Muslim clerics taken off flight in US

Tue May 10, 2011 3:37AM

Marjan Asi, Press TV, Washington

An ironic case of Islamophobia took place recently when three U.S.

Muslim leaders traveling to a conference on Islamophobia were thrown
off the planes they were scheduled to fly on.

Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul of Memphis, Tennessee and Al-Amin Abdul Latif of New York took their cases to the Council on American-Islamic Relations as they believe they were discriminated against because they were Muslims.

Though the case of the New York Muslim leader is not clear, the ones from
Tennessee had gone through two security checks, boarded their plane
and then were asked to leave by the Transportation Security
Administration because of the supposed discomfort they brought to
other passengers- both men were wearing Islamic clothing.

Rahman discussed how the incident affected him.

Though the Delta Airline contract carrier responsible for the Tennessee incident, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, would not give an interview, they released a statement explaining Rahman and Zaghloul were compensated and re-accommodated for the next available flight.

They also stated that, “we take security and safety very seriously,
and the event is currently under investigation.”

But Rahman does not believe it was a safety issue as he and Zaghloul underwent extensive security.

CAIR is currently investigating the case and also asking all levels of authority involved, from the TSA to Department of Justice to do the same.

Since the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden, many suggested Islamophobia would decrease as Americans would feel they had closure on the 9/11 attacks. But as this case illustrates, Islamophobia remains a problem for Muslims in America.

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