Nine Muslims were kicked off a New Year’s Day flight from D.C. to Florida by AirTran Airways.
The incident began when one Muslim passenger, Atif Irfan, told his wife and sister-in-lay they had seats in the back of the plane.Irfan said he believed sitting near the wing was the safest, while the sister-in-law said the rear of the plane was the safest.
Someone should tell him all the fuel is stored in the wings.
This was overheard by some passengers and reported to the crew.
Engines shut down. Plane delayed. Questions asked. Nine passengers cleared of all suspicion, but were nonetheless kicked of the plane. No one arrived at his appointed destination on time. A lot of bad PR for AirTran.
Everyone was inconvenienced for nothing.
Think about it logically.
If they were terrorists bent on suicide bombing the plane, why would they even be discussing where the safest place to sit was?
They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t care.
In a magnanimous gesture and exhibiting no rancor, Irfan, said the apology was “definitely nice to hear.”
Irfan also said he thought they were profiled, because of their appearance. The men had beards and the women wore traditional headscarves.
"My wife and I are generally very careful about what we say when we step on the plane," he said.
He added that they have received suspicious looks in the past.
"We're used to this sort of thing, but obviously not to this extent.”
Every culture, every nation, every city, every region has traditions, and for the most part they are nice traditions. But like a lot of nice things, maybe it would be better if they were practiced in the privacy of one’s home.
A little suggestion might be in order here…or not.
To Americans, regardless of what Bush says, not all Muslims are terrorists. You can stop being afraid.
To the Muslims living here. You are living here. Time to start becoming one with America and shed the beards and head scarves.
Between Bush and your militant brethren, no matter what anyone says or the fact that the scare monger will be out of office in 17 long days, Americans have had the crap scared out of them.
Maybe, just maybe, if you watch what you say in public, you should also watch what you wear.
Just a thought to consider to save everyone, especially yourselves a lot of trouble.
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Joan Walsh
Kerry Lauerman
Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo
Salon.com
Comments
Today, if I get the time, I will post on my study of arab-americans. One thing that folks do not know about them is that they seek US citizenship at much higher levels than any immigrants.
To the best of my knowledge, it's not intrinsically un-American to grow a beard. Think, um, Lincoln? My husband on vacation -- whoops -- he's Canadian... but still -- I often call the resulting fuzz his Yassir Arafat look -- unshaven, yet not a real beard. You've never seen an American man like that? C'mon.
Do you think male Hasidic Jews should give up the beards & the long curls; should female Hasidic Jews give up wearing wigs? Should male Orthodox Jews give up yalmulkes? Should the Amish or Mennonites give up their distinctive dress? Should Hindu women not wear bindis?
Is it your contention that American=Christian? If not, how can you justify telling native-born Americans that they don't dress or wear their hair in a sufficiently American fashion because their clothing/hair styles are, to some extent, determined by their religion. Is this France? Would you ban people from wearing jewelry featuring crosses? No more WWJD bracelets?
Muslim women, if they dress distinctively, do so because that's how their religion defines modesty. Part of this definition of modesty -- that women shouldn't let their hair be seen -- does exist in other cultures (that's why Hasidic women wear wigs -- they do not let their own hair be seen) & has historically been present in ours -- until the start of the 20th century, women going out in public had to have head coverings &/or have their hair covered or be thought sluts. If you think it's un-American for a woman to take modest into account when dressing, would you keep off planes women not wearing push-up bras? Not wearing mini-skirts? Does Britney Spears determine what it's American to wear (or not)? Although I have lived & traveled all over the USA, I hadn't noticed that there was a single standard of dress.
I don't think the family actually objected to their conversation being investigated -- having the entire plane of passengers de-plane & file past the group & identifying the family as the cause of the delay -- THAT, Air Tran could have avoided. Businesses have no business trying to foster lynch mobs. & Air Tran refusing to take the FBI agents' word for it that the family was not genuinely a danger was not right either -- what's the point of investigations if you don't respect the results?
I hope there's nothing more American than freedom of religion. If someone's religion tells her to wear scarves, that's between her & her god.
What surprises me is this idea that Americans SHOULD be so afraid of Muslims. More Americans were killed in 2001 by other Americans than by foreigners. Per our government, the anthrax terrorism was done by an American employed by the government itself. & in every year since 2001, more Americans have been murdered by our fellow citizens, even if you add to the murdered the number of soldiers killed in two wars. We continue to live in a country where our biggest enemies are ourselves; we continue to live a world where our military kills considerably more of "them" (including non-combatants) than "they" kill of us. If you want to be logical about it, the most dangerous, scary thing about Irafan is that he's a native-born American male, not that he's Muslim or wears a beard.
Now, I struggle to find out what makes your position any different than the neanderthals at Airtran (who are *died* to me). Would you ask the same of a priest or a rabbi? Or are the Muslims the only one who must be forced to shed their traditional religious garments? Shocking.........