I stood in line for the plane, among dozens of large and relaxed Americans. Such are the rulers of the world. Then—"Mr. Cesena," the speaker crackled in New Orleans-accented English, "please step aside for a random check."
I stood in line for the plane, among dozens of large and relaxed Americans. Such are the rulers of the world. Then—"Mr. Cesena," the speaker crackled in New Orleans-accented English, "please step aside for a random check."
A few dozen pairs of eyes glanced in my direction with suspicion and concern, being the only foreigner in line. Everyone knows there is no such thing as a random check at the airport. If you are called aside like that just out of the blue, there is a reason for it. And if it is not so, then the randomization method of the Americans is the worst method in the world, because in all three domestic flights I took in the last few days, I was called aside for a random check. A combination of a father born in Egypt, probably, and a mother born in Israel - it's hard to say which is more serious.
I presented myself to the security man, prepared and practiced in the inspection routine, and placed my backpack on the table. As a seasoned survivor of intrusive security checks, I had pre-dressed in a pair of baggy pants without a belt and an easy-to-take off t-shirt. I moved any object that could be interpreted as a weapon into the suitcase. Even the glass perfume bottle I bought in the United States, which for some reason was shaped like a hand grenade, I wrapped in a towel and put in...
oh Woe.
"Just a minute," I blurted out, as the dark-skinned examiner reached for the zipper. He stopped and stared at me suspiciously from under his casket. The neurons in my brain went into full throttle. what to do now?
"Have you ever thought that background checks might not be the best idea for catching terrorists?" I opened slowly. He raised an eyebrow. His hands continued to advance with excruciating slowness towards the zipper. I hurried on. "Yes, I know that it is very intuitive to focus attention on anyone who grows a long beard, wears a headdress or is named Muhammad. But very recently, one mathematician tried to run all the calculations, and discovered that it was actually a pretty bad idea."
The guard blinked. Math does that to people. I took advantage of the comparative advantage and continued. "As a starting point, he assumed that most people who look, sound, or are documented as having Middle Eastern origin are not really terrorists. But the security authorities at the airports turn them in before every flight for a security check, even though they are innocent. A significant part of the tests concentrates on them, instead of them being distributed in a truly random manner, with a greater chance of locating the real terrorists."
He shrugged and opened the bag. I could see that the theory didn't make sense to him. Likely. Mathematical models can sometimes yield strange insights, but the model was published in one of the top scientific journals, PNAS, after rigorous peer review. His hand began to fumble inside. I decided to use the big guns.
"It's clear to you that what you're doing now is far from being politically correct, right?" I tried to talk about his heart. "Think how people like me feel who go through an increased security check every time we get on a plane. Don't you understand that this hurts us, shames us? Does this make us less connected to the state?"
His hand stopped suddenly, and a strange look came over his face. I could see he was feeling some form inside the bag. Then he quickly pulled out the suspicious object, wrapped in a thin towel and in a shape most inappropriate for the current situation.
"Okay, wait, I admit that the origin check is still running!" I was startled, in view of the horrified looks of everyone else in the queue, who were watching the drama from the side. "But the new model suggests doing it better, using the square root method! If people of a certain origin are nine times more likely to be terrorists, it would be best to remove three times as many of them from the queue at every security check! You convinced me!"
And everything else I had to explain to the airport investigators. No, not the academic kind. far from it.
But other than that, have you ever smelled a controlled explosion of a perfume bottle?
Roi Cezana is finishing a doctorate in nanotechnology at the Technion, writes on popular science topics and is the owner of the blog "Other Science"
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10 תגובות
R.H. Refai.M = Small Troll
Do not feed the troll
A - It doesn't mean anything. I know some bad officers. And also those who defected from the ranks of the IDF because of an ideology similar to the one you present.
B - and who are the 'writers of the procedures'? If you knew then you would know that they are security personnel such as: the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Internal Security, policemen and IDF officers in certain ranks, and in certain positions and a few more.
Besides, if you really are an officer and you go against the safety procedures at the National Security Agency - the procedures seem too strict to you -
So it just shows what a bad officer you are, and I hope you don't 'get' to participate in wars anymore - not because of the concern for your safety, but because of the concern for the safety of the IDF soldiers under your command.
You are a violent and blunt person, not worth wasting time,
A. You should know that I am an officer in the reserves and unfortunately I was privileged to take part in several wars as an officer.
B. The statement is not against the security personnel, it is against the writers of the procedures, the only mistake I said is the term "law" and not "procedure".
If you were my son I would give you two caps and kick you out of the house so you learn a lesson.
But luckily you are not my son. As a citizen of this country, you criticize it harshly (you wrote: "Every Arab gets a minimum of a yellow sticker, racism in the name of Israel's security is our law"). Of course you do, and you think you're right. The problem is that you try to convince others that what you said is true - while what you said is not true.
Furthermore, since you spoke harshly against Israeli security personnel, I thought it appropriate to respond to you in the same way.
I think you should apologize to those people who keep us safe (yes yes also for *** like you).
"I would say you are the racist. Your speaking out against your people earns you the title of fifth brother-in-law. Piece of junk."
If you were my son I would wash your mouth out with soap!
Lior Z.
racism?
If these Arabs did not carry out terrorist attacks in all kinds of places in the world, then there would be no need to check them thoroughly. To remind you that security checks are also carried out for Arabs in other parts of the world, is this also racism in your opinion?
I would say you are the racist. Your speaking out against your people earns you the title of fifth brother-in-law. Piece of junk.
Back to Lior...
If it is about an Arab male who flies alone and is between the ages of 17 and 35... yes! And talk to the security inspectors in Israel, every Arab gets at least a yellow sticker, racism in the name of Israel's security is a law with us (unfortunately)
Lelior - do you think that every Arab who passes through Netbag has a mirror under his anus??
Where do these inventions come from?
And on a side note to the article - according to this logic, when developing a cure for cancer, it's not worth researching methods to target cancer cells, but it's better to choose cells randomly?
What is true for America is not necessarily true for Israel, and it is also impossible to prevent 100% of terrorist acts. Regarding the attack on the twin buildings... who would have thought
Bad writing, the math is not at an amazing level, and the punch line...weak.
By the way, what do you think every Israeli Arab feels when we stop here in Netbag? A mirror under the anus is not fun for anyone!
In a little while you would have told him that it was only after these humiliating checks that you are considering becoming a terrorist...:)
And seriously, that Norwegian would never be taken for a random check.