Posted on 01/03/2007 10:20:34 PM PST by Man50D
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.
The pilot summoned security and the imams were removed from the flight, and then they alleged that they were discriminated against because of their religion.
Now Somalis, who make up a large community in Minnesota and are predominantly Muslim, are demanding changes at the airport, including a private place for them to use for their prayers.
The airport, meanwhile, has suggested they share the room already set aside for such purposes.
The incident with the imams, who took another later flight, has launched both criticism and praise for the airline, US Airways. Critics say the airline was profiling based on religion, while those who praise the actions say safety must come first in the world since Sept. 11.
Ali said he just wanted a "guarantee" that something similar will not happen in the future.
But the airport already provides the generic quiet area, and if it would set aside a special area designated for Muslims, it could have to accommodate any – and all – other faiths the same way, noted Airport Director Steve Wareham.
"Our request would be you try the quiet seating area," he said.
That is a carpeted room furnished with chairs – but without any religious symbols, airport officials said. It has been in use for a number of years, but hasn't been obvious, so airport officials have promised to put up more signs to let people know where it is.
The airport also said people can pray in other parts of the airport as they wish.
As WND reported, one of the imams, Omar Shahin, is affiliated with a Hamas-linked organization and acknowledged a connection to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.
Shahin is a representative of the Kind Hearts Organization, which had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury pending an investigation, notes Islam scholar Robert Spencer on his weblog Jihad Watch.
Treasury spokesman Stuart Levey in February said KindHearts "is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving."
The imams had attended a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, who is president of the group.
"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident.
The Washington, D.C., based lobby group Council on American-Islamic Relations also complained, according to CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.
"Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time," Hooper said.
CAIR, however, has its own ties to Hamas, having been identified by two former FBI counter-terrorism chiefs as a spinoff of a front group for the Palestinian terrorist organization.
A Sept. 28, 2001, story in the Arizona Republic that said Arizona appears to have been the home of an al-Qaida sleeper cell named Shahin as one of three part-time Arizona residents who "fits the pattern" of the terrorist group.
Shahin, identifed as being with the Tucson Islamic Center, said members of his mosque may have helped bin Laden in the early 1990s when the al-Qaida leader was fighting against the Russians.
The CIA at that time, Shahin said, called bin Laden a "freedom fighter."
Witnesses to the imam's explusion said some of them made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq before boarding the flight, according to airport officials.
If you would like to sound off on this issue, participate in today's WND Poll.
Ah yes, the religeon of peace and tolerance.
Personally, I have no desire to share any room with them. But that's just me.
Yeah - problems! They can't plot their hijackings with other people in the room - I know what you are thinking and I'n NOT afraid to be "UN PC"
Of course there will be problems. Muslims can't even get along with each other, much less anyone outside their "religion."
Yep, a designated airport prayer room is just about the last place I'd be found.
We must start a resistance to PC; as this is their facilitator. Start; while we still have the Will to resist PC and restore some sanity and boundaries that 'Reason' demands. . .
In a bathroom stall he could have all the privacy, if he closes the door.
Sure, we'll consider this additional insulting "demand"...
Just as soon as Christians are afforded the SAME consideration in the Islamic Republics....
We REALLY need to destroy these bastards....
Semper Fi
Dhimmification is creeping along, one little item at a time, isn't it??
If they want a quiet place to pray why don't they
go back to their native Islamic land Somalia?
Oh wait, it's a turd world hell hole that they
fled and found a new home in America.
Now they show their "gratitude" by demanding special
rights that no one else has. What a load....
send em back to somalia where they can share a prayer room with an ethiopian tank
"while we still have the Will to resist PC and restore some sanity"
too late...
To oppose PC would be politicly incorrect, and someone might be offended....
The mohos will certainly see to that.
Maybe they should build an airport just for Muslims? Or maybe have "Only Muslims Fly Day"?
Conspicuously, the article does not ask the obvious question: Why would there be problems? Had a Christian made such a statement, the press would have been all over that.
Beautiful! Let's definitely put all the high-risk suspects and targets-of-opportunity in one room. What a brilliant idea!
More and more absurd and more and more alienating by their arrogant rigidity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.