U.S.A.-MINNESOTA: SEETHING, HAND WRINGING & WAILING TAKING PLACE BECAUSE 6 STUPID MOSLEMS REMOVED FROM AIRPLANE

Reactions vary to imams' ejection
BY KARI LYDERSEN
Washington Post

MINNEAPOLIS — For years, the Twin Cities area has been known for its liberalism and tolerance, especially when it comes to religion. Many Muslims, including the largest population of Somalis outside of Mogadishu, make their homes here. The area just elected the nation's first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison.

"We are well known for acceptance at a period in time when much of America feels like an unwelcome place" for Muslims, said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. "This is a place where Muslims are succeeding and thriving in leadership positions."

So last month's removal of six imams from a Phoenix-bound US Airways flight at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has prompted hand-wringing, finger pointing, and calls for greater sensitivity to religious diversity and more communication between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Police and airline officials say the imams, who attended a national conference of Muslim clerics, were removed after exhibiting suspicious behavior, including uttering anti-American statements, changing their seat assignments so that they would be scattered around the airplane and asking for seat-belt extenders, which could be used as weapons. US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said Thursday the airline has completed its investigation of the incident and has concluded that the flight crew was justified in its actions.

But the imams say the behavior in question was merely quiet prayers before boarding the flight.
Local Muslims of various ethnicities are united in their anger over the imams' treatment. The Metropolitan Airports Commission met last week with local imams who are calling for a prayer room to be created at the airport, where many Somali Muslims are employed.

"They say there is freedom of speech and freedom of religion here," said Mahammed Osman, 35, a vendor at the Karmel Square Somali Mall in Minneapolis. "I'm a Muslim, but I respect other religions. Christian people pray everywhere, like in the Mall of America, and no one says anything."

Many non-Muslim residents agree that Muslims should be able to practice their religion. But many also think that the imams should have been more discreet and sensitive to fears about terrorism.

"It seemed like they were trying to make a point rather than exercise their religious freedom," said Erika Smith, 40, a Minneapolis scientist with General Mills. "They did it in a way that was insensitive to people in the airport."

Smith said the airport should provide a place where Muslims can pray.

Omar Shahin, one of the imams removed from the plane, said they were not praying loudly. He thinks US Airways and the media have been misrepresenting the incident.

"The rumor that we were chanting Allah, making anti-American comments — this never happened," Shahin said. "We teach at universities, we are Americans, we live in this country and love this country. Everybody who knows me knows I am the first one to do fundraising for the victims of 9/11, Katrina, the tsunami. This broke my heart."

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is angry that false rumors were circulated, including that the imams had one-way tickets and paid in cash. The group has called for an investigation and is considering a lawsuit, Awad said.



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1) Reactions vary to imams' ejection