Lord Of The Flies: The Airline Version

Last Wednesday, in Malaga, Spain, some of the passengers of Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 succummed to irrational terror and forced Monach Airlines to eject two other passengers from the flight based on their own version of racial profiling, even though they had all at that point passed security checks. The problem with the two passengers was that they were both in their early 20s, appeared to be Middle Eastern, and were speaking in a foreign language which the other passengers assumed was Arabic; the passengers noted that despite the heat of Malaga, the two men were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and seemed to be checking their watches rather regularly — I don’t know why that part was alarming to anyone as I find everyone in airport is always anxious to get on the plane and watch checking seems to be a regular airport activity.

Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.

The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.

Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.

[…]

Soon afterwards, the aircraft was cleared while police did a thorough security sweep. Nothing was found and the plane took off - three hours late and without the two men on board.

Monarch arranged for them to spend the rest of the night in an airport hotel and flew them back to Manchester later on Wednesday.

College lecturer Jo Schofield, her husband Heath and daughters Emily, 15, and Isabel, 12, were caught up in the passenger mutiny.

Mrs Schofield, 38, said: “The plane was not yet full and it became apparent that people were refusing to board. In the gate waiting area, people had been talking about these two, who looked really suspicious with their heavy clothing, scruffy, rough, appearance and long hair.

“Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television, were starting to mutter things like, ‘Those two look like they’re bombers.’

“Then a family stood up and walked off the aircraft. They were joined by others, about eight in all. We learned later that six or seven people had refused to get on the plane.

“There was no fuss or panic. People just calmly and quietly got off the plane. There were no racist taunts or any remarks directed at the men.

“It was an eerie scene, very quiet. The children were starting to ask what was going on. We tried to play it down.”

Mr Schofield, 40, an area sales manager, said: “When the men were taken off they didn’t argue or say a word. They just picked up their coats and obeyed the police. They seemed resigned to the fact they were under suspicion.

“The captain and crew were very apologetic when we were asked to evacuate the plane for the security search. But there was no dissent.

“While we were waiting, everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking about terrorists.”

Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: “This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.

“For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense.”

Monarch said last night: “The captain was concerned about the security surrounding the two gentlemen on the aircraft and the decision was taken to remove them from the flight for further security checks.

“The two passengers offloaded from the flight were later cleared by airport security and rebooked to travel back to Manchester on a later flight.” [”Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed”(Daily Mail)]

Mercer is right. However, it’s not the terrorists who created the victory; it’s the fear-mongerers who created it. If we had more assurances from the British and American governments and airport securities that we really are safer now than we were and if our President wasn’t on the television basically saying “Muslims are bad! You should fear Muslims Only I can protect you from the scary Muslims!” Maybe this sort of thing wouldn’t be starting to happen.

Oh, but you say, that didn’t happen here in America? It wouldn’t happen here in America?

Well, I’m glad you brought that up, because last Tuesday Dr. Ahmed Farooq of Winnipeg was escorted off a United Airlines plane in Denver after a drunk passenger made allegations of suspicious behaviour when he was reciting his evening prayers.

When flight personnel were alerted, the 27-year-old radiology resident and two colleagues — a man and a woman — were taken off their flight. They had been returning from a conference in San Francisco.

Farooq said that even officials from the Transportation Security Administration soon realized the flight crew had overreacted, but by the time that conclusion had been reached the trio were forced to stay in Denver for the night and catch a flight the next day — at their own expense. “There’s no recourse,” Farooq said. “There’s no way to really be able to talk to anybody to really be able to reason it out. The police officers who talked to me afterwards and subsequent officials within the first three to five minutes, they were like, ‘You know what? The crew made a mistake. We apologize that they took you off. They overreacted.’”

Brandon Borrman of United Airlines told the Winnipeg Free Press this week that the airline is obliged to take any allegations threatening passenger safety seriously, particularly in the wake of last week’s arrests in the alleged bomb plot on flights from Britain to the U.S.

“Whenever these types of claims are made we have a duty to investigate,” Borrman said. “Our flight crews are trained to make safety the No. 1 priority.” [”Muslim doctor wants apology from U.S. airline” (CBS News)]

Dr. Ahmed Farooq is demanding an official appology and compensation from United Airlines.

You should at least note that the British airline had the decency to not only admit they were overreacting at the time and compensate the passengers for the that they had to get off the flight, stay the night and get another flight the next day.

These people are people. They’re just trying to get from A to B like you and me. They’re on business trips, visiting family, on vacation, etc. They’re just as worried, scared, annoyed as you. Only now they have the added worry that you’re going to come after them as a lynch mob just because of the color of their skin or the language they speak or the religion they choose.

Aren’t we above that yet? Or are we ready to turn our country over to the KKK and other haters and let them have control until only the “right” kind of people are left so we know who to trust?

But wait! There’s more!

Raed Jarrar, the Iraqi Project Director for the human rights group Global Exchange, was stopped at JFK airport wearing a t-shirt with the words in Arabic and English, “We Will Not Be Silent.” (The man in the picture is not Raed Jarrar, but this is the shirt he was wearing.) He was told by agents at the airport he would not be permitted to board the plane wearing that t-shirt because of its message. Jarrar’s story, from his blog Raed in the Middle:

At around 8:30, two men approached me while I was checking my phone. One of them asked me if I had a minute and he showed me his badge, I said: “sure”. We walked some few steps and stood in front of the boarding counter where I found out that they were accompanied by another person, a woman from Jet Blue.

One of the two men who approached me first, Inspector Harris, asked for my id card and boarding pass. I gave him my boarding pass and driver’s license. He said “people are feeling offended because of your t-shirt”. I looked at my t-shirt: I was wearing my shirt which states in both Arabic and English “we will not be silent”…. I said “I am very sorry if I offended anyone, I didnt know that this t-shirt will be offensive”. He asked me if I had any other T-shirts to put on, and I told him that I had checked in all of my bags and I asked him “why do you want me to take off my t-shirt? Isn’t it my constitutional right to express myself in this way?” The second man in a greenish suit interfered and said “people here in the US don’t understand these things about constitutional rights”. So I answered him “I live in the US, and I understand it is my right to wear this t-shirt.”

Then I once again asked the three of them : “How come you are asking me to change my t-shirt? Isn’t this my constitutional right to wear it? I am ready to change it if you tell me why I should. Do you have an order against Arabic t-shirts? Is there such a law against Arabic script?” so inspector Harris answered “you can’t wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads “I am a robber” and going to a bank”. I said “but the message on my t-shirt is not offensive, it just says “we will not be silent”…. Inspector Harris said: “We cant make sure that your t-shirt means we will not be silent, we don’t have a translator. Maybe it means something else”. I said: “But as you can see, the statement is in both Arabic and English”. He said “maybe it is not the same message”. So based on the fact that Jet Blue doesn’t have a translator, anything in Arabic is suspicious because maybe it’ll mean something bad!…

inspector Harris said: “You don’t have to take of your t-shirt, just put it on inside-out”. I refused to put on my shirt inside-out. So the woman interfered and said “let’s reach a compromise. I will buy you a new t-shirt and you can put it on on top of this one”. I said “I want to keep this t-shirt on”. Both inspector Harris and Mr. Harmon said “No, we can’t let you get on that airplane with your t-shirt”. I said “I am ready to put on another t-shirt if you tell me what is the law that requires such a thing. I want to talk to your supervisor”. Inspector Harris said “You don’t have to talk to anyone. Many people called and complained about your t-shirt. Jetblue customers were calling before you reached the checkpoint, and costumers called when you were waiting here in the boarding area”.

it was then that I realized that my t-shirt was the reason why I had been taken to the secondary checking.

I asked the four people again to let me talk to any supervisor, and they refused.

The Jet Blue woman was asking me again to end this problem by just putting on a new t-shirt, and I felt threatened by Mr. Harmon’s remarks as in “Let’s end this the nice way”. Taking in consideration what happens to other Arabs and Muslims in US airports, and realizing that I will miss my flight unless I covered the Arabic script on my t-shirt as I was told by the four agents, I asked the Jet Blue woman to buy me a t-shirt and I said “I don’t want to miss my flight.”

She asked, what kind of t-shirts do you like. Should I get you an “I heart new york t-shirt?”. So Mr. Harmon said “No, we shouldn’t ask him to go from one extreme to another”. I asked mr. harmon why does he assume I hate new york if I had some Arabic script on my t-shirt, but he didn’t answer.

The woman went away for 3 minutes, and she came back with a gray t-shirt reading “new york”. I put the t-shirt on and removed the price tag. I told the four people who were involved in the conversation: “I feel very sad that my personal freedom was taken away like this. I grew up under authoritarian governments in the Middle East, and one of the reasons I chose to move to the US was that I don’t want an officer to make me change my t-shirt. I will pursue this incident today through a Constitutional rights organization, and I am sure we will meet soon”. Everyone said okay and left, and I went back to my seat.

This is what they’re trying with someone who knows his constitutional rights under the First Amendment. What will they try with someone else?

Mr. Jarrar has filed a complaint through the ACLU against JetBlue. He would like to file a complaint against the government agents involved, but was unable to ascertain from which agency they hailed. Jarrar is asking that people call JetBlue at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583), or leave a complaint via an online form. My complaint via the form:

I am dismayed by the case of Raed Jarrar. What is jetBlue doing keeping people off flights for wearing t-shirts that state “We Will Not Be Silenced?” A t-shirt is not a weapon of mass destruction. Please apologize to Mr. Jarrar and consult your United States Constitution. See especially Amendment #1.

A message on a t-shirt is not a weapon of mass destruction. Freedom begins to die when the authorities pull this shit and nobody complains. So thank you, Raed Jarrar, for speaking out and making a fuss about it. Those of us who are more comfortably situated than he would do well to raise a fuss as well. [“T-shirt of Mass Destruction?” (Irregular Times)]

Is this really what we want? To live in fear? To live as racists? To condemn each other based on race and religion? Such stupid wars were fought over religion and race and what came of it in the past? In the end, we are all flesh and blood. We live; we die; we breath; we feel.

Recommended Reading:

• And so it begins (or continues) — Jazz @ Middle Earth
• A Little Mutiny Is a Good Thing — The Heretik
• Welcome to the new America. Now go away. — Mac @ peskyapostrophe
• Fear-mongering leads to anti-Arab hysteria on airplanes — Glenn Greenwald @ Unclaimed Territory
• Patriot Acts — Sara Robinson @ Orcinus

Tags: hatred, racism, airport security, Monarch Airlines, United Airlines, Peter Mercer, Dr. Ahmed Farooq, TSA, Raed Jarrar, Global Exhange, JFK airport, We Will Not Be Silent