Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (8713)	11/28/2006 11:32:08 AM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224728

When will the Imams demand an apology from the Muslim jihadists whose violent actions have reflected so poorly on their entire culture?....and would the rabbi & minister find as much empathy in the Mid-east if they conducted Jewish or Christian prayer services in public places?: Imams Seek an Apology Newsday, Melville, N.Y., 2006-11-28 By Carol Eisenberg, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Nov. 28--WASHINGTON -- Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" here at Reagan National Airport yesterday morning, demanding an apology from US Airways for removing six imams from a flight last week. They also called on Congress to combat religious and racial profiling. The removal of the six imams from the Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight after several passengers reported "suspicious" behavior -- and US Airways' refusal the next day to let the men board another flight even after police had cleared them -- has become a cause celebre in the civil liberties and civil rights communities. One of the detained imams, Omar Shahin, has called for a boycott of the financially beleaguered airline. Two Muslim advocacy groups are asking for congressional hearings on religious and racial profiling. And US Airways and the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties are reviewing the incident. The imams, who were returning from a religious conference before Thanksgiving, laid out mats and prayed in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. After boarding the flight and attracting additional notice for purportedly making anti-U.S. comments, among other things, they were escorted off the plane, handcuffed and questioned for several hours by federal and local law enforcement officials. A spokeswoman from US Airways denied that the pilot's decision was based on the men's praying. "Praying was never the issue," Andrea Rader said. "Some customers thought they heard them making pro-Saddam or anti-U.S. statements. And then, when they got on the plane and were seated in different areas, they appeared to be moving about a lot. One asked for seatbelt extenders although he didn't appear to need them. All that gave rise to concerns among customers." But while defending the pilot's "on-the-spot" judgment to remove the men for questioning, Rader called the decision to bar the men from flights the following day a miscommunication over their boarding status that we are still trying to sort out. "We're sorry that they were inconvenienced the next day," she said. Isaac Yeffet, a former Israeli security chief, defended the pilot's decision as the right one under the circumstances -- based on the men's behavior, not their religion: "If you are about to fly and you see me behaving abnormally, would you accept that risk after 9/11, especially if you are traveling with your children?"