Paranoia concerning Muslim airline passengers is alive and well in 2009. Yesterday a Muslim family was removed from a flight when passengers overheard them talking about the "safest" part of the plane. Just your standard nervous flyer talk -- nothing about bombs or explosives. Another passenger heard them, reported it, and the family was taken off the flight and questioned.
Let's ignore the airline's response and the overall wrongheadedness for a moment and turn our attention to the people who reported the family. I believe very strongly that people should listen to their instincts, but believe equally strongly that these particular people didn't show a lick of sense. The system rewards people who fear first and think later by immediately removing suspicious passengers with no consequence to those reporting them. So here's what I propose: If people make a report, they also should be pulled from the plane for questioning. I don't know if that's the case now, but I suspect not. I bet that would significantly reduce the number of reports. If people are genuinely convinced, then they are doing the brave and responsible thing. But if they can talk themselves out of it because they need to take a flight, well, we've saved someone from being wrongfully accused. Yes, it will be inconvenient but I suspect that it's very inconvenient for the people who have to endure this.
