The rumor, which appeared in a local newspaper and fueled outrage on Saudi social networking sites, claimed the TSA informed GACA of new security measures would be directed at Saudis. The measures allegedly included not getting up to use the bathroom for an hour before arrival, not informing passengers of the plane’s location and not allowing passengers to have items in their laps, including blankets, prior to arrival.
The rumor refers to emergency rules implemented on all US-bound flights by the TSA shortly after the Dec. 25 attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound trans-Atlantic flight.
But under a different set of heightened security measures, all passengers from Saudi Arabia and 13 other countries, regardless of their nationalities, are subject to extra body pat-downs and advanced screening of bags before boarding US-bound flights.
The news sparked fury on Saudi cyberspace.“We wish to register our profound disappointment with this new policy. These new regulations are an insult to our entire nation and all of its citizens, as they stigmatize all of us as potential terrorists,” said an open letter from the Saudi Liberal Network forum on Facebook.
However, Saudis who have flown recently to and from the US said they didn’t notice anything different in the security measures.
Maha Ahmed, a 24-year-old Saudi studying in the US state of Missouri, returned to class after a winter visit home and said she didn’t experience any new measures. “It was a regular flight,” she said.
Roba Hassan, who is studying in Tennessee said she too was sent back in January and experienced nothing out of the ordinary.
“Everything went smoothly,” she said.
