'Tefillin' Prompts Scare On Plane

[Ian David]

Source: CBS3.com

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Philadelphia police respond to Philadelphia International Airport where an emergency was been declared regarding US Airways Flight 3079 on Jan. 21, 2010.

A plane from New York's La Guardia Airport was diverted to Philadelphia after a teenage passenger put on a religious item disrupting the flight Thursday morning.

Authorities say, Chautauqua Airlines flight 3079 from LaGuardia to Louisville was diverted to Philadelphia after a 17-year-old male strapped on a "tefillin" for prayer purposes after takeoff.

Sources say a female flight attendant had never seen a tefillin before, which has two small black boxes with black straps attached to them and one box was placed on his head and the other tied to his arm. The attendant became concerned and reported it.

<snip>

"Per standard procedures, TSA and law enforcement personnel met the flight. The disruptive passenger was interviewed, the plane was swept with negative findings, and the flight is taxiing to the gate," the TSA.

More:
http://cbs3.com/topstories/philadelphia.Bomb.Scare.2.1439780.html







Read more: http://cbs3.com/topstories/philadelphia.Bomb.Scare.2.1439780.html

---

Hat-tip to: http://twitter.com/robin_black/status/8030321122


See prior thread:

Jewish man wearing tefillin triggers bomb scare on Indiana commuter train
Sun Nov-18-07 07:34 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=316x1393

[thereismore]

1. Looks kinky, but hey, why not put on some leather? nt

[Ian David]

2. It *is* leather. n/t

[thereismore]

22. That's what I mean. nt

[Ian David]

25. Obviously, some ancient Jewish scholar had a fetish. n/t

[Platypus]

3. What the story doesn't mention...

...is that the "device" is part of Jewish religious observance. Somehow, if it had been part of Moslem religious observance, that fact would have been noted prominently. You can tell who they're afraid of offending.

[Ian David]

4. Why would that be "offensive?" n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

21. RTFL

Sorry, the story makes clear that it's connected with Judaism in the second or third paragraph.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. It does now, but they added that to make it clear

You can see the original wording in the excerpt in the OP; first they added "also known as a phylactery" (before I first looked at the page), then they changed "for prayer purposes after takeoff" to "used in the Jewish religion for prayer purposes". They did manage to omit any mention of which religion this was for, in the entire story, at first. It's not something I've ever seen personally, though I have seen it on film; I only knew about it as something strapped to the head, and I'd have never remembered either name. I think their update of the wording was needed.

[Gormy Cuss]

38. Thanks for clarifying that.

I've never seen one in person either but I would have recognized it on sight.

[cali]

23. yes, yes. this society coddles Muslims. That's what you're really saying.

that's offensive bullshit. don't think for a fucking minute that you can spew it here with impunity.

[Codeine]

45. Wow. Thinly-veiled anti-Semitism.

You can suck it.

[hlthe2b]

5. I've never seen or heard of this either...

It is unusual looking though and more substantial than just an "arm wrap." I'm giving the crew benefit of the doubt on this one.

[MineralMan]

59. Not very curious, then, are you?

Why did nobody ask the kid what he was doing?

[Po_d Mainiac]

6. Sometimes a little common sense goes a long way...strapping

on the leather while in flight, is just plain stupid

[Sgent]

7. religiously observent orthodox

Jews must pray at certain times of the day.

[gratuitous]

12. I suppose notifying the flight crew ahead of time is out of the question

G_d may be expecting your prayer right at 8:45, but that's no reason the attendants need to be let in on it.

[BonnieJW]

36. My grandfather was orthodox

and he prayed in the morning and the evening.

[sabra]

46. Orthodox Jews generally pray 3 times a day

morning, afternoon, and night...

:hi:

[Po_d Mainiac]

44. So go ahead and pray, but if you wanna strap shit to your head and arms

Take the Greyhound.

I'm amazed a PAX didn't cram the things down his throat.

[taurus145]

49. How very inclusive of you. n/t

[immoderate]

53. TIFILLIN ON A PLANE!!

Me either, and I'm Jewish. You don't get on a plane and start strapping mysterious stuff to your body!

--imm

[LiberalFighter]

10. People are stupid. Especially kids that haven't collected very many life experiences.

[galileoreloaded]

13. Look, I have been places and seen stuff, but I have never seen anything like this

out in the world. If I was on that airplane I would have absolutely raised hell, and frankly probably jumped on the guy.

FYI, some Scientogist pulls out their meter thingy on an airplane, I am jumping on him too.

Not religious persecution, this is common sense fail.

[Bonobo]

56. And then I would have jumped on your ignorant ass. nt

[Democat]

64. I think maybe people don't realize how many religions there are in the world.

If every airline employee had to be an expert on every religion on the planet, I guess they'd be getting paid a hell of a lot more than they do now.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Common sense was lacking on the part of the crew. Xenophobia reigned.

eom

[Best_man23]

48. Xenophobia Does Reign Here

Thank you ClusterFox and Conservative Media for breeding a climate where religious items of non-Christian origin are held in suspicion or outright disdain.

I feel for this kid and kin, who no doubt went through a BC search and questioning by TSA. I'm waiting for Brit Hume or some other ClusterFox talking idiot to suggest this kid turn to Jeebus.

[Bonobo]

55. Whaaaat? Go back under your rock, dumbass. nt

[crim son]

69. I agree.

Farvently orthodox or no, it was a stupid move to make.

[Bragi]

8. "Our emergency response plan worked perfectly"

So the plane was diverted, the praying lad seized, everyone was interviewed, there was no threat whatsoever, and the disruption turned out to be totally unnecessary.

However, the emergency response plan worked perfectly.

Right.

[LiberalFighter]

9. How often do other Jews practice this on airlines?

I'm guessing that most of them are allowed to make up for it at a later time. But the kid wasn't aware that he could and didn't consider the implications.

[MurrayDelph]

32. The last time I took a redeye from LAX to NYC

(which was during the Clinton administration), there was an orthodox Jew davening at sunup and no one thought another thing about it.

As far as doing it later, if you can figure out a way to postpone the sun, I guess they would be willing to work with you.

[LiberalFighter]

35. From what I could figure. They don't have to do it on 3 separate occassions.

They can combine 2 into 1 if needed. But, I'm not sure if it applies to every sect or if the sect the boy belongs to allows it.

But I'm sure they provide some leeway. At least to the point that time frame for this period is not at an exact time.

[slackmaster]

11. OH, you mean a phylactery

Now I understand.

[Turborama]

14. Passenger arrested after airline bomb threat: FBI

Source: AFP

A passenger was arrested on Thursday in a Philadelphia airport after a reported bomb threat on a plane from New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

"There's an individual in custody," an FBI spokesman in Philadelphia told AFP.

A US Airways flight bound from LaGuardia in New York to Louisville in Kentucky was diverted to Philadelphia International Airport for security reasons, Morgan Dunnant, an airline spokesman, told AFP. "The plane landed without incident in Philadelphia and the passengers and crew are back in the air terminal being re-accommodated. There was a security concern but I can't comment on that," he said.

=snip=

According to CBS 3, a male passenger strapped a wire from his fingers to his head.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jF23mP8FjLHK3uKpow3jbCFtoeOw

[Ian David]

15. No

'Tefillin' Prompts Scare On Plane
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4235565

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Wow - the difference in reporting

"individual in custody" and "The man's device allegedly malfunctioned and he was quickly overpowered by passengers and the airliner's crew" v. "completely cooperative" and "no charges have been filed".

It must be the same incident, but the reporting can hardly be more different.

[Ian David]

24. All prayer devices ALWAYS malfunction. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. Post of the day!

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[msanthrope]

37. +100

[MineralMan]

57. +10

But I support everyone's right to pray as they see fit.

[onager]

67. Heh. And also...

"Religion is the only business in the world where the customers blame themselves for product failure." - said by somebody smarter than me.

[slackmaster]

16. "I'm gonna blow my fuckin' head up! Watch closely, I can only do this once..."

:crazy:

[kestrel91316]

17. Flight attendant freaks over tefillin? Does anybody else find this completely

ROFLMFAO hysterical??? (except for the inconvenience to passengers?)

Oy.

[Cal Carpenter]

19. Even better, this is now listed in the Tefellin wiki entry as an 'Incident'

Scroll down:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin

Incidents

On January 21, 2010, on board a flight from New York City to Louisville, Kentucky, tefilin was mistaken for an explosive device, when a man attempted to put the phylacteries on his head and arm. It was determined that the man was not a threat, but only after the plane was diverted to Philidelphia where it was quarantined after a number of firetrucks and police met the plane on the tarmac.<43>

!!!

[Crunchy Frog]

20. I'm wondering if an airplane is the most appropriate place

for that sort of apparel. Strapping little black boxes onto yourself on an airplane can certainly look potentially threatening.

[tonekat]

27. Who can memorize every cultural distinction?

Don't blame the flight attendants, I've never seen anyone use one of these before.

Jane Q. Public is sitting there, calmly, "Ho hum, nice sunny day for a flight, I hope they give out a snack." and suddenly she's jolted into thinking "Holy crap! That guy just strapped some devices on his head and arm...what's that going down his arm to his hand? Some sort of detonator?!"

What the heck do you think the reaction would be? Not everyone is a religious expert. I know I'm not.

[pasto76]

28. Use your goddamn head

"some sort of device"? Any moving parts on this thing? Wires? Blinking lights?

The flight attendant should have just asked what it was. My 6 year old does it all the time. To call this passenger "disruptive" is bullshit.

Nice to see the culture of fear is alive and well.

SGT PASTO

[msanthrope]

Local news shed some light on the 'disruptive' part---he was asked.

I wish I had a link, but the local news here reported that the kid was reluctant to hand over 'the device' and not quick to answer questions from the female flight attendant.

I know what a phylactery is, even seen them, up close and in use, and I've got to say that if I saw some teen strap one on during flight, I'd be a little freaked out. If I was a flight attendant who wasn't getting quick answers, I would do what my traning told me--start the system.

[Ian David]

29. True. But now that we call them "Flight Attendants" and not "Stewardesses"...

... we expect them to have some kind of training.

A ten-minute video titled, "Your Passengers and Their Religious Practices" would have solved this problem.

Until, of course, The Tefillin Bomber shows-up, I guess.

[Gormy Cuss]

31. Flight attendants see far more cultural diversity than the average person.

The real problem is the presumption of anything or anyone who's different being a threat.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

34. Cultural illiteracy is no excuse.

I mean, even if they haven't seen this in real life they should have seen this on TV, in a movie, in a book, in a newspaper, etc.

[Matt_in_STL]

39. Normally I would agree

However, I worked for an Israeli company here in the US for a couple of years and have made multiple trips to Israel and can say this is the first time I have seen or heard of such a device. I know a lot of people who practice their Jewish faith but it seems I don't know any that are quite this orthodox. I guess you can't always count on running into every item and situation no matter how diverse you think your little world might be.

[LibertyLover]

54. So, in all the many trips you took to Israel nobody took you to the Wailing Wall?

Even a 3 minute visit would have exposed you to the use of tefilin by religious Jews. Heck - any just about any news report from Jerusalem shows the Wailing Wall and observant Jewish men praying using the tefilin.

[Matt_in_STL]

68. I have been to the Wailing Wall

And I can tell you that I did not see this device in use, there or anywhere else in Jerusalem for that matter (and I did see a lot of very Orthodox Jews). Maybe I just wasn't there at the right time of day for the use of the telfillin?

[AtheistCrusader]

70. Morning prayers apparently.

The one in the lower right certainly seems to have some sort of circuitry appearance.


I would have been concerned if I'd seen someone bust this out on a plane.

[AtheistCrusader]

40. I have never seen any such thing ever.

In any medium. Sorry I'm not 'up' on every hoodoo mythology out there.

[MineralMan]

61. Dude. Ignorance is nothing to brag about.

Read a book on world religions. It'll do you good.

[AtheistCrusader]

65. I've read plenty of books on religions.

That's why I don't belong to any.

Edit: You think if I read a book on that particular one, I'll be interested in it or something?

[NJGeek]

42. I've never seen this in my life

and I live in a community with plenty of Jewish folks and I have plenty of Jewish friends. This seems like a reasonable response.

[MineralMan]

62. Yah...some of my best friends are Jews, eh?

Only very Orthodox Jews use these.

[Robb]

43. I've never seen this, and I believe I've seen a lot.

How the crew behaved will figure quite a bit into this, I expect.

[IndianaGreen]

52. I don't see any planes being diverted because it had nuns onboard

Don't nuns look like women in Iran?

[MineralMan]

60. Yeah, and they could be hiding anything under those wimples.

Full orifice search of all nuns, dammit!

[MineralMan]

58. How about just asking the kid what he's doing?

I'm sure he would be happy to provide an explanation. Morons, one and all, on that plane. Hell, if I had been there, I would have explained it to the flight attendant.

[KamaAina]

41. Oy vey.

:eyes:

[dustbunnie]

47. This isn't the first time such a thing has caused a disruption. The elders always say:

they don't think much of those who make a big show of exposing their fake piousness in public. Apparently G-dash-D doesn't think much of it either. Either stay home and pray, or be more demure about it when confined in small spaces with other people.

[alarimer]

50. fucking idiots

What kind of ignorant pieces of shit does this airline hire?

It seems to me that ALL airline employees, airport personnel, TSA need to undergo cultural education and sensitivity training, to end this HARASSMENT of people who are different from them.

Fucking ignorant hayseed.

It would also help if the passengers weren't such ignorant hayseeds as well.

[Democat]

63. So every airline employee must know everything about every religion?

You better be prepared to pay a lot more for an airline ticket if you expect every employee to know the history and practices of every religion on the planet. :-(

[Nihil]

66. Speaking of which ...

> It would also help if the passengers weren't such ignorant hayseeds as well.

Yep. That kid certainly fits your description.

Just be glad that he didn't get an armed "sky marshal" in the
culturally-traditional "shoot first, ask questions later" mould
or there would be a lot more wailing & gnashing of teeth than
for this minor security alert (in a teapot).

:hi:

[IndianaGreen]

51. Here is another story about stupidity

I still have my Barack Obama bumper sticker on my car where his name is written in Hebrew. Just a couple of days ago, a co-worker told me that as he walked by my parked car, he overhead two guys walking in front of him talking about my bumper sticker. They were discussing that Obama was a Muslim, and that my bumper sticker was more evidence that indeed, Obama was a Muslim.

There is a stark contrast between Hebrew and Arabic, but I suppose that any foreign "gibberish" is consider A-rab and Muslim.