...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Random harvest: Are you an Arab-Canadian who’s been “randomly profiled” during the course of your travels?  Don’t get mad; get even. The Canadian Arab Federation’s latest newsletter tells you how:

5-Participants Sought For Research Project on Traveller Surveillance

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) is conducting a research project on the surveillance of travellers. Have you been "randomly" stopped, searched and interrogated when attempting to cross the border although you've never been charged or convicted of any crime? Do you feel you’ve been unfairly targeted or suspect being profiled based on religion or ethnicity? If so, The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) wants to hear your story. The ICLMG along with CAIR-CAN have set up this website: www.travelwatchlist.ca to explain this research project. The project's aim is to document the number of people who believe they have been mistakenly or unfairly targeted, and the nature of the incident. Its purpose is also to investigate and generate better public understanding of the practices, programs and systems used to screen travellers at Canadian airports and at Canada/U.S. border crossings, in order to assess the scope and depth of their concrete impacts on privacy rights and mobility rights. Contact www.travelwatchlist.ca; by regular mail, or toll-free at: 1-866-613-0778 (in Montreal area: 514-484-2020). See also: www.surveillancedesvoyageurs.ca This is a confidential study. The project will not divulge your identity or any of your personal information without your explicit consent.

It’s obvious that one man’s “random profiling” is another man’s security efforts aimed at preventing Islamic terrorists from boarding large aircraft and blowing them—and their occupants, and the occupants of famous landmarks—up. But the “randomly profiled” have twigged to the fact that, in a multishmulti culture of victimhood, an argument can be made that “hurt feelings” and “embarrassment” are numero uno, and therefore trump common sense concerns over security. (Hey, it ain’t Inuit grandmas and Hawaiian hula dancers trying to sneak on board with exploding shoes and shampoo bottles. And if they were trying to sneak on board, you can be sure they, too, would be subjected to “random profiling”.)

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:55 | link | comments

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