Nov 21 2006
Breaking: 6 Middle Eastern Men Removed From Flight at MSP- Updated, looks like an over reaction.
HT Sister Toldjah:
http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S20152.html?cat=1
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that federal investigators and airport police are questioning six Middle Eastern men who had to be escorted off of a plane Monday afternoon at Minneapolis/St. Paul International.
U.S. Airway officials tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ Aviation Expert Bob McNaney that Monday while Flight 300 was preparing to take off from Minneapolis to Phoenix, a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant saying they noticed ’suspicious behavior,’ among the men.
The men would not get off the plane when asked, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned, and had to be removed by police.
Sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the men were chanting ‘Allah, Allah, Allah,’ as they were transported down the jetway.
Late Monday, federal investigators were still trying to determine exactly who the men are. One source tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the men said that they were in town for the weekend for a religious conference.
The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 170 people, were re-screened for boarding, and it took off about three hours late.
Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTP.com for continuing updates on this story.
Not too much into yet, so whether this was paranoid passengers or a real problem is not known.
I would say however, that if reports are true, chanting "Allah" and refusing to leave the plan surely did not help defuse tensions.
Crossposted to NW Bloggers
UPDATE: Looks like an overreaction. Maybe.n Via Hot Air:
6 imams removed from flight at U.S. airport after 3 conduct traditional prayers
The six Muslim scholars were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, president of the group. Five of them were from the Phoenix-Tempe area, while one was from Bakersfield, California, he said.
Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.
So why do I say maybe? If so many millions do this nightly, why is it they have been seen doing it on an airplane before. I mean up to any after 911 Muslims still fly. So in all the last 30 years or so, why hasn’t this particular ritual been observed?
Bearing in mind my cynicism, I cannot help but wonder how many of these confrontations are planned to generate a media storm about intolerant America.
An interesting note from Lileks:
According to the TV, the men said they were in town for “a religious conference.” Interesting. I was talking today with a guy I know; he’d been at a suburban hotel for an annual company sales meeting. The regional manager was having a difficult time speaking, since the party in the next conference room was praying about as loudly as is humanly possible, and had followed the prayers with a speaker who expressed in rather . . . forceful terms the depth of Muslim oppression in America. Unless there are several Muslim religious conferences going on in Minneapolis at the moment, I’d guess that might be the one. If so, I wonder if the reported truculence of the men might have been influenced, or at least reinforced, by the speaker. Whoever he was.
Obviously not any proof of anything, but remember I am a cynic…
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Breaking: 6 Middle Eastern Men Removed From Flight at MSP…
HT Sister Toldjah:
http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S20152.html?cat=1
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that federal investigators and airport police are questioning six Middle Eastern men who had to be escorted off of a plane Monday afternoon at …
Six Muslims Removed from U.S. Airways Flight…
Are we ignorant of Islam and the their normal evening prayer routine? Is this what we are suppose to accept on our future flights?
as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to…..
Wait a second, why do you assume we have never seen this before?
Sure. However, I can’t help but believe that if some people did the same about a Christian openly praying, Christian response would be the same…decry it as religious intolerance. Heck, we have to hear about the supposed "war on Christmas" simply because stores do the smart thing and say "happy holidays".
Six imams detained at Minneapolis airport…
The reason is because they basically tried to intimdate the other passengers. This letter on Jihad Watch thanking the authorities for doing their job can help give some insight into that….
"you have to convince me that sanitizing Christma is smart,"For stores, it makes more sense to say "Happy Holidays".1.Not everyone celebrates Christmas.2.Christmas is not the only holiday celebrated this time of year.For stores to say "Happy Holidays" in an effort to recognize this makes sense. And stores having their employees keep it at Happy Holidays does NOT consititute a "War on Christmas" even though there was a big focus on that last year. As far as the other big issue that comes up, "Nativity Scenes", I agree that if they are not allowed, there should not be symbols for other religions. Although, usually it’s not as elaborate Nativity scenes tend to be, so really, the best compromises are either no acknowledgement or allow a simple symbol for each.
1.Not everyone celebrates Christmas.
2.Christmas is not the only holiday celebrated this time of year.
For stores to say "Happy Holidays" in an effort to recognize this makes sense.
I cannot say I disagree, but at the same time, Christmas is also a National Holiday and a part of our culture in a way more the just the traditional celebration of the Nativity,
In a strange irony, where the Christians have for decades complained ttha the over-comercialism of Christmas has cheapened the sanctity of the Christ Mass, in reality that same commercialism and mass marketing has created the basis of the argument to keep the word Christmas in the Holiday.
Kwanzaa and Hannuukah have never approached the wide acceptance of Christmas in modern culture. Look at the near universal acceptence of Christmas in movies throught the years, including ther 24 hour marathon presentation of A Christmas Story every year.
And stores having their employees keep it at Happy Holidays does NOT consititute a "War on Christmas" even though there was a big focus on that last year.
I Might agree, but too many stores in a frantic fear of being politically incorrect went too far, by banning christmas entirely. If you want to provide balance, you do not do so by removing all the weights from the scale.
As far as the other big issue that comes up, "Nativity Scenes", I agree that if they are not allowed, there should not be symbols for other religions. Although, usually it’s not as elaborate Nativity scenes tend to be, so really, the best compromises are either no acknowledgement or allow a simple symbol for each.