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Excerpt: "It has already been documented that solving math problems and reading a book can get you kicked off a plane if you're perceived as Muslim. Now sweating can be added to that list."

Women participate in a rally against lslamophobia. (photo: Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)
Women participate in a rally against lslamophobia. (photo: Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)

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#FlyingWhileMuslim: More Muslims Kicked off Flights for Nothing

By teleSUR

06 August 16

 

It appears that Muslims are being targetted on flights for being Muslim.

t has already been documented that solving math problems and reading a book can get you kicked off a plane if you’re perceived as Muslim.

Now sweating can be added to that list.

A Muslim-American couple flying from Paris to Cincinnati were prevented from boarding Friday because flight crew suspected them of “suspicious” behavior, news outlets reported.

Faisal Ali and Nazia Ali were waiting for their flight when a Delta Airlines employee asked the couple to exit the aircraft.

"We asked if we should get our stuff and he said, 'Yes, take all of your stuff as you won't be on that flight'," Nazia Ali told The Independent. "That was really alarming."

They were interrogated for their stay in Paris, where the couple had traveled to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary.

After explaining there was no issue, the employee then told them that the pilot had decided to ask them to leave as one of their crew members had felt “uncomfortable,” saying Faisal Ali had hid his phone as they walked by, and was sweating and saying “Allah”.

Faisal Ali was simply texting his mother to tell her that they had boarded their flight.

The next day, the couple was also interrogated by a US customs agent.

When Faisal Ali asked what they had done wrong, the agent told them, “You have done nothing wrong, unfortunately this is the way the world is right now. It is Delta’s word against yours.”

The Council of American-Islamic Relations has filed a complaint against Delta.

“By falsely construing their simple and normal actions into something scary and threatening, it is clear that Mr. and Mrs. Ali were being singled out due to their Muslim appearance and name,” said staff lawyer Sana Hassan.

Another similar incident occurred this week in Miami. Two Muslim-American women were prevented from boarding an American Airlines plane flying to Washington after a flight attendant said that overhearing them talking with other passengers about the lack of customer care on the flight made him uncomfortable.

Niala Khalil, a Voice of America journalist, wrote about the ordeal on her Facebook page Wednesday, where she described how they were met by armed air marshals and Miami-Dade police officers.

When their flight was delayed, passengers were given only water and pretzels over the course of five hours, prompting a white male passenger behind the two women to start a conversation with them about the poor service.

“Suddenly, a male flight attendant walking by singled out my friend and stated, ‘If you have a problem, you can get off the plane.’ My friend replied, ‘I have no problem — I am simply stating facts. We were given one glass of water in five hours,’” Khalil wrote. “The attendant responded by once again threatening my friend, ‘Well, I can have you removed for instigating other passengers.”

Shortly after, the women were told they were being removed because the male flight attendant “felt threatened,” Khalil wrote.

“However, the white male passenger my friend was speaking to was ironically not removed from the plane with us,” she described.

An American Airlines spokeswoman, Alexis Aran Coello, said Friday that the women were actually removed because of the company's “noncompliance” policy, which was related to the women taking a picture of the flight attendant, which they had deleted once they were told to.

After Khalil tweeted about the incident, people used the hashtag #flyingwhilemuslim to share their own stories of discrimination while travelling by planes.

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