Know Your Rights When ‘Flying While Muslim’
**********************************************************
Courtesy Of: Arab News
By Barbara Ferguson
Friday, 15, December, 2006
(25, Dhul Qa`dah, 1427)
WASHINGTON, 15 December 2006 — Thousands of American Muslims planning to make their annual pilgrimage to Haj this month are being briefed by an Islamic civil rights group to know their rights when “flying while Muslim.”
WASHINGTON, 15 December 2006 — Thousands of American Muslims planning to make their annual pilgrimage to Haj this month are being briefed by an Islamic civil rights group to know their rights when “flying while Muslim.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), citing what it calls the “airport profiling” of six imams removed from a recent flight, has issued guidelines against discrimination for American Muslims traveling to perform their pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia this month.
“Given the increase in the number of complaints CAIR has received alleging airport profiling of American Muslims, we believe it is important that all those taking part in this year’s Haj be aware of their legal and civil rights,” said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
The Washington-based CAIR has issued tips and established a toll-free hotline for American Muslims heading to Makkah and Madinah, and published a pocket guide for Haj pilgrims entitled “Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim.”
“As an airline passenger, you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel,” CAIR says in its pocket guide to American Muslims’ rights and responsibilities.
“You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory. If you believe you have been treated in a discriminatory manner, immediately:
“1. Ask for the names and ID numbers of all persons involved in the incident. Be sure to write this information down.
“2. Ask to speak to a supervisor.
“3. Ask if you have been singled out because of your name, looks, dress, race, ethnicity, faith, or national origin.
“4. Ask witnesses to give you their names and contact information.
“5. Write down a statement of facts immediately after the incident. Be sure to include the flight number, the flight date, and the name of the airline.
“6. Contact CAIR to file a report.”
CAIR says the number of American Muslims taking part in this year’s Haj is expected to increase because this year’s religious observance roughly coincides with the Christmas holiday period vacations in the US.
But not all American Muslims believe in CAIR’s diligence. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, AIFD, said the announcement by CAIR “continues the tired stoking of the flames of victimization.
“They are unfortunately exploiting, for purely political reasons, what should be a sacred and purely spiritual story of our faith’s annual holy pilgrimage to Makkah,” Dr. Jasser told The Washington Times.
But Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, said the alert is nothing new.
“We’ve have been alerting Muslims to contact CAIR if they feel they are being mistreated, including those going on Haj, for years. This is nothing new, and we’ve even had this 1-800 complaint number for several years.
“What’s different this year,” said Awad, “is that the Washington Times has shown its militancy in reporting by falling below journalistic standards and decency by quoting someone who’s not an expert, and not familiar with CAIR, just to attack CAIR and our credibility.
“The Washington Times reporter wrote an opinion piece in a news story format,” said Awad. “After that story awas published the extremist right-wing media jumped on this none-story by the Times, which resulted in generating a lot of hate mail and hate calls to CAIR.”
Awad said CAIR is “simply teaching people about their civil rights — which they’re trying to make into a controversial issue in America.”
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment