Six Muslim imams removed from Minneapolis flight

[dr. what]

Not again......

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called Tuesday for an investigation into the behavior of airline staff and airport security in the removal of six Muslim scholars from a US Airways flight a day earlier.

A passenger raised concerns about the imams — three of whom said their normal evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the Phoenix-bound plane, according to one — through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

"We are concerned that crew members, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam," Nihad Awad, the council's executive director, said in a news release.

The six were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Omar Shahin of Phoenix, president of the group.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident.

Shahin said Tuesday that three members of the group prayed in the terminal before the six boarded the plane. They entered individually, except for one member who is blind and needed to be guided, Shahin said. Once on the plane, the six did not sit together, he said.

"We did nothing" on the plane, Shahin said.

The six were among passengers who boarded Flight 300, bound for Phoenix, around 6:30 p.m. Monday, airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.

Police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave the plane and the men refused, Rader said.

Shahin said no one asked the six to leave until police arrived, when the group complied.

"Unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time," council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.

Hooper said the meeting drew about 150 imams from all over the country, and that those attending included Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who just became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Shahin said they went as far as notifying police and the FBI about their meeting in advance.

Shahin expressed frustration that — despite extensive efforts by him and other Muslim leaders since even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — so many Americans know so little about Islam.

"If up to now they don't know about prayers, this is a real problem," he said.

Shahin said the group spent the night at the home of a local imam and was waiting for a phone call Tuesday from US Airways. Hooper said US Airways refused to put the men on another flight.

The airline did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on that aspect Tuesday.

The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members, were re-screened for boarding, Rader said. The plane took off about three hours after the men were removed.

[Rye]

It's a good job they weren't breast feeding at the time!

[Wicked Pilot]

Well fuck the plane didn't blow up or run into a building, so it must have worked.

[Flagg]

A passenger raised concerns about the imams — three of whom said their normal evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the Phoenix-bound plane, according to one — through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

Because we all know that the first thing an Islamic Terrorist is going to do before boarding the plane he intends to hijack is to make a point of giving a Muslim prayer in the middle of the fucking terminal.

[R. U. Serious]

It's a good job they weren't breast feeding at the time!

Great, just great, now how am I going to clean all that coffee from my keyboard and screen?

People were freaked out, because they prayed at the airport. I think some people need to get a grip on reality, and soon...

[Flagg]

It's a good job they weren't breast feeding at the time!

Great, just great, now how am I going to clean all that coffee from my keyboard and screen?

People were freaked out, because they prayed at the airport. I think some people need to get a grip on reality, and soon...

That's just crazy talk. Depriving 6 Muslims of their civil rights to ease the concerns of one non-Muslim passenger is just what we have to do in these trying times. Remember, 9/11 changed everything.

[lazerus]

Six muslem men who pray before getting on a plane? Gee, I can't see any reason why that would make people nervious at all.

Yes, the airline stereotyped, but in this case, one can hardly blame them.

[Skelron]

Six muslem men who pray before getting on a plane? Gee, I can't see any reason why that would make people nervious at all.

Yes, the airline stereotyped, but in this case, one can hardly blame them.

Six white Christians pray before getting on the plane... Do you think they would be asked to leave?

The fact that they are Muslims praying does not make it okay to think they might be terroists, should they not pray then?

[FSTargetDrone]

As Olbermann pointed out last night, would anyone who had mischief in mind do something so obvious to call attention to himself like this?

People are goofy.

[Sam Or I]

Yahoo has expanded the article.

MINNEAPOLIS - Six Muslim clerics removed from a US Airways flight said Tuesday they were victims of discrimination and called for a boycott of the airline.

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The imams were removed from the flight to Phoenix on Monday night after three of them said their normal evening prayers in the terminal in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before boarding, said Omar Shahin, president of the North American Imams Federation. They were among the 150 imams who attended a federation meeting in Minneapolis.

"The police came and take us off the plane in front of all the passengers in a very humiliated way," said Shahin. "I never felt bad in my life like yesterday. It was the worst moment in my life when I see six imams, six leaders in this community, humiliated."

The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said in a letter Tuesday it had opened an investigation.

US Airways Group Inc. issued a statement saying it was interviewing crew members and ground workers to find out more about what happened.

"We are always concerned when passengers are inconvenienced and especially concerned when a situation occurs that causes customers to feel their dignity was compromised. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind," the airline said.

An airport police report said the flight's captain had already decided he wanted the men off the plane after the passenger passed a flight attendant a note pointing out "Arabic men."

Witnesses said the men prayed in the terminal and made critical comments about the Iraq war, according to the police report, and a US Airways manager said three of the men had only one-way tickets and no checked baggage.

An airport police officer and a federal air marshal agreed that the combination of circumstances was suspicious, and eventually asked the men to leave the airplane, the police report said.

"There were a number of things that gave the flight crew pause," Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said. It wasn't immediately possible to verify whether the passengers who reported suspicious activity witnessed it themselves.

But Shahin and Marwan Sadeddin, another of the imams, strongly denied doing anything out of the ordinary. They entered the aircraft individually, except for Sadeddin, who is blind and needed a guide, Shahin said. Once on the plane, the six did not sit together, he said.

Shahin said no one asked the six to leave until police arrived, when the group complied.

The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members, were re-screened for boarding. The plane took off about three hours after the men were removed.

On Tuesday, US Airways refused to honor the group's tickets or allow them to buy new ones, saying their payment for Monday's flight had been refunded.

Shahin eventually booked flights on Northwest Airlines — to Phoenix for five of the imams from the Phoenix-Tempe area and to Los Angeles for the sixth, who is from Bakersfield, Calif.

Shahin said his days of praying in airports may be over. "It's terrible, unfortunately," he said. "In America we have no freedom to practice our faith, to do our faith."

Shahin expressed frustration that — despite extensive efforts by him and other Muslim leaders since even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — so many Americans know so little about Islam, which requires prayer five times a day.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he hoped the incident would "raise awareness among the general public and the airline industry that praying as a Muslim and flying as a Muslim should not trigger any fear and any prejudice."

[Wicked Pilot]

Six muslem men who pray before getting on a plane? Gee, I can't see any reason why that would make people nervious at all.
Yes, the airline stereotyped, but in this case, one can hardly blame them.

Well fuck I blame them. This is a professional aircrew, not some Joe Dirt living on the back roads of Kentucky. In the case of the captain, who's probably making $200,000+ a year, I expect better.

[Flagg]

Six muslem men who pray before getting on a plane? Gee, I can't see any reason why that would make people nervious at all.

Yes, the airline stereotyped, but in this case, one can hardly blame them.

I blame them for being fucking stupid assholes. The last thing terrorists are going to do is draw attention to themselves. Anyone with half a brain should be able to figure that shit out.

[SirNitram]

Six muslem men who pray before getting on a plane? Gee, I can't see any reason why that would make people nervious at all.

Yes, the airline stereotyped, but in this case, one can hardly blame them.

...If one's a stupid fundie retard who beleives all Muslims are terrorists.

For Void's sakes, it's flying. People pray on planes all the time. I've seen avowed Atheists on their first flight beg whoever might be listening keep the plane up. Apparently, the pilots were listening.(Bum dum chee.[size=0]Two drums and a cymbal fall off a cliff.[/size])