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Posted on 02/28/2007 4:36:48 PM PST by LibWhacker
Muslim cabbies refuse to bend in alcohol dispute
BLOOMINGTON: Dozens of Muslim cab drivers showed up for a hearing at a hotel near the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport on Tuesday to protest against proposed penalties for cabbies who refuse service to passengers carrying alcohol.
“I am Muslim. I’m not going to carry alcohol,” Abdi Mohamed, a driver for Bloomington Cab, told a Metropolitan Airports Commission panel that gathered to hear public opinion on the proposals.
Commissioners are charged with setting a new policy by May, when airport licences for cab drivers are set to expire. Under the proposal, drivers who refuse service for any reason would have their licence suspended for 30 days. A second refusal would mean a two-year revocation of the licence.
According to airport officials, about 80 percent of their cabdrivers are Somali, who are predominantly Muslim. Last year, airport officials said alcohol-bearing passengers were being refused service an average of 77 times a month, though that figure dropped drastically after new airplane travel safety rules prohibited liquids in carry-on luggage.
In September, the commission proposed a compromise that would have let Muslim cabbies display a different-coloured light on their cab if they did not want to pick up passengers carrying alcohol.
But that proposal triggered a huge backlash, from both passengers and other taxi drivers who feared it would make travellers avoid taxis altogether. Soon the airport commission went the other direction, proposing the stiff penalties for cabbies who refuse service to alcohol-toting passengers.
“I don’t have a problem with people practising their religion,” said Douglas Bass of St Paul. “I don’t even have a problem with people who want everyone to believe what they believe. But I do have a problem when a majority is being forced to observe other religions and customs.”
The cabbies and their supporters left no doubt that they are not willing to bend on the alcohol issue.
Hassan Mohamud, a Muslim imam and adjunct law professor at William Mitchell College of Law, said the Muslim cab drivers are only trying to support their families, both here and in their strife-torn home country, and are being placed in an impossible situation.
Abdifatah Abdi, who said he is counselling cabdrivers on legal issues related to the controversy, warned commissioners that instituting the penalty would set off a long legal battle.
“This is a religious freedom issue, and it will not end here,” Abdi said. “It will go to the courts, even the Supreme Court. The drivers will not relinquish their rights to be protected under American law.” ap
Well, Abdi-mabdi-doo, I'm NOT a Muslim and the laws of the US prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, creed, RELIGION, national origin, etc. IOW, find another line of work because there is nothing that says I have to allow YOUR problem to become MY problem!!
Buh-bye!! Thanks for playing!! Don't let the door hit ya in the butt on yer way out of my country!! Bye, now.
Exactly!
Well said.
What is 'Tierney by the minority'?
Yes, there are hypocrites here at FR.
Stand for something ,or you'll fall for anything,,Big difference between saving a posible child and this BS..
Sounds as though you're not aware of what a hypocrite is..
The City has more rights when it limits the number of cabs a city will license. Usually cab companies must obtain a certificate of public need in order to get licenses in the first place. Such licenses are valuable commodities and practically guarantee business health because Big Brother is watching your back. Not just anyone can set up business as a cab, particularly with the right to service the airport. (On the other hand, I don't think restaurants are so limited.) It's like broadcast stations: only so many are allowed in a market. Therefore they have something of a monopoly and must serve the public interest to retain that monopoly.
Someone else has indicated that the certificates of public need should be increased for each cab driver that elects to limit service and then mark the cabs that refuse to transport alcohol and let the market decide which cab drivers survive. I am a teetotaler myself but I would boycott such a cab were I to fly into such an airport. So let the market decide and stop limiting cab licenses where cab drivers refuse to serve the general public. Then watch them squeal as their business declines precipitously.
Ethanol - in the car. I think you have a point, but
I didn't know that. Thanks!
They are licensed by the state to provide a service in a public venue, not a private livery that must be reserved in advance. They also comprise 80% of the drivers who are allowed to service the airport.
If someone would start up a competing car service with English-speaking American drivers, clean cars and "Porky's" stenciled on the doors they could put these Moslems out of business.
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