Here’s some major shark-jumping [emp. mine]:

Local Muslims yesterday reacted with sadness and outrage to a Department of Homeland Security official’s recent urging that they and Arab-Americans register with the federal government before flying, to reduce the chance their names are flagged as security risks.

[…]

But Gilbert Gordon, president of the Jerrahi Mosque in Chestnut Ridge, said any such program aimed at one specific group could be viewed as “an invasion of their privacy and an invasion of their civil liberty.”

[…]

Dobbs Ferry resident Salem Mikdadi, a board member of the Center for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Understanding in Irvington, took offense to the suggestion.

“I don’t want to be singled out as someone different. I am an American like everybody else and my faith is strictly personal,” said Mikdadi, a Muslim who came to the United States from the Palestinian territories 34 years ago. “Singling out individuals or groups of people and suggesting it’s a matter for their convenience to register, a lot of people might take offense.

[…]

“This is repugnant, objectionable and humiliating. These are Gestapo tactics,” said Dr. Shafi Bezar, chairman of the Westchester Muslim Center in Mount Vernon. “I would like to be safe when I travel, but not to this extent. This is insulting to target a particular group or particular religion.”

I guess we could implant them all with subcutaneous RFID tags.