Muslims Exempt from TSA Screening?
I did the research, so you don’t have to! :)
The latest email going around has been about how Muslims are going to be exempt from TSA screening procedures for religious reasons. The TSA has explicitly said that NO ONE is exempt from searches multiple times, but for some reason this shit still spreads.
It looks like the story originated from CAIR’s website. CAIR is the Council on American-Islamic Relations and they posted an article about the new TSA screening procedures (like many people are doing these days). There’s no judge, there’s no TSA or government involvement, it’s an article written by a private non-profit organization.
http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?ArticleID=26681
The article goes on to describe what your rights are during the screening process and what to do. In my opinion, the article is being mis-read and blown out of context. There are two separate ideas discussed in the article and they’re being combined and presented as one argument.
The article states that if you opt out of the full body scan, you have the right to have your pat down done in private, by someone of the same sex, etc… etc… All the things that most people are posting about lately. Then it goes on to describe what women who wear a hijab (head scarf) can do. A hijab is considered sacred and is not supposed to be removed, so Muslim women who wear them will wear them through the security screening. It states that if you are asked to go through the body scanner or have a pat down BECAUSE of the hijab, that you are supposed to remind the screener that they are ONLY supposed to search the hijab and not a full body search. This does not apply to if they were picked for a random search, it ONLY applies to if they were picked because they wanted to further search the hijab. It also says that you can offer an alternative of rubbing your hands on the hijab and having the screener scan them for chemical traces. But suggesting it doesn’t mean the TSA has to do it, the TSA has every right to refuse that option and do a pat down of the hijab instead.
It looks like people are missing the “If you are selected for secondary screening after you go through the metal detector and it does not go off, and “sss” is not written on your boarding pass, ask the TSA officer if the reason you are being selected is because of your head scarf. ” and are basically combining it with the previous section about random full body searches and coming to the incorrect conclusion that “Muslim women who wear hijabs are not subject to full body searches”. Then through misquotes, reposts, and general fear of Islam, it becomes “an activist judge is making Muslims exempt from TSA screenings because Obama is a Muslim!”
The article was picked up by cnsnews.com (a conservative website) and every time it is posted and reposted somewhere, it’s changed just a little bit until it becomes nothing but lies.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/muslim-group-advises-women-wearing-hijab
It like the old telephone game kids play. One kid whispers into another’s ear “Joe like orange jelly beans while playing in the blue water of summer” and as the whisper goes around the room, by the time it get to the last person it’s become “Summer likes orange water”.
It’s a matter of reading comprehension and going back to the source. If you receive an email on this subject please don’t keep spreading the lie.
