French Security Now Spooked by Very Religious Muslim Airport Staff
They keep Qurans in their lockers. Doesn't everybody?
6.7.2016
They are devout Muslims. So devout, in fact, that they refuse
to trim their beards, shake hands with female colleagues, pray at
"Salafist" mosques (FYI, Salafism is the "really radical" strain of Islam) and even keep copies of the Quran in their employee lockers.
All this in and of itself is disturbing. More disturbing, however, is the fact that the religious folk in question work at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
After the Paris terror attacks last January and November, all Muslim staff at French airports are now to undergo stricter vetting procedures. The Middle East Eye reports that the new screenings are revealing some rather unsettling truths:
Perhaps with Salafists working at major airports, it's more about the fact that they are in a position to plant a bomb or other device themselves.
But you know, it's apparently "racist" to profile passengers going through airport security, so how could we expect airport staffers to be treated any differently?
All this in and of itself is disturbing. More disturbing, however, is the fact that the religious folk in question work at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
After the Paris terror attacks last January and November, all Muslim staff at French airports are now to undergo stricter vetting procedures. The Middle East Eye reports that the new screenings are revealing some rather unsettling truths:
At Charles de Gaulle, a bustling airport in the capital, more than 60 passes allowing employees to access airside areas of the facility were withdrawn for “inappropriate behaviour,” The Times reported on Saturday.According to the report, the fact that airport staff turned over quickly and most are sub-contracted from private companies, means that vetting procedures at Charles de Gaulle was likely not very rigorous.
Among the behaviour that saw employees sanctioned was praying at mosques considered “Salafist” and not shaking hands with female colleagues.
Vetting procedures at Charles de Gaulle, one of the world's largest aviation hubs, have come under renewed scrutiny since EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday after setting off from the airport.
Egyptian authorities have suggested that the plane was likely brought down by an attack rather than a technical fault, and there have been suggestions that staff at the airport could have played a role in the disaster.
Despite fears that this could have left the airport vulnerable to attack, an official from the airport workers' union suggested on Saturday that overwork and cost-cutting efforts were a greater risk than the religious beliefs of staff.Of course, it's all about being overworked (as if that's going to happen in France, a country renown for ample time off and a worker-friendly attitude) and "inadvertently overlooking" something as big as a bomb.
Serge Nybelen, general secretary of the airport's union, told The Times that staff only carried out basic checks on planes on stopovers at Charles de Gaulle, as the EgyptAir plane was on Thursday, suggesting that staff would not have found a bomb if it was hidden on the plane during previous stops in Asmara, Tunis or Cairo.
Perhaps with Salafists working at major airports, it's more about the fact that they are in a position to plant a bomb or other device themselves.
But you know, it's apparently "racist" to profile passengers going through airport security, so how could we expect airport staffers to be treated any differently?
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