For Arab passengers flying into the US in the wake on the 9/11 outrage, life has become particularly difficult.
(THE ARAB WEEKLY) DALLAS–Ask anyone old enough to remember travel before September 11, 2001 and you are likely to get a gauzy recollection of what flying was like.
There was security screening, but it was not anywhere near as intrusive. There were no long checkpoint lines. Passengers and their families could walk right to the gate together, postponing goodbye hugs until the last possible moment. Overall, an airport experience meant far less stress.
That all ended when four hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Centre towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
For Arab passengers flying into the US in the wake on the 9/11 outrage, life became particularly difficult with suspicious security and immigration officials, the latter never in any event renowned for their politeness, treating anyone with an Arab appearance as a likely terrorist.
This flowed over into anti-Muslim sentiment which has persisted in the years since, with Muslim passengers being bounced from flights merely because they “looked suspicious”.
This has given rise to the sardonic description “Flying while Muslim”, an echo of the “Driving while black” meme that satirised trigger-happy American cops pulling over African-American motorists.
Nevertheless, in the face of the subsequent fear and confusion, the worst terror attack on American soil led to increased and sometimes tension-filled security measures in airports across the world, aimed at preventing a repeat of that awful day.