It's reported in the UK news that there was a problem on
a flight from Britain to Spain. It seems that as people were
boarding the plane they noticed two young men who they took
to be Muslims and, to make a long story short , they got a bit
nervous and decided to leave the plane.
They said they wouldn't fly with these men on board. As a
result the men had to get off and were questioned and then
had to get a later flight.
Now the reaction to all of this was , from some sections of the
media, that this was a case of racism or something of that sort.
Also that it showed the dangers of 'profiling' and what it
could lead to etc. etc.
But this episode had nothing to do with racism or prejudice or
anything of that kind. As it transpired , the men in question were
'a bit rought looking' and had 'quite bulky clothing' on them
and were 'asian' in appearance so it was understandable that some
people might get a bit scared. This also happened the day after
reports came out about various items ( guns / terrorist related
items and videos) being found in some wooded areas in the UK.
Now I don't know if the men who were on that plane were in fact
Muslims but I do know that any Muslim who might have been on
that flight would have been just as wary of them as you or I.
It's unfortunate for the men in question that they had all this
visited upon them but it was quite understandable and as I said
had nothing to do with' irrational fears ' or prejudice'.
We all , to a greater of lesser degree , judge people by their appearence.
We do it every day of the week. And sometimes of course we get it wrong.
And probably cause some offence. We 'profile' people and make judgements
often with little actual 'evidence'. But this is normal and nessesary.
And the blame for all this belongs to those who would murder for
some twisted superstition.