4 ms·

You have no idea how many people are traveling from Europe to the general direction of Syria or back. A vanishingly small percentage of these people pose a sec

You have no idea how many people are traveling from Europe to the general direction of Syria or back. A vanishingly small percentage of these people pose a security threat. Harassing people who read books about Syria is not going to make anyone safer.

golergka 10y ago
> Harassing Honest question: how is stopping someone for 15 minute of polite questioning is "harassing"?
- tmalsburg2 10y ago
  It doesn't matter for how long you are being stopped. Being suspected to be a terrorist just because you look vaguely Muslim (that was probably the other factor apart from the book) can be a shocking and live-changing experience. It tells you that you are not seen as a part of mainstream society in your home country (the woman is British). Given the HN demographics you are probably a white American male, so you probably never got into this situation and never will.
  - golergka 10y ago
    So, you call it "harassment" not because of nature of the action, but because of the reason behind the action?
  - jkot 10y ago
    I am from Prague, worked in Ireland for many years. I was detained on UK airports for about 20 hours in total.
    - throwaway-hn123 10y ago
      Just because you've decided to accept your treatment, doesn't make it right.
- mikeash 10y ago
  Let's say the police made a point of stopping all HN commenters whose usernames end in "a" for a polite 15-minute chat. Would you find this to be acceptable?
  - golergka 10y ago
    So, you call it "harassment" not because of nature of the action, but because of the reason behind the action?
    - mikeash 10y ago
      Of course. If the police stop and question you because they think you just killed a guy, that's completely reasonable. If they stop and question you because they don't like your hair, that's harassment.
      - golergka 10y ago
        Thanks for your reply. So, if you're being questioned but don't know why, it means that you don't know if you're being harassed or not? And if you don't find out the reaso later (as it usually happens with security checks), this episode goes down as Shroedinger cat of harrasments in your life story?
        mikeash 10y ago
        Yes. Sort of like if you keep bumping into the same guy at the grocery store, you don't know if you're being stalked or if it's just a wacky coincidence. For a more prominent example, every time a black American gets stopped for some minor traffic violation, he has to wonder if it's a legitimate stop, or if the officer actually pulled him over for Driving While Black, and whatever offense he came up with is just an excuse.
- throwaway-hn123 10y ago
  Polite questioning? You were there? Can you provide more details, please?
- yuubi 10y ago
  Unwanted attention from someone who won't take "leave me alone" for an answer normally counts, even in a situation where the target is allowed to walk out and knows that nobody involved in the unwanted attention is armed, even if the target knew for a fact in advance that the attention would end in 10 minutes.
  - golergka 10y ago
    And you don't think that police officers should be an exception to that definition?
    - yuubi 10y ago
      If they have reasonable suspicion that a crime happened or is about to, sure. However, reading a book other than, say, _How to hijack an airplane_ isn't that.
deleted 10y ago
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forgotpwtomain 10y ago
Harassing people getting their Nth drink at a bar about who is driving them home would though. Too bad that doesn't grip political support like buzzwords and slogans about the threat of terrorism.
jkot 10y ago
It is not just about terrorism. It is a normal procedure to question people who travel from that region. Most people traveling from Syria ask for asylum or have no valid travel documents, do not speak English and need some form of help. She could be someone who escaped ISIS and needed help. Some other example: 20 years ago UK border force would question everyone who was traveling from Czechia. Because 0.1% of travelers from there would ask for asylum.
- mikeash 10y ago
  It is? It looks like there are maybe two dozen direct flights per day between London and Istanbul, not even looking at other UK or Turkish cities. That's probably thousands of passengers per day. Do they all get questioned when they enter the UK?
- tmalsburg2 10y ago
  > Most people traveling from Syria ask for asylum The woman in question is a Biritsh citizen (see title) who most likely speaks perfect English. Also she was travelling from Turkey not Syria.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Brakenshire 10y ago
  > It is not just about terrorism. It is a normal procedure to question people who travel from that region. No, it isn't, you're off base on this. Turkey is one of most popular tourist destinations for the UK, a vanishingly small percentage of people who travel from Turkey are interviewed.

golergka 10y ago

> Harassing Honest question: how is stopping someone for 15 minute of polite questioning is "harassing"?

tmalsburg2 10y ago
It doesn't matter for how long you are being stopped. Being suspected to be a terrorist just because you look vaguely Muslim (that was probably the other factor apart from the book) can be a shocking and live-changing experience. It tells you that you are not seen as a part of mainstream society in your home country (the woman is British). Given the HN demographics you are probably a white American male, so you probably never got into this situation and never will.
- golergka 10y ago
  So, you call it "harassment" not because of nature of the action, but because of the reason behind the action?
- jkot 10y ago
  I am from Prague, worked in Ireland for many years. I was detained on UK airports for about 20 hours in total.
  - throwaway-hn123 10y ago
    Just because you've decided to accept your treatment, doesn't make it right.
mikeash 10y ago
Let's say the police made a point of stopping all HN commenters whose usernames end in "a" for a polite 15-minute chat. Would you find this to be acceptable?
- golergka 10y ago
  So, you call it "harassment" not because of nature of the action, but because of the reason behind the action?
  - mikeash 10y ago
    Of course. If the police stop and question you because they think you just killed a guy, that's completely reasonable. If they stop and question you because they don't like your hair, that's harassment.
    - golergka 10y ago
      Thanks for your reply. So, if you're being questioned but don't know why, it means that you don't know if you're being harassed or not? And if you don't find out the reaso later (as it usually happens with security checks), this episode goes down as Shroedinger cat of harrasments in your life story?
      - mikeash 10y ago
        Yes. Sort of like if you keep bumping into the same guy at the grocery store, you don't know if you're being stalked or if it's just a wacky coincidence. For a more prominent example, every time a black American gets stopped for some minor traffic violation, he has to wonder if it's a legitimate stop, or if the officer actually pulled him over for Driving While Black, and whatever offense he came up with is just an excuse.
throwaway-hn123 10y ago
Polite questioning? You were there? Can you provide more details, please?
yuubi 10y ago
Unwanted attention from someone who won't take "leave me alone" for an answer normally counts, even in a situation where the target is allowed to walk out and knows that nobody involved in the unwanted attention is armed, even if the target knew for a fact in advance that the attention would end in 10 minutes.
- golergka 10y ago
  And you don't think that police officers should be an exception to that definition?
  - yuubi 10y ago
    If they have reasonable suspicion that a crime happened or is about to, sure. However, reading a book other than, say, _How to hijack an airplane_ isn't that.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

forgotpwtomain 10y ago

Harassing people getting their Nth drink at a bar about who is driving them home would though. Too bad that doesn't grip political support like buzzwords and slogans about the threat of terrorism.

jkot 10y ago

It is not just about terrorism. It is a normal procedure to question people who travel from that region. Most people traveling from Syria ask for asylum or have no valid travel documents, do not speak English and need some form of help. She could be someone who escaped ISIS and needed help. Some other example: 20 years ago UK border force would question everyone who was traveling from Czechia. Because 0.1% of travelers from there would ask for asylum.

mikeash 10y ago
It is? It looks like there are maybe two dozen direct flights per day between London and Istanbul, not even looking at other UK or Turkish cities. That's probably thousands of passengers per day. Do they all get questioned when they enter the UK?
tmalsburg2 10y ago
> Most people traveling from Syria ask for asylum The woman in question is a Biritsh citizen (see title) who most likely speaks perfect English. Also she was travelling from Turkey not Syria.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Brakenshire 10y ago
> It is not just about terrorism. It is a normal procedure to question people who travel from that region. No, it isn't, you're off base on this. Turkey is one of most popular tourist destinations for the UK, a vanishingly small percentage of people who travel from Turkey are interviewed.