ZAHN: Welcome back to our special hour, "When Faiths Collide," with the latest developments in a "Top Story" that's raising very raw emotions about religious tolerance and racial profiling.
You might remember, just last week, six Muslim clerics were forced off a U.S. Airways plane in handcuffs, suspected of terrorist intentions. Well, today, four of them boarded a plane to New York to tell their side of the story. They will join me in a moment for an exclusive interview.
First, though, Dan Simon has more on a story that's still raising uncomfortable questions tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They called it a pray-in, a not-so-subtle jab yesterday directed at U.S. Airways, which removed six imams from a flight last week in Minneapolis, after three of them were seen praying in the airport terminal prior to boarding.
IBRAHIM RAMEY, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY: We are here simply to declare to you and to declare to the nation that prayer and religious identity are not sufficient grounds for removing individuals from aircraft.
SIMON: U.S. Airways says prayer had nothing to do with their removal. The question, though, did the airline have legitimate reasons to take them off, and prevent them from flying the following day?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking you to please leave our ticket counter right now.
OMAR SHAHIN, REMOVED FROM AIRLINER: I am going to leave. I am...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I have given you a number that you can contact.
SIMON: CNN has obtained the police report, which includes the handwritten note written by a fellow passenger, who claimed to have seen -- quote -- "six suspicious Arabic men on plane. All were together saying, Allah, Allah."
SHAHIN: We did not chanting "Allah, Allah," or anything else, while we are entering the plane or inside the plane.
SIMON: Omar Shahin, one of the six imams removed, handcuffed, and detained for several hours, says that's just one of the many misconceptions surrounding the incident.
For example, the complaining passenger also told police the imams -- quote -- "seemed angry, and mentioned U.S. and killing Saddam, and then swore slightly under their breath."
Shahin denied all of that and that three of the imams had one-way tickets. He says all the tickets were round-trip, and that he has the documentation to prove it.
SHAHIN: You cannot put in the police report that they have one- way ticket, while that's not true.
SIMON: The report also says that most of the six passengers requested seat belt extensions, which some on the plane found suspicious, because none of the imams appeared to need them.
One security expert defends the airline.
RICK SMITH, SECURITY EXPERT: But they have also got to understand, they have got to be sensitive to the fact that they happen to be Middle Eastern, and -- and that these type of things are going to happen to them. It doesn't mean they have to happen in a -- in an unprofessional way or they have to be treated badly.
SIMON: And the debate continues.
On Sunday, a Washington, D.C., deejay stirred the pot, by making what he characterized as intentionally sarcastic comments that Muslims should be forced to wear identifiers, like armbands.
And many callers piled on.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead. You round them up, and then ship them out of this country, period.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SIMON: Shahin and the other imams are demanding an apology from U.S. Airways. Its response isn't exactly what they want to hear.
(on camera): An airline spokeswoman tells CNN, she is sorry the imams were inconvenienced, but not for its employees' actions. The one mistake she does concede, not allowing the imams to fly the following day, after they had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: So, after all the headlines and heated controversy, four of the six imams agreed to join us here in New York for this exclusive interview. It is their first live TV appearance together.
We want to welcome Imams Omar Shahin, Ahmad Shqeirat, Mohamed Ibrahim, and Marwan Sadeddin.
Great to have all of you with us tonight. (CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Imam Omar, let's go back and review some of the reports of witnesses and airline officials -- one, you were praying collectively loudly and repeatedly -- repeatedly saying, "Allah"; you were making anti-American comments, criticizing the Iraq war, talking about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
You switched seats, and then repositioned yourself to the front, middle, and rear of the plane. And you didn't check any baggage.
Do you -- do you see how any one of these things might have raised the suspicions of passengers and airline personnel?
SHAHIN: To be honest with you, this has hurt me more and more, because U.S. Airways should stop smearing our image in front of people. We did not do any or all of these. First of all...
ZAHN: Any -- any of them at all?
SHAHIN: Any of these. We did not enter the plane saying, chanting "Allah, Allah" first. We did not change our seats, except Imam Marwan Sadeddin, because he is blind. He needs help. We -- we did not ask them for not -- unnecessary extension belt. As you see, we need the extension belt. And we want to abide by the federal law. And we...
ZAHN: What about -- what about saying you were upgraded when you got on to the plane to first-class tickets, and even though you weren't ticketed with first-class tickets, two of you parked yourselves in the first-class section?
SHAHIN: They upgrade me, because I'm a (INAUDIBLE) member, and I have the right, privilege to upgrade one of my friends. So, I asked them if there is way to upgrade one of my friends, because he is an old man, blind, need help. That's all what I ask for.
ZAHN: So, Imam Ahmad, are you denying that you did anything that would have raised the suspicions of a passenger or someone working for the airline?
IMAM AHMAD SHQEIRAT, REMOVED FROM AIRLINER: We are actually, almost all of us, busy people, who travel all the time. This is not the first time we travel.
And we did not do in this trip anything that is unusual or un- normal. We did what we do all the time. We Muslims have to pray five times a day. Once in a while, when we have to pray in the airport, we take a quiet corner, and we do our -- our prayer.
If the prayer is night prayer, that would require that we say and done in congregation. That would require for the leader of the prayer only to say, when we bow down, when we move, to say "Allahu akbar," which is part of the prayer which was done in the terminal, not on the plane site. ZAHN: Imam Mohamed, do you think, in the wake of 9/11, it is the tendency of Americans to look at all Muslims as potential terrorists? Is that how you feel when you're out in public? Is that how you felt that day?
IMAM MOHAMED IBRAHIM, REMOVED FROM AIRLINER: I felt that after the incident, but I didn't -- I didn't realize that there is something abnormal that I took, because I -- all the time, I -- I practice my religion. I pray in the airports, or even in the airplane itself. Sometimes coming even from my country, I was praying in the -- in the airplane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seated.
IBRAHIM: While seated.
Imam Marwan, how humiliating was this experience for you?
IMAM MARWAN SADEDDIN, REMOVED FROM AIRLINER: Well, I see that we did just normal things. We entered the plane normal way. We have been seated. And there's nothing unusual.
The seat belt extension is normal, to -- I wear eyeglasses, or sunglasses. As you see, it's for my blindness. And I ask to change seat to be next to one of the friends to be -- to be -- to get the help.
But -- and there's a lot of lies -- live -- stories that been created by the U.S. Air to have us look in a bad image to cover their mistake or mess -- when they find themselves messed up.
ZAHN: Imam Omar, then, why do you think so many passengers reported those observations that we included in the report that proceeded this interview and at the top of the interview?
SHAHIN: Me personally, I encourage everyone, my -- my community, Muslims' community, and other community, to report any suspicious activity.
But we -- we have to be realistic. We have -- it should be legitimate, suspicious. We should not let our imagination exaggerating and false statements, like U.S. Air did.
ZAHN: And you think you were targeted simply because you were praying, and -- and people jumped to a conclusion that potentially you were going to harm them?
(CROSSTALK)
SHAHIN: This is the only reason.
And, if you go back to our background, I am personally the chairperson for the police advisory board.
I did presentation for the FBI agent in Phoenix. I did presentation with CAIR-Arizona to Yuma Air Force Base for more than 600 Marines. So, they have to -- ]we have to have a system to handle this suspicious report before we humiliate people.
ZAHN: Well, we will be following this lawsuit you have filed against U.S. Air.
We appreciate your joining us tonight.
Imam Shahin, Sadeddin, Shqeirat, and Ibrahim, thank you...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: ... all for traveling here for us tonight.
also see interview at Democracy Now
Islamonazi CAIR Relentlessly Undermining Airline Security
http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/videos/MS112106-2.php - MSNBC video
Free Patriotic Corner Banners: http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/cb/
Posted by: Terror-Free Oil | 02 December 2006 at 03:21 AM
I see the Judeo-fascist "terrorfreeoil" hate mongers(with links to the Israeli Kach terrorist movement) is trolling and justifying racial profiling and hoaxes.
Posted by: DrM | 02 December 2006 at 07:44 AM
We have to refuse to be intimidated, if someone makes someone report them for weird behavior, then that person should be sued by the passengers for causing them distress with their behavior.
These Imams were faking and goofing on the passengers, and were probably trying to get tossed off the plane just so they could play the victim card and go to court and make a scene. Any judge who allows this is garbage.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
pretend to be terrorists
scare people on a plane
get thrown off claim racism
.
Posted by: USpace | 18 March 2007 at 05:15 PM