Tefillin Cause Bomb Scare

Apparently the captain of a ferry thought that a man putting on teffilin was a suicide bomber:

A devout Israeli tourist aboard the Interisland ferry Kaitaki sparked a bomb scare and police armed offenders' alert today after the ship's captain spotted boxes and what looked like wires taped to the man.


''One individual had two boxes attached, one box taped to his leg and one box seemingly taped to his forehead,'' Kiwirail spokesman Kevin Ramshaw told NZPA.

Jewish websites describe a traditional prayer ritual where a small black leather box called a "tefillin'' containing religious verses is taped to the arm and forehead.

''These may well have been part of religious observance, but to people who are involved in the travel business, there were what seemed to be wires attached to them.''

Mr Ramshaw said the captain then followed normal procedure by notifying police of his suspicions, sparking an armed offenders' alert in Picton.

Crew then spent a nervous three hours closely observing the man as they sailed the Cook Strait, to avoid mass panic.

Some details of the story still seem odd:

• Why would the captain say the 'bomb' was taped to the man's leg, when Tefillin go on the arm and forehead?
• Why does the article insist on talking about tape?
• According to the article, it was a 3 hours wait, but according to the end of the article, the call came in at 9.50am and the ship docked 11.45am.

Did I say odd? Check out New Zealands 3 News on what the passenger was doing:

Stuff has since reported the incident may have been sparked by a Jewish man preparing for a religious ritual, wrapping cow skin around his arms.

Cow skin? Is 'leather' a foreign term??

In any case, this is not the first time that Tefillin has caused a scare:

In January this year, a plane flying from New York to Kentucky was diverted to Philadelphia after a 17-year-old boy using a tefillin to pray alarmed passengers and crew, who feared a bomb scare. He was released without charge.

OK, so I'm biased--but do Tefillin really look that scary?

Technorati Tag: Tefillin.