand years. I didn’t list astronomy because it was not new to Europe. And learning from other cultures and societies is not “stealing,” any more than Europe’s recovery of the lost works of Aristotle from preserved manuscripts in Arabic was “stealing.”
The Muslims, in this case mostly Arabs, took credit for the inventions and never did anything by themselves.
Such utter ignorance is fast disappearing in America ~ you need to catch up with post-WWII literature.
After islam was introduced in arabic peninsula, they were busy fighting and converting each and every tribe by sword around Saudi Arabia for couple of hundred years, and didn’t have time to invent things. Prior to that, it was mostly consists of shepherds, gypsies, etc. They had NO culture, technology, or medicine that they didn’t steal from others and claim it was their own.
That’s simply false ~ none of it is true, not a word. All of that was known in the English-speaking world to be false in the Nineteenth Century. You’re really behind the curve. Or maybe you’re just another not very competent hasbara propagandist.
Women in the Arab land did have rights but all were gradually taken away when islam took over.
This also is false. Prior to the Qur’an, women were tribal property or slaves, with no in-between. Some tribal women were privileged due to the standing of their fathers or husbands in their respective tribes, their disposable “rights” derived from their position in the tribal hierarchies and subject to a man’s whim. The rights established by Islam were respected for about thirty years after the death of the Messenger, then Arab tribal leaders “gradually” deprived everyone else ~ men and women ~ of those rights for the next thousand years until the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
I can go on and on covering each item from your list …
No, you can’t. You can’t address written constitutions, individual private property rights, religious liberty, astral navigation, pharmacy, refrigeration, capitalism, sherbet, or anything else you didn’t mention, without having to acknowledge that they came to Europe from the muslim world, which is all I said in the first place. And I didn’t even mention pluralistic justice, cultural autonomy, civil manners, rational thinking, neighborly consideration, and a few other things that never took hold in Europe proper, but had to wait for European religious warfare and oppression to drive refugees to America as colonial “subjects” of the oligarchic aristocracies.
… but we went way off tangent and must stay on the topic, that is, how we can get our liberties back from the authoritarian rule.
That’s not the topic. The topic is assaults on liberties that we have, not how to foment a revolution that would make matters infinitely worse. “Rule” is indelibly “authoritarian” ~ the problem is abuse of authority, not “authoritarian rule.” Governments are established to protect individual rights by authoritarian rule, not abuse them. The people delegate the power to exercise authoritarian rule for that purpose, not for the purpose of abridging those rights.
People who want to “get our liberties back” have already given up their liberties and accepted tyranny. They have a chiropractic problem ~ with their backbone.
BayAreaBiker
/ September 23, 2011Wow, first you give a twist to your words and projected everything “coming” from muslim world and when I call you on it, you call me a hasbara propagandist. Yeah, nice going ace, you are the saint and everyone else who doesn’t agree with you or call you on your lies is a hasbara propagandist.
As I said earlier that I can go on and on covering each item from your list, but can’t as I have a real full time job that takes precedence over anything, including spending my time behind the computer on this blog, calling you on your misinformation campaign and responding to your lies. I picked a few from the list about which I knew well and it didn’t require any research. I’m sure, whatever list you are coming up with, I can find the holes. I don’t want to write anything just for the sake of writing. I want to support it with correct facts. Just because algebra is an arabic word doesn’t mean that the concept originated in arab land. They must have called it something else, just like I presented the fact that the value of Pi and how to get the circumference or diameter of the circle was known in India in 499 AD. Only thing is they didn’t call it Pi.
Learning from other cultures is not stealing but plagiarism is… presenting the learnt knowledge without giving due credit and letting others think that you invented or created it, is stealing.
As I also pointed out, many of the things from the list were in use way-way before the islam came into existence. Sherbet, (from your list again) came from Persia (modern day Iran), and again when they begun to use it, islam was non-existent.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 23, 2011Wow, first you give a twist to your words and projected everything “coming” from muslim world and when I call you on it, you call me a hasbara propagandist.
Can’t accept that you read into “… all came to Europe from the muslim world” what wasn’t there, eh? You didn’t “project” into what you read a suspicion that muslims “plagiarized” these things, did you? Maybe this will help you, I’ve written it elsewhere a lot:
[Some people] “are living in a contrived fantasy that depends absolutely on utter ignorance of the thousand years of history in The Promised Land during which Jews, Christians, muslims, and others gathered God’s Gifts from dead and dying civilizations and restored them to the service of humanity before passing them to Dark Ages Europe to bring about the Renaissance. Federated autonomy, alloidal title, naturopathic pharmacy, humanitarian private enterprise free market consumer capitalism, religious liberty, reciprocal comity, remediation of human nature ~ the cornucopia of human rights, liberties, and well-being historically emergent from The Promised Land ~ lie inaccessible in the indeterminate future for [those people], in the irretrievable past for the terminally-collapsed millennial muslim world, and beyond the practical curricula of America’s academies of science.”
Does that clarify the view a little? I know ~ and can show ~ what God first made known to the Arab muslims, whose successors abandoned it and hid it.
Yeah, nice going ace, you are the saint and everyone else who doesn’t agree with you or call you on your lies is a hasbara propagandist.
I might be one of hell’s angels for all you know, you could ask Tiny Walters’ widow; but I’m no saint. So where are the lies other than in your imagination? Legitimate accusers allege specifics, knowing or unknowing hasbara propagandists throw off vague ad hominem sparks when they don’t have any ammunition.
As I said earlier, I can go on and on covering each item from your list …
Bring it: you know the histories (except the histories of harmony between muslims, Christians, and Jews) ~ prove that these things didn’t come to Europe from Muslim Spain and Fatimid Egypt and The Promised Land.
Just because algebra is an arabic word doesn’t mean that the concept originated in arab land.
I didn’t say it did. What I said was that European and American mathematicians attribute modern algebra to al-Khwarizmi and use his Arabic term to denote that branch of mathematics. Go tell them who discovered polynomial equations, algorithms, spherical trigonometry, astral navigation, matrices, differential and integral calculus, modular exponentiation, and the foundations of Galois field and large-prime cryptography.
Learning from other cultures is not stealing but plagiarism is … presenting the learnt knowledge without giving due credit and letting others think that you invented or created it, is stealing.
Like Al Gore invented the Internet? I must have missed class the day we were told that Ibn (“Avicenna”) Sina’s Canon of Medicine was the Bible for pharmacy in European universities and medical schools for 800 years. Ibn Khaldun is acknowledged as “the father of history,” and Ibn Jabir is generally recognized as “the father of chemistry,” just as Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi of Baghdad is known as “the man who synthesized [the Hindus’] knowledge for the Arabic, and in due course the European, world.” (Europe was first introduced to algebra as a result of the translation of Khwarizmi’s book into Latin by Robert Chester in 1143.)
But I’m hard-pressed to recall many other recognitions analogous to Gene W. Heck’s Charlemagne, Muhammad, and the Arab Roots of Capitalism (deGruyter, Berlin, 2006, ISBN 3-11-019229-2), or John A. Makdisi’s “The Islamic Origins of the Common Law” in the North Carolina Law Review of June 1999, or of the linguistic origins of admiral (amir al-bahr), alchemy (al kemiya’), almanac (al-manakh), amber (‘anbar), artichoke (ard-i-shauk), camphor (kafur), carat (qiraat), coffee (kahwa), cotton (koton), gauze (qazz), hazard (as-zahr), lacquer (lakk), lute (al-ud), magazine (makhazin), mate (maat), orange (naaranj), racket (raahaat), sorbet (sharab), sugar (soukkar), or zero (sifr).
Ethnocentrism is a very effective blindfold. Can’t have anyone looking at Islam, that could lead to a loss of privilege, power, and advantage … which is the real reason for the “war on terror” and the systematic erosion of American liberties. Best to keep knowledge away from people who would just misuse it anyway …
So how many “BayAreaBikers” are polymaths like yourself? Ben and Lucy’s daughter was smarter than I was, I knew she was on to something after we went our separate ways.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 24, 2011Well, well … this is amusing. Someone with no idea that we’re discussing your knowledge of history just sent a link to a Usenet newsgroup to which I’m subscribed (“Usenet” is older than the “World Wide Web” ~ you might not remember it). Go visit: http://www.1001inventions.com/
“1001 Inventions is a global educational initiative that promotes awareness of a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilisation from the 7th century onwards, and how those contributions helped build the foundations of our modern world.”
… so you can educate yourself at one website. The exhibition is currently at the California Science Center in Los Angeles until December 31 ~ you could ride your bicycle down there and see it first-hand. Ben Kingsley “takes a starring role” in a video downloaded 12,000,000 times: http://video.alclick.com/1001inventions.wmv ~ and Hilary Clinton opens the Los Angeles exhibition and introduces the same video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/1001inventions
Answer these questions:
What do coffee beans, torpedoes, surgical scalpels, arches and observatories all have in common?
Were Leonardo da Vinci’s flight ideas originals?
Who devised the casing for pill capsules and where did Fibonacci learn to flex his mathematical fingers?
“Muslim civilisation stretched from southern Spain as far as China. From the 7th century onwards, scholars of many faiths built on the ancient knowledge of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, making breakthroughs that paved the way for the Renaissance.”
And no matter what it costs, certain very old, extremely wealthy, globally powerful parties are hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant of this. That’s what’s at the root of the so-called “War on terror” and the reason Shoshana was handcuffed strip-searched to terrorize the other passengers.
And that’s what’s at the root of statements like:
What do arabs have? Nothing but some oil, camels and sand. … How many things were discovered or are useful, by anyone in an Arab or Muslim centered country?? Can’t think of a damn thing. Can someone help me here?
That’s hasbara propaganda, whether you knew that or not.
Who invented the differential gearing that runs your bicycle, to run water clocks and the first windmills? Help me out here, Historian.
strega42
/ September 25, 2011I’ve been following your comments with pleasure, but I find I must take exception to one tiny portion of the comment above.
“…certain very old, extremely wealthy, globally powerful parties are hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant of this.”
“Most of the American government is hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant.” would actually be more true.
People who are kept ignorant, and who are raised to prefer to remain ignorant, are much easier to subjugate and control. I don’t generally believe that our government has anything specifically against Muslims; I think they will sociopathically use any convenient group or excuse to further entrench their own positions of power and control. The entire “War on Drugs”, going back to the reefer madness scare, is how they continue the Race War in America, for example.
Thank you for the link to 1001 inventions. I look forward to going through the site extensively.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 25, 2011… certain very old, extremely wealthy, globally powerful parties are hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant of [Islam].
“Most of the American government is hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant” would actually be more true.
“Most of the American government is ignorant” is true, but I’m sure you would find that most people in government want to help others to become as “knowledgeable” as they imagine themselves to be. It’s knowledge of themselves, of human nature and function, of human society and purpose, and of the enemies of humanity sitting on them, that they lack ~ in other words, the knowledge that God urges us to obtain from Him. “Certain very old, extremely wealthy, globally powerful parties are hell-bent on keeping Americans ignorant of” that knowledge, because they use that knowledge to divide us, to enslave us, and to despise one another rather than to enable us to fully realize our humanity and love one another.
People who are kept ignorant, and who are raised to prefer to remain ignorant, are much easier to subjugate and control.
They’re much easier to subjugate but much more difficult to control.
I don’t generally believe that our government has anything specifically against Muslims; I think they will sociopathically use any convenient group or excuse to further entrench their own positions of power and control.
You refer to “our government” as if it were some kind of homogenous monolith with a single mind. It is not that ~ various elements of “government” are being operated by various parties, and neither those parties’ agendas nor their mentalities are common or even mutually compatible. You need to know the players before you can accurately assess the threats ~ or benefit ~ they offer.
For example, there are many people “in government” for the purpose of provoking revolutionary anarchy ~ they cause “government” to alienate and oppress the people, to focus the militant anger of the people on “our government” as you describe it. Anarchy is always replaced immediately by the coercive dominion of the organized, disciplined party most able to put an end to the chaos ~ almost always meaning the party that is creating the chaos and can stop creating it. That’s what’s been planned in America since the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and that agenda appears to be very close to success.
The entire “War on Drugs”, going back to the reefer madness scare, is how they continue the Race War in America, for example.
The “War on Drugs” merely protects the monopoly of the major drug dealers who sit in corporate and government offices and bring drugs into the country in military aircraft, vessels exempt from Customs inspections, and diplomatic pouches. The “Race War” was institutionalized during the Colonial period, by way of the indentured servitude/slave trade setting Anglo-American white people over African black people. Sociopathic ignorance is the aim of both “wars.”
What is the most effective way to control crime? Monopolize it, and make the people pay for eliminating independents and competition, to protect the monopoly.
Certain very old, extremely wealthy, globally powerful parties have been organized for over a score of centuries to keep Americans ~ specifically Americans ~ ignorant of Islam, and Christians ~ specifically European and American Christians ~ set against Islam. Everything you mention flows from that ~ including what you call “our government.” It’s their government, and has been for thousands of years. My government is nearer to me than my jugular vein.
BayAreaBiker
/ September 25, 2011I like reading about other cultures and learn from others and this is why I keep an open mind. Being a Science student myself, I have always been interested in knowing the history of several instruments, concepts, and ideas. From that open mindedness, I clicked the link of 1001 inventions in a hope to at least learn a few new things.
As I opened the page, the first thing flashed in a box was “Meet Fatima al-Fihiri” and then it explains what Fatima did. The 1001 Inventions from the Muslim World web site “claims” that she opened the first University in 841 AD. Hmmm….. Interesting indeed until I recall reading it somewhere that it was the Buddhist that had the first University in 6 century BC in Taxila (Taksashila), which is now in Pakistan. The other one which was a bigger University than the Taxila was opened in Nalanda (in Bihar, India) in 6th century AD and was functioning until 1197 AD.
So, there that was the first sign of the lie and I don’t know what kind of other lies/propaganda are being spread around to claim certain things as Arab/muslim. Yes, I agree that once muslim rule was stretched from South Spain to China, but does it mean that the muslim rulers from that time helped locals and finance the inventions that they are now claiming muslim. I don’t think so. As in my previous posts, I have compared the dates of inventions and practices when the idea of islam was not even conceived. So, how and why would these inventions be identified remotely as muslim?
The only explanation (and documented fact) is that several of the civilizations under muslim rule were won by the invaders from Arab land wielding swords, and these inventions were also grabbed as spoils of war and were claimed as their own. A few, however, were also transferred during the trade but still projected to the western world as originated from arab land.
Back to the numerals, it must be mentioned that the Arabic language is written from right to left but if you ask any arabic speaker to write any number e.g.786, he will write the number from left to right. This shows and should be a proof enough that these numbers were taken from a language which was written from left to right and not from right to left.
Anyway, I looked deeper to find out more about the 1001 Inventions. It didn’t matter to me whether Ben Kingsley was in the video which had 12 million views or Hillary Clinton opened the exhibit. Celebrities and politicians would do anything for the money. But interesting aspect is to know the source behind the money that being spent on this exhibition and the motive. Well, the exhibition is sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel Co., a finance and Advertising company from Saudi Arabia.
I rest my case.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 25, 2011So, how and why would these inventions be identified remotely as muslim?
That’s where you completely miss the point ~ Europeans call decimal digits “Arabic numerals” ~ muslims identify them as the system of numbers of India. The reason that Europeans call them Arabic is that they came to Europe from the muslim world, which most of the European peoples still today think of as “Arab.” That’s what I said in the first place ~ “… all came to Europe from the muslim world” ~ which you imagined was a claim of invention or discovery (like Columbus “discovered” the “new world” after my ancestors had been living here for seventeen thousand years).
The irony is that what we see in English symbols ~ 0123456789 ~ differs from what we see in Arabic which uses a dot rather than 0, an upside-down heart rather than 5, ^ rather than 8. Every digital value is represented by a distinguishable character. But decimal numbers are represented by different symbols in English, Arabic, and presumably Hindi. What are called “Arabic numerals” are actually “English numerals” representing decimal digits.
Similarly “alchemy” ~ an Arabic word meaning “The Chemistry” and the title of a book ~ is imagined by Europeans to be some kind of “Philosopher’s Stone” transmutation of lead into gold (that today we call “nuclear physics” as we turn hydrogen into death and helium) rather than what we today call “chemistry” ~ as if Europeans took some mystical claptrap akin to transubstantiation and invented/discovered the chemical properties of elements and compounds, rather than translating “The Chemistry” from Arabic into English, which is what actually happened.
The muslim world attracted the masters and sages of every civilization and subsidized their restoration, preservation, translation into Arabic, development, and universal application of every advance in human understanding that had previously raised their respective peoples out of domesticated ignorance and tyranny (America’s condition) into human liberty (the American Dream) before being monopolized by the elites and used for oppression and exploitation.
Read that long sentence again and again until you understand what it says. Watch Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain so you can appreciate the irony of the Reconquista and the Inquisition leading to the Renaissance after the muslims had destroyed their civilizations with their imperial ambitions.
The fruits of that eight-hundred-year gathering ~ the accumulated knowledge, science, technology, success, and experience of humanity up to that era ~ reached Europe from the muslim world. Despite your slanders, I’ve made no other claim than that. My European ancestors inherited elemental humanity, universal liberty, and pacific dominion from what is now the terminally-collapsed millennial muslim world ~ and look what their successors have done with it.
The only explanation (and documented fact) is that several of the civilizations under muslim rule were won by the invaders from Arab land wielding swords, and these inventions were also grabbed as spoils of war and were claimed as their own. A few, however, were also transferred during the trade but still projected to the western world as originated from arab land.
What’s documented is that the early muslims liberated The Promised Land from the Roman/Byzantine and Persian occupations, and their successors corrupted their success into Arab nationalism and tyranny, and then into Arab imperialism, eventually losing it all to the Mongols, who adopted the “Islam” that the Abbasid dynasty had turned into tyranny.
Back to the numerals …
You mean the decimal base-10 number system, believed to have originated in India, that you imagine to be claimed as a “muslim invention” ~ which was never claimed by muslims. The fact is that you probably wouldn’t know where it came from had muslims not told your ancestors that the Arabs got it from India.
The [1001 Inventions] exhibition is sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel Co., a finance and Advertising company from Saudi Arabia.
1001 Inventions is an initiative of The Foundation for Science Technology and Civilization, “a British educational organisation dedicated to exploring and promoting the cultural roots of science and inventions for social cohesion and inter-cultural appreciation.” Three of the six members of its Board of Trustees appear to be muslims ~ two professors (University of Manchester & York University) and a Manchester businessman. Three of the ten members of its “Panel of Special Advisors” have muslim names. Their list of 36 “partners and sponsors” includes the ‘Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation in the City of London. The Foundation is just up the street from the Museum of London. Prior to November of 2009, it was known as the “Jameel Foundation.”
“The Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation is a British charity established to support sustainable poverty relief, education, economic development, the arts and social/financial mobility through numerous projects. The Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation has sponsored the 1001 Inventions exhibition and through this relationship it aims to improve mainstream understanding of Muslim contribution to arts, science and the development of modern civilisation.”
It appears that “the late Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel” founded and ran a multi-national diversified conglomerate with an estimated $3.3 billion/year revenue, and its “unique subsidiary,” the “Abdul Latif Jameel Community Service Program” that invested in education and skills allowing individuals to grow into active members of society “and eventually, benefit the community they live in through economic and social benefits.” He was known as “A Beacon of Corporate Social Responsibility,” founding and supporting charities, a hospital, an “international art prize,” and other “socially responsible” institutions. His family endowed the “Poverty Action Lab” at MIT, among other enterprises addressing poverty and unemployment. “ALJ is looking forward to creating 50,000 jobs by the year 2011. … This year alone, ALJ forecasts an initiative for 25,000 more jobs in addition to those 42,000 jobs that they were able to create at the end of 2007.”
So you dismiss the 1001 Inventions exhibition as a fraud because a dead Arab pays the bills. Sheer genius.
I rest my case.
Congratulations on your stunning victory over your straw man.
And thank you for giving the readers such a comprehensive look at the Skinner-box “Islamophobic” prejudicial mindset into which the American people ~ or a few of them ~ have been so systematically and deliberately conditioned. “If it’s white it’s right, if it’s brown it’s down” should be embossed on the coinage ~ “In God We Trust” is obviously no longer operative.
Soap came to Europe from the muslim world a thousand years ago, but wasn’t used on a regular basis until three hundred years ago. But clean brains ~ with any vestige of common sense, reason, or humanity virtually washed away ~ never required soap in the first place.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 26, 2011From the 1001 Inventionswebsite:
“Did you know … that a pious and wealthy young woman called Fatima al-Fihri founded one of the world’s first universities?”
You wrote The 1001 Inventions from the Muslim World web site “claims” that she opened the first University in 841 AD. That’s not what the web site says.
As for Takshashila university, you might have read Takshashila (Taxila), (The Oldest University in the world), written by Rafi Raza Sdq ~ a muslim. He writes, among other things, “While some consider Taxila to be an early university or centre of higher education, others do not consider it a university in the modern sense, in contrast to the later Nalanda University.” It is believed that Nalanda University ~ a Buddhist seminary ~ “was the first great university in recorded history and one of the world’s first residential university [sic] as it had dormitories for students.”
As for Fatima al-Fihri, you must have missed Meet Fatima Al-Fihri – An Inspiration, from one of the “Restore the Khalifah” fringe groups, which says “In 859, Fatima Al-Fihri founded the oldest academic degree-granting university existing today, the University of Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco.” Other muslim web sites say that al-Azhar, in Cairo, is the oldest university in continuous existence, while yet other muslim sources say another muslim university is the oldest in continuous existence.
The first European university in the historical record was the University of Bologna, in Italy, founded in 1088 ~ about midway through the period of muslim Spain, with its older universities. Would you like to discuss the migration of ancient Christian writings from Cordoba to Rome?
Thus … muslims recognize Takshashila (Taxila) as the oldest university, Nalanda as the oldest “residential” degree-granting university, and Fatima Al-Fihri’s University of Qarawiyyin as the oldest degree-granting university in continuous existence, along with al-Azhar, which did not originally grant academic degrees. The 1001 Inventions statement “a pious and wealthy young woman called Fatima al-Fihri founded one of the world’s first universities” is true; what you wrote that it said, “she opened the first University,” is false.
So are you illiterate, or just a liar with an agenda?
BayAreaBiker
/ September 26, 2011Presenting or writing anything without substantial proof is not something I do, and you are a fool if you think I’d do that. It should be evident from what I have written so far.
I somehow had the feeling that you would call me a liar or (again) a propagandist for bringing the truth out front one by one out of many things including Fatima al-Fihri. Fortunately, I didn’t know anything about her, and it just flashed in front of my eyes when I went to the 1001 invention web site. So, it’s not me but the sponsors/writers who are placing these titbits of (mis-)information strategically placed in bright colors for the casual visitors to the site and register it in their subconscious mind. I merely took the screen shot, circled it red, and had posted for everyone to see here:
So, who’s the Liar with an agenda?
BayAreaBiker
/ September 26, 2011Here’s the link again. For some reason the one above doesn’t work..
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ September 26, 2011So, it’s not me but the sponsors/writers who are placing these titbits of (mis-)information strategically placed in bright colors for the casual visitors to the site and register it in their subconscious mind. I merely took the screen shot, circled it red, and had posted for everyone to see here:
Good for you ~ I didn’t see that cartoon, I saw the text I quoted earlier that said “Did you know … that a pious and wealthy young woman called Fatima al-Fihri founded one of the world’s first universities?” Thanks. Looks like someone doesn’t recognize a Buddhist seminary as a “degree-granting university” or as a “modern university.” There’s a demonstrable historical connection between Fatima’s university and later European universities, which doesn’t exist between the Buddhist seminaries and any later history, but the cartoon statement is incorrect. I think you should write to the 1001 Inventions people and ask them to them correct it, and explore the website.
Next quibble, please …
So, who’s the Liar with an agenda?
Well, persisting in your accusation that I claimed the developments I listed as “muslim” inventions and discoveries, after I’d made abundantly clear that “… all came to Europe from the muslim world” was no such claim at all, is certainly lying. That you persist in a lie after being shown the facts is suggestive of an agenda. I should have the “1001 Inventions” book in a few days, and we can see whether you can reach beyond your rather obvious prejudices.
My agenda (for the last forty years) is to make Islam known to people. Interestingly, that turns out to include many muslims who ~ like many of today’s Christians ~ don’t really know their religion.
What’s even more interesting, though, is that when I set forth an idea that people recognize as a good idea, and something that they are either already doing or want to do, they gag when they find out that the idea came to me from Islam.
Now why do you suppose that is?
BayAreaBiker
/ October 4, 2011Religion is overrated, and perhaps that is why people do not have time to “know” their religion. IMO, Customs and traditions actually have much better chance of bringing happiness in one’s life.
Again, even claiming that certain things came from islam to europe (Or whoever) without identifying the original source/place is plagiarism. It’s like Al Gore claiming that he invented internet.
And after I posted the link of the screen-shot showing the lies 1001 Invention site is spreading, I at least have proved that it’s not me who has an agenda or lying through my teeth. Nor I’m going to great lengths to explain hows and whys with a big narrative once the lie is brought forward. I’m sorry to say but several things in islam are based on such lies and blatant copying from other societies of that time. I’ll come back to elaborate it soon as I have to go to pick my son from school.
Laser Guy
/ September 22, 2011This is just crazy. It seems like anyone can be “inconvenienced” these days due to the simple whims of simple people on airplanes. It’s sad that we have come to this. Bin Laden has been dead for months, but Americans will be haunted by him forever it seems…
TruthMakesPeace
/ September 23, 2011America has to realize we are already Invincible. If the world’s biggest military cannot cannot defeat little Afghanistan. So the USA has nothing to fear. We can use the defense money for peace and space exploration.
David Peters
/ September 26, 2011I read this story in the J., the Jewish weekly in San Francisco.
I can believe it.
I recently flew through Detroit and the white trash, mismanaged TSA personnel caused me to miss a connection.
emerson
/ September 26, 2011im an American Christan as you call us…. and i dont appercieate you telling the world what we are set against……its not islam, its assholes like you who put ideas like that out there……for a prof…..you sound more IGNORANT than anyone thus far ive seen…..
EyeD Bead
/ October 3, 2011America is a racist country and 9/11 just gave it the excuse to display it more openly. My coworker, a naturalized citizen, who used to work for the US DOE, had nearly an identical thing happen to him when he went to a jobsite away from his office. I used to think that only the south was bad for people of color but it’s becoming clear that the midwest is nearly as bad. Move to the west coast or Hawaii where people are more accustomed to non-anglo faces and don’t jump to conclusions just because your last name isn’t White.
shebshi
/ October 3, 2011I’m from the West Coast, lived there most of my life, and while I miss it, racism exists everywhere. This has more to do with our foreign policy and laws coming down from the top I think than anything though dealing with our xenophobia would be a step in the right direction. Thanks for the comment!
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 4, 2011I’m from the West Coast, lived there most of my life, and while I miss it, racism exists everywhere. This has more to do with our foreign policy and laws coming down from the top I think than anything though dealing with our xenophobia would be a step in the right direction.
“Racism” is mislabeled: we are all of the human race, mostly involved in a rat race. “Xenophobia” is more apt, instinctive biological fear is too subtle to recognize as such, and we seek objects of our fears (in order to deal with them) in the “other,” most often in the “other” that is, in reality, “us.” Thus God counsels us “We have created you in varying hues that you may know one another, not fear each other.” And seekers of dominion play on our fears.
amit
/ October 3, 2011Bay Area Biker your comments to the point coming from India you know more about Indian civilization than me
BayAreaBiker
/ October 4, 2011I read about ancient civilizations with great interest, mainly to understand several aspects of human life then and now. How and why these civilizations were invaded and how they were sent into oblivion, striping them of the great knowledge they once had. When one can figure out why certain things were done in these civilizations the way they had, with the knowledge available at that time, it’s a real “wow” moment. Irrespective of the level of knowledge available to the human kind now, it’s pity that the human race is going down hill and it will continue to until we begin using our reasoning power again.
Shaykh al-Hajj Dawud Ahmad al-Amriki
/ October 4, 2011I read about ancient civilizations with great interest, mainly to understand several aspects of human life then and now. How and why these civilizations were invaded and how they were sent into oblivion, stripping them of the great knowledge they once had. When one can figure out why certain things were done in these civilizations the way they had, with the knowledge available at that time, it’s a real “wow” moment. Irrespective of the level of knowledge available to the human kind now, it’s pity that the human race is going down hill and it will continue to until we begin using our reasoning power again.
Stripping them of the great dominion they once had, as the civilizations of Nineveh and later Rome were stripped, and as America is being stripped even now, of even greater dominion.
It appears that your views on religion (e.g., “religion is overrated”), among other things, led me to see the handle “BayAreaBiker” as indicative of undeveloped and shallow thinking. You’re deeper than I had estimated. You do not see the primacy of religion in shaping durable “customs and traditions” that withstand the test of time, or appear to understand that the long-ago muslims of the terminally-collapsed millennial muslim world did identify the original sources of what Europe inherited from them (i.e., there was no “plagiarism” other than by Europe, which ~ like Al Gore ~ has historically claimed authorship of the elements of modern society built on Greek and Roman foundations), but your focus on the dynamics of ancient history and the collapse of civilizations has led you to the diamonds:
Civilizations collapse when later generations abandon the first principles that shaped their culture and traditions and gave them dominion, and reshape the culture by abandoning their traditions, weaken, collapse, and are invaded.
Like Ben said: “A republic, if you can keep it.” The roots of the American republic, American society, American culture, American traditions, and American dominion, lie squarely in religion that, over the course of generations, has been lost and forgotten, and transformed into what you rightly disdain.
Were this not so, Shoshana would never have been molested in the name of liberty.
I received a copy of the book, “1001 Inventions,” subtitled “Muslim Heritage in Our World,” 376 pages (and $40). I won’t have time to look at it until after our oral argument in the Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday, for which I wrote a 35-page pleading over the weekend and must retain that focus for another two days. Then we’ll see which of the “1001” are credited to whom.
It is fairly well-established that “The first muslim, and perhaps person,” to make and successfully use “a flying machine,” was a man from Cordoba, ‘Abbas ibn Firnas in the 9th century ~ given a new name of “Armen Firman” in Western sources. Centuries before da Vinci (who did not try to fly) and the Wright brothers, ‘Abbas flew a man-powered aircraft that Roger Bacon ~ who studied in Cordoba ~ described, which later became known as an “ornithopter.” ‘Abbas flew to “a significant height and hung in the air for over ten minutes before plummeting to the ground, breaking the wings and one of his vertebrae.” Then he realized that a tail was needed to land accurately: his craft hadn’t had one.
A thousand to go …
igor khaghani
/ October 8, 2011hello. been thru detroit metro airport at Romulus before. dreary! i probably have to go thru it again tommorrow. have to attend a UAW conference regarding upcoming contact talks. not crazy about it after reading and following your ordeal. i was born in Iran and from russian parents guess thats two strikes aganist me . regardless of the fact that i served in US army, and a sibling was killd in the gulf war, i still am one of those “randomly” chosen flyers everytime i fly. had to have my bags opened and shoes off before the shoebomber even made the news. worst experience was when me and wife traveled together. she went thru with no hassle, me i was put thru the ringgers. hope i don’t need to go thru the BS or i will miss my conference sitting in a cell for punching out one of these fools. had just about enough of this
Guitarpaddy
/ October 9, 2011Rod Serling said it best….WE are the monsters of Maple Street………..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street
Nina
/ October 9, 2011Thank you for recording what you went through. I’m sorry to hear that it happened at all, but I’m glad that a true account of what did happen is out there for us to read.
The fear we have of terrorism is being superceded by a ridiculous paranoia.
When we realise that the world is populated by good people who look different from us, and by not so good people who look the same as us (whichever ‘us’ we think ourselves at any given time), then maybe we will be able to recognise what is suspicious behavior and what is not.
Some days that seems further away than others.
Randy
/ October 14, 2011I would recommend, if you haven’t already, about having your finger prints and any information obtained during this event be destroyed – Check with your lawyers. You shouldn’t be on file for doing nothing.
Randy
Randy
/ October 15, 2011I wonder if the FBI did all of their job. Even if you had gone to the bathroom (God forbid!) any removal from the plane with no crime reported would need to be done with care (not meaning handcuffs) with a reasonable measured response. As others have noted anyone seeing this would state it was neither measured nor reasonable. The plane had landed for 30 minutes and still nothing happened? No crime, no crime scene
The FBI stated they didn’t ask for you to be arrested and they didn’t ask for a strip search. I assume they knew you were arrested and strip searched when they interviewed you.
I am appreciative of the work done by many to keep this country and people safe. You are one of the people they are suppose to keep safe. Where was your protection?
This also is the FBI’s job
And that’s why—as the lead agency for enforcing federal civil rights laws—the FBI remains dedicated to protecting the cherished freedoms of all Americans. That includes aggressively investigating and working to prevent hate crime, “color of law” abuses by public officials, human trafficking and involuntary servitude, and freedom of access to clinic entrances violations—the four top priorities of our civil rights program. We also support the work and cases of our local and state partners as needed.
Sarah
/ October 16, 2011Shosh…..unbelievable. I’m so sorry to hear about this. You are so spot on with your comments. Thank you for sharing.
Randy
/ October 25, 2011Ref:your private info and finger prints obtained by law enforcement
You can always plead your case to your US state senator (many have public email addresses) in regard to the private info obtained during your detainment. Ironically because of privacy laws you will more than likely have to fill out a form or call them and give them your permission to inquire on your behalf.
If that doesn’t pan out write the President a letter.
Fred Fun
/ November 1, 2011I read about this on the news, but I’m glad I found your personal story here. What a weird, surreal, upsetting experience. All the cops and FBI were doing was following their own protocol, but still how strange it must have been. I’m curious who reported your “strange” behavior. Some paranoid with their own issues apparently.
Randy
/ November 7, 2011It was unconstitutional to arrest and strip search anyone for bathroom use. The protocol was misapplied. These people weren’t caught with weapons. . A Terry stop would have allowed a very limited detainment (not arrest) and if reasonable suspicion existed that a weapon possibly existed for the safety of the officers a “pat down” search only would be allowable. Keep in mind no crime was reported and not even probable cause existed. The plane landed and sat without incident for 30 minutes. Personally I think it takes a giant leap of faith to think “bomb” for a slight variance in bathroom use. Now the Airlines and the TSA are pointing fingers at each other in that the airlines directly stated via a news release that they didn’t report MS Hebshi of any suspicious activity only the two men and the flight crew wasn’t consulted when the officers came on board. The TSA states they were told 3 people. The airport authority implied that the officers must have asked someone on board how else could they know who to take off the plane. But they gave no names on who they asked to find the 2 men reported and Ms Hebshi. And row 12 was known. I think its possible to find row 12 without asking anyone on board and march up and take all three. But I don’t know who is “mistaken”. The FBI distanced themselves from the strip search and arrest. That is they stated they didn’t order the arrest or strip search. What a mess. I guess they all got away with it though.
ankaboot
/ November 7, 2011I guess they all got away with it though.
Looks like the airline and the FBI didn’t do anything that they might be “getting away” with ~ the Detroit police, on the other hand, probably won’t get away with what they did, unless Ms. Hebshi fails to sue.
Randy
/ November 8, 2011Maybe, 4hours mostly in a jail cell is quite a bit for bathroom use. “a slight inconsistency was taken seriously” Poor decision probably legal. At most the 2 men should have been walked off the plane, questioned and let go. Maybe next time the FBI should do the walking off in such cases.
If it were me I at least would want to know who told the TSA 3 people and it appears that information was passed down to the FBI? I don’t know if suing serves any purpose at this point as I assume from the public reactions over this incident more care will be taken in future like cases
ankaboot
/ November 8, 2011I don’t know if suing serves any purpose at this point as I assume from the public reactions over this incident more care will be taken in future like cases.
Suing serves the purpose of establishing a clear legal judgment and precedent. There’s no other way to restrain governments, popular opinion has no influence after Election Day.
Randy
/ November 9, 2011I think there already exists legal precedent for Terry stops. I don’t know if spending hours in a prison or holding cell is within those guidelines. Even if they weren’t handcuffed and stripped searched. I am all about corrective training training training not punishment. However when the law is broken then the question remains which is the best course of action. That’s not my decision to make. Thanks for the dialogue.
Randy
truthjusticelibertylol
/ November 6, 2011americans are their own worst enemy
ankaboot
/ November 7, 2011There is something that hasn’t been mentioned so far …
… it is fairly well-known, at least to law enforcement, that bombs are often triggered by a cell phone call. What apparently hasn’t been considered is the following scenario:
Shoshana had been using her cell phone while the plane was waiting on the tarmac to be raided by Detroit’s SWAT team. When they took their prisoners, Shoshana was not using her cell phone (she mentions that she asked whether she could call her husband).
But suppose she had had the cell phone in her hand, and started to dial when she realized she was being kidnapped?
Would the SWAT team have shot her, “just in case” she was trying to trigger a bomb?
No one is safe. The terrorists have achieved their objective. This has to be decisively remedied.
Randy
/ November 10, 2011I just want to add that “I” don’t believe that a possible suspicious behavior as reported by the Airlines and a slight inconsistency in normal bathroom use coupled with the flight landing and sitting for a period of time without incident is “reasonable” suspicion that a crime is about to take place. That a Terry stop was unwarranted in this case. The FBI may want to err on the side of caution by that doesn’t make their decision a lawful one. Yes, that is debatable. Now on those shaky grounds add the arrest, strip search, hours in a prison cell, seizing of person property, lengthy interrogation of a highly personal nature and the booking (finger prints, height, weight etc.) leaves me dumb founded that anyone would think this was lawful process.
Randy
911 Truth
/ November 17, 2011One of the worst Terrorists ever to attack the USA was a Christian American with blond hair and blue eyes. He blew up hundreds of people in the Oklahoma City Federal Building in an angry response on the anniversary of the killing of the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas. The terrorists name was Timothy McVie.
Question: Should the TSA profile such people?
Sarah
/ November 21, 2011Didn’t you say something about how we shouldn’t suspect our own citizens?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/nyregion/jose-pimentel-is-charged-in-new-york-city-bomb-plot.html?hp
Randy
/ November 21, 2011Sarah, I don’t know who said that.. I think you suspect someone with reasonable evidence or “facts”. To me “bathroom use” just doesn’t warrant reasonable evidence or suspicion that the subject is about to blow up a aircraft. Unless you use your imagination. Unlike the prison cell they were placed in for hours the aircraft bathroom doesn’t have a camera over the toilet. Also Ms. Hebshi didn’t even leave her seat during the entire flight. I bet if a family member of the officers that arrested the 3 off the aircraft went through a strip search and were arrested off a aircraft for no reason they would be livid.
Sarah W
/ November 27, 2011So sorry you had to experience this. This is one messed up racist world.
Lee Shanteau
/ December 12, 2011As a man that is half Arab as well I get scrutinized for just walking into stores, so I can appreciate your situation. I have been pulled over for so many things that cannot be legal and searched but never gone through what you have been through. My hope’s and prayers go out to you and your family that eventually we will be able to change this among all people. I was once pulled over for going 2 miles under the speed limit in Texas, searched, questioned and then given a written warning about my speeding. I can only hope that those people that are so ignorant and just simply misinformed can learn. I am an eternal optimist, I am so thankful that you were returned to your family, sincerely, Lee Shanteau.
Shoshana Hebshi
/ December 12, 2011Lee, Thank you for your support and story. I also hope that those who are fueled by ignorance and fear can rise above it and learn.
Kathi Instone (@ReikiConnect)
/ January 4, 2012Your post has only just come to my attention thru a friend. Your experience was horrendous and can not be justified. We live in a world of fear. We are told “if you see something, report it”, but are left to figure out for ourselves what “something” might be. I can’t imagine it’s 2 people going to the bathroom at the same time, If the passengers were also questioned, it is my hope that the person making the “complaint” was intensely interrogated as well. There should be a consequence for causing this much abuse, right, or should I just dream on? Glad you are safe.
Kathi
Shoshana Hebshi
/ January 4, 2012Thanks Kathi, I appreciate your understanding of the issue. I think there are serious flaws in asking people to report suspicious behavior because it is so subjective.
Shoshana
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Gwen
/ January 14, 2012Shoshana – I’m very sorry that you had to go through this experience on 9/11/11. I know multitudes of real threats exist – but what was done to you was over the top. While I think the USA is a wonderful country, we have such long way to go. I have been reading so many articles like yours and those re the injustices at Guantanamo and it makes me sick. These stories make me immensely disappointed & disgusted in our leadership. We Americans have an opportunity to set a strong example to the world re Common Decency – and we are failing tragically. It is important that stories like yours are heard and that citizens of this great country take them to heart and make the appropriate changes. (If only it were that easy!) Otherwise, things will just continue to get worse. Thank you for writing/sharing your story which is raising awareness and promoting the freedoms and justice that make this country great.
Shoshana Hebshi
/ January 15, 2012Thank you so much. I have become more aware if the abuses going on, and it scares me. But I am hopeful that education will help break intolerance and injustice. Thank you for your comment!
Randy
/ January 21, 2012Speaking about it is helpful because many in our government and law enforcement had to see and read the story. Also after 50 times on the past 9/11 maybe the FBI will more carefully consider with their eyes what is reasonably “suspicious” to warrant a questioning session. The FBI director has stated no one is above or “below” the law.
Randy
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Eusebio
/ February 20, 2012I agree with much of what you said, and I feel sorry that you suffered and that you were mistreated. However, it is important to observe that you also made remarks that are absurd and bigoted. Example: where you complain about this country, where you were born, and now you are hating it. Where your parents came from is a lot worse than here. No country is perfect, and just because you suffered an unfortunate incident does not make all Americans bad. Otherwise, you are welcome to leave and go back to where your parents did not want to live.
Randy
/ February 21, 2012I thought the importance was to be just and fair? I think that law abiding people who have a middle eastern appearance that choose to fly on a 9/11 date shouldn’t have to fear those who are appointed to keep them safe. It’s clear to me that their very appearance draws close scrutiny from fellow passengers and flight attendants. When was the last time you followed someone’s bathroom habits? In such a case it’s reasonable to ask that law enforcement also consider the accused upfront before their thrown into a security meat grinder. I know the FBI is good in what they do and have confidence that they can keep their own house clean.
If Ms Hebshi were to return where she was from that would be California. I have not perceived from what she has written that she hates this country. In fact I think she’s proud to be an American.
BDW
/ February 22, 2012I’m not sure what post you read that caused you to write this. it’s seems that you took her account of her day (an awful day for someone to endure) and somehow concluded that because she hated the treatment, sentiment, and gross misunderstanding that caused this to occur, she hates the USA.
I’d respectfully submit that you misread her detailed account and also read into her frustration, and have turned it into your own hatred.
Silly me, I thought we had gotten past this…. Sigh……
Stephen
/ February 28, 2012Good Lord. I thought that Britain was a de facto police state – it is, after the rule of the calamatous Labour Party, which we are now trying to undo – but it has a long way to go before it is as oppressive as the US. It is clear that the terrorists won some time ago by turning you paranoid against yourselves.
The only positive thing is that the majority of comments do appear to acknoweldge how outrageous and absusive your treatment was. Unfortunately still too many useful idiots who will swallow any amount of state oppression in the futile and misguided hope that it will make them safer. Your own Ben Franklin recognised the folly of that pusilanimous trade-off 200 years ago. “He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither. People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both”
Yours in relief that i do not live in the US.
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Kelly
/ March 3, 2012I’m so sorry that you experienced that situation. It’s a frightening world. What if one of you had had a heart condition? My son has special needs and every time we fly, security acts like we strapped a bomb to his wheelchair or to him. It’s disgusting. It also goes to prove that the security measures being taken are not effective.
Dre Maniac
/ April 3, 2012While I sympathize for what you had to endure, I cannot say that what happened to you was right, but I feel a little safer to hear the government doing their job. I myself am mixed, white, black, and india (from india, not what some take to be native american). I am darker skinned as well, so sometimes I am mistakened for full black or sometimes full indian. Anyway, you cannot blame the government or the FBI for doing their job. they HAVE to do what they did, which is respond to a potential threat. You even say that you try, although sometimes fail to, to not judge someone by the color of their skin/appearance. But many people clutch their purse when a black male walks into the elevator, amongst other things. Again, I am mixed, but I culturally identify myself with Blacks. I HAVE been racially profiled as well, being pulled over simply because I had darker skin. I have been detained, and a cop said that he thought I stole something that I had no idea what he was talking about. Now, although I typically don’t speculate, I would assume that you have never thought about writing a blog about a social injustice like that. I say jump in line and join all the other minority groups that get arrested or detained. I, while I feel bad it had to be you, have to understand that the people who did 9/11 (although I believe Bush got them to) were of middle eastern decent, they made airplane experiences for you a negative one. Where as many blacks commit crimes, that doesn’t mean that I commited the crime. But, I understand WHY they pull me over. And so the only thing I can do is try to better myself and help influence other blacks to stop commiting crimes and get an education
Stephen
/ April 16, 2012“Anyway, you cannot blame the government or the FBI for doing their job. they HAVE to do what they did, which is respond to a potential threat”
Dre Maniac – But they weren’t responding to a “potential threat”, they were responding to something that could have been suspicious but was far more likely not to be suspicious. It was far, far, far more likely that someone spending “too much” time in the toilet has an entirely innocent explanation It is simply not acceptable in a civilised society to respond in the extremely aggressive fashion that the authorities behaved in in this case. Why should people in such circumstances be handcuffed and roughly treated for doing NOTHING wrong? Why not just ask the people in a civilised manner “what’s going on?”, instead of treating them as public enemy number one? I am fed up with the authorities over-reacting. The excuse is “what else could we have done?” The answer is: respond in an appropriate manner, which in this case should not have been a brutal arrest.
BayAreaBiker
/ April 16, 2012“I say jump in line and join all the other minority groups that get arrested or detained”
Dre, while the social injustice against blacks in America has really been the sore and unfortunate point against all the good things America & Americans stand for, but asking other minorities to join that injustice and be at the receiving end and keep taking it quietly is not how this injustice can be tackled. And that is what exactly Ms Shoshana is doing — instead of taking it quietly, she wrote about her experience for all us to know, and possibly demand our legislature and system to change the way things have been or are being handled in name of freedom.
I’m sure that all the involved agencies may have changed their SOP slightly after this and several other similar incidents on that day, hopefully to make sure that the innocent victims of such false allegations get treated a little better. If not, then they, as humans and part of the law enforcement system, have lot to learn.
Kevin Smith
/ May 8, 2012just reading this story made me extremely angry, a close friend of mine is Pakistani and he told me how every time he goes to the airport and goes through security he’s pulled aside and they tell him that he was randomly selected out of the crowd to be searched. It’s ridiculous to think that we have freedom in this country when it can easily be taken from us on the grounds that we look suspicious. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope at some point in the near future people won’t have to suffer like this, due to some “Patriots” ignorance.
Richard Leitner
/ May 17, 2012Thx for information.
T
/ May 31, 2012This is what happens. People are scared. Individuals in the Middle East have not convincingly denounced the behaviour shown by alleged extremists, some support their behaviour as well. Better safe than sorry. Unfortunately for you and your mates, tensions and emotions were running extraordinarily high on the anniversary of 9/11. If only people had done what they did 10 years ago.
Not to you, of course, but to the individuals who hijacked the planes. This is the price we pay, and you pay, for the actions of those individuals. Do not turn your ire upon the people detaining you,or the people who called the authorities, turn it upon those who fail to denounce the motivations of the hijackers and upon those who support them.
It was racial, it was borne from paranoia, it was not wholly unfounded. They don’t know you, about you, they only know what has happened, who has done it and that it may happen again. There were threats that there would be another incident would take place around or on 9/11’s anniversary.
Is this an excuse? No. It just is.
badewitt
/ June 11, 2012Mrs. Hebshi, I’m the managing editor of a law review. We have an author who would like to republish your blog post in a footnote or as an appendix to his article and I was hoping I could obtain your permission to do so. I would appreciate if you would contact me concerning this post. Thank you!
Shoshana Hebshi
/ June 12, 2012Hello,
Please tell me the name of your law review and what the article is about? You can email me at shoshana@shoshanahebshi.com
Thanks!
Donald
/ September 19, 2012I cant believe something like this would happen in america. I guess this government has much more barriers to fix.
Annie
/ January 23, 2013Reblogged this on Annie's Blog and commented:
The woman was in the news today regarding her lawsuit about her experience. Someone linked to her blog. Gut-wrenching stuff 😦
kevinfortruth
/ January 24, 2013I think it is disgusting just because two men, obviously of a different skin color, go to the bathroom back to back that some overly paranoid passenger decided to cause all the ruckus. I am disappointed that you and the two men were put through so much. Back in 2004, I was travelling alone, one-way, from San Antonio, Texas to Denver, Colorado because my wife and I drove to San Antonio and I was returning to Denver by myself. I am not dark, but I have a full beard, am a retired AF Msgt, am middle-aged, flying with no baggage and flying one-way back to Denver. I must have hit all the triggers because they pulled me aside and gave me special attention. Everytime someone says that we should understand why this is NECESSARY, I want to throw up. If profiling is so necessary, why did so many of our officials screw up on 9/11? Nobody got fired, no generals got demoted, no civil servants got removed from office. Why? In fact, most of the incompetent individuals got promoted. The TSA and Homeland Security are eating up so much of our country’s budget, Congress (mostly Republicans) feel the need to take money away from Social Security and Medicare. If we spent less time and money and resources attacking everyone around the world that simply looks at us the wrong way, maybe we would not have enemies. In closing, how is it that 19 supposed terrorists were able to get on four different planes on 9/11 and all of the planes were able to be hijacked? Again, my condolences to you for all you were put through.
Shoshana Hebshi
/ January 24, 2013Thank you Kevin for sharing your story and writing here and for your support.
Ericka Howell
/ January 24, 2013I usually don’t read long blog posts, but yours made me finish all words until the nth scroll of my mouse. It became very vivid to my mind what you’ve gone through with how you related everything, I felt the pain…and anger. You are very brave and I salute you for filing a case against them.
Shoshana Hebshi
/ January 24, 2013Thank you Ericka. So kind of you to write.
jhj
/ January 25, 2013good
http://www.sahmy.com
Larry Clone
/ February 2, 2013We can only hope this Shoshana character cried “racial profiling” when the FBI openly admitted to racially profiling the Beltway Sniper as “a lone white male in his 30s,” because I didn’t hear a peep out of our contingent of liberal American journalists at such fine outlets at CNN, MSNBC, and elsewhere.
Frankly, lady, Americans are JUSTIFIABLY leery of Arab types and those from other countries soaked in Islam. Your father happens to be a from a country which is a hotbed of religious fanaticism – and yes – terrorism.
I’d suggest you make aliyah and move to Israel if you dislike it here, but I think you are well enough informed to know you’d be treated far worse there as you would be in Saudi.
Bottom line here: American safety outweighs your sense of being offended. Always has, always will.
Frankly, we wouldn’t have had this hijacking/bombing problem to begin with if we retained our white-only immigration policy. When we started opening our gates to third world toilets with third world toilet cultures is when we began having problems. You can cry ‘racist’ about that until you turn blue and try to drown it out with loud, shrieking kumbayas… But it’s still the truth.
Randy
/ February 5, 2013Well the problem with your logic Larry, (Americans are JUSTIFIABLY leery of Arab types), is that she is a American, (born and raised), and she speaks fluent english so you must be speaking of her biological appearance because her culture is 100% USA.
How can an American do any less then mind their own business on their flight home in their “assigned” seat?
The height, width, depth and length of the reaction from law enforcement that was applied to a person who wasn’t reported in any wrong doing was unreasonable to me even if the law allowed such treatment.
I don’t see law enforcement as the victim in “this case”. Each case is different.
Randy
Daniel
/ July 2, 2013Hard to believe that such a paranoid and overly heavy handed approach can be justified by some people, I bet they’d be up in arms if they were the ones being manhandled for…. nothing.
It’s incredible.