Firing Muslims

The news that officials have dismissed 70 muslim employees from Charles de Gaulle airport has been around for a day or so, but I hadn't really focused on it. Here's some of what the UK's Independent has to say:

Seventy two employees of Paris's main airport have lost their security clearance after an anti-terrorism investigation that they posed a security risk.

Trade unions at Charles de Gaulle airport are threatening to go on strike over the issue, which they say amounts to religious discrimination. They claim the workers were targeted because they are Muslims.

The employees - mainly aircraft cleaners or baggage handlers - are suspected by France's anti-terrorism co-ordination unit, Uclat, of having links with radical Islam, or of attending terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

... Declining to give details of the suspicions against the employees, M. Lebrot rejected the claims of discrimination. "Mr or Mrs X who goes to pray in a mosque and travels to Mecca for the pilgrimage is not a problem for us. But we will ask questions if we find someone who has spent his holidays several times in Pakistan," he said.'

Now, I guess I have no problem with removing the security clearance and investigating those who are legitimately suspected of attending terrorist training camps, but really, being a Muslim and taking a couple of trips to Pakistan is not sufficient basis for such suspicions. Furthermore, those suspected should be put on paid leave and given a right to a hearing before they are summarily dismissed.

The reason I bring this up is that I believe we are doing the same kinds of things here in the U.S. with precisely the same lack of evidence.

After all, people do travel to Pakistan for reasons other than attending terrorist training camps. Many have family or friends there. [And, by the way, having a friend, family member or acquaintance who happens to be a "radical" Muslim is not sufficient evidence of guilt either]. Others may simply want to travel there. Still others may have legitimate business interests.

Unfortunately, a lot of people in this country would like to just jail or deport every Muslim or Arabic looking person. "After all," many say, "the terrorists are overwhelmingly Muslim. If we get rid of them all, we've gotten rid of terrorists."

Yes, Virginia, the terrorists may be overwhelmingly Muslim (certainly a contestable proposition, given Oklahoma City) but Muslims are not overwhelmingly terrorists. Therein lies the difference. Of course, Bush is working hard to make all Muslims into terrorists (defined by Bush as anti-American, by which he means anti-Bush), and he may just succeed.