Two men were kept from boarding a flight from
Chicago to Philadelphia this week because they were
speaking Arabic, one of just several incidents
reflecting the paranoia sparked by the Paris attacks.
Maher Khalil and Anas Ayyad were told by a gate
agent at Midway Airport that they wouldn’t be
allowed on the plane because a fellow passenger had overheard them speaking Arabic — and was afraid to fly with them.
Ultimately, the two friends reportedly of Palestinian
origin and in their late 20s, got on the Southwest
flight Wednesday night, but only after being
questioned by airport security and police, called by
Khalil, who told the local NBC television affiliate he
didn’t know what else to do.
Once on board, Khalil told NBC 5 that some
passengers made him open a white box he was
carrying — filled, it turns out, with sweets.
“So I shared my baklava with them,” he was quoted
as saying.
Contacted by AFP, Southwest Airlines declined to
comment. Similar incidents have reportedly taken place on other US domestic flights in the wake of last week’s attacks in the French capital that killed 130 people and have been claimed by Islamic State extremists.
The group has also made threats against US cities.
Also at Chicago’s Midway Wednesday, six men
identified by fellow passengers as being of Middle
Eastern descent were removed from a Southwest
flight bound for Houston after they asked people
around them to switch seats, causing a commotion,
the local ABC affiliate reported.
In Florida on Thursday, a Spirit Airlines flight en
route to Minneapolis turned around and returned to
Fort Lauderdale after a young passenger “heard what she believed to be a conversation during which the subject made a remark about blowing up the plane,” according to a police report quoted by the Sun Sentinel newspaper.
Once back on the ground, Yaniv Abotbul, a US citizen
born and raised in Israel, was interrogated for five
hours, his lawyer Mark Eiglarsh told a news
conference.
Abotbul was let go, with the police report quoted by
the Sun Sentinel saying “intensive interviews revealed no actual threat was made to the flight and the incident appears to be a miscommunication from a juvenile witness.”
His lawyer has demanded an apology both from the
airline and authorities involved.
Spirit Airlines did not respond to requests for
comment. The same carrier was implicated in another incident, in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday. A woman and three men described by fellow passengers as being of Middle Eastern descent were escorted off a plane headed to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when a witness reported suspicious activity to the flight crew, the Baltimore Sun reported, citing police.
In the end, police determined that one of the
passengers had simply been watching a news report
on a smartphone, according to the newspaper.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the
individuals were racially profiled.
“These passengers were inconvenienced and forced
to endure humiliating treatment and invasive
questioning for no apparent substantial reason other than because their perceived ethnicity caused alarm in a fellow passenger,” a spokeswoman told the newspaper.
www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/11/21/two-men-stopped-from-boarding-us-plane-after-speaking-arabic/

End time Arabians

Islam on it way out of civilisation.

WW3 loading,,,,,,, surely slowly

Lordave:
Just being cautious.

Nkita nile n'ara nsi, mana nke ahuru nsi n'onu ya ka à n'akpo ori nsi.

Look at what religion has done to some people, Islam has successfully made itself a gigantic object of fright and ridicule.

Be honest. Any type of religion is useless.

Islam is not the problem its the misconception people has that's the greatest enemy of islam...........let's us give peace a chance.

That is an extreme case of racial profiling.

geesilver:

Maher Khalil and Anas Ayyad were told by a gate
agent at Midway Airport that they wouldn’t be
allowed on the plane because a fellow passenger had overheard them speaking Arabic — and was afraid to fly with them.

“These passengers were inconvenienced and forced
to endure humiliating treatment and invasive
questioning for no apparent substantial reason other than because their perceived ethnicity caused alarm in a fellow passenger,” a spokeswoman told the newspaper.

Eyaaaaah! The sons bearing the sins of the father, but the 1 with beard reminds me of Abubakar Al-Baghdadi

Islam is a grave risk to both the adherents and the world at large.

Someone in this forum talked about the two type of Muslims. The terrorist and the to be terrorist. Very funny but true. I fear for Islam for what is has become

With threats floating around, they got to be cautious.

We can't blame the Americans, everyone is edgy.

You can't blame the Americans...taking RISK is a highly dangerous option

IlekeHD:


Be honest. Any type of religion is useless.

Very useless....All are!

dustmalik:
That is an extreme case of racial profiling.

In mama peace voice...contunu profiling until you are blown into pieces.

geesilver:
Islam is not the problem its the misconception people has that's the greatest enemy of islam...........let's us give peace a chance.

HahahahaHahahaha

Islam is not the problem....no my dog is the problem..

Great!

Even in enugu, People that speak Hausa are searched more than normal..can't trust these mofos

The third WW will be a religious one.

I wonder what will happen to us atheists.

These useless vagabonds called Muslims/Christians want to start a war. It's always these two useless religions. Always them.

Cant blame them

The profiling is in full swing. NAACP have their work cut out for them. Atlanta is under siege, and there goes the thanksgiving spirit!

wytecat:
The profiling is in full swing. NAACP have their work cut out for them. Atlanta is under siege, and there goes the thanksgiving spirit!

Can you blame them?

Would you willingly enter a plane 1/3 full of Arabic speakers?

IlekeHD:


Can you blame them?

Would you willingly enter a plane 1/3 full of Arabic speakers?

Exactly. You have to take care of yourself first since a percentage are sympathetic to extremists

1/3? I thought they were two?

IlekeHD:


Can you blame them?

Would you willingly enter a plane 1/3 full of Arabic speakers?

wytecat:
1/3? I thought they said they were two?

I'm giving you a 1/3 scenario. Would you?

raumdeuter:


Exactly. You have to take care of yourself first since a percentage are sympathetic to extremists

In this days of Arabic speakers in USA traveling to join ISIS, even if it's 1 person, I'd be worried.

IlekeHD:
The third WW will be a religious one.

I wonder what will happen to us atheists.

These useless vagabonds called Muslims/Christians want to start a war. It's always these two useless religions. Always them.

I am Atheists..

But disagree with you calling people vagabonds for what they believe...why did you not believe in the first place....don't think you are better than anyone..fool!

Zinicc:


I am Atheists..

But disagree with you calling people vagabonds for what they believe...why did you not believe in the first place....don't think you are better than anyone..fool!

Ok sit there dey claim disagreement until they blow you to pieces or attempt to drown you because you "look like a witch".

You shouldn't! It doesn't apply in this case.

IlekeHD:


I'm giving you a 1/3 scenario. Would you?

wytecat:
You shouldn't! It doesn't apply in this case.

It takes only one of them. Just one.

One is different from almost 100, and none needs to be on board to bring a plane down, bomb can be put in a check-in bags like Russia bound plane.

And yes, two people speaking Arabic won't stop me from boarding a plane.

IlekeHD:


It takes only one of them. Just one.

wytecat:
One is different from almost 100, and none needs to be on board to bring a plane down, bomb can be put in a check-in bags like Russia bound plane.

And yes, two people speaking Arab won't stop me from boarding a plane.

So what's different between 2 or 100, when the likelihood of bombing the plane is the same? It takes just one of them.