[Dean's World] Dean: The Flying Imams

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dean:
The Flying Imams
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1165268192.shtml


   I missed the story over the weekend, but:

     Pauline revealed to Pajamas Media that the six imams were doing
     things far more suspicious than praying - an Arabic-speaking
     passenger heard them repeatedly invoke âbin Laden,â and
     âterrorism,â a gate attendant told the captain that she did not
     want to fly with them, and that bomb-sniffing dogs were brought
     aboard. Other Muslim passengers were left undisturbed and later
     joined in a round of applause for the U.S. Airways crew. âIt wasnât
     that they were Muslim. It was all of the suspicious things they
     did,â Pauline said.

     Here is her story, along with corroborating quotes from the U.S.
     Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader and the official report, another
     Pajamas Media exclusive.

     Sitting in Minneapolis-St. Paulâs Airport Gate C9, she noticed one
     of the imams immediately. âHe was pacing nervously, talking in
     Arabic,â she said.

     She quickly noticed the others. âThey didnât look like holy men to
     me. They looked like guys heading out of town for a Vikings game.â

     Pauline said she did not see or hear the imams pray at the gate
     (she was at dinner in a nearby airport eatery), but heard about the
     pre-flight prayers from other passengers hours later.

     As the plane boarded, she said, no one refused to fly. The public
     prayers and Arabic phone call did not trigger any alarms - so much
     for the p.c. allegations that people were disturbed by Muslim
     prayers.

     But a note from a passenger about suspicious movements of the imams
     got the crewâs attention. A copy of the passengerâs note appears in
     the police report.

     To Pauline everything seemed normal. Then the captain - in classic
     laconic pilot-style - announced there had been a âmix up in our
     paperworkâ and that the flight would be delayed.

     In reality, the air crew was waiting for the FBI and local police
     to arrive.

   There are claims that this story has been "debunked" but it doesn't
   appear so; it appears these guys were intentionally trying to provoke
   people. Whether it was really an attempt to disrupt security or just
   to make a public scene, I'm not buying anymore their notion that this
   was merely people being harassed for "flying while Muslim."

   More on Pajamas Media, which [1]broke the story with substantial
   in-depth reporting (but has [2]not been given proper credit.)

References

   1. http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/12/the_faking_imams_pajamas_media.php
   2. http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/12/fox_news_working_without_attri.php