Airport hits cabbies for refusing fares

AP via Yahoo ^ | 4/17/07 | By GREGG AAMOT, Associated Press Writer

[Victor]

By GREGG AAMOT, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 16, 6:51 PM ET

MINNEAPOLIS - Taxi drivers who refuse service to travelers carrying alcohol at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport face tougher penalties despite protests from Muslim cabbies who sought a compromise for religious reasons, officials said Monday.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission said new penalties were needed to ensure customers get safe and reliable taxi service, and voted to suspend a driver's airport taxi license for 30 days for the first offense and revoke it for two years for a second offense. The new penalties take effect May 11.

Airport officials say more than 70 percent of the cabbies at the airport are Muslim, and many of them say Islamic law forbids them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol.

Under the old rules, a driver who refused to transport someone carrying alcohol would be told to go to the back of the taxicab line. Airport officials said that since January 2002, there have been more than 4,800 instances of drivers' refusing to take alcohol-carrying travelers.

Commissioners said the old rules didn't prevent customers from being stranded at the curb or — as reported in a few cases — dropped off before their destination after drivers learned of their alcohol on board.

Some Somalis who testified Monday urged commissioners to reject the new penalties and find some other solution.

"We see this as a penalty against a group of Americans only for practicing their faith," said Hassan Mohamud, an imam and an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law.

The airport had proposed one pilot program that had drivers who wouldn't transport alcohol display a different top light on their cab, but the public's reaction was overwhelmingly negative and taxi drivers feared it would make travelers avoid taxis altogether.

[cbkaty]

Some Somalis who testified Monday urged commissioners to reject the new penalties and find some other solution.

Take you f'ing taxi back to Somalia clown!

[Leatherneck_MT]

Can’t be racist unless you’re going specifically against Arab Muslims.

However, the “religion” itself is culturally arabic. That’s unique in the world of all religions.

Frankly I don’t have a problem if that’s what they want to call it. If wanting to see Islime removed from the face of the planet is racist, then I’ll be a racist.

[RayStacy]

Smell them. Even if by some miracle they’ve recently bathed, or maybe been caught in a thunderstorm, their private parts will still reek of camel or sheep dung.

[commonguymd]

“I fly into MSP on a regular basis. Next time I fly, I’m going to make it a point to carry a nice big bottle of Scotch, take it out of my checked bag, and hand carry it to the taxi stand.

I could use a good fight.”

LOL

[tje]

I say we just all decide to be racist against muslims. That seems to be what they want.
Since they want to be singled out, have them identify themselves. Since they don’t fit into American culture by their own choice, we do not do business with them.
Is this racists?

I don't think it is.. I think it's more along the lines of 'turn about's fair play'. If they don't want to take certain people as customers, surely customers should have the option of not choosing them as cabbies.

They have the right to turn away customers, but customers should have the right to choose another cabbie. Just have the cabs clearly marked for 'No Alcohol, No Pork products, No dogs'.. No mention of their religion necessary.

Same goes for the pharmacists.. If they don't want to dispense abortificants, they should post that in their stores. If they don't own their own store and the company they work for doesn't allow them the option of what they can or cannot dispense, they should seek other employment.

[silverleaf]

BINGO.

Someone who wants to “adhere to their faith” should choose a job that does not involve transporting alcohol-toting, dog-owning infidels. Don’t get into customer service and then refuse to serve the customer.

Or perhaps limit their taxi service to serving mosques and halal markets.

[B.O. Plenty]

....many of them say Islamic law forbids them.....

Islamic "law" is truly an ass....what it really forbids is hope....for living a better life.... doing anything to advance human existence....or a life after this life on earth is over.

Islamic "law"=living in the dirt, ignorance, mutilation of women, terror filled, absolutely no hope.

[joe fonebone]

Always remember.......it’s a job.....you can quit...and these cabbies should quit......

[brotherWesUpNorth]

By extension they choose to live in a country surrounded by people who eat brats and hoist an occasional beer. They complain about assimilating to our ways because the 2020 plan is for total control of America under muslim law. Learn it or suffer the consequences.

[RedStateRocker]

Well put. I have no sympathy for the cabbies or the pharmacists. One has the right to practice any faith they like, and pay the price when it contravenes social conventions or common sense.

[VeniVidiVici]

The airport had proposed one pilot program that had drivers who wouldn't transport alcohol display a different top light on their cab, but the public's reaction was overwhelmingly negative and taxi drivers feared it would make travelers avoid taxis altogether.

Anyone know exactly what was negative about "...the public's reaction..."?

[montag813]

Thank you Bill Clinton for bringing 70,000 Somalis into America as a reward for Black Hawk Down!

[Mr. Quarterpanel]

...I know I am in the minority here but I have some problems with people being told to violate their faith.

Nobody is telling them that they cannot or should not follow their faith. They are being told to simply do their job, and that there are penalties if they refuse for these petty reasons. Nobody is forcing them to drink alcohol or eat ribs. Just do your job, or find a another line of work that keeps you away from anything Haram. Like running a liqour store.

[Mr. Quarterpanel]

Spelling, spelling.

[KosmicKitty]

"We see this as a penalty against a group of Americans only for practicing their faith," said Hassan Mohamud, an imam and an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law.

Let me guess

He drives his cab during spring break nad summer vacation

[Victor]

"...Nobody is forcing them to drink alcohol or eat ribs. Just do your job, ...."

I agree. I've known teatotalling Christian bartenders.

[syncked]

“We did it, you and me... Put him right under the table”..
-Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, speaking to a very old, old, old bottle of Scotch.

[Victor]

.....“We did it, you and me... Put him right under the table”.. -Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, speaking to a very old, old, old bottle of Scotch......"

Now, that's funny. Quote from a movie?

[reformed_dem]

Well, I know I am in the minority here but I have some problems with people being told to violate their faith. I have to admit I have no respect for Islam as a religion, and actually consider it more of a cultural slavery than a faith.

So, does their faith also not allow them to walk into a supermarket? They have alcohol there too. I believe their "faith" forbids them from drinking alcohol, not being in the general vicinity of it.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Well, I know I am in the minority here but I have some problems with people being told to violate their faith.

I can respect that and would 100% agree if what they are objecting to was actually a violation of their faith.

But it isn't.

A Muslim may transport alcohol and dogs. He can handle packaged pork. He can even talk to a woman who is not his wife.

Saying that these things are "violation of my faith" cannot hold up to any scrutiny of Islamic law.

That's like a Christian saying "I can't be in the presence of a Hershey bar, it's a violation of my faith."

It doesn't count if you just make stuff up.