[CyberAnt]

Okay ... but just because they are "Israeli Nationals" doesn't mean they are Jews! Please get that straight. There are a lot of Arabs who are Israeli Nationals. The media will only highlight the Israeli part, and leave off the Arab part.

[The_Media_never_lie]

The heck with the traces of TNT.

What I really want to know is, were these individuals ethnically profiled? Has anyone checked with the ACLU? Illegials here carrying TNT and plastic explosives have rights too!

/sarcasm>

[Motherhood IS a career]

Okay ... but just because they are "Israeli Nationals" doesn't mean they are Jews! Please get that straight. There are a lot of Arabs who are Israeli Nationals. The media will only highlight the Israeli part, and leave off the Arab part.

Of course it doesn't mean they are Jews! And why is the media being attacked on this? (I know, we all tend to have suspicions when it comes to the media, but...) How else are they supposed to describe these two scumbags if they don't know for certain whether they are Jews or Arabs? How many of you have your religion stamped on your driver's license or your passport? How about your political affiliations?

So we know they're Israeli nationals. That could certainly mean non-Jews. I'd be willing to bet that is exactly what they are. I don't see any need for retractions here. I'd be curious about further elaborations, though.

[Tarakotchi]

"The media will only highlight the Israeli part, and leave off the Arab part."

Actually when suspicious Israelis were arrested post 9/11 the media proclaimed them to be just "Middle Eastern". (In the first two incidents I refer to in post 159.) It took a while to establish with lots of debate that they were Israelis and indeed Jewish, non-Arab Israelis.

I bet the overwhelming, lasting impression of the populace is that Arabs were arrested in NJ in the 9/11 incident for cheering the WTC attack and that Arabs were arrested in PA in the 10/11 incident with videos of the Sears Tower.

It's interesting that this story is being reported by Carl Cameron and Fox News.

[Been There - Done It]

Israel is the ONLY country that I know that makes a distinction between the definition of "National" and "Citizen". While very nearly anybody (with the exception of the Palestinians and their descendants "evicted" in the period 1948-1950 (the residents of the refugee camps) thus the "Right of Return" question) may become a "Citizen", ONLY those of provable Jewish origin can actually become a "National". This extends to many rights read as "privledges" such as the ability to purchase land, obtainability of building permits, e.t.c.