JEDDAH: In response to news that travelers to the US from 14 nations, including Saudi Arabia, will have to undergo extra security screenings, many American Muslims and frequent Saudi travelers to the US say the new Transport Screening Administration (TSA) rules amount to nothing less than religious and racial profiling.
“I don’t understand why Saudi Arabia was put on the list,” said Lama Mohammadi, a 26-year-old Saudi woman who was born in the US. “From what I have read, Saudi Arabia, as well as many other countries, was not involved in the incident which happened in America recently so why should travelers wishing to go to the US from the Kingdom have to go through extra security measures,” she said.
“I think the US has exaggerated the situation and that many Saudis and people from other countries on the list … will choose not to study or do business in the US as it happened after 9/11. People were beginning to warm up again to the US and resume ties, but this is causing relations to revert back to as they were before,” she added.
Others said President Barack Obama had vowed to improve relations with Muslims and Muslims nations in his Cairo speech six months ago and that the new measures indicate otherwise. “I’m really worried about what I will be put through in terms of security when my husband and I travel through the US to Canada next month,” said Saudi teacher Dina Ali, 35, who was born in the States.
“With Muslims being scrutinized it seems things have gone from bad to worse … we were told they were supposed to be getting better,” she said. Dina continued that the security measures are not only important but what is also crucial are the views of officials who implement them. “One really doesn’t know what to expect because they say they’re carrying out random checks and because a women is wearing a head scarf she is ‘randomly’ picked from the group for inspection … I think the rules should be applied to all or not at all,” she added.
Debbie Watkins, an American national who is married to a Saudi and has been living in the Kingdom for 30 years, said she feels annoyed to be labeled a “terror suspect” just because of her religious beliefs.
“I am a Muslim but America is my homeland and I believe no one should be subjected to humiliating types of technological screening or patted down for security. These measures are in violation of my personal privacy and should not be done for any reason,” she said.
Watkins recounted when her elderly mother was returning to the US from the Kingdom. “The things the security guards made my elderly mother go through horrified us. They made her remove her shoes, socks and winter scarf, and searched through our belongings and patted her down. The main thing I can remember from the ordeal is the look on her face. I hate to think my loved ones and myself would have to go through all of this again just to go home,” she said.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the new guidelines would disproportionately target American Muslims who have family or spiritual ties to the Islamic world and therefore amount to religious and ethnic profiling.
“Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Makkah will automatically be singled out for special security checks … that’s profiling,” he said, adding that while singling out travelers based on religion and nationality may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve security.
