Originally Posted by Dovster
Actually, Trixie, I meant that I would like you to learn what real security is all about -- and it is not about the TSA farce.
A security check in TLV is done a case-by-case, step-by-step, basis. A 70-year-old Israeli grandmother travelling with her baby grandchildren is not going to get the same degree of questioning (or physical inspection) as a 22-year-old Palestinian male.
Yes, this is profiling. But it is also sensible. If Israeli grandmothers start making suicide attacks and Palestinian males stop, it will be the grandmothers who will be those most closely checked.
Dovster,
I'm wondering how practical it would be to apply the same methodology here in the US. Most people can't tell the difference between a 22 year old Palestinian male and a Mexican-American one or even someone of Native American, French and African-American descent who was born and raised in Des Moines. My point here is that we Americans are not very good at assessing people's ethnicity based on physical appearances. We think we are, but we're usually guessing wrong more than being right.
The other point is that it seems our concept of "justice" or "fairness" is based on equally screwing over
everybody. Don't mean to be flippant or sarcastic with that comment; however, the very first thing most people do whenever they feel they are being singled out is look around at someone who appears to fit the same circumstances and ask, "why aren't you doing to this to him (or her)?" The difference between the US and most other countries is that we're obligated, as a society and by our laws, to answer that question.
My last point is that under our current procedures, regardless of what people think of them, I hear it from passengers of all creeds, ethnicities, religions, sexual preferences, you name it, that we are unfairly discriminating against them, particularly whenever they are selectees. Common question they all ask, "do I look like a terrorist?"
I think if we were to adapt the type of screening methodology you describe, we would be inundated with complaints, lawsuits and accusations of being racists, homophobes, sexists and jackbooted thugs. I mean, we're already getting these sort of complaints as it is now, so what's a few hundred thousand more, eh?
But that's my point, I think it's politically easier to defend a policy that treats everyone the same, even 90 year old grandmothers, as opposed to singling out certain people based on what a screener may determine as fitting a certain profile. That's the nature of our society.
I think the people who advocate the type of screening you describe (not referring to you but others who would join the bandwagon), do so because they believe this is going to be applied to
someone else. The moment they're asked these detailed questions, the first thing they're going to do is lament, "why aren't you doing this to him (or her)?"