My friend was texting prayers. If this is suspicious, the terrorists have won

Laolu Opebiyi, a Christian, was marched off an easyJet plane by armed officers who thought he could be an Islamist extremist. We must not let fear divide us

I know Laolu Opebiyi, the man escorted off an easyJet flight last Thursday after a fellow passenger peered over his shoulder and read on Laolu’s phone a message about prayer. He’s a gangly, easygoing, all-round nice guy. I was upset and angry to hear about his experience. It is humiliating for a 40-year-old professional to be publicly marched off a plane by armed policemen, having done nothing wrong.

It is probably Laolu’s mild manner that stopped the incident from escalating further. If I’d been taken off a plane by armed officers for no apparent reason, I’d have been screaming: “Call a lawyer! Call the press! Call my mum!”
But Laolu freely gave the police his phone to browse through. He let them read the jokes he had shared with his friends and maybe even flick through his holiday snaps. Laolu calmly explained who he was and what he did. He even showed them his well-thumbed copy of the Bible.

No doubt we live in perilous times. Gunmen open fire in the streets of Paris, in hotels in Burkina Faso, on air bases in India. Terrorism is a global problem. But the problem is only compounded by the distrust that is being sown among us.
Every time I pass through a station or an airport, I am reminded by the cold automated voice on the public address system: “If you see anything suspicious, please report it to a member of staff.” And rightly so. But what qualifies as suspicious? An unattended bag? A woman in a burqa? A black man in a tracksuit, texting before takeoff? What did the person in the next seat see to convince them to start spying on Laolu and to read his texts? What was suspicious about my friend?

Our terrors have grown large in our minds, suffocating us and separating us from each other. Is Laolu’s experience a sign that our fears have spawned a new culture of informing? I’m reminded of how the Stasi operated in East Germany: neighbour informed on neighbour; co-worker on co-worker, friend on friend.

We could spend all day discussing who is generating this paranoia and fear. Blame the media, some would say, and their sensationalist headlines. Blame the politicians and their divisive rhetoric, argue others. Blame Muslim leaders for not adequately addressing extremism. Blame Laolu for being naive enough to have a chat group on his phone with the acronym ISI (after the biblical quote, “iron sharpens iron”). Blame, blame, blame.

But a more pertinent question is: who stands to gain the most from these social divisions? Who has triumphed if Muslims and Christians and atheists and Hindus all live in perpetual fear and distrust of one another? This is the sole purpose of terrorism. By destroying the lives of a few, it can shatter the calm and peace of mind of all.

It amazes me how terrorists will unite in their purpose of destruction. Boko Haram in Nigeria claims links with Islamic State; al-Shabaab in Somalia has links with al-Qaida. They can look past their differences in skin colour and language and culture and say: “You know what? We’re all sadists, let’s work together.” Yet we who support life and love and laughter do not always decide to unite.

It’s not all doom and gloom. I moved to England in 2005, just after the July bombings. London was subdued and hurt. Pundits filled the airwaves. Multiculturalism was, yet again, pronounced dead. And yet here we are in 2016 with Sadiq Khan, a Muslim man of Pakistani heritage, a frontrunner in the London mayoral election. This year, we’re going to vote for a mayor based on his policies and his character. Not his religion or the colour of his skin.

Britain has survived worse crises than this. During the Blitz, bombs were dropped all over the country, killing tens of thousands. Civilians watched from their windows as the RAF and Luftwaffe fought for the skies in the Battle of Britain. It was also in the second world war that the Ministry of Information coined the slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On”. And that is exactly what we must do now. Keep calm and carry on together. If we are united, we’ll soon realise that a black man sending a text need not be a cause for suspicion.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/04/terrorists-distrust-together-easyjet-flight-text