Thursday, September 7, 2006
(You've probably seen this story already, but I couldn't resist the title.)
Jewish man removed from airplane for praying
The man was a passenger on a Sept. 1 flight from Montreal to New York City when the incident happened.
The airplane was heading toward the runway at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when eyewitnesses said the Orthodox man began to pray.
"He was clearly a Hasidic Jew," said Yves Faguy, a passenger seated nearby. "He had some sort of cover over his head. He was reading from a book.
"He wasn't exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth," Faguy added.
The action didn't seem to bother anyone, Faguy said, but a flight attendant approached the man and told him his praying was making other passengers nervous...
[h/t: isirota and JoeN]
Shortly after 9/11, there was an incident (also out of Montreal, or maybe to there) where a really nervous, twitchy Sephardic guy decided to calm himself down by loudly mumbling tehillim. That one ended with the plane putting down early in Charlotte (IIRC), marshals grabbing him and throwing him down on his face, breaking his nose. Maybe it's the same guy?
At any rate, I go easy on the public davening, unless there's a group, for exactly this reason. People should know the difference between tefillin and an al-Qaeda member, but they should know the difference between Sikhs and Muslims too, and they don't. I still carry the picture of the Baba Sali in my wallet, though, even though everyone tells me I'm crazy.
Anyone overly religious on a plane is likely to get people worried. Let's face it: excessive chanting, doing relgious ceremonies should be a private thing and not on a plane where people are sometimes a bit jittery without someone "talking to their maker".
Although it could be worse..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true
They were put on another flight because some people got spooked cos they heard them speaking in arabic. Not chanting etc, just speaking their own bloody language.
This is a predictable side affect of the whole war on terror going quite well: a lot of people truly believe they should be scared all the time..
Best comment on this topic:
…if only he’d been waving a lulav, it could have been “Shakes on a Plane…â€
Regarding the incident described in the second comment, there was more to it. The passengers were not upset just because the men were speaking Arabic. They were acting suspiciously, wearing heavy coats and checking their watches. It was a combination of things. I might well have walked too. Young, nervous, Arabic speaking men in heavy coats? Come on! Anyone who didn't think twice is not telling the truth or a member of the ACLU.
Maggie:
Are you telling me that checking your watch, being a little nervous about flying is something out of place in an airport? C'mon, this was a case of some people getting their way on what was quite obviously their own predjudices. It doesn't take a member of the ACLU to use common sense.
"Worries spread after a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her." Yep, that'd be ANOTHER LANGUAGE... Oh, wait, they're wearing leather jackets too, heavens!
As for wearing heavy jackets, well the aircon in airports is hardly low usually, and look at where they are heading: England.. A place you don't wanna be stuck without a jumper if your checked in luggage goes astray.
That and they might be used to hot temperatures (they were middle eastern/asian).
Some of the kids said:
"'Those two look like they're bombers.'"
Yep, that's surely based on fact.
If they were looking nervous, perhaps it was cos a bunch of ignorant morons were pointing and whispering "look, they're terrorists".
I think the captain should have simply dumped those who were making the fuss off the plane as they did nothing wrong rather than punish the poor innocent people. Looking scruffy or different is not a crime, that these innocent guys were treated as criminals is appalling.
Were I sitting on that plane I would have definitely had a go verbally at those ones who held up the plane by walking out.
Stay tuned for the next hunt for filthy commies.. erm.. muslims.. erm.. TERRORISTS.