bAmein, its interesting you should say that, for I was talking to my friend JXM just yesterday about the same. And this is what I said to him.
I am not an American citizen. Just a green card holder. And if ever my country, or fanatics of my religion were accused of something as ghastly as this, I would be the first to offer myself for search or even offer to limit my movements....if it could save lives of the multitude, especially the lives of the American citizens who have been nice enough to let me into their land and given me the opportunity to prosper. In fact me and my family would be okey if US even asked me to leave the country....for it is after all, their country. And as a guest, I have an obligation to help maintain the safety of the hosts....
I really do not understand why racial profiling should bother the Moslems ? My husband's has a name which is very common amongst Arabs. We tend to look very much like Arabs, even though we are not....and so we do expect to be profiled and searched on our travels. In fact we were singled out recently when we went to see a late night show of Pearl Harbour recently. We didn't even bother to tell them we were not Arabs or we were not Moslems coz the search really does not bother me in the least. They're just doing their job. On the contrary, it makes me happy that the authoritiies are doing this to ensure the safety of the majority, and the intent is to ensure my safety and the safety of others.
And besides, if the situation were reversed, if an American was accused on doing something as heineous in the Middle East, pick any country, any country. How do you think the arab majority would treat all the Americans and Europeans there ? Boy, I can't even imagine that scenario. They would be lynched. I'd think American's have shown a lot of patience and goodwill, all things considered. Lets not whine too much about the 'hurt' Moslem feelings.....coz unfurling your own flag, singing a patriotic song, celebrating your own festivals and most important, drinking water during Ramadan are reasons enough for jail sentence ! And BTW : I LOVED my stay in Duabi for 9 years, and would love to go back someday, but the truth is truth...I conformed to their laws there, and its reasonable to expect that people conform to laws of US just as gracefully.
All said and done, a very large percentage of the acts of terrorism occuring thruout the world do turn out to be Moslem fundamentalists. And that being so, whats the point of harrassing a blue eyed white lady at the airport just so the police or other authorities can exhibit political correctness ? |
