'Safest' seat remarks gets Muslim family kicked off plane

[Liberal_in_LA]

'Safest' seat remarks gets Muslim family kicked off plane

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/01/family.grounded/index.html

Atif Irfan, his brother, their wives, a sister and three children were headed to Orlando to meet with family and attend a religious conference.

"The conversation, as we were walking through the plane trying to find our seats, was just about where the safest place in an airplane is," Sahin said. "We were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front, but that's it. We didn't say anything else that would raise any suspicion."

The conversation did not contain the words "bomb," "explosion," "terror" or other words that might have aroused suspicion, Irfan said.

"When we were talking, when we turned around, I noticed a couple of girls kind of snapped their heads," said Sobia Ijaz, Irfan's wife. "I kind of thought to myself, 'Oh, you know, maybe they're going to say something.' It didn't occur to me that they were going to make it such a big issue."

Some time later, while the plane was still at the gate, an FBI agent boarded the plane and asked Irfan and his wife to leave the plane. The rest of the family was removed 15 or 20 minutes later, along with a family friend, Abdul Aziz, a Library of Congress attorney and family friend who was coincidentally taking the same flight and had been seen talking to the family.

[Historic NY]

1. I always used to say I want to fly with the black (yellow) box...

because they always find it.

[Marr]

2. My friend always wears a t-shirt with the words, "I'm da bomb" when he flies.

No problems so far.

[firedupdem]

3. That's bad. After they were cleared they should have been allowed

to fly out. How embarrassing for the family and their children.

[TygrBright]

4. Oh, fer.... *@&*)@ sakes! Can we PLEASE get over the...

...Scary Brown Mooslim crap?

It's SO embarrassing.

A colleague of mine married a Jordanian and he recently became a citizen. He is a sweet, gentle, hard-working man, devoted husband and father. He can tell stories that make me writhe in shame for our fellow-citizens, but he's mostly too polite to do so.

I've gotten a couple of earfuls from her, though.

When she was in the hospital to give birth to her twins there were some nurses there who came in to try and get her to sign a form denying permission to circumcise the boy. She told them to go away, but she kept finding creepy anti-circumcision pamphlets and flyers on the bedside table when she'd wake up. Many of them had distinctly anti-semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab overtones.

Sheesh.

Will we EVER grow up?

disgustedly,
Bright

[Cheap_Trick]

5. When I fly with my friend Jack, I always make sure to say hi to him......

[EFerrari]

6. People have this conversation all the time.

I don't recognize this country any more.

[tkmorris]

7. Flying is a privilege, not a right

Hey, that reasoning seems to work everywhere. This is FUN!!

:evilgrin:

[Berry Cool]

9. Well, it's true--otherwise we'd all be issued our own planes and pilots.

But really, this is ridiculous.

[Blue_Tires]

8. statistically the rear of the plane is safest

but no one wants to wait the full half-hour to get off when the plane lands