Delta Pilot Orders Muslim Imams to Get Off Plane
Two Muslim religious leaders say they were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis on Friday and were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard.
Masudur Rahman, who is also an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, said by phone from the terminal at Memphis International Airport that he and another imam had already been allowed to board their Delta Connection flight to Charlotte, N.C., before they were asked to get off the plane.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jon Allen in Atlanta confirmed the incident and said it was not initiated by that agency.
A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman said the flight was operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which is also based in Atlanta.
“We take security and safety very seriously and the event is currently under investigation,” Atlantic Southeast spokesman Jarek Beem said Friday evening.
Both passengers are Memphis-area residents. Rahman said he was dressed in traditional Indian clothing and his traveling companion was dressed in Arab garb, including traditional headgear.
Rahman said he and Mohamed Zaghloul, of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, were cleared by security agents and boarded the plane for an 8:40 a.m. departure.
The aircraft pulled away from the gate, but the pilot then announced the plane must return, Rahman said. When it did, the imams were asked to go back to the boarding gate where Rahman said they were told the pilot was refusing to accept them because some other passengers could be uncomfortable.
Rahman said Delta officials talked with the pilot for more than a half-hour, but he still refused.
The men were taken to a lounge and booked on a later flight. Beem said they flew on to Charlotte later Friday.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused,” Beem said.
The men contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
“It’s racism and bias because of our religion and appearance and because of misinformation about our religion.” Rahman said. “If they understood Islam, they wouldn’t do this.”
He said a Delta manager apologized for the pilot’s actions, but that he and Zaghloul never spoke directly with the pilot.
Ibrahim Hooper, of the American-Islamic organization, said the group will follow up with the airline and with the TSA to help ensure such incidents do not continue to occur.
Hooper said airline officials at Memphis tried to resolve the situation, but the pilot refused.
ckm
I’d do the same, it makes sense to me. its like so possible that they could start something, i’d be really worried myself. I’d be behind that pilot
Another yukel
This is more worrying as where does racial profiling end? Chassidic Jews, Indian’s with saris, or any other group.
hi
good for them!! who needs them on the plane anyways!
:)
Altz Iz Behasgacha Protis- so they weren’t meant to be on that plane nu nu (i wonder why though:)
Hadassa R.
yeh, they’ll “follow up” alright! by suing Delta for a million or more $ that’ll prob’ly go straight into the coffers of terrorist organizations! just great!
rg
good for the pilot!!!
well better safe than sorry
“misinformed” about your religion?? yeah right look whats happening in your countries.
Milhouse
If this report depends on CAIR’s word for any detail, don’t trust it. CAIR is a Hamas front, and will lie as readily as tell the truth.
sad
this is wrong
frank
there’s two things here. there is the muslim religion. which is not inherenlty bad. then there’s another thing, which is that most people in that religion happen to hate the west and are a bunch of terrorists. the two things are not necessarily directly related. the fact that people view muslims and arabs as terrorists is not because of their religion, its because, quite frankly, that they have have a track record of being terrorists.
Yaakov613
Mazel Tov to the Pilots. I wouldnt want them on the plane either. Thay cannot be trusted!
Milhouse
#10, the Moslem religion *is* inherently bad. Mohammed was a highwayman, and his whole religion is founded on violence. Those Moslems who are peaceful are “reform” or just not very “frum”.
Still, one can’t discriminate against people just because they’re Moslem. *If* the facts given here are correct, then there’s a major problem. But I don’t trust the facts, because they’re coming via CAIR, which is a Hamas front.
Jack
I hope all you people who think racial profiling is ok just based on someone’s dress (seriously, why would a terrorist dress in religious garb anyway, if they’re trying to avoid detection??) get to enjoy being discriminated against and denied entry to places because of your chassidishe dress. I hope that banks don’t let you open accounts because of the high rate of mail fraud by chassidic Jews. I hope police don’t answer your emergency calls because of the criticism they’re received from the community lately. I hope that you never receive another cent in government aid because of the many people in Crown Heights who lie on their welfare applications and for the others who cheat on their taxes. I wouldn’t hold it against anyone for playing it safe around chassidishe Jews.
(Would you listen to your bigoted selves?)
Angry!!!
No 5, and many of the rest of you, they were wrong!!! Next it will be a chassidishe yid to be thrown off, something may be hidden in his payos..!!! While they are suing, ‘and the money will go straight into the coffers…….’ WE, anyone, who wishes to fly anywhere will be paying for it through already inflated prices to pay these legal costs and compensate the people thrown off!
fan of the pilot
Good thinking!
don’t let the sword slaughter u, if u have an escape route!
Teens perspective
Racism is not the answer here. All you above who are congratulating the pilot you are extremly ignorant an mis informed and you contribute towards the problems of anti semitism. Racial profiling against any group in this country is extremly. And I am not saying this necessarily because i care so much about them. But i am saying this because whenever racism of any sort or against any people become even moderately acceptable it finds a way to come back and bite us the jews in the tuchus. We must stand and fight against this racism so that it will never find a way of making its way back to us.
saving lives!
BH! this is the best thing to do! or maybe, aderaba- fill a whole plane of them and let them blow each other up!
Don-t kid yourselves!
No one is at war with Chassidic Jews. As Moslems they know that Americans are wary and especially now after Osama Bin Laden was just killed, everyone is on high alert for retalliation; they did not have to be dressed so Islamic! Did he really have to wear the kaffiyah?! Or the other guy a turban and traditional garb? It’s like davka provoking the other passengers to see what they could get away with! As in you killed our leader and we are still free to do what we please.Maybe other passengers were scared. Maybe they refused to just put on a cap instead. They should have been more sensitive and it is entirely their fault, come on!!! Nothing racist here!
Thinkster
Profiling is a standard tool in fighting terrorism. The Israelis use it all the time to categorize those most likely to be a threat. However, a person is not a threat by nature of his being Muslim. In other words, just because every terrorist is Muslim does not mean that every Muslim is a terrorist.
The pilot was wrong, and this sets a dangerous precedent in which people have been discriminated against by virtue of their clothing and religion.
Having said that, if they were to try anything funny on the plane, I’d be the first to rip their throats out.
Jack
To #18:
Do you really have to dress so “chassidic?”
Ignorance and Bigotry
If the Rambam had been traveling along with these muslims, he too would have been denied boarding/deplaned.
It saddens me to see the comments here. I am a Moroccan Jew who grew up with Muslims and whose best friends are all Muslims.
In spite of the current rise of radical Islam, historically Muslims have treated Jews with far more respect than Christians. But what would you know, you (Ashkenazim) are descendants of European converts who grew up with Christians.
Islam CHARAM!!
21, your best friends from Morocco just blew up a cafe and killed the innocent Jewish parents of a young child.
Morocco has changed. Islam has changed because the high price of oil allows the Saudis to spread their sick hate throughout the many poor dictatorships where Muslims breed. Morocco has always tried to do the right thing but the king can’t compete with the oil money of the rotten Saudis and Iran that finances Moroccan madrassas and other batei avoido zoro.
They need to be watched as Communists were watched in the 1950s. They are far more of a threat than the Commie dupes ever were.
And your bigoted statement about European converts is untrue and something I’d expect from a KKK site.
Ahavas Chinam
Been traveling for a while, I have yet to see them screen anyone except white people. We are polite alright, on the puke level.
mendel
I dont think id do anydifferent, but im worried today muslim tomorow a jew?
Islam CHARAM!!
By the way, I am of so-called “Ashkenazi” origin as are many Russian Jews. I can trace my roots back to Spain as well as to Dovid haMelech. That happens to be the case for quite a number of Russian Chabad families who seem as “Ashkenazi” as gefilte fish.
Many Moroccan Jews happen to be the descendants of Berbers who converted. This is actually not something that real Moroccan Jews hide, and unlike the anti-Semitic Khazar theory to which our bigot alludes, this is known to historians and proven by genetics.
Of course this means nothing, except to point out who the real ignorant bigot is! I think he is about as Moroccan as Norman Finkelstein or Noam Chomsky (Chumpsky).
Mendy Hecht
To #2:
If Chassidic Jews hijacked four airliners…
Now were we talking about Chasidic Jews? Or Muslims?
Thanks to Bin Laden, American Muslims have a major PR problem and until they start doing a better job at coming out against terror instead of resorting to calling fearful Americans bigots, everyone else will distrust and fear them. The ball is in their court, not the pilots’.
Milhouse
#21, “Ignorance and bigotry”, you took an appropriate name. What an astonishing display of both ignorance and bigotry. For your information, it is NOT TRUE that “historically Muslims have treated Jews with far more respect than Christians”. On the whole, taking the good times with the bad, the record of Jews in Christendom and in Dar al Islam were about the same.
As for your disgusting claim that “you (Ashkenazim) are descendants of European converts who grew up with Christians”, nothing could be further from the truth. Ashkenazim have a chain of yichus going back to the Beis Hamikdosh, while Moroccan Jews are half Berber.
sheli
this is called: someone taking a stand.
true point was mentioned that today it could be muslims and next it could be Jew, but not likely, as this was for safety. Jews don’t have that stigman of being dangerous. Legs hope that this stays principled and people take a stand for emes.