Update: Evidently it was U.S. air marshals onboard who were suspicious. Fox has a tip that the passengers’ behavior involved cell phones.
Update: Who knows?A U.S. passenger named Alpa, who did not wish to use her last name, told AP television reporters she had seen police handcuff and remove around 11 men of south Asian appearance from the plane before other passengers. She said she didn’t see what happened but heard from other passengers the men had aroused suspicion by getting out their mobile phones.. . .
Update: Walid Phares says all 12 who were arrested were using their cell phones after the plane took off. Not sure what his source is for that.
Update: The AP says they weren’t just using the cell phones, they were passing them around to each other.
Meanwhile:
1. Gulf News: UAE student falls victim to racial profiling at Los Angeles airport
2. NY1: A group of Muslim-Americans say they were detained for hours at Kennedy Airport when they came back to the U.S. last week after trips abroad, and they say it was only because of their looks, their backgrounds, or their faith.
Posts
7 comments:
Have they heard of "flight mode"? Most cell phones today with mp3 players built in have flight modes so that you can listen to the music while flying. God forbid I should be using mine next time. Might get arrested ey? Come to think of it, my other mp3 player, which is a bit larger than the normal ones, could be mistaken for a wired bomb. Go figure!
this kind of treatment saddens me :/
what can we do to stop it?
The UAE national student had his visa cancelled. So I would have to think that there had to be more to this story, than what is in the Gulf News.
US visa cancellation is almost standard procedure. I know someone who visa was cancelled because he forgot to stamp the i49 form on his way out the last time he was there...
Thank heavens they're not that strict here in the UAE. You can forget quite a few things related to your visa, and they'll never cancel it...what is i49 anyway? Must be a useless piece of paper. And what good is stamping it gonna do?
"...Quote: 'A number of them behaved, in the opinion of the crew, in a suspicious manner.'
...the pilot radioed for help, and police arrested 12 passengers...
..taken off the plane in handcuffs...
...the pilot radioed...and asked for an escort of jet fighters...
...The flight was canceled until Thursday...the passengers were put up in hotels..."
Oh, the unbelievable ignorance of the Dutch! So many humiliated, just because of their ethnic origin/colour of skin/language/religion. And hundreds seriously inconvenienced by the cancellation of their flight. All because of racial profiling. Handcuffing innocent people.
Next they'll be arresting people just for listening to mp3 players (only if they're Arabs or Muslims, of course).
"racial profiling"...it only got worse now, its been happening for along time..so there is nothing new really.
Shame on L.A airport..and to anon who thinks there is more to the story, I really doubt it.
To be vigilant is something..but to be racist and totally out of line with a man who have three little ones is just sick.
Post a Comment
NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them.
To read the rules click here
If you would like to post content on this blog click here