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."
