Irish Timesjournalist Michael Parsons bemoans overly stringent security in European airports
Passing though Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport recently was a pleasure. It is a model of hassle-free efficiency. There was no undignified removing of shoes or belts by passengers and none of the farcical decanting of liquids into "100ml bottles to be placed inside clear plastic bags".
Israel, of course, is not in the EU and not subject to the deranged rule-making of underworked Eurocrat busybodies. Yet Ben-Gurion has a well-deserved reputation as the world's safest and most security-conscious airport.
There is widespread confusion among airline passengers throughout Europe about the constantly changing protocols governing passage through security controls. Is it necessary, for example, to remove one's shoes? There are no signs requesting this, yet many people now do so, like Pavlov's dog, without being asked. This slows the queue and exposes businessmen who wear Homer Simpson socks to public ridicule. Should men remove their belts? Not until they're asked, they shouldn't.
Airport security is a scam and a gold mine for security companies and their ranks of hatchet-faced, Stasi-like guards.
Why do we tolerate it? And what happens to all the stuff they confiscate? The crates of hair gel and toothpaste and Calpol? The souvenir bottle of lemon-infused olive oil you popped in your hand luggage?
The whole procedure is designed to protect and reassure us but is instead making air travel miserable for millions of people. If Osama bin Laden could watch a live video link to any airport in Europe on a busy evening his cave would ring with mocking laughter.