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Off Topic...

And in a separate incident...

NOTE: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1761584/posts?page=910#910

Here we go again...
Michigan Muslim flyers allege discrimination by Northwest
Tuesday January 16, 2007

DETROIT - A group of 40 Michigan Muslims said Tuesday they were unfairly profiled earlier this month when they were not allowed to board a Northwest Airlines flight in Germany on their way home from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

A Northwest spokesman said that the travelers reported to the gate Jan. 7 in Frankfurt, Germany, only about 20 minutes before their connecting flight was due to take off. Airline and international rules stipulate that passengers must check in for international flights at least an hour before departure and be onboard the aircraft at least 30 minutes beforehand.

``They showed up at the last minute,'' spokesman Dean Breest told The Detroit News.

But the Muslim pilgrims and the Council on American Islamic Relations rejected the airline's statement at a news conference Tuesday, saying flight rules are at least the third reason given for the incident.

``We arrived at the gate at least an hour and 30 minutes before the departure,'' said Imam Sayed Hassan al-Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. ``Others who came after us were allowed to board the airplane.'' Al-Qazwini told the Detroit Free Press the airline was likely afraid of having 40 Muslims together on one flight.

http://wfrv.com/michiganwire/MI--Muslims-Northwest_g_n_0mi--/resources_news_html

Muslims say they'll boycott Northwest Airlines
January 16, 2007 5:19 PM

DETROIT - A group of metro Detroiters is threatening to lead a boycott of Northwest Airlines over what they say is a pattern of profiling against Muslim passengers.

''I know that many Muslims call Northwest 'Northworst' . . . for its treatment to the Muslim community,'' Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Mich., said Tuesday. Al-Qazwini was in a group of about 40 pilgrims who were prevented from boarding a connecting flight in Germany to Detroit on Jan. 7 while returning from a trip to holy cities in Saudi Arabia. The Muslim group, most of whom are Lebanese-American Shiites, held a news conference Tuesday at the Dearborn mosque to describe what they say happened to them. They called for Northwest to apologize, compensate them, and discipline the employees they said profiled them.

''Otherwise,'' Al-Qazwini said, ''if Northwest will not do that, then probably we have to call all Muslim organizations to encourage Muslims from not flying on Northwest.'' With tens of thousands of Muslim customers, Northwest could be hurt financially by such a boycott, Al-Qazwini suggested, adding that ''I hope Northwest will be wiser.''

But Northwest officials defended their actions Tuesday, repeating that the 40 or so pilgrims were unable to board because they weren't at the gate in time. ''They showed up at the gate late,'' said Dean Breest, a spokesman for Northwest Airlines. ''All customers need to be on time.'' Northwest Airlines requires passengers to check in for international flights at least 60 minutes prior to departure and to be on board the aircraft at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, according to a statement it issued.

Al-Qazwini and other pilgrims said Tuesday that they were at the gate at least an hour and a half before departure time. ''We were treated really, really, really badly,'' said Jennifer Zreik, 29, one of the travelers. According to Zreik and others, some of the Muslims with the group were allowed on the plane. But about 40 were not. Some of the travelers said they had to spend the night at the airport; others had to pay $77 in penalty fees and more in hotel costs - without reimbursement. Breest said, ''I'm very sorry to hear that happened,'' but added this case has nothing to do with profiling.

Most of the pilgrims in the group are from Michigan, said Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that has been fighting profiling of Muslims at airports. The council organized the news conference.

Al-Qazwini said he was recently prevented from praying on a Northwest Airlines flight. But Breest said Northwest does not discriminate. He pointed out the high-profile case of Muslim imams who were escorted off a US Airways jet in November at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after they made Islamic prayers. The imams were eventually flown home by Northwest Airlines, he said.

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=NATIONAL&ID=564947238037880859

910 posted on 01/16/2007 5:43:45 PM PST by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)