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About Ari Bussel In the series "Postcards from Israel,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel’s on the ground, Zager’s counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related - the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts - and so is this "point - counter-point” presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.

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Past Articles Let the People Suffer Coexistence: Building Unsustainable Bridges Gone in a Snap: Will Israel Be Saved? Israel’s Audacity of Being The Elusive Peace Ifs, Ands & Buts Disillusionment Why Worry? Middle East Mirage The End of Times Paradigm Shift The Occupation The Absurdity of Existence A Holy War: Outside the Walls of the Temple Mount A Holy War: The Al Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount The Last Game Delegitimization from Within The Slaughter of Israel Who Would Stand By Israel Israel Hijacked A Well Coordinated Attack Stand & Speak Out Keep the Course The Perfect Recipe Strange Bunch These Jewish People Once They Burned Books Indicators of Our Time Candles of Darkness Israel, A Nation Lost Israel, December 1, 2009 Blaming America Exporting Terror The Report Repentance Cry Palestine, Stand Proud Israel Fighting for Israel, But Why? Stop Blaming the Messenger A Changing Reality Fighting for Our Country, Fighting for our Lives The Second Disengagement

Ari Bussel
Let the People Suffer
December 2, 2010

Elected officials seem to be exempt from what we, commoners, have to endure. They have their own health plan, and will not subjugate themselves or their family members to what they force down our throats.

They will not be patted down at airports, for they go via security points unchecked.

But you and—more often than not—I have to endure long waits at the airports and unpleasant TSA officials who do not think – the extent of their training is to follow procedures.

They are not allowed to profile, i.e. common sense is out. They will stop a person who triggered an alarm (because of a metal embedded due to surgery inside the person, or tubes collecting urine or other liquids, or even an implant that releases a chemical on a regular basis as part of chemotherapy or other treatment).

Exactly these people need to undergo a humiliating search, "for the safety and security of our country.”

Some people feel uncomfortable with their own doctor, whom they have known from childhood, when it comes to undressing or undergoing certain checks (prostate for men, gynecology for women).

But now it is all about to change: We are supposed to feel comfortable allowing typically untrained and mediocre "professionals” touch us in our most private areas. It used to be "take your belt and shoes off, laptop out and turned on.” Now it will be: "Form a line and get ready to undress. No laughs, giggles or jokes – you are next!”

Did any one think these pat-downs would be offensive to Muslims, when men and women are together?

In Israel, screeners look at the facial expressions of a person, the automatic response to simple, seemingly innocent and unrelated, questions, sweat or other nervous signs or odd behavior.

Normally, very young children, the elderly and high-ranking officials are not scrutinized as closely as would an Arab male between the ages of 15-30.

Irrespective of who is being screened, it is done with the utmost professionalism and purpose, in Israel that is. It is not done to humiliate or entrap, nor is it a favorite pastime and a source of stories to be told later. Rather, it is a very serious mission, to protect those entering a certain location, be it a shopping mall, an event with the Prime Minister, a hotel, a restaurant, an airport or a plane. Its purpose: To keep terrorists out. This is the last line of defense.

If one were to listen to the TSA or the Secretary of Homeland Security, invasive pat-downs will continue. Much like all previous steps, from preventing access to confiscating sharp objects and liquid containers (like bottles of water or baby milk), they are completely unnecessary and ineffective.

Terrorists normally do not go back to "tried and tested methods.” Instead, they devise and think of new, simpler-than-before ways to inflict terror. This was the case on September 11th, later with the shoe bomber and most recently with the express courier shipments. In between there were even envelopes laced with some white powder and a sharp shooter on a very busy freeway that almost brought the country to a stand still.

Notice, the common denominator is simplicity. Things that are readily available or instruments one did not think about before – a pencil, a utensil, a bottle of water. Copycatting is not for terrorists, rather for lunatics.

So we superimpose protective systems that do little if anything and predominantly make our lives more complicated, and unnecessarily so. In the meantime, almost without exception, the terrorists who pray for Allah and are part of what the US President calls a "Peaceful Religion” are working on the next attack, bigger and more devastating than any before.

So they win. Because to thwart terrorist attacks we need to read the signs, recognize the threat and react accordingly. We need to be in Mosques and listen to chatter. We need to infiltrate their very compartmentalized structures and try to destroy them. We need to have a swift, immediate and severe punishment for those caught and those who harbor and assist them.

We do none of the above. Not when the President and his Homeland Security apparatus are concerned with "what would the Muslims think” and "how will they react?” Not when Napolitano blames us for opting out of long lines and delays while she advocates pluralism, tolerance and acceptance at a news conference overlooking those being searched unnecessarily. Certainly not when political correctness outweighs human lives and safety.

It is time to subject our elected officials and the Administration to the very same treatment we receive. Electing them was not an exemption-from-reality card. Maybe then those at the helm will understand how futile their efforts are. In the meantime, the terrorists are laughing until it hurts: These stupid Americans!

Better yet, let us wait until the Islamists, those "fringe, abnormal, miniscule minority of Muslims,” view the pat-downs as offensive to their religion. Will the President then rush to apologize and change the system? Will they be allowed to opt out of the screening procedures? The irony is overwhelmingly hilarious. We must not, after all, offend our Muslim brothers and sisters, those members of the peaceful religion known as Islam.

Once the vast majority of Muslims realize they are in danger too, things may change. When our enemy becomes their enemy, a new order will emerge. Muslims will not be offended by profiling or standing like the rest of us in long lines, they will understand the extra scrutiny and encourage it. They will cooperate and volunteer to identify suspects from within rather than hinder the efforts of those trying to protect us.

Most importantly, excusing Muslims for all the wrong reasons will become null and void – forcing all of us, from the President on down, to take the threat much more seriously.

Until then, get ready to take your clothes off, be touched in all places private and be told it is all for your own security and that of the traveling public.