This is a strange program, to be sure. However, when Hamas-linked CAIR’s Dawud Walid claims that “we’re not going to be looking at or targeting ordinary Americans, we’re going to be looking at people like Dawud Walid, [or] like someone else who has an Arabic or Muslim background,” he is almost certainly wrong. The TSA is itself an elaborate exercise in pretending that everyone is equally a terror threat, not just those of “Muslim background.” Instead of employing intelligent questioning after the manner of Israeli air security, everyone is herded and humiliated in the same way.
Now comes this curious program, which apparently places random passengers under surveillance for no reason at all. A waste of TSA resources? Absolutely — like so much else. But has Hamas-linked CAIR ever expressed support for any counterterror measure at all?
An update on this story. “TSA’s passenger tracking program leaves Metro Detroit Muslim community on edge,” by Ameera David, WXYZ, July 30, 2018 (thanks to Larry):
DETROIT (WXYZ) – A small team of air marshals, as part of the ‘Quiet Skies’ program, are looking for behaviors like abnormal awareness of surroundings, excessive fidgeting or perspiration, and rapid eye blinking, according to a bombshell report by the Boston Globe. And it’s leaving many travelers feeling unsettled.
“Is there a specific demographic you’re targeting, or is this random? That would be weird if someone was watching my habits on a plane,” said Antea Birchett, who was at Detroit Metro airport today, after flying back home from a trip.
But it’s the Muslim community in Metro Detroit that’s particularly worried.
“The Department of Homeland security has a history of racial profiling,” said Dawud Walid, Executive Director at the Michigan branch of CAIR, a Muslim civil rights organization….
“We’re not going to be looking at or targeting ordinary Americans, we’re going to be looking at people like Dawud Walid, [or] like someone else who has an Arabic or Muslim background. That’s what that sounds like to me,” said Walid….
Today, CAIR asked for the TSA to drop the program because it may single out law-abiding travelers for official harassment.