DETAINED IMAMS
As you probably know, six muslim clerics were removed from a US Airways flight after they were seen praying. One passenger claimed he overheard them making anti-US remarks. I make US remarks, so I can't fault them for that or the way they pray.
But we're on high alert and there were standard warning flags even before other passengers complained.
A couple of them had one-way tickets.
A couple had no checked baggage.
They did not sit in their assigned seats.
They asked for seat belt extensions when the flight attendants didn't think they were necessary. (Weird! They normally offer the extensions to me!)
On their own, these don't seem like much. But if these are standard alarm bells, I'd rather the airline yank me or anyone else off a plane for safety's sake. I will concede that we should be made more familiar with muslim prayer rituals, which struck me as very odd on a recent flight. Muslims might be alarmed to see a catholic crossing themselves. But flying a month ago, I saw a young muslim woman at a departure gate whose eyes were rolling back in her head as she quickly read from a Qu'oran (sp?) and muttered wildly--for 15 minutes. I was immediately alarmed and thought is this suspicious behaviour? Should I report it or is that prejudiced? Is that just the way these people pray or is this woman reciting an especially lengthy and passionate suicide bomber's prayer? After I realized she wasn't on my flight, I decided to do nothing, but did check the news later to see if any incident had occurred in her destination of Fort Lauderdale. It hadn't, but I guess it's better safe than sorry. So these guys were yanked off a plane and detained for 45 minutes. I'd rather deal with their ire than an explosion. If I saw a christian spaking in tongues I'd also be wary of boarding a plane to Armageddon with them.
But we're on high alert and there were standard warning flags even before other passengers complained.
A couple of them had one-way tickets.
A couple had no checked baggage.
They did not sit in their assigned seats.
They asked for seat belt extensions when the flight attendants didn't think they were necessary. (Weird! They normally offer the extensions to me!)
On their own, these don't seem like much. But if these are standard alarm bells, I'd rather the airline yank me or anyone else off a plane for safety's sake. I will concede that we should be made more familiar with muslim prayer rituals, which struck me as very odd on a recent flight. Muslims might be alarmed to see a catholic crossing themselves. But flying a month ago, I saw a young muslim woman at a departure gate whose eyes were rolling back in her head as she quickly read from a Qu'oran (sp?) and muttered wildly--for 15 minutes. I was immediately alarmed and thought is this suspicious behaviour? Should I report it or is that prejudiced? Is that just the way these people pray or is this woman reciting an especially lengthy and passionate suicide bomber's prayer? After I realized she wasn't on my flight, I decided to do nothing, but did check the news later to see if any incident had occurred in her destination of Fort Lauderdale. It hadn't, but I guess it's better safe than sorry. So these guys were yanked off a plane and detained for 45 minutes. I'd rather deal with their ire than an explosion. If I saw a christian spaking in tongues I'd also be wary of boarding a plane to Armageddon with them.
posted by Lady Bunny at Wednesday, November 22, 2006
6 Comments:
You are right to be suspicious, after all, all your years of life should have taught you something - now go a step further and report when you see something wacky - like some crazy religious nutjob of whatever ilk.
While I understand where your fears are coming from, Lady B, I expected you to be more enlightened. Thanks for your honesty and I won't ream you a new one for it, but I will point out the association you make between Christians speaking in tongues and Muslims speaking in Arabic--when you don't understand something (a language, in this case), fear kicks in. It's the same way straightfolk feel when they see a 7-foot drag queen gleaming in the dark. They don't understand so they feel afraid. That's where prejudice begins. (oh boy, am I setting myself up for a reaming?...hmm...I hope so...)
Alex, we all need to see this muslim prayer in action and realize that that's the way they pray. I've seen it before, but never as crazily as this young woman a month ago. Her eyes were rolling back in her head--it was the most animated prayer I've ever seen and I've been to the Middle East.
I can apprecIate the fear that a tall (I ain't 7 feet!) drag queen inspires fear in straights. That's how I get their wallets! But it wasn't a band of transvestites, scary as they may be, which banded together to fly 2 planes into the WTC. I'm sure a group of drag queens in an airport would arouse a lot of suspicion in any case. But the biggest perceived threat at an airport is a wacky-acting muslim. So again, the airport security should familiarize themselves with the islamic form of prayer. But anyone from granny to tranny to muslim should be detained if enough red flags (ie their one-way tickets, seat belt extensions, swapping seats, no checked luggage) were raised eben before the imams were on board praying, I still don't think it's wrong to remove them. I hate being detained for questioning too, but I have to sacrifice some of my personal comfort for safer airways. --LB
Bunny, when you are jetting, do your wigs qualify as “carry-on” or do you have to book another seat?
Bunny, how did you cope using those squat down toilets in the middle east?
As for rag-heads on flights, simply learn iraq's national anthem(If they have one) then when boarding the plane sing a rousing chorus of it and if anyone else joins in, then you know its wise to get off!
As for air stewards, I hate them, bunch of stuck up snotty nosed bitches. If they didn't have high-lighted hair and orange skin they'd be working in MacDonalds.
I'm sorry, no, I'm not, if the
terrorists are always muslim men
of a certain age range and they do
boisterous conspicuous things on
flights (?!) are you kidding me,
honey, fuck stopping at the next
airport, how about an eject chute?
Let's all remember when TWO
airliners were deliberately flown
into the NYC skyline by muslim
extremists killing THOUSANDS of
innocents.
If a few hundred people
are inconvenienced or embarrassed,
so be it.
Expelling potential
murderers off a flight simply does
not equate to flying a big old jet
airliner into a skyscraper.
If the
former must be done to prevent the
latter it's an insignificant price
to pay.
You know what an ounce of
prevention is worth.
To quote the punch line from
Billy Crystal's hack, old-black-
jazz-artist-from-New-Orleans
bit, "Can you dig it? I knew 'dat
choo could."
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