No doubt they were passing notes so as to not disturb the Americans on board.
Waybackwhen, after 9/11, a couple of Orthodox Jews got in trouble with their fellow passengers by getting down on their knees on the plane and praying intently in a "strange" language (actually Hebrew).
I betcha' one of those musicians had one of those expensive Rolex watches that shows the call to prayer and the correct direction for praying no matter where you are in the world. Undoubtedly he was consulted by several of them more than once!
well let me tell you, if we have to allow 28 uses of the lavatory to clean for prayers, and to eat "outlawed" food in the lavatory, all in the name of tolerance for Islam - then its over. we might as well just cancel the air marshall program all together. you can't allow a hole in the system that big, and then not expect that a real terrorist who wants to use the lavatory to assemble a device to take down the plane - now has a blank check to do so because we have to tolerate the fact that he may be cleaning for prayers and eating "outlawed" food.
Orthodox Jews don't "get down on their knees" when they pray (except on Yom Kippur) but these guys assembled at the rear of the plane in order to pray as a "minyan." (10 Jewish men)
After that incident, rabbis issued a "psak" (which is kind of like a "fatwa" except that you don't get killed if you don't obey it) that it's not required to pray as "minyan" on a plane if it will frighten the other passengers.
Re this thread, I am booked to travel to LA on Aug. 1 on Flight 327 from Detroit to LA. My son, who normally wears Hasidic dress, will be traveling with me. I'll bet you dollars to donuts he gets pulled aside by TSA for the "special" screening.
Of course, he could wear jeans, a "Pistons" T-shirt and a baseball cap on backwards and no one would pay any attenton to him.