EasyR,
I agree with much of what you say, but my original point was: “I suspect, as is generally the case with the media, the information is incomplete and ALL the facts surrounding the incident have not been reported.”
From the Daily Mail: “Worries spread after a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her”.
If it was simply that they were speaking Arabic your sentiments are spot on. If she heard them say something that could be specifically construed as a threat, even if they said it as a joke considering the attention they were receiving, the lady was right to be concerned.
It is unfortunate that everyone from the Muslim community is being considered a threat, just as every Irish person was at the height of the IRA bombing campaign. It is wrong to paint everyone with the same brush, but when you know there is a threat from a specific area I don’t believe it is unreasonable to concentrate on that area. For the true blue bigots out there it will be interesting to see what they do when they board an aircraft with a Muslim Cap and F/O!