Muslims and air travel: When does airport security go too far?
A reader brought this story to my attention yesterday in an e-mail. And while the story broke on Monday, it still seems like a worthwhile discussion topic.
An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.
Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York’s JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.
The story goes on to say that other passengers on the flight expressed discomfort, some saying that wearing a T-shirt with Arabic script was like “wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, ‘I am a robber.’”
Jarrar’s seat was moved to the back of the plane and he was required to cover his shirt with another supplied by JetBlue.
What’s your reaction to this story? Is there a point in which airport security can go too far? Is it fair that someone who looks like the stereotype of a Muslim or is wearing Arabic script can be assumed to be a danger to a flight?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
The airline was likely playing it safe, and playing to the majority of their customers’ concerns. This was a decision they would likely make again.
While it is true that Muslim extremists are most commonly responsible for U.S. terrorism, should an entire language be out of bounds for wearing in airports?
There are laws that restrict the freedom of speech, such as “shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater”. While the man’s shirt made no direct threat on anyone’s life, it did create a panic that could have resulted in someone, including the man himself, getting hurt, which is a restriction on free speech provided by past Supreme Court decisions.
I would expect there to be problems at an airport if I shared similarities with an international criminal, and then wore a shirt in the man’s native language. Therefore I believe an intelligent Muslim would come to the same conclusion about themselves. The man seems to have knowingly put himself into an incendiary position and then sued a company for something he knew and maybe even hoped would happen.
Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists seem to be Muslims. Some of them claim to be Teflon-coated Muslims, free of the mess created by their errant comrades. I don’t hear many condemning the bad behavior publicly. Silence is consent.
Let’s see now Obama is going to release all the Muslims who caused or planned the 9/11 attack.He wants them to get a decent trial which we will have to pay for then when they are released they all come to USA and kill more of us.What a guy…………
Any intelligent, sensible person, who is aware of why there are security checks at airports, why passengers and airlines are sceptical, would not where such a t-shirt when travelling by air in the first place. He would realize that what others can’t read would only cause their imaginations to run wild. On the other hand, that is perhaps exactly what the intention was. In either case, the wearer of the t-shirt enticed reactions. And that is what he got.