Earth To Everyone: We’re Not Fighting The Jews
This is a Tefillin. A Tefillin is “a set of small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Bible, with leather straps dyed black on one side, and worn by observant Jewish men during weekday morning prayers.” It’s not a bomb. Not even an underwear bomb. We would like to remind everyone that observant Jews did not fly the planes into the towers, nor were they, as a racially profiled group, thrown into Gitmo just because they looked the part, thereby creating — voila! — actual terrorists. No, they’re just Jewish guys, and a lot of them are really, really cool. No reason to ground the plane at PHL, quarantine the “survivors,” and freak everybody the hell out.
January 21st, 2010 at 3:18 pm
my ex-wife is a flight attendant. She had a guy bust those out and start praying in the middle of a flight. She had no clue what the hell was going on…She had worked prior as a psychiatric nurse and had no doubt that the guy was totally insane.
MANY people have no idea what those things are–and some may have a different view of Tifillin the first time they see them for real. Have you ever seen the movie “Pi”??? Not everybody rocking those are “really, really cool!”
We already had an MIT student get busted for wearing an LED programming project at an airport, are you surprised that someone who looks like they are wearing a bunch of electrical tape and praying in a foreign language that sounds remarkably like Arabic gets hassled too???
January 21st, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Nor are we fighting the sikhs or persians but they still get hassled. But really, really, in this day and age what kind of clown breaks this thing out for morning prayers as soon as the plane is airborne? It’s a friggin’ one hour flight.
January 21st, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Orthodox Jews can be radicals, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin#Assassination_and_aftermath
Not that they would have any reason to blow up a US plane, or that Tefillinitis is justified, just sayin’.
January 21st, 2010 at 4:00 pm
“Earth To Everyone: We’re Not Fighting The Jews.” That’s what the liberal media would want you to believe, isn’t it?
– jburnside.
January 21st, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Oh, I see, we’re not at war with the Jews. Therefore we should pay absolutely no attention or question a person that is strapping strange-looking boxes that 99% of the population wouldn’t recognize to his arms and head.
Also, apparently “not fighting” a specific country/religion/ideology precludes ALL individuals of that country/religion/ideology of doing anything crazy. This is some interesting logic you’re utilizing there.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
@sonofdad: Look: If it’s your job to know what kind of esoteric items people of certain faiths or ethnic backgrounds might bring onto airplanes — and it is the job of MANY — you should know that Orthodox Jewish guys sometimes carry these jawns around. Is that crazy?
January 21st, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Most people do not know what these are. I’m not Jewish, but I have always lived near communities with large Jewish populations, and I’ve seen these in person maybe twice in my life. They do look like they’re wrapped in electrical tape, which you are not allowed to use on things that get sent through the mail because it can mask explosives.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:56 pm
@tips: No, it’s not crazy. But I mean, c’mon, these are not exactly commmon items. I detest the propensity to hit the panic button as soon as something unusual is seen or heard as much as the next guy, but I can also see how these objects could cause serious concern. However, in light of your previous response, I propose that all flight crews immediately receive training on “esoteric items people of certain faiths or ethnic backgrounds might bring onto airplanes”. It even has a nice ring to it.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:50 am
if it wasn’t for stupid adam and eve, we’d all be flying around naked with nowhere to hide bombs. blame them.
January 24th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
We are talking about Jed Clampett Airways here. So no, I’m not surprised. And while a tefillin is not a common item, I would hope that airline personnel would have some sort of training to help them discern between a religious article and a threat. But it seems we won’t feel truly safe until we’re all in a cage.