Resounding proof that profiling works... Humiliation at 33,000 feet: Top British architect tells of terror 'arrest' http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1777847.ece To the applause of fellow passengers, the Jewish designer was escorted from a New York flight as a potential bomber. Because, he tells Sophie Goodchild, of his holiday tan. Seth Stein is used to jetting around the world to create stylish holiday homes for wealthy clients. This means the hip architect is familiar with the irritations of heightened airline security post-9/11. But not even he could have imagined being mistaken for an Islamist terrorist and physically pinned to his seat while aboard an American Airlines flight - especially as he has Jewish origins. Yet this is what happened when he travelled back from a business trip to the Turks and Caicos islands via New York on 22 May. Still traumatised by his ordeal, the 47-year-old is furious that the airline failed to protect him from the gung-ho actions of an over-zealous passenger who claimed to be a police officer. He has now instructed a team of top US lawyers to act for him. The London-based interiors guru, whose clients have included Peter Mandelson and the husband-and-wife design team Suzanne Clements and Ignacio Ribeiro, said he felt compelled to speak out to protect other innocent travellers from a similar experience. "This man could have garrotted me and what was awful was that one or two of the passengers went up afterwards to thank him," said Mr Stein. He has since been told by airline staff he was targeted because he was using an iPod, had used the toilet when he got on the plane and that his tan made him appear "Arab". "I was terrified but am fortunate in that I was able to contact a lawyer. Yet someone else who is not assertive could be left completely traumatised." The incident highlights the increased likelihood of innocent passengers being picked on because they are perceived as "suspicious" or "foreign-looking", especially following the alleged plot to blow up airliners with liquid explosives. Earlier this month, a plane from London to Washington DC made an emergency landing, escorted by fighters, after passengers alerted crew to the behaviour of a female traveller. It later emerged she had suffered a panic attack. And in August, two innocent Asian students were escorted off a flight from Malaga to Manchester because other passengers thought they were terrorists. In Mr Stein's case, he was pounced on as the crew and other travellers looked on. The drama unfolded less than an hour into the flight. As he settled down with a book and a ginger ale, the father-of-three was grabbed from behind and held in a head-lock. "This guy just told me his name was Michael Wilk, that he was with the New York Police Department, that I'd been acting suspiciously and should stay calm. I could barely find my voice and couldn't believe it was happening," said Mr Stein. "He went into my pocket and took out my passport and my iPod. All the other passengers were looking concerned." Eventually, cabin crew explained that the captain had run a security check on Mr Stein after being alerted by the policeman and that this had cleared him. The passenger had been asked to go back to his seat before he had restrained Mr Stein. When the plane arrived in New York, Mr Stein was met by apologetic police officers who offered to fast-track him out of the airport. Mr Stein said: "The other passengers looked and me and said, 'What did you do?' It was so humiliating. The fact is he [the police officer] was told I was OK and should have left me alone. The airline had a duty of care. I've got to travel to the US soon, but I'm paying an extra £500 to travel in business class." American Airlines apologised to Mr Stein, who was born in New York, but withdrew an initial offer of $2,000 compensation on the grounds it would be an admission of liability. In a letter dated 30 May, the airline said it had done everything possible to try and protect Mr Stein. It read: "Unfortunately, as in any public gathering, there may be occasions when a conflict arises between people or when one individual's actions bother another... As our crew members may not always be witness to the inappropriate acts of a particular passenger, there may be a limit to what our crews can do to improve behaviour that is perceived as a nuisance." In a twist to the story, Mr Stein has since discovered that there is only one Michael Wilk on the NYPD's official register of officers, but the man retired 25 years ago. Officials have told the architect that his assailant may work for another law enforcement agency but have refused to say which one.
The fact that innocent passengers have to suffer because Islamist terrorists killed so many people is indeed sad.
Of course, when a Black man in America is discriminated against it's unfortunate but understandable, given the reputation they -- as an ethnic group in America -- have gained over the years. Same thing with Jews, Hispanics, Asians, and others...
Indeed unfortunate..... But what should passengers do if they are suspicious? At what point should passengers react?
There's no need to become some super vigilante bounty hunter. At some point, we have to acknowledge that we aren't harrison ford and we can't just say "get off of my plane." At the very least, inform the flight attendants that you think something is up. Remember that guy Richard Reid who tried to blow up a plane? A passanger suspected something was up with him and informed the crew who then checked and caught Reid.
What do you mean, to deflect blame? Nobody would be hysterical if some islamo-fascists had not flown several planes into tall buildings and detonated bombs on other planes.
what the hell? That's deflecting blame. The blame for this racism falls not on the vigilante idiot who carried this out but the terrorists who legitimated his racism. I suppose the high crime rates in urban neighborhoods makes any racist assumption about African Americans and crime acceptable. So when some ****head at my highschool said that I was an "arab mother****er who hates America" that was ok?
Ok, seriously, how many plane hi-jackings has happend since 9/11? There is no excuse for racism. Just because they have the same skin color as those hijackers doesn't give people to right to go accusing them. White people probably don't feel this way because they never felt racism at this level. For example, most Pedophiles are white males. How would yall feel if everytime you acknowledged a cute baby/kid and the mother would scream, "PEDOPHILE!!" And then accuse you of possibly trying to have sex with the kid because you were white male smiling at a little kid?
Actually Reid was subdued by passengers, not the flight attendants. I guess they should have sat in their seats and acknowledged they weren't harrison ford. Only Harrison Ford can stop terrorists from blowing up planes.
No, of course not. And I don't think it is ok how the guy got treated. But still, there is no denying the fact that people would not be so hysterical on planes had some islamo-fascists not flown planes into the World Trade Center and had there not been several more attempted or successful bombings on planes. Unfortunately, this leads to hysterical reactions and this is unfortunate and unfair for those who look somewhat similar to how some of the extremists who actually carried out attacks. However, as someone pointed out, it is good that passengers do observe their fellow passengers for unusual behavior - otherwise, Robert Reid (the "shoe bomber") would probably have been successful. To give you an example that has nothing to do with people looking Arab, let's assume I was in the East of Germany. If I saw two or three guys with bald heads walking toward me and acting in a strange way, I'd be concerned - knowing the news reports of fascist and violent skinheads being more frequent in that region. Would my perception of these people turn out to be unfair if they turn out to be nice people who just happen to wear their hair that way? Yes. But would my reaction be somewhat understandable? I'd think so. Regarding the case of the Israeli guy on the plane that was reported, I'll admit that it sounds like the fellow passengers completely overreacted. But let's not forget that there are actual attacks at the root of people becoming hysterical - and unfortunately, these attacks were committed by people who share a somewhat common profile. So while one can criticize the people who overreacted in this case, personally, I think one can at least give them the benefit of the doubt that they did not act out of racism, but out of misguided fear.
It's a classic example of what we refer to as the 'mob mentality'. While a minority (in this case a passenger) take it upon themselves to take semi-drastic measures that infringe upon the rights of others (in this case, an unpopular minority), the majority/authorities grant 'tacit' approval to such actions through 'subtle' support/indifference, largely due to prejudice against said minority. In its 'mildest' form it could be reflected through widespread tolerance of racist remarks/policies targeting said unpopular minority; and on the extreme end would involve some form of ethnic cleansing of said minority. History has given us numerous instances of both...
You're confusing the subduing of an individual who's clearly a threat (we have had plenty of those since 9/11, majority of whom have been deranged individuals and not terrorists) with outright racial profiling of fellow passengers based on nothing more than, well, their perceived ethnicity, which is what racial profiling essentially is. It's rather ironic that the majority of these incidents involve non-Muslims (Hindus, Sikhs, and other South Asians, along with Jews, have been targeted as well).
I think this is an interesting topic and I am sympathetic to your view. However I have some doubts as to your conclusions. While it often comes up that 'white' people aren't treated this way, IIRC there haven't been any 'white' people blowing up planes lately (if at all). In one's assessment therefore on a plane one can reasonably except 'white' people from suspicion unless the action is so overt as to be unable to ignore the conclusion that the particular person needs to be stopped. Here are some definitions of prejudice: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source prej‧u‧dice /ˈprɛdʒədɪs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[prej-uh-dis] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -diced, -dic‧ing. –noun 1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. 3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group. I don't think acting to restrain someone who is acting suspicious is based on a feeling formed beforehand or without thought or reason. You might say it is based on racism against Arabs but I disagree. The restrainers process undoubtably included: This guy is acting suspicious + this guy looks like an Arab. That he looked like an Arab didn't emerge necessarily (we won't ever really know since the guy disappeared) from an 'unreasonable or preconceived feeling regarding a racial group' but could have emerged from the rational and reasonable fact that Arabs are blowing planes up. I agree that someone being treated this way is regrettable but am less convinced that this type of profiling is racist. I'm not confusing anything. The Shoe Bomber was GISB's example, not mine. I am merely observing that contrary to his stated opinion, the Shoe Bomber was actually subdued by passengers not the flight attendants. And I don't think you can declare that this guy was acted upon merely because of his (perceived) ethnicity. That's a vast and unprovable overstatement.
There is a difference between being prejudiced and 'acting out' based on those prejudices; when people are negatively impacted, that's when the line is crossed.
This is really unfortunate. The architect should sue the airline and the passengers themselves. Teach them a lesson.
he was subdued by passengers after they saw him trying to light his shoe on fire with a match. thats a hell of alot different than being physically subdued because "he was using an iPod, had used the toilet when he got on the plane and that his tan made him appear 'Arab' ", according to airline staff. and how about the guy who subdued him and told him he was a cop - impersonating an officer, assault, theft and/or false imprisonment - are those felonies? "This guy just told me his name was Michael Wilk, that he was with the New York Police Department, that I'd been acting suspiciously and should stay calm. I could barely find my voice and couldn't believe it was happening," said Mr Stein. "He went into my pocket and took out my passport and my iPod. All the other passengers were looking concerned." Eventually, cabin crew explained that the captain had run a security check on Mr Stein after being alerted by the policeman and that this had cleared him. The passenger had been asked to go back to his seat before he had restrained Mr Stein. When the plane arrived in New York, Mr Stein was met by apologetic police officers who offered to fast-track him out of the airport. In a twist to the story, Mr Stein has since discovered that there is only one Michael Wilk on the NYPD's official register of officers, but the man retired 25 years ago. Officials have told the architect that his assailant may work for another law enforcement agency but have refused to say which one.
I can definitely feel the fear I incite going through airlines...especially because of my size and color. But...I've never had anyone treat me poorly on an airline for it yet. Perhaps this guy was acting in a suspicious manner that was making people feel uncomfortable. No one knows what he was doing...maybe he was sweating, maybe he looked uncomfortable and had a face that looked suspicious. You just don't know, you weren't there. Let's stop before crying FOUL FOUL FOUL. Frankly, people tell me I look like a terrorist all the time, and yet I've never been treated like one. Perhaps there is a reason why? Thousands of minorities fly each and every day. And you guys get freaked out by the one or two incidences - what the million non-incidences that show that people aren't racist???? Can't you accept that maybe the full story isn't being represented????
