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Airline Safety in Post-9/11 America
The Oregonian ^ | November 23, 2006 | David Reinhard

Posted on 11/23/2006 2:57:07 PM PST by crazyhorse691

Six Muslim imams get on a plane. . . .

No, this isn't a set-up for a joke. It's dead serious stuff in a post-9/11 world, whatever your take on what happened on US Airways Flight 300 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The six Muslim scholars were among the 141 passengers on a Monday evening flight bound for Phoenix. Before takeoff, three of the imams stood up and started saying their evening prayers. In the end, all six were led off the plane by police after the plane's captain and airport security asked them to leave and they refused. They were detained and questioned for five hours and released.

One of the imams is now calling for a boycott of US Airways. And the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other civil rights outfits are calling for hearings into religious and ethnic profiling as well an investigation into the detention of the men -- whose only misstep was "flying while Muslim."

Was it? Were the six discriminated against simply for saying their evening prayers? Should the passengers and crew have gone out of their way to ignore the actions of the Muslim men on the plane?

"This event would be the equivalent of Roman Catholic bishops being arrested in China because they wore clerical robes and invoked Jesus Christ in prayers," Asad Zaman of Minnesota's Muslim American Society told The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

What poppycock. If Catholic bishops or a band of evangelicals had been the ones standing up on a plane and doing the public praying, you can bet passengers would have found it disturbing and reacted. Yes, the fact that those praying were Muslim men probably generated, let's be honest here, a certain terror on the part of the passengers and crew. But, if you feel compelled to ask why would that be, you're either ignorant of what happened on 9/11 or disingenuous.

Let's assume for a moment -- and, as we'll soon see, only for a moment -- that the whole affair simply involved Muslim men standing on a plane to say their prayers. Would the imams and the Council on American-Islamic Relations have a legitimate beef?

Not really. The fact is that the cabin of a commercial jet is a public place, and a fraught one at that these days. All Americans are called on to make certain accommodations upon entering the public square, and those accommodations are even greater when we fly airliners in an age of the Islamic terrorists. It's also impossible to believe the imams didn't understand that their actions would make their fellow passengers uncomfortable, what with 9/11, hijacked jetliners, 3,000 dead innocents and all.

Do the demands of the American public square, both pre- and post-9/11, pose a burden for Muslims at prayer time? Perhaps, yet not an unreasonable or unanticipated one. Owais Bayunus, a Muslim scholar in Minnesota, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that many Muslims "accept the fatwa (an opinion by an Islamic legal scholar) that it is acceptable to combine the prayers during travel."

The fact is, however, that the story began even before the men rose to pray. They had been praying together -- very loudly, according to a gate agent -- while waiting to board. A spokesman for the airport reported that witnesses said they were talking about the Iraq war and Saddam Hussein and making anti-American remarks. Some heard one say he would do whatever is necessary to keep his commitment to the Quran. "They seemed angry," a passenger wrote in a police statement. "Mentioned 'U.S.' and 'killing Saddam.' Two men then swore slightly under their breath/mumbled. They spoke Arabic again. The gate called boarding for the flight. The men then chanted 'Allah, Allah, Allah.' "

The imams deny everything except the praying, but to believe them, one has to not believe what multiple -- and probably unrelated -- witnesses stated.

On the plane, the group split up. Some sat in the front, some in the middle and some in the rear. A few asked for seat-belt extensions, even though they appeared not to need them. They then got up and visited with each other, which further alarmed some passengers. One passenger passed a note to a flight attendant about "suspicious Arabic men on plane."

Was that passenger wrong? Were the pilot and security officials wrong to take action?

Not on your life. Not on the lives of the crew and 135 other passengers on Flight 300.

David Reinhard, associate editor, can be reached at 503-221-8152; davidreinhard@news. oregonian.com.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: airline; airlines; airplane; airport; imams; muslims; plane; usairways
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Not on your life. Good words to remember. IMHO, the muzzies were deliberately acting in such a manner to scare(make uncomfortable, intimidate, cause undue worry and concern for)the infidels. The timing stinks(just before Thanksgiving holiday) and their portrayl of themselves as victims just galls me.
1 posted on 11/23/2006 2:57:09 PM PST by crazyhorse691
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To: All
ON THE NET...

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "PUTTING HOMELAND SECURITY FIRST" by Robert Spencer (November 22, 2006)

OSINT.INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "IMAM OMAR SHAHIN OF PHOENIX YOU SAY?" (November 21, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "ONE OF THE IMAMS LED OFF THE MINNEAPOLIS PLANE AFFILIATED WITH HAMAS-LINKED ORGANIZATION" (November 21, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "OMAR SHAHIN, SPOKESMAN FOR 6 IMAMS REMOVED FROM FLIGHT, DOUBTED MUSLIMS WERE BEHIND 9/11 AND ADMITTED TIES TO OSAMA" (November 21, 2006)

LittleGreenFootballs.com - Weblog: "MINNEAPOLIS AIRPORT INCIDENT UPDATE" (November 21, 2006)

CNN.com (AP): "SIX MUSLIM IMAMS TAKEN OFF PLANE" (November 21, 2006)

2 posted on 11/23/2006 3:01:21 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Cindy

Thanks for the links. It will be interesting to see if voters remorse sets in once the libs start going after the airlines for "profiling" passengers.


3 posted on 11/23/2006 3:06:22 PM PST by crazyhorse691 (The faithful will keep their heads down, their powder dry and hammer at the enemies flanks.)
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To: crazyhorse691
Did you know that the TSA uses a "Known Shipper Database" to determine if cargo carried by public airlines is secure?

This means that any company on that list can ship cargo without it being thoroughly checked.

Nothing is really done to see if the companies on the list are checking their cargo before shipping, or during the trip to the airport.

Just more idiocy brought to you courtesy of the TSA.

4 posted on 11/23/2006 3:14:14 PM PST by Post-Neolithic (Money only makes Communists rich Communists)
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To: crazyhorse691
"This event would be the equivalent of Roman Catholic bishops being arrested in China because they wore clerical robes and invoked Jesus Christ in prayers," Asad Zaman of Minnesota's Muslim American Society told The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

And, how many Roman Catholic bishops have flown airplanes into the WTC and pronounced death on all "infidels'?

5 posted on 11/23/2006 3:14:47 PM PST by NavySEAL F-16 (Proud to be a Reagan Republican)
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To: crazyhorse691

"...three of the imams stood up and started saying their evening prayers..."

HEY! (Maybe exposing what I don't know here...) Aren't the muzzies supposed to pray prostrate?? Like, maybe this was a set-up anyway?


6 posted on 11/23/2006 3:14:59 PM PST by Felis_irritable
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To: Felis_irritable
My brother-in-law is required to fly often with his job. Once, pre-9-11, a man actually pulled his prayer rug out and layed in down in the aisle and did his thing while they were in flight. Can't imagine that being ignored these days.

It would be interesting to find evidence that these men deliberately provoked (because I have no doubt that's the case) the other passengers and crew to confront them.

7 posted on 11/23/2006 3:26:52 PM PST by Tuscaloosa Goldfinch (If MY people who are called by MY name -- the ball's in our court, folks.)
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To: Felis_irritable
"...three of the imams stood up and started saying their evening prayers..."

What of the other three? Are they poor excuses for Muslims in not saying their evening prayers? Or, was this just a set-up?

8 posted on 11/23/2006 3:32:47 PM PST by Socratic (Give me web-journalists, not MSM cut and paste hacks.)
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To: Felis_irritable

Most airports have chapels where these terrorists could have prostrated themselves and prayed in private. The whole scene, I believe, was a set-up to "probe the lines" to see what kind of reaction they would get or to set in motion more of the cultural sensitivity training crap as supported by the ACLU.


9 posted on 11/23/2006 3:45:49 PM PST by Joe Marine 76 (Reagan's Cold War Policy: "We win, they lose.")
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To: crazyhorse691

You're welcome.

"Voters Remorse"?

OPINION: Some people are WILLFULLY ignorant and sad to say, they like it that way.


10 posted on 11/23/2006 3:51:30 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Joe Marine 76

The 911 hijackers also said prayers before and during the takeover of the planes......to hell with Muslims and their sympathizers.... ....


11 posted on 11/23/2006 5:07:21 PM PST by Duffboy
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To: crazyhorse691
A continuation of the admitted and proven Muslim plot to bankrupt all the airlines.

The Muslim terrorists like having the ability to kill us at will and don't like seeing us having the ability to defend ourselves.

Thus the "profiling" "issue".

Delta went from record earnings pre 9/11 to the verge of bankruptcy now.

Thanks to the flying Muslims most airlines now need federal subsidies.

People don't like the fact that the Muslim allowed to sit next to them could be a terrorist who could take out the whole plane. This makes for bad business.

The only boycott that people should partake in should be against allowing Muslims on planes and for better security.

12 posted on 11/23/2006 5:31:47 PM PST by Freedom of Speech Wins
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To: Cindy
OPINION: Some people are WILLFULLY ignorant and sad to say, they like it that way.


Agreed. By calling it voters remorse it gives me more latitude in discussing issues with the moonbats and the wobblies.
13 posted on 11/23/2006 5:37:29 PM PST by crazyhorse691 (The faithful will keep their heads down, their powder dry and hammer at the enemies flanks.)
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To: All; crazyhorse691; NavySEAL F-16; Cindy



.


NEVER FORGET


The Man who predicted the Airstrikes of 9/11 and thus his own demise at the hands of muslim fundamentalist extremists 8 years in advance:


RICK RESCORLA, ..R.I.P.

http://www.RickRescorla.com

http://www.RickRescorla.com/The%20Statue.htm

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24361


NEVER FORGET

.


14 posted on 11/23/2006 5:44:01 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com.)
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To: ALOHA RONNIE

I won't forget Aloha Ronnie.


15 posted on 11/23/2006 5:56:19 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Cindy

.

That's just outstanding, Cindy.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.


AR

.


16 posted on 11/23/2006 6:08:10 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com.)
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To: crazyhorse691; All

Does anyone know what is alarming about asking for a seat belt extension? I've been trying for days to figure that one out.


17 posted on 11/23/2006 6:15:16 PM PST by JustaDumbBlonde
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To: JustaDumbBlonde
Does anyone know what is alarming about asking for a seat belt extension? I've been trying for days to figure that one out.

If you're not rotund, there's really no reason it would even occur to you to ask for one, because it only has one peaceable use - to allow the airline seat belt to reach around your midsection. It's about two feet long, fully extended, with a clip plate on one end and a buckle on the other.

On the other hand, it might make for a reasonable improvised weapon - if you held on to the clip and swung the buckle around really hard at someone's head, you could really put some hurt on 'em.

18 posted on 11/23/2006 6:27:47 PM PST by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: JustaDumbBlonde
The stewardess from the flight said the men requesting the extensions were not large enough to need them. Consequently, I think the question should be, why did they ask for them?

If they wanted to commit a terrorist act they could use them to restrain someone else or to strangle someone. Or, as someone on another thread posted (the poster said she is a stewardess), the metal parts of the seat belt extensions could really do some damage if you hit someone with them.

19 posted on 11/23/2006 6:28:24 PM PST by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
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To: crazyhorse691

<< One of the imams is now calling for a boycott of US Airways. >>

Why stop with USAir?

Boycott them all.

You bastards!


20 posted on 11/23/2006 6:31:11 PM PST by Brian Allen ("Moral issues are always terribly complex, for someone without principles." - G K Chesterton)
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