Yesterday, I flew from Israel to Ireland for a conference. I'll be speaking on Wednesday at LavaCon and I'm very excited to be meeting new people, experiencing a new conference, learn and share knowledge with colleagues from so many different places.
The last few months have been hard for my mother and so we decided to plan a bit of a break and combine business and fun. She joined me and we flew together from Israel to London, on our way to Dublin.
The first flight was fine. Israel security is known to us. We are obviously not terrorists - but really. My mother is a grandmother of 11 and a great grandmother to 5 and counting. I am in my 50s, visibly religious and quite clearly unlikely to be carrying weapons or explosives (I don't even drink!). At most, I could have been used without knowing it and so I am asked if I packed my own bags, if they were out of my sight, if I was given anything.
The questions take longer when you are younger, when you are Muslim, when you are a male. Not politically correct but facts are facts and so, with apologies and a bit of embarrassment and a hope not to hurt the tens of thousands of Muslims who travel into and out of Israel on a daily basis, our security forces seek to quickly identify the few that pose a threat to the many, without insulting the many who pose no threat at all.
We flew British Airways. It was comfortable and service-oriented. We asked for wheelchair assistance. My mother has a problem. It seems at times like she knows how to run but not walk. You try walking with her and she's moving along really well, but because she insists on walking fast, she often gets tired and after a long flight and a short connection, we thought it would be better to ask for assistance in advance and so registered for this wonderful service that most airlines offer.
British Airways came through wonderfully. In Israel, service was fast and kind. In London, a funny and friendly Italian man was waiting for us just outside the door to the plane; he whisked us through to a mobile cart to drive us through the impossible-to-navigate Heathrow airport where we were gently handed over to another young man who took us through security and to the gate and onward to the plane. The only unpleasantness was London security.
I come from one of the most secure and security-oriented countries in the world. I have no patience for stupidity. And there can be no better word that describes security in places like London, Zurich, Rome...just stupid.
On our way to the security, I asked about the security check and was told that my mother, who is a proud and strong 80 years old, would have to remove her shoes if she was in the wheelchair. She has these really pretty sandals, two strips of leather across her foot and mostly open that she bought for this trip. She decided to walk through the security check, saving the inconvenience of removing her shoes. I had worn canvas shoes, easily removed and replaced but also clearly not something that would present any security issue.
As I dealt with the bags, removing my computer and her iPad from the backpacks to place in one plastic bin, sweater and shawl and pocketbook in another, plastic bag of cosmetics in one place, backpack and another pocketbook in yet another, my mother and the British Airways assistant approached the security check. I glanced over and watched as they made her stand in the TSA-like scanner.
She was then frisked, told to remove her shoes, and her chair was swabbed for explosives. This 80 year old woman with white hair that had arrived to security in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, having loaded my bags, I was told to walk through a metal detector. I did and then walked to the other side to get the bags. I was not searched. I did not remove my shoes. I was not asked any questions.
How many 80-year-old Jewish great-grandmothers from Israel have blown up planes? I asked the security men - astounded at how they were treating my mother. "We check everyone equally," he told me.
What I didn't say but wanted to, was any or all of the following:
The last few months have been hard for my mother and so we decided to plan a bit of a break and combine business and fun. She joined me and we flew together from Israel to London, on our way to Dublin.
The first flight was fine. Israel security is known to us. We are obviously not terrorists - but really. My mother is a grandmother of 11 and a great grandmother to 5 and counting. I am in my 50s, visibly religious and quite clearly unlikely to be carrying weapons or explosives (I don't even drink!). At most, I could have been used without knowing it and so I am asked if I packed my own bags, if they were out of my sight, if I was given anything.
The questions take longer when you are younger, when you are Muslim, when you are a male. Not politically correct but facts are facts and so, with apologies and a bit of embarrassment and a hope not to hurt the tens of thousands of Muslims who travel into and out of Israel on a daily basis, our security forces seek to quickly identify the few that pose a threat to the many, without insulting the many who pose no threat at all.
We flew British Airways. It was comfortable and service-oriented. We asked for wheelchair assistance. My mother has a problem. It seems at times like she knows how to run but not walk. You try walking with her and she's moving along really well, but because she insists on walking fast, she often gets tired and after a long flight and a short connection, we thought it would be better to ask for assistance in advance and so registered for this wonderful service that most airlines offer.
British Airways came through wonderfully. In Israel, service was fast and kind. In London, a funny and friendly Italian man was waiting for us just outside the door to the plane; he whisked us through to a mobile cart to drive us through the impossible-to-navigate Heathrow airport where we were gently handed over to another young man who took us through security and to the gate and onward to the plane. The only unpleasantness was London security.
I come from one of the most secure and security-oriented countries in the world. I have no patience for stupidity. And there can be no better word that describes security in places like London, Zurich, Rome...just stupid.
On our way to the security, I asked about the security check and was told that my mother, who is a proud and strong 80 years old, would have to remove her shoes if she was in the wheelchair. She has these really pretty sandals, two strips of leather across her foot and mostly open that she bought for this trip. She decided to walk through the security check, saving the inconvenience of removing her shoes. I had worn canvas shoes, easily removed and replaced but also clearly not something that would present any security issue.As I dealt with the bags, removing my computer and her iPad from the backpacks to place in one plastic bin, sweater and shawl and pocketbook in another, plastic bag of cosmetics in one place, backpack and another pocketbook in yet another, my mother and the British Airways assistant approached the security check. I glanced over and watched as they made her stand in the TSA-like scanner.
She was then frisked, told to remove her shoes, and her chair was swabbed for explosives. This 80 year old woman with white hair that had arrived to security in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, having loaded my bags, I was told to walk through a metal detector. I did and then walked to the other side to get the bags. I was not searched. I did not remove my shoes. I was not asked any questions.
How many 80-year-old Jewish great-grandmothers from Israel have blown up planes? I asked the security men - astounded at how they were treating my mother. "We check everyone equally," he told me.
What I didn't say but wanted to, was any or all of the following:
- When you check everyone, you check no one.
- You are an idiot. LOOK. Use the senses that God gave you.
- Equally? Did you check me equally?
What I did say was that she clearly doesn't present any threat. I told him that she was 80 years old. He was unmoved. He's told to check people and so that's what he does. They are all the same to him. Pat here, swab there. Get to the next person; there's a long line.
So long as European security continues to focus on how much toothpaste you have and whether that 90% empty bottle of water in a bottle that can hold 250 ml. poses a major threat to European security, buses and trains will continue to be blown up in London, ramming attacks will continue in France and in Germany, bombs will explode in Belgium, and rifles will be fired at innocent people in Turkey.
There are people who approach airports and present a clear threat - but they aren't 80 years old, they aren't great grandmothers wearing OPEN sandals with two strips of leather. They aren't Jewish. They aren't Israeli.
Yes, that's called ethnic profiling - and it works. Stop searching those who do not need to be searched. Stop worrying about the toothpaste. In Belgium, they got three BOMBS into two different airports. In Turkey - they got GUNS in.
It is impossible to check everyone because after a while, the "checkers" focus on a series of steps rather than that which is suspicious. They swab, they look for bottles over 100 ml....and they miss so much more.
Stop checking 80 year olds. Stop checking everyone and LOOK. THINK.
Insulting? Maybe, but it will save lives. I'd rather you insult a bunch of people than bury a bunch of others.
It's not just European security. The security in the USA is just as stupidly inclusive. Flying back from Portland,Oregon to Israel last week via Boston, our first flight was at 9:30 on a Sunday morning, requiring us to leave our hotel before they started serving breakfast. In my backpack I had a bagel and a yoghurt for my breakfast. I was told I could either throw out the yoghurt or retrace my steps, eat it, and then repeat the security check!!
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