Liz Mair, a well-known American political and communications consultant and president of Mair Strategies LLC. claimed to have been subject to antisemitic treatment at JFK Airport in Queens, New York because of her Jewish-sounding last name.
In a thread posted to Twitter, Mair claimed that airport staff single out haredi Jewish passengers, who she calls 'ultra-Orthodox.' "Since this is the third time in a row that I’ve witnessed major anti-Semitic behavior from JFK Airport staff— especially but not only TSA— I’m going on a rant about it. Typically it’s just generic rudeness, yelling at people who are obviously Jewish (eg ultra-Orthodox) while treating everyone else nice as pie, etc. Today was much worse."
"Everyone we saw who was identifiably Jewish who tried to progress through security was forced to take off WAY more clothing than anyone who didn’t appear to be Jewish. One woman appeared to be asked to remove her wig," she said,
Orthodox women cover their hair after marriage for reasons of modesty. Many wear wigs while in public.
She went on to say that she was subject to this same treatment because of her name. "JFK Airport security will not comply with the rules for over 75s if the passengers are obviously Jewish. This includes non-ultra-Orthodox whose passports have been checked and names noticed. I’m not Jewish, but everyone in America thinks “Mair” is Jewish. Surprise, surprise, after an initial look at my passport, they steered me and my kid into the line with people who were obviously Jewish, and then moved that line at half the speed of the one next to it."
"We were yelled at to back up and I explained we could not because there was a baby behind us. They did not care. All the blond people magically ended up in the faster moving lane. We, and others who appeared to be Jewish (mostly ultra-Orthodox) were made to remove items from our bags that are not required to be removed under TSA rules. This slowed the line down. Then everyone got yelled at for being slow.
"Literally every time I fly out of this airport lately I see some anti-Semitic sh** and with my last name, I get to be on the receiving end, too. NYC has a major problem with anti-Semitism on the rise and JFK Airport
staff dabble in it heavily. It makes me extremely angry," she said. "I don’t care about the inconvenience. I care about the casual hatred and treating people as lesser than because they wear a particular hat, or a wig, or dress a certain way, or have the last name Meyer, or Mair, or Klein, or Goldberg. This sh** is absolutely unacceptable."
Liz Mair was the Online Communications Director at the 2008 Republican National Committee and the founder and President of Mair Strategies LLC, which bills itself as the "US’ leading right-of-center online communications operative."
5 comments:
This is not news to me it is happening all over especially in Newark airport I used to fly a lot most of the time they made me problems I am a person that allways stay out of trouble and that still made me problems for no reason than made me miss my flight with my family twice and next flight was seven hours later I waited in the airport just because I am Jewish even the people in the line behind me told me that are antisemitic and are giving me a hard time just to miss the flight this was about ten years ago a lot of people told me similar stories I am not going there anymore
Let me guess. They are mostly Shvartzas who feel entitled & lose control with their power trips. The typical Brooklyn Shvartza hates all Yidden altz generalizing that they must be slumlords. However, even when a Yiddishe real estate investor is a benevolent landlord instead of say a greedy, selfish Satmar shvantz, the Shvartzas still have grossly jealous taynos that Veisseh Yidden should not be allowed to own "all the real estate".
At a NYC airport in the 1980s, a troublemaker agent was demanding to cut open someone's tefillin batim! The victim made a big ruckuss, demanding to see a supervisor who called it off.
Problems also extend to airline stewardesses & check in agents. The Shvartzas are the most hostile. But there have also been issues with young Veisseh stewardesses who are immature & can't stop giggling at the sight of payos. At check in, the coldest, rudest ones are the Veisseh working for Air Canada. In Montreal the French anti-Semites and in Toronto the area WASPs are mostly Scottish descent. TSA agents in the Niagara Falls / Buffalo area (stationed on both sides of the border) can be a problem because they are disgruntled from the lowest pay of any law enforcement agency and because TSA there draws from Hicks in Western NY. But they actually take out their frustrations more on Shvartzas, Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs, etc. They treat Yidden much better than those groups.
Hmmmm. Fly from ewr 5-10 times a year. Never had any antisemitic behavior directed to me or family. Although one time my 2lb container of ptcha was confiscated. They could not believe that it was edible and suspected it was some kind of explosive paste.
I look very Jewish with my levush and fly weekly from Newark for the past 4 - 5 years and never had any problems. I am clear/prechecked though.
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