...Just make sure they don't carry Charcoal and Hibachi's thru security. We don't need another toasty like Saudi's L-1011. Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA (No comments Jose, I know you are chomping at the bit). --- Travel Pages <travelpages@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > For airport screeners, more training about Muslims > =0AAs pilgrims return fr= > om the hajj, the TSA gives its workers a refresher > on how to treat Muslims = > at US security checkpoints. =0A=0ABy Alexandra Marks > | Staff writer of The = > Christian Science Monitor =0ANEW YORK =0A =0ASay > you're a security screener= > at the airport. You notice a large group of people > wearing white robes, sp= > eaking a strange language. The women have head > scarves and the men long bea= > rds. They look nervous. One of them is holding a > Koran. Another appears to = > be praying. What do you do?=0A =0AAccording to the > Transportation Security = > Administration (TSA), simply assume they're devout > Muslims returning from t= > he annual hajj in Mecca.=0A =0ADuring the next few > weeks, as many as 20,000= > American Muslims will be returning to the United > States from their pilgrim= > age 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 f= > rom devout Muslims and how to go about screening > them so it's in concert wi= > th their religious beliefs.=0A =0AArab-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 h= > elp the nation as it heals from the aftereffects of > 9/11.=0A =0A"Their effo= > rts are a modest but important beginning," says Jack > Shaheen, professor eme= > ritus of mass communications at Southern Illinois > University. "But until su= > ch time that we react to the vilification of and > discrimination against Ara= > bs 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."=0A =0AThe 9/1= > 1 attacks ushered in a new era for the nation's > Arabs and Muslims. Many of = > the almost 7 million who have lived in the country > for years, if not genera= > tions, suddenly felt suspect simply because of their > religion or the way th= > ey looked. A poll conducted last year by the Council > on American-Islamic Re= > lations found that almost half of Americans have a > negative view of Islam, = > even though 60 percent say they're not knowledgeable > about it. More than 1 = > in 4 believes such statements as: "The Muslim > religion teaches violence and= > hatred."=0A =0AHeightened sensitivities at airports > =0A =0AAnd it's at the= > airports, with the intense focus on security, that > many American Muslims a= > nd Arab-Americans say they are more keenly aware of > those misperceptions.= > =0A =0A"After 9/11 things were bad, but they weren't > as bad as they are now= > ," says Rafat Arain, a dentist and mother of four > from Brookfield, Wis.=0A = > =0ADr. Arain, who's lived in the US for 30 years, > wears a head scarf known = > as the hijab. Every time she's flown in the past > five years, she's been tak= > en aside for extra screening, whether she was > traveling to Europe, Pakistan= > , or Saudi Arabia for the hajj. She believes, in > part, that's because of he= > r head covering. Immediately after 9/11, she says, > she understood the extra= > scrutiny: The country had been traumatized. Now, > she's simply come to expe= > ct it.=0A =0AA year ago, when she was at Chicago's > O'Hare Airport, she real= > ized that time for one of her five daily prayers was > running out. She went = > to a corner and quietly began to pray. A few minutes > later, she noticed a s= > ecurity guard standing at her side.=0A =0A"He didn't > say anything to me. I = > finished my prayer, then I said 'Hi' to him and just > walked away," she says= > . "But I could tell the people around were scared of > me, and that's not goo= > d for us or good for our children."=0A =0AIn its > hajj training refresher, t= > he 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 in= > dividuals based on their background or religious > affiliation.=0A"Our model = > looks only at behavior and in a way is the antidote > to racial profiling," s= > ays Christopher White, a TSA spokesman.=0A =0AHe > also says the TSA and othe= > r law-enforcement agencies are working hard to > ensure that no one's civil r= > ights are violated, which is why officials believed > the hajj merited additi= > onal training.=0A =0A"We expect a large number of > pilgrims, and the hajj tr= > aining involves providing our security officers > reminders about how to scre= > en individuals with head coverings [and] our > policies concerning the transp= > ort of holy water and other Muslim religious > practices, like praying," says= > Mr. White.=0A =0AThe Council on American-Islamic > Relations applauds the sp= > ecial attention. It says it will be checking > airports around the country du= > ring the next few weeks to ensure all goes > smoothly.=0A =0AComplaints about= > detentions =0A =0ABut at the same time, the civil > rights organization says= > it's seen an increase in reports about perceived > discrimination against Mu= > slims, or people who look Muslim. Many of the > complaints concern incidents = > such as individuals being routinely detained for > several hours at the airpo= > rt and being asked intimate questions about their > beliefs - whether they pr= > ay and at which mosque. "These are things that > really aren't the business o= > f security personnel," says Ibrahim Hooper, > spokesman for the Council on Am= > erican-Islamic Relations.=0A =0AMuslim-American > leaders say their goal is t= > o reach out to all Americans so they can understand > Islam as a religion of = > peace, respect for neighbors, and devotion to > God.=0A =0A"We're afraid of w= > hat we don't understand, and these people look > different from us. They have= > different sounding names," says Nawar Shora, > director of diversity and law= > -enforcement outreach at the American Arab > Anti-Discrimination Committee in= > Washington. "In the post-9/11 era, there's an > absolute need for the averag= > e Joe and the average Jane to be able to look at > their neighbor that looks = > like one of those brown people and know that > different isn't necessarily ba= > d."=0A=0A=0A > =0A___________________________________________________________= > _________________________=0ADo you > Yahoo!?=0AEveryone is raving about the a= > ll-new Yahoo! Mail beta.=0Ahttp://new.mail.yahoo.com > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545367