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November 28, 2006

Knee-Jerk Cries of Racism

It's been going on for a few days now, and I've finally reached my saturation point. I have to speak out about my disgust at the left's need to find racism where it doesn't exist. Specifically, I am fed up with the sympathy shown to the six Muslim clerics who were removed last week from a US Airways flight. Yet another example of this was published today at Counterpunch by Michael Donnelly. And like most everyone I've heard cry "racism" over this case, Donnelly only tells part of the story.

The grounds for the expulsion? Witnesses noted that three of the Imams had been seen doing their normal evening prayers in the terminal before boarding and they were supposedly heard making comments critical of the Iraq war.

To read this, one would believe the Imams were booted from the plane for being Muslim and praying. But the truth involves much more .

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

The specific behavior that led to the removal of the Imams included:

- Loud praying in the concourse and repeatedly shouting "Allah"
- Switching from their assigned seats to a pattern of seating associated with the 9/11 attacks (two in the front row of the first class section, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisles, and two in the rear of the cabin), giving them control of all exits
- Asking for, but not using seat belt extenders even though they were not needed
- Criticizing President Bush and talking about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden
- Sitting in first class even though their tickets had not been upgraded for first class
- Despite choosing to sit separately, getting up repeatedly to go talk to other members of their group
- Some traveling on one-way tickets

It is not "racial profiling" or "Islamophobia" to be concerned about such behavior these days. It is plainly idiotic NOT to be concerned about it. It seems to me these Imams were either probing the airline's security system or trying to set the airline up for a lawsuit. I don't like kneejerk anti-Muslim behavior any more than anyone else, but if that was what had occurred here, these men would never have been allowed on the plane in the first place. That they were allowed to push their behavior as far as they did before being removed shows me they were intentionally being provocative.

Posted by Becky at November 28, 2006 08:10 AM