More Islamophobia: Two imams forced to leave plane when passengers felt uncomfortable

[Lobotomy]

(CNN) -- An airline is investigating the removal of two imams from a flight headed to North Carolina, ostensibly because passengers felt uncomfortable with their presence of the pair -- both clad in Islamic attire.
The incident occurred Friday on an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight from Tennessee to North Carolina and it involved Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul were wearing traditional Muslim dress, CNN affiliate WCNC reported.
The two -- who hold high religious positions in the Muslim community -- were headed to North Carolina for a conference on prejudice against Muslims, or Islamaphobia. The meeting is sponsored by the North American Imams Federation.
Rahman, who is a professor at the University of Memphis, told the affiliate that the incident reminded him of the prejudice Rosa Parks faced during the civil rights movement.
"That history I found today in that plane, and it shouldn't happen with any other person," he said.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which operated the flight, said the incident is under investigation, and apologized "for any inconvenience that this may have caused."

Full article (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/05/07/muslims.kicked.off.plane/index.html?hpt=T2)

[RedSonRising]

Oh the Irony.

[brigadista]

just what exactly is "islamic attire" this would be comical in its ignorance it it wasnt so tragic

[Rakhmetov]

That's the heresy of the modern age: People are frightened of imams aboard a plane but when Christian fundamentalists appear there is nothing wrong with fearing them. Oh no. :cursing:

[Red Future]

That's the heresy of the modern age: People are firghtened of imams aboard a plane but when Christian fundamnetalists appear there is nothing wrong with fearing them. Oh no. :cursing:
Agreed this a bad sign :(

[agnixie]

I can't believe they did it on such a ridiculously flimsy basis, I mean even from the standpoint of the whole security theater bullshit. ugh

[Heathen Communist]

This is just one of the many reasons I am a Communist.

[Misanthrope]

Racism is still alive and kicking in America.

[Obs]

I'm wearing my Egyptian robe next time I go on a plane and then complain I feel uncomfortable with all the people in there wearing Christian garb

[Tim Finnegan]

Do these idiots really think that the next 9/11 is going to conducted by people decked out in Islamic clerical gear? The first one bloody well wasn't, and that was before anyone with a vaguely West-to-South Asian appearance was regarded by half of the US population as an explosion waiting to happen.

[Lobotomy]

Do these idiots really think that the next 9/11 is going to conducted by people decked out in Islamic clerical gear? The first one bloody well wasn't, and that was before anyone with a vaguely West-to-South Asian appearance was regarded by half of the US population as an explosion waiting to happen.

Exactly. If the terrorists wanted to repeat their actions then they very well could have a blonde haired blue eyed woman carry it out next time.

[Commissar Rykov]

Do these idiots really think that the next 9/11 is going to conducted by people decked out in Islamic clerical gear? The first one bloody well wasn't, and that was before anyone with a vaguely West-to-South Asian appearance was regarded by half of the US population as an explosion waiting to happen.

Exactly, though this Islamophobia is reaching a disgusting and paranoid level that worries me because it is only a matter of time before some jerkoff decides to take action on their own.

[Tim Finnegan]

Exactly. If the terrorists wanted to repeat their actions then they very well could have a blonde haired blue eyed woman carry it out next time.
You almost want to dig out those reports of Al Qaeda leaders suggesting that they try to recruit non-West and South Asian operatives, either from Africa, South-East Asia, Central Asia or from among Western converts, who would stand a higher chance of by-passing racial profiling... But that might just give these buggers an excuse to profile everyone who wasn't white. :(


Exactly, though this Islamophobia is reaching a disgusting and paranoid level that worries me because it is only a matter of time before some jerkoff decides to take action on their own.
We already had a taste of that in the weeks immediately following 9/11, when the recorded cases of harassment and assault on people of West and South Asian dissent spiked hugely- an increase of over 1700% (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3154170.stm)!- including several murders. As if to compound this already disgusting tragedy, the victims includes an absurdly disproportionate number of Sikhs, including one of those who was murdered, whose distinctive headgear makes them an obvious target for feckless white supremacists, despite the fact that to an even vaguely informed mind it specifically identifies them as non-Muslim. The average fash is a dimwitted beast, but with a belly full of cheap beer and a head full of racist bullshit, that often just makes him more dangerous.

[Sword and Shield]

Oh the Irony.

I know. It's like the time they questioned Sharukh Khan for 2 hours when he was coming here to promote "My Name is Khan".

[Sir Comradical]

Yeah because if muslims wanted to hijack a plane, they'd definately dress like imams.