Why don't you give a fellow Freeper a little credit? I did not just roll off of the pumpkin wagon. I have been to the middle east and have had a number of Arab friends, colleagues and classmates over the years. I do not speak or understand Arabic, but I can distinguish it from most other languages. I ruled out other ethnicities because there have been reports of unjustified attacks on people who were ignorantly mistaken for Arabs. Upon seeing these men, I took them to be Arabs. Their conduct is proof that my initial hunch was correct.
My post said noting about deportation, nothing about internment camps, and nothing about visiting any violence on these men. Nor did I say or even suggest that they are terrorists. At a minimum, I believe they are sympathetic to the forces that destroyed the WTC and terrorized and murdered thousands of civilians. I also believe they have no sympathy for Americans and no appreciation of our way of life. In sum, they are part of a cancer that has spread throughout our country. If I am mistaken and they were just engaging in a little harmless Arab humor, that's just too bad.
I do not need sensitivity lessons. It is these three Arab men who need it. Go lecture to them. They made their comments in front of a group of "white" Americans including three children as well as a person (my father), who was on the 44th floor of the North Tower when the first plane struck and who witnessed unspeakable carnage incluing the sight of dead bodies, people leaping to their deaths, and the collapse of two buildings containing perhaps as many as five thousand souls.
My post said noting about deportation, nothing about internment camps, and nothing about visiting any violence on these men. Nor did I say or even suggest that they are terrorists. At a minimum, I believe they are sympathetic to the forces that destroyed the WTC and terrorized and murdered thousands of civilians. I also believe they have no sympathy for Americans and no appreciation of our way of life. In sum, they are part of a cancer that has spread throughout our country. If I am mistaken and they were just engaging in a little harmless Arab humor, that's just too bad.I do not need sensitivity lessons. It is these three Arab men who need it. Go lecture to them. They made their comments in front of a group of "white" Americans including three children as well as a person (my father), who was on the 44th floor of the North Tower when the first plane struck and who witnessed unspeakable carnage incluing the sight of dead bodies, people leaping to their deaths, and the collapse of two buildings containing perhaps as many as five thousand souls.
Well said. The answer is obvious to everyone except Mr.Everyman: Call the authorities. Let them investigate and handle them. We are at war for our very survival, and wartime requires a different, more cautious way of thinking. At any other time, these fellows would be just 'nihilist jerks' but not today, not after September 11th. We cannot afford to take that risk.
You didn't say you assumed they were arabs from their speech. By comparing them to hispanic or indian people it sounded as though you made an incorrect judgement based on appearance.
Regardless of that, I believe your perceptions have been colored by the general stereo-typing of people who are not like you (as is a tradition in this country) - in this case Mid-Easterners.
My point is this, if they were japanese you would have been puzzled by their behavior but you wouldn't have assumed they were engaged in mockery.
Maybe they looked at the picture, and one said:"Boy, the guys who brought those two down, are gonna be glowing in the dark and walking on glass for the next 10,000 years."
And then they all laughed.