In imams' airline case, a clash of rights, prejudice, security
A lawsuit brought by six imams who were removed from a flight raises issues about other passengers voicing complaints.
from the May 1, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
One imam, a frequent-flier gold-card member, was upgraded to first class. He asked if he could also upgrade some of his colleagues, but was told first class was full. Once on board, the upgraded imam asked for a seat-belt extension to accommodate his girth, as he does every time he flies, according to the imams' complaint. A second imam also asked for a seat-belt extension, while another asked a passenger if he could change seats so that he could sit next to a colleague who is blind and may have needed help. He also went to talk briefly to his friend in first class.
A passenger watched, then sent a note to the plane's captain. According to airport-police records, it read: "6 suspicious Arabic men on plane spread out in their seats…. All were together, saying '… Allah … Allah ...,' cursing US involvement w/ Saddam Hussein before flight."
Airport police arrived shortly thereafter, and all six imams were taken off the plane, searched, and detained. After five hours of questioning, the FBI cleared them of any wrongdoing. Then US Airways refused to board them on another flight.
From the imams' perspective, their behavior was nothing unusual, and they denied making any statements about US foreign policy or Saddam Hussein. At issue, the imams' complaint says, is their right to practice their religion and travel in the United States free from the fear of being unfairly accused and detained because of unfounded allegations. The goal of their suit is not to intimidate anyone, their lawyers say, but to force the airline to train its employees to use better judgment when dealing with similar instances.
"Of course people should report suspicious activity," says Arsalan Iftikar, legal director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, which has worked closely with the imams. "Nobody who reported any suspicious activity in good faith is a target in this lawsuit. However, making false and defamatory statements is not protected by law, and those are the people we want to depose."
Because the imams' suit also lists the passengers who allegedly made false reports, some conservative groups have taken up the defendant passengers' cause. They say the suit is part of a larger strategy by Islamist extremists to probe airline security and intimidate Americans from reporting suspicious activity.
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