A few days ago, two imams were taken off a plane, at the discretion of the pilot, and are now claiming they were harassed because they are Muslim. Now we have another imam, flying to the same conference in North Carolina on Islamophobia as the first two, is also claiming he was profiled and not allowed to fly.
I have a suggestion: dress in regular clothes and don't do anything that would make you a stand-out among the passengers. Acting in the manner they did, knowing the reaction from the passengers is a slap in the face for those who still shudder at the site of someone in Muslim garb.
From WNYC May 9 by Arun Venugopal Arun
Imam Al-Amin Abdul-Latif — who heads the Majlis Ash-Shura, or Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, a representative body that includes dozens of area mosques — said he was twice denied by officials when he tried to board an American Airlines flight from La Guardia to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday to attend a conference on Islamophobia.
The imam was traveling with his son, Imam Abubakr Abdul-Latif, who heads a mosque in Bed-Stuy.
The two cleared a security check and arrived at their gate where they said a Transportation Security Administration official asked to see the elder Abdul-Latif's boarding pass.
The official allegedly left for 10 to 15 minutes before returning the boarding pass. The father's boarding pass would not scan and he resigned himself to missing the flight, assuming his son would make it to Charlotte.
The son's flight did not take off, and according to Abubakr, the plane returned to the gate after having approached the runway.
After having his documents examined, he said he was allowed to walk away. He eventually reunited with his father, who had obtained a new boarding pass for early the next day, and the two returned at around 3:30 a.m.
The son's boarding pass was cleared, but this time, the two said an American Airlines employee indicated to the elder imam that he was not allowed on the plane.
"There was no ill intent on the part of any of our employees involved in this," American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle wrote in response. "It was a situation that just got very complicated very quickly."
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I have a suggestion: dress in regular clothes and don't do anything that would make you a stand-out among the passengers. Acting in the manner they did, knowing the reaction from the passengers is a slap in the face for those who still shudder at the site of someone in Muslim garb.
From WNYC May 9 by Arun Venugopal Arun
Imam Claims Racial Profiling by American Airlines
One of the city's most prominent Muslim leaders claims he was prevented from boarding two American Airlines flights en route to a conference on Islamophobia last week because of his appearance.
Imam Al-Amin Abdul-Latif — who heads the Majlis Ash-Shura, or Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, a representative body that includes dozens of area mosques — said he was twice denied by officials when he tried to board an American Airlines flight from La Guardia to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday to attend a conference on Islamophobia.
The imam was traveling with his son, Imam Abubakr Abdul-Latif, who heads a mosque in Bed-Stuy.
The two cleared a security check and arrived at their gate where they said a Transportation Security Administration official asked to see the elder Abdul-Latif's boarding pass.
The official allegedly left for 10 to 15 minutes before returning the boarding pass. The father's boarding pass would not scan and he resigned himself to missing the flight, assuming his son would make it to Charlotte.
The son's flight did not take off, and according to Abubakr, the plane returned to the gate after having approached the runway.
After having his documents examined, he said he was allowed to walk away. He eventually reunited with his father, who had obtained a new boarding pass for early the next day, and the two returned at around 3:30 a.m.
The son's boarding pass was cleared, but this time, the two said an American Airlines employee indicated to the elder imam that he was not allowed on the plane.
"There was no ill intent on the part of any of our employees involved in this," American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle wrote in response. "It was a situation that just got very complicated very quickly."
Read it all
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