Opinion | Editorials
Nothing to fear but fear itself
An increasing number of 'Middle Eastern-looking' people are being singled out at airports as 'suspect terrorists'. With racial profiling, paranoia is now entering the public psyche.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 August 24, 2006
An increasing number of "Middle Eastern-looking" people are being singled out at airports, tourist attractions and hotels around the world, especially in the US and western Europe, as "suspect terrorists".
Authorities there may claim otherwise, but the fact remains anti-terror measures are spinning out of control and threatening to further widen the gap between cultures.
Recently, passengers' complaints about "suspicious" travellers caused a flight from Malaga to Manchester to be delayed and two men offloaded because they were "speaking a language claimed to be Arabic".
A US passenger jet bound for India returned to Amsterdam yesterday and several passengers were taken off the plane and arrested.
Of course, those people had gone through the regular checks applied by airport authorities, just like other "un-suspicious" travellers; their luggage had certainly been scanned.
However, amid the fears of terrorism, hysterically overblown by the media and the paranoid collective mind, it seems all Arab or Muslim looking people are would-be suicide bombers: This is racist.
They can call it "racial profiling" if they want, but it is racial discrimination.
Yet authorities, supposed to deal rationally with such sensitive issues, must not leave it to the paranoid few among us to treat other people in such disgraceful manner.
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