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Christian Science Monitor – January 9, 2007
For airport screeners, more training about Muslims
As pilgrims return from the hajj, the TSA gives its workers a
refresher on how to treat Muslims at US security checkpoints
Alexandra Marks
Say you're a security screener at the airport. You notice a large group of people wearing white robes, speaking a strange language. The women have head scarves and the men long beards. They look nervous. One of them is holding a Koran. Another appears to be praying. What do you do?
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), simply assume they're devout Muslims returning from the annual hajj in Mecca.
During the next few weeks, as many as 20,000 American Muslims will be returning to the United States from their pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The TSA has ramped up cultural-awareness training for all 43,000 of its screeners. The goal: to remind screeners what to expect from devout Muslims and how to go about screening them so it's in concert with their religious beliefs.
Arab-American and Muslim-American leaders are applauding the effort. But they say it's part of a much-needed larger cultural and political conversation about Islam and Arab culture that can help the nation as it heals from the aftereffects of 9/11.
"Their efforts are a modest but important beginning," says Jack Shaheen, professor emeritus of mass communications at Southern Illinois University. "But until such time that we react to the vilification of and discrimination against Arabs in the same way we react to the vilification of others like Jews, blacks, and Hispanics, I'm not going to go dancing in the streets." . . .
In its hajj training refresher, the TSA is reminding officers that devout Muslims pray five times a day, and to expect it. The TSA also maintains that it does not in any way target individuals based on their background or religious affiliation. . .
The Council on American-Islamic Relations applauds the special attention. It says it will be checking airports around the country during the next few weeks to ensure all goes smoothly.
Complaints about detentions
But at the same time, the civil rights organization says it's seen an increase in reports about perceived discrimination against Muslims, or people who look Muslim. Many of the complaints concern incidents such as individuals being routinely detained for several hours at the airport and being asked intimate questions about their beliefs - whether they pray and at which mosque. "These are things that really aren't the business of security personnel," says Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations….
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0109/p02s01-ussc.html
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