Nick George, or someone, is clearly upset by this, since the TSA is defending its actions. And whether he is a convert to and Misunderstander of Islam or not, Honest Ibe Hooper and Brave Ahmed Rehab of the thuggish Hamas-linked pseudo-civil-rights group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are likely to seize upon it and make use of it to demonstrate ingrained anti-Muslim prejudice in the TSA — especially after they see it at this site (hi, guys!).
But no one should be shedding any real tears for Nick George, especially Nick George. What happened to him is an unfortunate consequence of the fact that Arabic-speaking Muslims in places like Egypt, Jordan, and the Sudan have carried out terror attacks in the name of Islam, and so people who are entrusted with the safety of airline passengers have every reason to err on the side of suspicion. Those who are thus inconvenienced should consider it a small price to pay in order to head off the next terror attack.
And I speak from experience. More than once I have been held and questioned at airports because of my work. Once I was working on this site on my laptop, someone saw “jihad” on my screen, and presently I was surrounded by police with big dogs. And just a few weeks ago I was in an airport, having hurried from a venue where I had just given a talk. I don’t ever speak from a written text, but I do carry notes — a page or two of quotations from various Muslim Brotherhood operatives, etc., including jihadist and Islamic supremacist statements by some putative American moderate Muslims, as well as quotations from the Qur’an and Hadith, etc. I had this material in my suit pocket, and it dropped out when I took off my suit jacket to go through security. So a few minutes later I was again in the friendly presence of police and TSA personnel. One gentleman was holding up my notes and asking me why I had this material. I started laughing, because I realized that there was absolutely nothing in the notes to show that I actually opposed what was written there — and realized that it might take awhile to straighten the whole thing out.
But I didn’t mind. Because I knew what they were doing. I knew they weren’t holding the bearded, swarthy fellow with notes full of jihad and hate because they don’t like people of Middle Eastern descent, or because they hate Muslims, or what have you. They were doing their job, which was to protect the American people. Nick George, or whoever may be offended by his treatment, should realize that.
“TSA Defends Holding Student With Arabic Flash Cards at Philadelphia Airport,” from FoxNews, September 12 (thanks to Philip):
The Transportation Security Administration is defending its treatment of a California college student who was detained at the Philadelphia airport after Arabic flash cards were found in his backpack.
Nick George, a senior at Pomona College, told a Philadelphia Daily News columnist that the stereo speakers he was carrying in his bag on Aug. 29 led TSA workers to pull him out of the metal detector line and search him.
When they found 200 Arabic/English flash cards in his carry-on, they escorted him to another screening area and questioned him for about 45 minutes, he said.
Suspicions may have been raised because his passport had stamps from Jordan, where he’d studied abroad, and from his trips to Egypt and the Sudan, the News reported. It didn’t help that “terrorist” and “explosion” were among the words on his flash cards — which George says he was using to help him understand Al Jazeera TV.
But George believes things got out of hand when, he says, a Philadelphia police officer put handcuffs on him and took him to the airport holding cell for several hours. He was released after another round of questioning from the FBI, he told the Daily News.
He missed his flight and was issued a new ticket for a departure the next day.
The TSA denies George’s version of events, explaining that he was flagged for questioning even before he was in the security line because officials thought he was acting suspiciously….