American muslims ordered off jet

Being a muslim in the USA today is not exactly the same way of life that others expect or accept. Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark. Thought is the operative word here.

All nine are native-born Americans. However, some would seem to be more American than others when it comes to security. AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson agreed that the incident amounted to a misunderstanding. But he defended AirTran's handling of the incident, which he said strictly followed federal rules. And he denied any wrongdoing on the airline's part. "At the end of the day, people got on and made comments they shouldn't have made on the airplane, and other people heard them," Hutcheson said. "Other people heard them, misconstrued them. It just so happened these people were of Muslim faith and appearance. It escalated, it got out of hand and everyone took precautions." It's all alleged stuff. Who said what when.

No doubt it is best not to discuss the possibility of the jet engines falling off. However, I suspect that if this had been a group of white born-again Christians going to charismatic knees-up in Florida nobody would have batted an eyelid. If a muslim had mentioned he had overheard inappropriate talk, would the airline have acted in a corresponding manner?

We all make assumptions, but the world is such that some have to live with more than others do. In that, I suppose change will take a little longer this year!