Muslims kicked off plane for praying
by Hanlon on November 21, 2006 at 3:00 pm
This must be that post-9/11 thinking I hear so much about. I think it’s a sign that our war against terrorism isn’t going well when a few imams can be ejected from an airline simply because they were trying to pray.
“They were treated like terrorists … humiliated,” said Abu Hannoud, civil rights director for the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who said the men were taken off the US Airways flight in handcuffs.
He said the men were still trying to find a flight back to Phoenix where most are affiliated with a major mosque after the carrier refused them passage following the incident on Monday evening.
“We are concerned that crew members, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam,” added Nihad Awad, executive director of the council, in a statement from the group’s Washington headquarters.
Ponder that last paragraph for a few moments. They were removed from the plane due to fears that the crew and passengers would be prejudiced against the Muslims? Where has our country gone in these past few years? And, of course, the ultimate irony:
Hannoud said in an interview that the men had been attending a three-day meeting of the North American Imams Federation in the Minneapolis area “discussing how to build bridges” between Muslims and American society, and that the FBI and local police had been informed in advance about the meeting.
Whoops-a-daisy.
Posted: November 21st, 2006 under stupid, terrorism.
Comments
Comment from Hanlon
Time November 21, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Well I have a question for you then (and I don’t mean this in a smart-ass kind of way): wouldn’t moderate Muslims rioting in the streets only make things worse by way of turning their image into one of extremism? You probably just meant a standard protest in that case, though, which renders this paragraph pretty moot.
I’m not sure that’s too fair to put that burden on the moderate Muslims, either. It’s like forcing the Christians to stage protests every time there’s an abortion clinic bombing or something similar. A rational person should realize that there is a divide.
Comment from Wil Robinson
Time November 21, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Good point in your comment, Hanlon. Muslims shouldn’t have to defend their faith. Why don’t Christians go out and study the Koran so they will know the truth and not have to rely on Muslims “demonstrating” against extremism.
As for those demonstratioins, there were almost a million Iranians in the streets of Tehran after 9/11 showing solidarity with the US…how we screwed that up is beyond me.
Just for the record, I’m going to complain on an airline the next time a Christian goes to pray for a safe flight.
Comment from William
Time November 22, 2006 at 10:49 am
With yesterday’s news story in mind, I wanted to give you a few facts we’ve found in our studies. While Americans were more likely to favor stricter security measures directly after 9/11, there is still some concern today. Half of Americans say there is no excuse for the racial profiling of African Americans, but two-thirds say greater scrutiny of Middle Eastern people is “understandable.” Check out more information on this topic at http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/red_flags.cfm?issue_type=race#profiling.
Comment from Bill
Time November 22, 2006 at 11:34 pm
How can the airline NOT take action? How are they to know if these are prayers for peace in the afterlife (after completing their mission) or standard prayers? We simply cannot ignore the fact that the people who want to do us harm (and did) are Muslim. Does it mean all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not, but unfortunately there is no way to tell the “good” Muslims from the “bad”, so we need to be suspicious with all of them. Politically incorrect?…Yes. Stereotyping?…Yes. Unfair?…Yes. Necessary?….YES. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it just cannot be ignored because it might upset a few people.
Comment from Hanlon
Time November 23, 2006 at 2:36 am
By banning Muslims from praying, we will not only reinforce the terrorists’ hatred of America, but we will also prove that they are winning. It is absolutely absurd to suggest that we should not allow Muslims to pray on our airlines.
There is no logical reason to ban praying by Muslims. Increased security checks is one thing, this is simply out of line. So you’re telling me as long as the terrorists don’t pray we won’t kick them off? I’m actually struggling to verbalize how completely asinine this is.
I agree that for security it’s good to check them more than, say, old white women, but this is just beyond reason. Check them for weapons, why go beyond there? We have reinforced cockpit doors, as long as they don’t have explosives there’s not much they can do, and hopefully they’ll be checked for that before they board.
Comment from Bill
Time November 24, 2006 at 9:44 am
What the real issue is here is whether or not praying creates a stressful environment within the aircraft. Based on what has happened in the past, it is completely natural for people to react the way they have and yes it would create a stressful, uneasy, and distracting environment. It is no different than a passenger being upset about a bad meal or seat assignment, etc. and standing up and yelling at the staff. Perhaps we should just let people shout “fire” in a crowded theater as if there is no fire, then there isn’t any harm? Of course we would be violating the right to free speech if we didn’t let one do that. Since we have that right, go ahead and try it the next movie you go to. Chances are, muslim, christian, jew, buddhist, etc. you’ll end up praying in a jail cell.
You say hopefully they’ll be checked before they board. Well, the 9/11 highjackers were “checked” before they boarded (actually some twice) and we all know how effective that was.
Come on, use some common sense.
Comment from D2theMcV
Time November 21, 2006 at 3:46 pm
I have a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies. The majority of non-Eastern tradition classes I took were in Islam. It is a noble philosophy, and can be a sublimely spiritual religion.
With that being said, when “moderate” Muslims riot in the streets over the gross abuse of Koranic interpretation and generally bad P.R. the fanatic terrorists cause–then I’ll feel sorry for people like these guys.
But not a moment before.