FOX ALERT: Passengers Taken Off Plane at MSP (Minnesota

Six men were removed from an airplane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday evening.

Sources say the men, of Middle Eastern ethnicity, behaved in a manner that caused the crew to be concerned.

The men were taken off the plane after it returned to the gate and are being questioned by authorities.

The remaining passengers were also taken off the flight, U.S. Airways flight 300, bound for Phoenix.

Stay with FOX 9 News and MyFOX9.com for continuing updates on this breaking story.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014461.php

December 17, 2006

Gingrich: Imams should have been arrested

Newt Gingrich speaks truth to power about the Flying Imams rage incident. From UPI, with thanks to Doc Washburn:

MANCHESTER, N.H., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told an audience in New Hampshire Muslim clerics pulled off a plane for praying should have been charged criminally.
Gingrich made the remark Friday night, as he delivered the keynote speech at the Manchester Republican City Committee Christmas dinner, the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader reported.

"Those six people should have been arrested and prosecuted for pretending to be terrorists," Gingrich said. "And the crew of the U.S. airplane should have been invited to the White House and congratulated for being correct in the protection of citizens."...

Posted by Robert at December 17, 2006 09:00 AM

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759301/posts

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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53543

"Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers
Security officials told 'to be aware that they may also be praying'"
Posted: December 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

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Note: The following text (minus the photo) is a quote:

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=December&x=20061226172155ndyblehs0.4967768

USINFO > Products > Current Issues

26 December 2006

U.S. Airport Security Officers Briefed on Hajj Traditions

Officers learn about cultural sensitivities of Muslim travelers

By David Shelby
USINFO Staff Writer

A Transportation Security Administration agent checks a passenger at an airport security checkpoint. (File photo © AP Images)
Washington -- The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has provided special training to sensitize the 45,000 security officers working in the nation’s airports to the cultural traditions of American Muslims traveling to Saudi Arabia to participate in the hajj.

“We put out information telling everyone that hajj is coming; this is the time frame; individuals are going to be traveling with these types of items; just to be aware that they may also be praying,” TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told USINFO December 26. “I guess you would call it cultural sensitivity training.”

Kayser said cultural awareness has been an integral part of TSA training since the agency assumed responsibility for managing airport security after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He said the hajj briefings were essentially “refresher training” and a chance to alert officers that a larger number of Muslim travelers will be passing through the airports during this season. He said the TSA had a particular interest in performing the training this year, as the hajj corresponds with the busy Christmas-New Year holiday travel season.

The training comes just one month after Department of Homeland Security personnel came under criticism for removing six imams from a domestic flight for what one passenger considered suspicious behavior. (See related article.)

The hajj, or annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is a religious duty for Muslims. According to Saudi officials, it draws about 2.5 million pilgrims each year.

The number of American Muslims participating in the hajj has been increasing in recent years. According to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, about 15,000 Americans made the pilgrimage in 2005. (See related article.)

Kayser said the training included reminders about procedures for screening individuals with head coverings and TSA policies regarding the transport of holy water. According to TSA guidelines, any container larger than 88 milliters must be carried in a passenger’s checked baggage.

The TSA began its training sessions in mid-December and expects to see hajj travelers through early January 2007.

Additional information on hajj travel is available at the TSA Web site.

More information on U.S. society is available at Population and Diversity and International Religious Freedom.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov )

Off Topic...

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759678/posts

Strip-Searched Muslim Woman Gets Apology
AP via CBS3 TV in Philadelphia ^ | Dec 28, 2006

Posted on 12/28/2006 5:46:42 PM PST by jdm

The Department of Homeland Security has sent a letter apologizing to a Muslim woman who was detained at the Tampa airport and strip-searched at a county jail.

Safana Jawad, 45, a Spanish citizen who was born in Iraq, was detained on April 11 because of a suspected tie to a suspicious person, authorities said. She was held for two days before being deported to England.

Jawad filed a complaint, and the agency apologized in a letter dated Dec. 8.

"On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, I offer you my sincere apology for having to undergo a strip search," wrote Timothy J. Keefer, acting chief counsel for the department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

The agency declined to release the name of the suspicious person in the case.

Department spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez said it is standard practice to send a response letter to someone who complains. She said the agency does not track the number of apologies it issues.

Jawad was traveling to Clearwater to visit her 16-year-old son, who lived with her ex-husband, Ahmad Maki Kubba. Kubba, an Iraqi exile and American citizen for 27 years, was praised last year by Gov. Jeb. Bush for organizing a group to vote in Iraq's election.

Kubba said his ex-wife's detention prompted his son to move to Spain.

"I lost my son because of what happened," Kubba said. "My son wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, and he speaks both English and Arabic. He would have been just what they are looking for. What they did to Jawad was unfair and is hurting America."

A Pinellas County jail internal investigation cleared deputies of wrongdoing in the case.

"We followed the same protocol with her as with any inmate," Sgt. Jim Bordner said.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1762155/posts

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53621

"Muslims warn of 'problems' in shared prayer room
Somali leader says Islam, Christianity incompatible"
Posted: January 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Muslims are demanding a private room to pray at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, saying there will be problems if they have to share an existing "quiet room" with people of other religions.

"Where you have Christians and Muslims praying at the same time, it will create a problem," said Fuad Ali, a Somali leader who spoke at a meeting with airport officials, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The meeting was a followup to an incident Nov. 20 when ticket agents and other passengers noticed six Muslim imams who had attended a conference in the area praying loudly before their flight, and shouting "Allah, Allah" when their flight was called. Officials said then they also asked to be scattered throughout the plane, rather than sitting together as they had been assigned. And some of the imams, although they did not need them, asked for seat-belt extenders."

NOTE: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014704.php

January 05, 2007

CAIR monitors airport treatment of Muslims
The Council on American Islamic Relations continues its campaign to stigmatize all scrutiny of Muslims in airports as discrimination. From UPI, with thanks to Web:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. Muslim organization said Thursday it was monitoring the treatment of American Muslims returning from the hajj pilgrimage.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it would be organizing interviews with American Muslims who were coming home from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca "to spot-check their treatment by airport security personnel and border protection authorities."

CAIR said an estimated 10,000-15,000 American Muslims went on the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia this year. The group set up a toll-free hotline for travelers who felt that their civil rights had been ignored or over-riden.

Posted by Robert at January 5, 2007 04:47 PM

http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=4&id=9535

Updated: January 5th, 2007 01:03 PM PDT
Home > Airport News
"Twin Cities Airport Considers Rule that Could Sideline Some Muslim Cabbies"

The Associated Press

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Last year, the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society saying "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

In the Quran, Muslims are barred from consuming intoxicants - generally understood as alcohol, though the prohibition also extends to narcotics. Devout Muslims interpret the ban to include carrying, buying or selling alcohol. Additionally, dogs are considered unclean and Muslims are required to repeat their ablutions if come into contact with them before praying.

Given the religious concerns, Hassan Mohamud, an imam and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, said he would ask airport officials to reconsider."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=ellison
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=keithellison

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Off Topic.

Note: the following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014787.php

January 10, 2007

Ellison named to Judiciary Committee
Watch for legislation to outlaw "religious profiling." From Associated Press, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Keith Ellison has been named to the House Judiciary Committee, a panel that has oversight over issues such as civil liberties, immigration and courts....
"I look forward to pursuing a progressive agenda in the committee, including the restoration of American citizen's civil liberties that have come under increasing attack over the past six years," said Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress.

Ellison, a freshman lawmaker, said this week he'd like to see a ban on racial profiling, an issue that could come up in the Judiciary Committee.

Posted by Robert at January 10, 2007 02:42 PM

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