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Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano speaks during a news conference regarding transportation security prior to the holiday travel season at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on November 15, 2010. Also discussed was the If You See Something Say Something campaign which urges the public to report things that seem out of place. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg Photo via Newscom
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has avoided answering a question about whether hijab-wearing Muslim women would be given the same security X-rays – or full-body pat-downs – as other passengers.
The issue of the invasion of privacy created by the newly enhanced procedures – passengers are given a choice of an X-ray that essentially reveals their nude body for a TSA agent to review or a full-body pat-down that includes touching private body areas – has been raging for the last few days.
Join thousands of others in a petition demanding action against the intrusive airport screening procedures implemented by Janet Napolitano and send a letter to Congress, President Obama and others telling them exactly what you think about the issue.
It was at a news conference that Napolitano was asked by CNSNews.com, "On the pat-downs, CAIR has recommended that Muslim women wearing hijabs refuse to go through the full body pat-downs before board plans. Will you insist that they do go through full body pat-downs before boarding planes?"
Napolitano didn't answer the question. Instead she talked about the need to keep powders and gels and liquids off passenger jets.
What she did say was, "We are doing what we need to do to protect the traveling public and adjustments will be made where they need to be made."
She continued, "With respect to that particular issue, I think there will be more to come."
The report reported she said, "This is being done in recognizing that we all have a collective role in our security and we all know and can recognize that there are threats and risks that have been articulated by those who seek to harm the United States, particularly in the aviation environment. And, so, you know, what we are doing is designed to really be risk based, to be intelligence based, to be layered like I said, when you get to the airport at that screening center, that's really – these TSOs are really the last line of protection we have for the aircraft and that's the way we're going to evaluate things."
At a forum for ABC's "The View," was the one-word question, "Adjustments"?
From a second contributor, Harleywoman68, "I believe EVERYONE should have to go through. Safety is my first priority."
And from a third came, "Not sure what 'adjustments' need to be made. Muslim women need to be subjected to the same exact search as Christian or Jewish women."
WND reported several days ago how CAIR, the Islamic group that was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a terror-funding case, was telling Muslim women how to instruct Transportation Security Administration agents at airport checkpoints.
The advisory by the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes amid controversial new requirements set by the TSA for passengers traveling by air either to submit to a nude full-body scan or have a full pat-down that includes private parts of the body.
Now, according to CAIR, those procedures may be for others but not necessarily for Muslim woman.
"If you opt out of the full-image body scanner, you have the right to request that the manual search be conducted in private," CAIR said on its website. "It is your right to be screened by an officer of the same gender. The TSA states in its Head-to-Toe Screening Policies: 'It is TSA's policy that passengers should be screened by an officer of the same gender in a professional, respectful manner.'"
Further, the website said, "If you experience any disturbing incidents with the new pat-down procedures, particularly if you feel you have been subjected to religious or racial profiling, harassment or unfair treatment, immediately file a complaint with the TSA."
The Fiqh Council of North America, an association of Muslims who interpret Islamic law, previously warned Muslims against being screened by the X-ray machines that reveal a graphically nude image.
That, the council said, is "against the teachings of Islam, natural law and all religions and cultures that stand for decency and modesty. … It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women.
"The Quran has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts. Human beings are urged to be modest in their dress. See Holy Quran, 7:26-27; 24:300-31; 33:59."
But it was just last year, the Daily Mail of London reported, when authorities were hunting for associates of Muslim women suspected of detonating two bombs in the Russian subways, killing nearly 40 people.
Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia's Federal Security Service, explained in last winter's attack that the terrorists were likely to have been "black widows," Muslim women radicalized by the conflict in the North Caucasus.
United Press International reported just months ago a female suicide bomber detonated an explosion that killed 54 people in Baghdad. U.S. authorities had warned just days earlier that female kamikazes, possibly linked to al-Qaida, also may attempt to attack American cities.
The move toward Islamist groups using woman in suicide missions is growing, despite the religion's statements that Muslim women should not be warriors.
However, CAIR said that Muslim women who wear the hijab, the head and neck covering, have additional instructions for dealing with TSA officials.
"If you are selected for secondary screening after you go through the metal detector and it does not go off, and 'sss' is not written on your boarding pass, ask the TSA officer if the reason you are being selected is because of your head scarf," instructs CAIR. "In this situation, you may be asked to submit to a pat-down or to go through a full body scanner. If you are selected for the scanner, you may ask to go through a pat-down instead.
"Before you are patted down, you should remind the TSA officer that they are only supposed to pat down the area in question, in this scenario, your head and neck. They SHOULD NOT subject you to a full-body or partial-body pat-down," the instructions continued. "You may ask to be taken to a private room for the pat-down procedure. Instead of the pat-down, you can always request to pat down your own scarf, including head and neck area, and have the officers perform a chemical swipe of your hands."
The CAIR "travel advisory" also said the TSA procedures are "much more intrusive" and that passengers have reported "feeling humiliated."
CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial in Texas in 2008.
