That’s the gist of this article. Here’s what they’re reporting:

Six Islamic leaders who were removed from a U-S Airways flight say they’ll sue the airline for discrimination. The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it will provide details on the lawsuit tomorrow at a Washington news conference.

Six imams returning to Phoenix from a religious conference in November were taken off a plane in Minneapolis, handcuffed, and questioned. They had prayed in the airport before the flight, and after they boarded, a passenger who considered them suspicious passed a note to a flight attendant.

When the men returned to the airport the next day, the airline refunded their fares and refused to sell them new tickets. A U-S Airways spokeswoman did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press, but the airline has said prayer was never the issue.

The key to this entire article is found in the last sentence: “A U-S Airways spokeswoman did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press, but the airline has said prayer was never the issue.” Here’s what we know, courtesy of Richard Miniter’s reporting, about this staged incident:

• As the plane boarded, she said, no one refused to fly. The public prayers and Arabic phone call did not trigger any alarms…so much for the p.c. allegations that people were disturbed by Muslim prayers.
• Another passenger, not the note writer, was an Arabic speaker sitting near two of the imams in the plane’s tail. That passenger pulled a flight attendant aside, and in a whisper, translated what the men were saying. They were invoking “bin Laden” and condemning America for “killing Saddam,” according to police reports.
• Meanwhile an imam seated in first class asked for a seat-belt extension, even though according to both an on-duty flight attendant and another deadheading flight attendant, he looked too thin to need one. Hours later, when the passengers were being evacuated, the seat-belt extension was found on the floor near the imam’s seat, police reports confirm. The U.S. Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader said she did not dispute the report, but said the airline’s internal investigation cannot yet account for the seat-belt extension request or its subsequent use.
• Other factors were also considered: All six imams had boarded together, with the first-class passengers, even though only one of them had a first-class ticket. Three had one-way tickets. Between the six men, only one had checked a bag.

As I’ve said before, this entire episode is a staged event. As I’ve said before, I’m convinced of it because John Conyers had a resolution in place the next day and that the resolution even contained a provision granting Muslims special civil rights protections that aren’t applied to any other ethnic, racial or religious group. It isn’t credible to say that Conyers could put something like that together overnight. To put anything into legislative language takes time, concentration and perseverance. John Conyers was missing two of the three things.

This is a show trial, though U-S Airways must take it seriously until it’s disposed of. Personally, I hope it goes forward and that U-S Airways conducts an aggressive round of discovery. I hope that they ask about:

• any communications they had with CAIR prior to this;
• any communications they had with John Conyers;
• any communications they had with Keith Ellison;
• and any communications they had with Mahdi Bray.

After that, I hope that they depose Nihad Awad, Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR’s Legal Director, John Conyers, Keith Ellison, Ahmed Bedier, Parvez Ahmed and Ibrahim Hooper. I hope they let these imams and CAIR know that they’re in this to win. CAIR’s trying to get special protections for people who aren’t playing by the rules. That needs to stop. ASAP. It’s time that someone stood up to CAIR and the imams. There’s no time like the present.

Technorati Tags: CAIR, Flying Imam Fiasco, US Airways, Nihad Awad, Keith Ellison, John Conyers, Ahmed Bedier, Parvez Ahmed, Ibrahim Hooper, Arsalan Iftikhar, Civil Rights

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

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1. It sure is taking a long time for us to realize that we’re at war. I think that we were onto the German saboteurs faster than we’re onto Islam.

   Comment by Mike H. — March 13, 2007 @ 12:45 am

2. These guys should have been charged. Whoever decided to let them go should have to pay any award out of their own pocket.

   Comment by Walter E. Wallis — March 13, 2007 @ 8:08 am