TSA strip searched 84 yr old grandmother

[Alessandra]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/strip-searched-grandma-says-tsa-removed-her-underwear/

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/s-fla-grandma-says-she-was-strip-searched-at-jfk/

 

Lenore Zimmerman was on her way to Florida from New York, in a wheelchair. She refused the x-ray because she had an implanted defibrillator. So she gets taken to a private room. During the search, her metal walker cuts her leg. She is on blood thinner and bleeds profusely. TSA wants to call an ambulance, rather than bandaging her as she requested. She missed her flight, which left 10 minutes early.

 

Is this crazy?

Edited December 4, 2011 by Alessandra

[cdrumm4448]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/strip-searched-grandma-says-tsa-removed-her-underwear/

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/s-fla-grandma-says-she-was-strip-searched-at-jfk/

 

Lenore Zimmerman was on her way to Florida from New York, in a wheelchair. She refused the x-ray because she had an implanted defibrillator. So she gets taken to a private room. During the search, her metal walker cuts her leg. She is on blood thinner and bleeds profusely. TSA wants to call an ambulance, rather than bandaging her as she requested. She missed her flight, which left 10 minutes early.

 

Is this crazy?

 

Yes, it is. My 6-year-old DD was subjected to a hand patdown at an airport recently. She was "randomly" selected. They (all men) rubbed a piece of paper on her hands and stuck it in a machine. Looking for residue of explosives. Come on. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever experienced. All that and my DH got nail clippers (with the little pokey thing) on every flight there and back. They were so busy checking out my dd they didn't bother much with DH.

[TXMary2]

Yes, it is crazy. Common sense loses out again.

[Barry Goldwater]

You need to be brave to actually want to find a terrorist...much easier to hit your search quota by targeting the virtually helpless.

 

In related news, American Airlines went bankrupt last week...connection?

 

I know I'll never fly as long as we have this phony, fake 'security' going on...you aren't a passenger, you're a prisoner.

[Alessandra]

Yes, it is. My 6-year-old DD was subjected to a hand patdown at an airport recently. She was "randomly" selected. They (all men) rubbed a piece of paper on her hands and stuck it in a machine. Looking for residue of explosives. Come on. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever experienced.

 

Unbelievable. Your poor dd!

 

And the type of x-ray scanners used by TSA are now banned in the European Union.

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=europe-bans-x-ray-body-scanners

 

It just gets worse and worse.

[angela in ohio]

If they are not going to profile, this is what it looks like. A child or a grandmother must be treated as just as much of a threat as anyone else.

 

Not the way I would do it, but this is just what follows.

[MBM]

We've chosen not to fly for leisure anymore. I cannot stand dealing with the people at the airport anymore. It's such a joke.

 

Any terrorist cell could fire automatics into a crowd such as Festival of Lights in Chicago -- over a million attend -- and kill thousands. But they haven't.

 

Yes. Be scared. Be very scared.

[Alicia64]

You need to be brave to actually want to find a terrorist...much easier to hit your search quota by targeting the virtually helpless.

 

In related news, American Airlines went bankrupt last week...connection?

 

I know I'll never fly as long as we have this phony, fake 'security' going on...you aren't a passenger, you're a prisoner.

 

Perfectly said. I'm in total agreement and we don't fly either. If everyone stopped flying -- unless you must for work -- this silliness would stop. And maybe then real security would be put into place.

 

Alley

[PiCO]

Yes, it is. My 6-year-old DD was subjected to a hand patdown at an airport recently. She was "randomly" selected. They (all men) rubbed a piece of paper on her hands and stuck it in a machine. Looking for residue of explosives. Come on. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever experienced. All that and my DH got nail clippers (with the little pokey thing) on every flight there and back. They were so busy checking out my dd they didn't bother much with DH.

 

I agree that it's ridiculous for TSA to search a 6-yo, but you are allowed to have scissors with blades shorter than 4" in your carry-on now.

[PiCO]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/strip-searched-grandma-says-tsa-removed-her-underwear/

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/s-fla-grandma-says-she-was-strip-searched-at-jfk/

 

Lenore Zimmerman was on her way to Florida from New York, in a wheelchair. She refused the x-ray because she had an implanted defibrillator. So she gets taken to a private room. During the search, her metal walker cuts her leg. She is on blood thinner and bleeds profusely. TSA wants to call an ambulance, rather than bandaging her as she requested. She missed her flight, which left 10 minutes early.

 

Is this crazy?

 

The truth will come out- they video every thing the TSA does now. I think grandma is mad and exaggerating.

[LisaKinVA]

The truth will come out- they video every thing the TSA does now. I think grandma is mad and exaggerating.

 

Articles said that the private room was not videoed...

[TranquilMind]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/strip-searched-grandma-says-tsa-removed-her-underwear/

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/s-fla-grandma-says-she-was-strip-searched-at-jfk/

 

Lenore Zimmerman was on her way to Florida from New York, in a wheelchair. She refused the x-ray because she had an implanted defibrillator. So she gets taken to a private room. During the search, her metal walker cuts her leg. She is on blood thinner and bleeds profusely. TSA wants to call an ambulance, rather than bandaging her as she requested. She missed her flight, which left 10 minutes early.

 

Is this crazy?

In a long local article, the report is that the woman was told to remove her clothing, including her pants! TSA denies. No footage because it was a private room. I'm willing to bet she is telling the truth.

 

I think the TSA needs to be shut down.

[Ester Maria]

Because they do not want to profile. :glare:

[QueenCat]

In a long local article, the report is that the woman was told to remove her clothing, including her pants! TSA denies. No footage because it was a private room. I'm willing to bet she is telling the truth.

 

I think the TSA needs to be shut down.

 

Why do you assume she is telling the truth? Just because someone is elderly doesn't make them beyond reproach. And I would have called an ambulance to have her checked out due to the bleeding. No way I'd have let her fly without checking her medical condition due to the bleeding. There are TWO sides to every story, and it is NOT always the TSA who is in the wrong. We do NOT know both sides at this point, or if both sides are being 100% truthful.

[In The Great White North]

The article said she was in the unvideo'd private screening room for 11 minutes. It doesn't take nearly that long to do a pat-down.

[Happy]

Why do you assume she is telling the truth? Just because someone is elderly doesn't make them beyond reproach. And I would have called an ambulance to have her checked out due to the bleeding. No way I'd have let her fly without checking her medical condition due to the bleeding. There are TWO sides to every story, and it is NOT always the TSA who is in the wrong. We do NOT know both sides at this point, or if both sides are being 100% truthful.

 

:iagree:

[clarkacademy]

Perfectly said. I'm in total agreement and we don't fly either. If everyone stopped flying -- unless you must for work -- this silliness would stop. And maybe then real security would be put into place.

 

Alley

 

 

What "real" security would you suggest?

[Lisbeth]

We also refuse to fly. I especially won' t allow the children - we don' t want them to learn that it's ok for gov officials to unjustly strip search them. We also don' t want them to think we' d stand by and allow it. As for dh and me, we won' t fly because we won't financially condone these policies.

[Tigger]

We also refuse to fly. I especially won' t allow the children - we don' t want them to learn that it's ok for gov officials to unjustly strip search them. We also don' t want them to think we' d stand by and allow it. As for dh and me, we won' t fly because we won't financially condone these policies.

 

:iagree:

 

Same reason I won't fly, especially with the kids. DH sometimes has to fly, and we've been lucky to be able to book him in and out of airports that aren't using the scanners....if the kids and are are going somewhere with him, I'll drive and he'll meet us there.

[HSMWB]

This is why we have purposefully stopped flying - insane - even the 'pat down' in public is too much.

[kiana]

I don't fly any more, except internationally.

[stripe]

There are grandmas who commit crimes, and there are other crimes in the air/world besides bombs. There are people transporting drugs, animal materials (eggs, birds, etc), and whatnot.

 

That being said, I dread flying.

 

Because I am always randomly searched. (Great because last time I checked, most airplane violence is perpetrated by mothers with children. Homeland Security seemed to believe, based on their comments last time, that I belong to a different ethnic group, one that I neither am nor look anything like.)

[Cammie]

The truth will come out- they video every thing the TSA does now. I think grandma is mad and exaggerating.

 

:iagree: From what I have read...I think there is much more to this story.

[Tarreymere]

We have also stopped flying (and changed jobs to do it). No way will I ever book a flight for myself or one of my family with the way TSA has been treating people. I was already sick and tired of being treated with contempt by the airlines before 9/11, now with the added insanity of TSA.......No, we don't fly anywhere anymore.

[Vida Winter]

What "real" security would you suggest?

 

What Israel does. Looking each passenger in the eye and asking questions which will determine how much further questioning/searching is necessary. Profiling is part of this, but not all.

[lewelma]

I fly internationally every year. in 2005, my ds, age 2, was randomly chosen. They did a bomb search on his bags (45 minutes) and then we had to stand in a 1.5 hour line for the body search, only to be informed at the front of the line that under 10 year olds were exempt!

 

Ruth in NZ

[lewelma]

ooops, uploaded twice

[kolamum]

Why do you assume she is telling the truth? Just because someone is elderly doesn't make them beyond reproach. And I would have called an ambulance to have her checked out due to the bleeding. No way I'd have let her fly without checking her medical condition due to the bleeding. There are TWO sides to every story, and it is NOT always the TSA who is in the wrong. We do NOT know both sides at this point, or if both sides are being 100% truthful.

 

I think it's more likely that she's honest because it's been proven time and time again the TSA isn't. On top of that I find it odd that she'd have cut her leg if she had her pants on. Not impossible, but odd.

 

On top of that, why did they need to take her in a private room for a pat down anyway? It makes sense to go to a private area if it's a pat down, but not a non-videoed room. Having the video running is just as much for TSA's security as it is the person in the room. So I find it fishy.

 

We haven't traveled within the US since this nonsense started, and I don't see it starting anytime soon. Pretty sure I've got family who's not happy about that choice but such is life.

[AlmiraGulch]

I think it's more likely that she's honest because it's been proven time and time again the TSA isn't. On top of that I find it odd that she'd have cut her leg if she had her pants on. Not impossible, but odd. My mid-70s father bleeds randomly all the time, even beneath clothes. His skin is quite thin and is easily torn. My grandparents were the same way. I wouldn't find it odd at all.

 

On top of that, why did they need to take her in a private room for a pat down anyway? TSA offers the option of a scanner or a pat down. If you choose the pat down, you have the option, as the passenger, of receiving it in a private room. I don't believe this article stated whether or not she chose the private room. It makes sense to go to a private area if it's a pat down, but not a non-videoed room. Having the video running is just as much for TSA's security as it is the person in the room. I do agree with this. Seems odd. So I find it fishy.

 

We haven't traveled within the US since this nonsense started, and I don't see it starting anytime soon. Pretty sure I've got family who's not happy about that choice but such is life.

 

To say that I'm not the biggest fan of the TSA is a gross understatement. I think the entire farce we're put through when we travel by air is a ridiculous waste of time and money. BUT....I will also say that as a very frequent traveler (nearly weekly but at least monthly for business) I haven't had or witnessed any foul play by the personnel. I've seen some rude TSA agents, some slow, some seemingly clueless, but never any of the craziness that is sometimes reported on the news. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, rather that I think (as much as it pains me to admit this) that it's absolutely the exception more than the rule. The point being that while even one of these incidents is too many, I wouldn't alter my family's behavior because of it.

 

People get carjacked but I haven't stopped driving. People used to shoot up post offices for some reason with regularity but I didn't stop going to the post office. People drive without seat belts for decades without so much as a scratch but the government forces us to wear seatbelts anyway, but I haven't stopped driving in protest (and, for the record, always wear my seat belt...I was just using that example to illustrate a point).

 

Just food for thought (even though I do dread my trip through airport security coming up in about 4 hours from now...sigh).

[....]

We have also stopped flying (and changed jobs to do it). No way will I ever book a flight for myself or one of my family with the way TSA has been treating people. I was already sick and tired of being treated with contempt by the airlines before 9/11, now with the added insanity of TSA.......No, we don't fly anywhere anymore.

 

:iagree: We also refuse to fly.

[Murmer]

I think it's more likely that she's honest because it's been proven time and time again the TSA isn't. On top of that I find it odd that she'd have cut her leg if she had her pants on. Not impossible, but odd.

 

On top of that, why did they need to take her in a private room for a pat down anyway? It makes sense to go to a private area if it's a pat down, but not a non-videoed room. Having the video running is just as much for TSA's security as it is the person in the room. So I find it fishy.

 

We haven't traveled within the US since this nonsense started, and I don't see it starting anytime soon. Pretty sure I've got family who's not happy about that choice but such is life.

 

Sadly there are more people that have reported the EXACT same thing either through blogs or other twitter so it does seem to actually occur and it does seems to be something that occurs not regularly but often enough for this to be a true story. Especially since its not like she can sue and get any money from TSA for it so there is no incentive to make a false complaint.

[QueenCat]

To say that I'm not the biggest fan of the TSA is a gross understatement. I think the entire farce we're put through when we travel by air is a ridiculous waste of time and money. BUT....I will also say that as a very frequent traveler (nearly weekly but at least monthly for business) I haven't had or witnessed any foul play by the personnel. I've seen some rude TSA agents, some slow, some seemingly clueless, but never any of the craziness that is sometimes reported on the news. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, rather that I think (as much as it pains me to admit this) that it's absolutely the exception more than the rule. The point being that while even one of these incidents is too many, I wouldn't alter my family's behavior because of it.

 

 

99% of the TSA agents I've encountered are very polite. All have been professional. I do have a lot of experience with them. I have seen many passengers be rude towards the agents though.... I think the story is plausible, mostly in favor of the TSA.

[QueenCat]

Sadly there are more people that have reported the EXACT same thing either through blogs or other twitter so it does seem to actually occur and it does seems to be something that occurs not regularly but often enough for this to be a true story. Especially since its not like she can sue and get any money from TSA for it so there is no incentive to make a false complaint.

 

Publicity often fuels the drama queens of this world. And many a blogger have taken news stories, recreating them as their own. We just don't know enough about this situation from reliable sources to know what happened, so to assume the TSA is wrong is just "wrong" in my book.

[CanaryMelody]

We also refuse to fly. I especially won' t allow the children - we don' t want them to learn that it's ok for gov officials to unjustly strip search them. We also don' t want them to think we' d stand by and allow it. As for dh and me, we won' t fly because we won't financially condone these policies.

 

:iagree:

[QuirkyKapers]

When we went internationally this past April, in all instances of screening, we were told just to have the kids go around. They all told us kids were exempt. I wonder if that has recently changed? Ugh, being searched is defiently no fun. When I was in Honduras we visited a prison. The lady guard strip searched everyone of us. Very uncomfortable. Not something I wish to repeat.

Edited December 5, 2011 by QuirkyKapers

[Guest submarines]

What Israel does. Looking each passenger in the eye and asking questions which will determine how much further questioning/searching is necessary. Profiling is part of this, but not all.

 

I was about to post this! Israel provides exceptional security (in a place where the threat of terrorist attacks has always be very high) without the outrageous spendings and humiliation that we have in the US. They care about safety of their citizens. We care about PC.

[Mrs Mungo]

I was about to post this! Israel provides exceptional security (in a place where the threat of terrorist attacks has always be very high) without the outrageous spendings and humiliation that we have in the US. They care about safety of their citizens. We care about PC.

 

The US has a bigger variety of people who are citizens. If the US were to conduct searches in the same manner as Israel, then it would mean the same "humiliation" to a certain portion of people who *are* citizens. Those who are a risk to US are *also* more varied as far as terrorism goes. Timothy McVeigh would not necessarily have been picked out by Israel's system, but he was a terrorist, just the same.

[Guest submarines]

The US has a bigger variety of people who are citizens. If the US were to conduct searches in the same manner as Israel, then it would mean the same "humiliation" to a certain portion of people who *are* citizens. Those who are a risk to US are *also* more varied as far as terrorism goes. Timothy McVeigh would not necessarily have been picked out by Israel's system, but he was a terrorist, just the same.

 

The numbers are different, that's for sure. But it is more than just racial profiling. Israeli population is not racially homogenous either.

 

Btw, someone like Timothy McVeigh would have probably been singled out quite easily. Just look at a selection of his photos.

 

The point is that is that despite all the money that went into the US security, it is not an effective system. Most wouldn't be complaining, if it were.

[clarkacademy]

Originally Posted by Dana in OR

What Israel does. Looking each passenger in the eye and asking questions which will determine how much further questioning/searching is necessary. Profiling is part of this, but not all.

Any one can look me in the eye and I can be all peaches and cream while lying. Why in the world would one think a terrorists could not lie their way out of any situation?

A drug smuggler even can be very convincing. This type of thought relies on people being honest when the majority of the US has perfected lieing by the time they were 3.

[T'smom]

We fly four or five times a year and most of the time, the TSA agents are very polite, considerate, helpful, etc. I've never -never- had a rude one. Just some that are a little more abrupt than others. Most are more kind than strictly necessary. And there have been times that I've been a traveler that is a stressed-out mess. (Almost always flying alone with my littles)

[TranquilMind]

Why do you assume she is telling the truth? Just because someone is elderly doesn't make them beyond reproach. And I would have called an ambulance to have her checked out due to the bleeding. No way I'd have let her fly without checking her medical condition due to the bleeding. There are TWO sides to every story, and it is NOT always the TSA who is in the wrong. We do NOT know both sides at this point, or if both sides are being 100% truthful.

Because of everything else I've read about the TSA shenanigans. That's why. I've been reading about this for a long, long time. It is an appalling situation we have going on here. And knives and guns still pass right on through, but make sure you strip Grandma!

[Ester Maria]

The US has a bigger variety of people who are citizens. If the US were to conduct searches in the same manner as Israel, then it would mean the same "humiliation" to a certain portion of people who *are* citizens. Those who are a risk to US are *also* more varied as far as terrorism goes. Timothy McVeigh would not necessarily have been picked out by Israel's system, but he was a terrorist, just the same.

The Israeli population is very, very varied. The idea behind their profiling is that people who are about to commit a terrorist attack behave differently. Because of that they look at you in the eyes and ask "irrelevant" questions and see how you are going to respond (not that they care so much about the answer itself, but about how you behave while you are answering). It is NOT strictly a racial profiling, as people typically imagine it (besides, there are Jews who look and speak like Arabs and vice versa, it is not always easy to tell "who is who" at the first glance), although they certainly target more the subsets of the population which have proven to be more of a trouble on average (which is not PC, but it is common sense). They look for subtle cues that you are nervous - anyone can lie, but your body language speaks volumes as well if one is trained to look for those subtle cues.

 

(Not that there are not abuses of the system in Israel too, though - but I think the main idea: the one to look for suspicious people and target them, rather than random people to satisfy the PC norm, is a very good idea indeed.)

[Guest submarines]

Any one can look me in the eye and I can be all peaches and cream while lying. Why in the world would one think a terrorists could not lie their way out of any situation?

 

A drug smuggler even can be very convincing. This type of thought relies on people being honest when the majority of the US has perfected lieing by the time they were 3.

 

 

Because if there techniques weren't effective, their planes would have been going down much more often.

 

There's much more to lying than what one says. There's entire body of research devoted to all kind of cues that indicate when a person isn't telling the truth.

[Tigger]

Two more elderly travelers say they too were subjected to searches at JFK.

[Spy Car]

What Israel does. Looking each passenger in the eye and asking questions which will determine how much further questioning/searching is necessary. Profiling is part of this, but not all.

 

Israel puts every Muslim passenger (whether perceived "threat" or not) through humiliating questioning and frequent strip-seaches. That includes women flying with young children. It is a nearly routine experience for Muslim women going through Israeli security.

 

When people advocate for "Israeli style" security they should understand the reality. It is not just a hard look in the eyes.

 

Bill

[Mrs Mungo]

The Israeli population is very, very varied.

 

As varied as the US? No, it isn't.

 

The idea behind their profiling is that people who are about to commit a terrorist attack behave differently. Because of that they look at you in the eyes and ask "irrelevant" questions and see how you are going to respond (not that they care so much about the answer itself, but about how you behave while you are answering). It is NOT strictly a racial profiling, as people typically imagine it (besides, there are Jews who look and speak like Arabs and vice versa, it is not always easy to tell "who is who" at the first glance), although they certainly target more the subsets of the population which have proven to be more of a trouble on average (which is not PC, but it is common sense). They look for subtle cues that you are nervous - anyone can lie, but your body language speaks volumes as well if one is trained to look for those subtle cues.

 

It is largely based on racial profiling. You even admit this just after trying to deny it. I am from Oklahoma City. I won't forget the fact that is was not Muslims who bombed the Murrah building.

 

Eta: It is worth pointing out that Israel has 2 airports and around 50 flights a day. *Oklahoma* has more airports and flights per day than that! Never mind actually big cities and international hubs!

Edited December 6, 2011 by Mrs Mungo

[stripe]

It is largely based on racial profiling. You even admit this just after trying to deny it. I am from Oklahoma City. I won't forget the fact that is was not Muslims who bombed the Murrah building.

 

And Muslims do not all look the same or belong to one ethnic group. (So Hindu Indians get asked if they've read the Quran, for example, or Sikhs are strip searched.) And the US has laws protecting freedom of religion, so when the government asks, "How often do you pray?" (which customs has been criticized for doing recently at the border crossing in Detroit) this would seem to suggest that praying is illegal or at least suspicious behavior.

 

Why not just have all Muslims register with the government and wear a green crescent moon on their clothes and have a special M designation on their ID cards? That would make it easier to know who "they" are!

 

Additionally, there are MANY crimes that are being investigated at airports or international crossings, such as drugs, smuggling, counterfeit goods, child abductions, and the like, that have NOTHING to do with Muslims. Those crimes cannot just be shelved to look for underwear bombs with x-ray machines that would not actually catch such groin padding.

[zaichiki]

What Israel does. Looking each passenger in the eye and asking questions which will determine how much further questioning/searching is necessary. Profiling is part of this, but not all.

 

:iagree:

 

However, in Israel (I've heard), they make a big show of holding guns pointed at you, too. Intimidation is a part of it.

[Ester Maria]

It is largely based on racial profiling. You even admit this just after trying to deny it.

Judaism is not a race. Jews come in all races, INCLUDING the Middle Eastern type which look exactly like Arabs, some of them speak with the same accent as Arabs, and often have last names which reveal a Middle Eastern origin.

 

On the other hand, there are Arabs whose names are Jewish or "neutral" and last names something "neutral" as well, who speak with a perfect Israeli Hebrew accent and intonation and if you do not KNOW they are not Jews, you might as well mistake them for Jews of Middle Eastern origin.

 

I met a few Israelis for whom until this day I have NO CLUE what is their ethnic origin, because that was just not something that was discussed in the context in which I met them.

 

The extremists and nationalists used to warn Jewish girls coming to studies in Israel to check their would-be boyfriends' ID cards because quite often the ONLY way to know "who is who" was to look at the ethnicity category that was there. And then they, thank God, ended that insanity and it is no longer printed, so on the new ID cards you CANNOT so easily identify somebody.

 

In other words, you see somebody of Middle Eastern origin, and check his documents, and you may as well remain perplexed as to his exact ethnicity nowdays. (Unless, of course, the name in question has a criminal history, etc.) That is why I mentioned that, in the strictest sense, what Israel does is NOT racial profiling, because of these issues and the fact that Jews are not a race.

[Spy Car]

Judaism is not a race. Jews come in all races, INCLUDING the Middle Eastern type which look exactly like Arabs, some of them speak with the same accent as Arabs, and often have last names which reveal a Middle Eastern origin.

 

On the other hand, there are Arabs whose names are Jewish or "neutral" and last names something "neutral" as well, who speak with a perfect Israeli Hebrew accent and intonation and if you do not KNOW they are not Jews, you might as well mistake them for Jews of Middle Eastern origin.

 

I met a few Israelis for whom until this day I have NO CLUE what is their ethnic origin, because that was just not something that was discussed in the context in which I met them.

 

The extremists and nationalists used to warn Jewish girls coming to studies in Israel to check their would-be boyfriends' ID cards because quite often the ONLY way to know "who is who" was to look at the ethnicity category that was there. And then they, thank God, ended that insanity and it is no longer printed, so on the new ID cards you CANNOT so easily identify somebody.

 

In other words, you see somebody of Middle Eastern origin, and check his documents, and you may as well remain perplexed as to his exact ethnicity nowdays. (Unless, of course, the name in question has a criminal history, etc.) That is why I mentioned that, in the strictest sense, what Israel does is NOT racial profiling, because of these issues and the fact that Jews are not a race.

 

Call it what you will, but the fact remains that Arabs and Muslims are given very different treatment when trying to pass through Israeli security. Strip-searches (and cavity searches) are pretty routine. This includes women traveling with young children.

 

Bill