The six imams removed from a US Airways flight last week have
apparently adopted my suggestion that if they really want to
protest the airline, instead of boycotting US Airways, they
should start flying it frequently.
The spokesman for the imams -- or as I believe it's phrased in
their culture, "designated liar" -- Omar Shahin, staged a protest
at Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday, after which,
according to The Associated Press, "he and other religious
leaders boarded a US Airways flight to demonstrate their
determination to continue praying and flying."
The original six imams removed from the flight last week first
attracted attention when they said prayers to Allah on
traditional Muslim prayer rugs in the boarding area. After
boarding, they changed seats, spreading themselves throughout the
plane. They were also overheard spouting anti-American rhetoric.
Witnesses said the six men appeared to be either Islamic fanatics
or U.S. Army chaplains on leave from Guantanamo.
Following the lead of FEMA in keeping Americans safe, the
Homeland Security Department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties is investigating the removal of the imams from the US
Airways flight. (Talk about coincidences -- I'm currently
investigating the removal of the Office for Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties from the Department of Homeland Security!)
Imam spokesman Shahin is a great example of why airport
security ought to be profiling Arabs. Shahin's predecessor at the
Islamic Center in Tucson was Osama bin Laden's financier and head
of logistics -- until he was arrested in Saudi Arabia in
2002.
Instead of aggressively distinguishing himself from his
terrorist predecessor, judging by news reports, Shahin spent the
five years after 9/11 denying that Muslims were behind the
attacks and complaining of phony anti-Islamic "hate crimes" -- as
opposed to the pro-Islamic hate crimes he presumably
endorses.
In 2003, for example, Shahin alleged that a woman in Arizona
had thrown shoes at children at the mosque.
This is the most transparent hoax I've heard since, "If I did
it, here's how I would have done it." This is like the joke about
a speaker at an American communist rally opening with: "Workers
and peasants of Brooklyn!" Shahin has so little insight into this
country, he can't even invent a believable hate crime.