Reinforcing Negative Images At Dulles

Our British Airways flight arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport at about 8 p.m., but just as we arrived at passport control, it was as though we had entered another world. It would be a three-hour wait before the immigration officers checked our passports and took our pictures and fingerprints for the second time.

Those who had been selected for security checks endured a level of disdain that is impossible to describe: men and women, some of them in their 80s, and several children, humiliated. The Saudi students who had arrived at 2 p.m. were still there; the last of them left about eight hours later in what was a shameful and saddening scene. An elderly Egyptian man asked me, "What is a man my age supposed to do?" He laughed and added, "And then they ask, 'Why do they hate us?' "

This is not the first time that I have seen this happen; in fact, it happens every time I visit the United States. This time, after the security officer asked about my profession, he looked apologetic and said, "You don't have a problem. However, because of your nationality and age, some procedures must be undertaken. Unfortunately, it is not only your nationality alone but other nationalities as well."

Last year, a security man asked me scornfully, "Why did you travel to Pakistan?" I told him the nature of my job and explained the reason for my travel. He smiled mockingly and said, "Go back to your seat, and I will find out everything from the computer." That time, I waited three hours after a seven-hour flight; later I was told that the lengthy wait had been a case of mistaken identity.

The United States is not the only country to have been a victim of terrorism. Every country has security concerns. But security concerns should not mean collective punishment, just as showing caution and following regulations should not mean insulting and degrading others. I have traveled to many countries, developed and underdeveloped, safe and dangerous, but I have not seen people debased in airports the way they are in America. Some of the security officials at U.S. airports are awful, and security procedures are sometimes carried out in an uncivilized manner.

I understand why the United States would want to take strict security precautions. But these measures should not end at the airports. They should be carried out while the visitor is in the country. After all, it is impossible to reveal one's intentions through cameras or fingerprints, no matter how many times the process is repeated.

The continued poor treatment of foreigners at American airports is insulting and results in affirming and entrenching the negative American image abroad. It is sad to see what young students and the elderly are subjected to and what those who are compelled to travel for work or medical treatment have to endure. This mistreatment at U.S. airports does not reflect what the United States is like from within.

-- Tariq Alhomayed

London

The writer is editor in chief of the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in London. A version of this article was published in Arabic in Asharq al-Awsat.