From: Ruben Morales
Subject: Seats upright, tray tables up, Muslims banned
To:
Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 2:20 PM
From: Sandra Ramos
Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Subject: Seats upright, tray tables up, Muslims banned
To:
From: Weldon Kennedy, Change.org
Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Subject: Seats upright, tray tables up, Muslims banned
To:
change.org
Tell Delta to stop discriminating against Muslim passengers
Dear SANDRA,
Earlier this month, two men were abruptly forced off a Delta-operated flight in Tennessee at the last minute—after clearing security and boarding the plane. In fact, flight 5452 was already taxiing to the runway when the pilot decided to return to the gate to order these men removed.
Delta kicked these men off the plane because of how they looked.
Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul are Muslim-American religious leaders—imams—and they were dressed in traditional attire.
The pilot claimed that their appearance made other passengers uncomfortable and refused to fly with them onboard. Ironically, Rahman and Zaghloul were on their way to a conference on Islamophobia.
Delta even attempted to dismiss the incident by saying that "As the individuals responsible for the safety and security of their flight and everyone on board, pilots industry-wide do have authority over their aircraft within the parameters set by their individual carrier."
It’s time for Delta to update its “parameters” to ensure this kind of discrimination does not happen again. When airlines like Delta allow employees to discriminate, it contributes to an atmosphere where some prejudice is routine and accepted. (Rahman and Zaghloul were just two of seven imams who were denied boarding en route to the same conference.)
After being pushed, Delta agreed to investigate this incident, but that's not enough.
That's why Kutibh Chihabi, a Muslim American student at UCLA,
started a petition on Change.org to ask Delta to apologize and update their guidelines for employee training and conduct to eliminate discrimination. Imam Rahman said what Delta did “shouldn’t happen with any other person.” Please sign this petition to make sure that it doesn’t:
http://www.change.org/petitions/delta-dont-kick-people-off-flights-just-because-they-look-muslimThanks for taking action,
Weldon and the Change.org team
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Assalmu Aliakum (Peace Be Upon you),
lā ʾilāha ʾillallāh .
There is no deity except Allah.
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