Doing more thinking about the new, more onerous restrictions on what you can carry on board flights today, I’m reminded that El Al, as far as I’ve been able to tell, has never had an in-air attack on one of its aircraft via a weapon smuggled on board. How do they do it? After all, they are target Number One of every Islamic terrorist in the world. And they don’t do it by making every passenger submit to multiple indignities and force them to fly bereft of their possessions.
The difference is that while the Transportation Security Administration screens out weapons, El Al screens out terrorists. While the TSA would not mind a weaponless terrorist on board a US flight, El Al on the other hand has no problem with a regular civilian with a potential weapon.
And they do it with a tool that the TSA, the Bush administration, and the entire left-wing establishment refuses to use: Profiling.
What El Al does to secure its flights
You missed the part of the article that discussed that very point about profiling. They don’t just profile based on national origin. Their detailed questioning and checking of backgrounds looks at larger patterns as well.
And we may not need to take the extreme measures that El Al goes to, but if we stop the time-consuming and expensive flailing of the TSA and replace it with more effective measures could be safe.
The fact is, Trubadour, that the use of non-Muslims as terror bombers has not happened. It is a joke around here that everytime something like this happens it’s a Muslim man (or a whole gang of them) usually less than 40 years old. It’s generally not women, and never Christian. These are the facts.
And yet, I—a middle aged Michigan woman—am repeatedly searched while middle eastern men are not. I travel a lot and have experienced this on nearly every flight. I suspect it’s because they have a quota, I’m law-abiding and don’t travel with things they’d have to worry about like a laptop.
We’re not trying to prevent what has not happened. We are trying to prevent what has happened. Let’s use some common sense. Young middle eastern men are the problem, especially those with active middle eastern connections. Keep them off the planes and it will be a lot safer for the rest of us.
Actually, if you read the linked article, a Palestinian terrorist tried to plant a bomb on his pregnant Western girlfriend who was to unknowingly carry it on a flight. It was a caught in time, but the point is that El Al has already dealt with such matters in its security procedures.
I agree with the rest of your point though.
Yes, but Domenico, how many times has that happened in comparison to the normal under 40 muslim male?
Can you imagine planting a live bomb on a girl pregnant with your own child? These people are pigs. Worse than pigs.
Israeli security is never about ethnicity because if you have ever been to Israel, you would see that most Israelis look just like most Arabs.
Once, after I did some volunteer work on an army base there, I was traveling home with a big backpack. I must have looked quite sight: A middle aged woman in old jeans and a packpack. I was questioned for ever, it seemed. Did I know any Hebrew,where did I learn it (Hebrew School?)where did I travel…….
I think this is because I probably looked like one of these vile “International Solidarity Movement” infiltrators. You know the type: Nice well meaning (usually British)grandmothers who volunteer as human shields for terrorists.