Plane held overnight after dispute involving Iraqis

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- All passengers on an American Airlines redeye flight to Chicago were ordered off a plane after complaints about a group of Arabic-speaking Iraqi men, forcing them to stay overnight.

The six Iraqi passengers had been training Marines at Camp Pendleton and worked for Defense Training Systems, a unit of International Logistics Services Corp. of Anchorage, Alaska, said Dave Stephens, the company's chief executive officer.

"They did nothing wrong," Stephens said Wednesday. A company press release called it "an unfortunate situation for all flight passengers."

... Stephens confirmed a report by XETV-TV in San Diego that some passengers complained after hearing the men speak Arabic, but he declined to elaborate.

Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/29/state/n175109D87.DTL&tsp=1

[NanceGreggs]

1. Memo to Citizens Afraid of Hearing Arabic Spoken ...

The people who are destroying this country, along with your rights and freedoms, speak English.*

You might want to LISTEN UP.







*Except G.W. Bush who speaks only an unintelligible form of English.

[nofurylike]

6. brava! well said!! eom

[saigon68]

Yes He is A Chimpanzee he speaks Chimp English

The Chimp Speaks

[ThomCat]

2. Wow. Once again we see the power of racism.

:(

[benh57]

3. Put yourself on the plane

Everyone will predictably decry this, and say how horrible and ridiculous it is (and it is). Mostly whats silly is that a plane can be held overnight because of an unfounded complaint from any passenger.

But put yourself on the plane. How would you feel if 6 men in your row were speaking Arabic on your flight? Would you feel totally comfortable? Maybe you wouldn't complain, but If you claim that wouldn't make you at least a little bit nervous, you're not being honest.

Flame on!

[noamnety]

4. Fortunately I'm not that ignorant.

That's a pathetic statement you made.

Do you complain (or at least feel a little bit nervous) every time you see a white guy in a federal building?

[NanceGreggs]

9. Oh, the beauty ...

... of an arrow that flies through the air, and without hesitation hits its mark!


:applause:

[PSPS]

7. You're only paranoid because they're all out to get you.

[EFerrari]

10. Are you serious?

:wow:

[NanceGreggs]

11. I wouldn't be nervous ...

.. and I am being honest.

I have neighbours who speak Arabic, and friends who speak it - and as Allah would have it, they are also Muslims.

I have no fear, I feel no threat, I harbour no nervousness in their company.

You would think me ignorant of the facts and ill-informed. On the contrary, I am intelligent and well-informed - which is why I see no threat.

[mallard]

13. Re: airport security and anti-muslim official procedure ...

... seems to go hand in hand.

When the airport security types of this post 9/11 era graduate to higher placement opportunities why do I think they will continue to serve in these kind of roles practically designed to foment intercommunity hatred.

They serve to uphold the dignity of the swelling anti-Muslim midstream, not to be outdoene by veteran returnees down the line, we can only hope.

Lot of serious misunderstanding as to what 'bad' is!

[NanceGreggs]

14. "Lot of serious misunderstanding as to what 'bad' is.

I think you've just summed up what is wrong with our country, and what may continue to be wrong for many years to come.

[Divine Discontent]

18. you're very wise, as always

you help me realize, and think, there is NO threat, unless I see a real threat - if there are no actions which are conspicuous, never even worry about hearing 6 Arab speaking men sitting next to me on a plane. Now, before anyone says anything about my thanking you for making a great point, as if I'm admitting I am racist, I'd like to say if anyone saw me out in public day to day, I'm the one always talking to people that look different than me. I talk to the people I don't look like b/c it makes me see the world from different views. I would certainly smile and nod hello one of them if he was looking at me on the plane. The reason I appreciated such wise words from NanceGreggs is b/c since the 9/11 hijackers were all Arab and that event was etched in our heads more than anything possibly ever has been, the though would run through my mind of that event - being on a plane and all, but I would quickly think about what I said to start off my comment! there is no threat unless you see a threat - regardless if they're white, black, brown, or blue!

love your words Nance & they inspired me to write a reply....

[NanceGreggs]

35. Thank you so much ...

:blush:

[obiwan]

15. Wouldn't bother me a bit, but then I guess I AM a fatalist.

My mom's family was Polish, and when we visited them in Chicago, my aunt's maid, Bottje, spoke only Polish. But I never worried about her harming any of us, and she never did.

I understand your post, but please be aware that most people do not think things through as thoroughly as you do, and are as even-handed in reasoning as you appear to be.

Having said that, I think your heart's in the right place. Welcome to DU.

[AlCzervik]

16. some of us have arabic speaking family, what happens when we all go on vacation?

i so totally hope we're on a flight with you!

We're in ur planz freaking u out.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

17. do you still cross the street if you see a black man coming towards you?

I bet you do.

[jobycom]

19. Why?

What would you be afraid of? Forget for a moment that to be afraid of human beings just because of the way the look or sound or are dressed is generally considered bigotry. Forget for a moment that we have used these same irrational fears to justify segregation, lynchings of African Americans, continued discrimination against gays and lesbians and immigrants from Spanish-speaking nations, incarceration of Japanese-Americans in our own American concentration camps during WW II. Forget that we slaughtered an entire continent of Native Americans because of those same arguments, those same fears, and that we should have long ago learned the lesson of what our petty, irrational hatreds really cause.

Using logic, do you honestly believe that terrorists would sit together in one row and speak together in Arabic? You don't believe they would instead spread out, try to look American, or maybe Spanish--darker skin, you know--to try to blend in? In the Middle East, Americans have slaughtered millions in the last seven years, and have waged constant warfare on Arabic-speaking people because of irrational, racist fears. The majority of our film portrayals of Middle Eastern men have been negative. Our preachers lie in their pulpits about the violence of the religion of Islam, as though all Muslims in the world are cult zombies ready to slaughter all non-Muslims in their beds. People in the Middle East know of our sickness, know of our hatred and our xenophobic delusions. The small handful of Muslim or Arabic terrorists who might try organize to hijack a plane know that the surest way to draw attention in this nation is to group together and speak Arabic on a plane.

Then there's the fact that you are more likely to be attacked by an American, speaking English.

The people on a plane you should be least afraid of are the ones clumped together speaking Arabic. Those are the people who are trying to hide the least.

I'm sorry, friend, I know you are only saying what you feel, and it's hard to blame you for feeling that way. Our films, our politicians, our preachers, our news media have all conspired to create this ridiculous hatred in all of us. Rise above it. Be truly free.

[Dangerously Amused]

20. As a matter of fact, yes.

Six men - or even two men - sitting together and speaking Arabic on my plane would make me feel totally comfortable that my flight was safe, because Arabic men with terroristic intentions would never draw attention to themselves by sitting together and speaking Arabic on a plane. If airborne terrorists are to successfullty execute a plan of in-flight terrorism, they will need the element of surprise on their side, which - duh - they will not have with everyone on the plane staring at them.

Furthermore, anyone speaking Arabic on a plane is likely far better equipped than I (or the rest of the passengers) to recognize if another Arabic speaker is acting suspiciously via anything the suspect might do, say or wear to suggest that he or she expects to meet Allah as a martyr in the immediate future.

Therefore, should I encounter an Arabic speaker on my plane, I would feel even safer than on a flight without one.

[TheMadMonk]

21. Perfectly.

With actual terrorists, I strongly suspect that the first (and last) Arabic heard will be "Allah Akbar".

The passengers should have been given the choice of walking or flying with the 6 men, no third option, no refunds,no transfers. That plane should have left on time.

[moggie]

24. When did Americans become such cowards?

How's that for racial profiling?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sinkingfeeling]

26. Bull. I would feel no differently with 6 men speaking Arabic than I would about 6 men speaking

Chinese or French.

[damntexdem]

29. Yes. And I would likely not know for sure what they were speaking.

The U.S. is a diverse country, with many languages spoken, including on planes.

No need for flames. Just get used to it.

[qnr]

32. That's pretty obnoxious of you. I"m not being honest when I say it wouldn't make me nervous?

It wouldn't make me nervous. Period.

[Sequoia]

33. No...it would not make me nervous.

However, if there were 6 people speaking French I'd, like so, freak out, because...damn..they're white and fancy people who can take lots of paid vacation, and say bon jour!

[qnr]

40. Not to mention the terrifying potential of them laughing at your wine selection n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

34. First, many people easily confuse Arabic with other languages.

My parents speak Hindi on occasion, and to an uninformed person, it could "sound" Arabic.

Second, if they were terrorists, do you think they'd be so stupid as to advertise speaking Arabic if they knew it meant somebody might get tipped off?

[The Stranger]

37. Yep.

http://www.wickedsunshine.com/WagePeace/Election2004/Images/AwJeez,NotThisShitAgain!.jpg

[ContraBass Black]

38. The same way I feel when 6 men in my row speak Engilsh.

It wouldn't bother me if their faces were brown, either.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. Would I feel totally comfortable? Of course.

What do you think I am? A bigot?

[entanglement]

41. It's irrational fear - I would ask the morons who complained WTF all those security checks are for

[KansDem]

43. I'm not sure I'd recognize Arabic if I heard it spoken...

So I guess I'd just have to rat out anyone not speaking English just to be safe...

edited to add :sarcasm: (just to be safe)

[FormerOstrich]

44. benh57....

Your attitude is horrible and ridculous.

If I were on that plane? It would be like any other time I'm on a plane...I find my seat, I stow my stuff, and I'm usually asleep before we take off.........

:wtf:

Benh57....people like you scare me.

[Rick Myers]

5. Just a taste of irony in that story...

I sat behind some guys flyin' into San Diego for ComicCon that were speaking Klingon!

:wtf:

This is just sad.

[damntexdem]

30. Oh no! Some of those Klingons are real terrorists!

They're not all like Lieutenant Warf, you know!

;-)

[ContraBass Black]

42. Were they in costume?

[noamnety]

8. Terror in the Skies

Salon had a great response to a piece of bigoted trash written by Annie Jacobsen in 2004.

Fourteen dark-skinned men from Syria board Northwest's flight 327, seated in two separate groups. Some are carrying oddly shaped bags and wearing track suits with Arabic script across the back. During the flight the men socialize, gesture to one another, move about the cabin with pieces of their luggage, and, most ominous of all, repeatedly make trips to the bathroom. The author links the men's apparently irritable bladders to a report published in the Observer (U.K.) warning of terrorist plots to smuggle bomb components onto airplanes one piece at a time, to be secretly assembled in lavatories.

"What I experienced during that flight," breathes Jacobsen, "has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats."

Intriguing, no? I, for one, fully admit that certain acts of airborne crime and treachery may indeed open the channels to a debate on civil liberties. Pray tell, what happened? Gunfight at 37,000 feet? Valiant passengers wrestle a grenade from a suicidal operative? Hero pilots beat back a cockpit takeover?

Well, no. As a matter of fact, nothing happened. Turns out the Syrians are part of a musical ensemble hired to play at a hotel. The men talk to one another. They glance around. They pee.

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index.html

[Danger Mouse]

12. Oh no! Please, pleeeeeease Mr. President!!!

Protect me from the scary brown people! Take away my rights! PROTECT MY LILY WHITE ASSSSS!

[formercia]

22. Where 'da white Womens at?

http://wilstar.com/midi/whitewomen.wav

It just reminded me of the movie 'Blazing Saddles' and the scene with Clevon Little and the Klansmen.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. If I were a passenger, I'd feel like suing the people who made the bogus complaint

I suspect it would be impossible to find out who they were, or actually get any compensation off them, but they're the ones who screwed everyone's day up - arriving in Chicago late afternoon instead of first thing in the morning. Who know what that meant in terms of business, child care, or other disruption to people's lives.

[formercia]

27. Complaining to cause disruption?

Someone could be charged with terrorism for that, methinks.

Was it a concerned passenger or an Agent Provocateur?


Let's see if the authorities try to conceal the identity of the person or persons making the complaint.

[damntexdem]

31. So, they can sue the airline.

They probably wouldn't be able to sue TSA, unfortunately.

But go with whatever deep pockets are available.

[damntexdem]

28. Just more U.S. idiocy.

Hey, did any of the passengers who couldn't fly get caught in airport-bathroom stings?

And to think: all of those passengers had to take their shoes off AGAIN before they could board the next plane.

[The Stranger]

36. It is RACISM.

There. I said it. I feel like I just redeemed this thread.