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| Image courtesy of Addicting Info. |
Ahmad said she felt humiliated and cried, adding that other passengers only shook their heads “in dismay.”
According to Ahmad, the flight attendant later apologized.
“The flight attendant also acknowledged that the man who yelled at me was wrong for doing so and apologized that her behavior led to that,” she said. “She acknowledged it was unethical and said he never should have said anything.”
The pilot also apologized to Ahmad when they landed, escorting her to the service desk so she could file a formal complaint.
Well that is certainly a case of too little and too late.
I am still trying to puzzle out how an unopened can of soda, supplied by the flight attendant, could possibly be used to bring down an airplane.
Check the Palin refrigerator door!
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Ms Ahmad has become yet another victim of the insidious racial profiling, by staff and passengers alike, which is all too common today. When the flight attendants and the reportedly racist passengers look at Ahmad, they saw a potential terrorist, a security threat.
ReplyDeleteThey didn’t see Chaplain Tahera Ahmad, a dynamic Muslim “scholar-practioner” raised in Morton Grove, Illinois. They didn’t see the Ahmad that played Varsity basketball at Niles West High School. They didn’t see working her way to the Department of Islamic Studies and Christian Muslim Relations and Islamic Chaplaincy at Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut. They didn’t see the Tahera Ahmad that was honored at the White House during Women’s History Month in 2014.
When Tahera Ahmad become the first woman to recite the Qur’an at the opening of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in 2013, President Obama was moved to note the occasion, stating:
“Over the last half century, you’ve upheld the proud legacy of American Muslims’ contributions to our national fabric, and this gathering is a testament to that tradition.”
They were unaware of the extraordinary woman in their midst.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/30/united-airlines-refused-to-serve-this-passenger-a-coke-because-shes-muslim-images/
O puleeze
DeleteI think real Americans have a right to feel a heightened sense of fear toward that religion as it seems mohammed was a child rapist and a hate monger. u people seem to have a love of blowing stuff up. Remember 911? You people did it. Read the news lately? You people can't even get along with each other, how can you expect Christians to not want to give you something that can be used as a weapon? Maybe she shouldn't wear a costume out in public, then she could get an unopened can of soda.
DeleteWhat a moron you are. I'm writing so that everyone knows that not all Anonymice are as stupid as you.
Deletehttps://twitter.com/hashtag/unitedfortahera?src=hash
ReplyDeleteSome also told United that they would be boycotting the airline until they addressed the issue.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buzzfeed.com/husseinkesvani/united-airlines-tahera-ahmad-outrage
Ugh, this makes me feel sick to my stomach. The guy that yelled at her is such a credit to his inbred moron Fox News watching ilk. Undoubtedly one of $arah's "Rill Americans"...
ReplyDeleteMe too. Just sad.
DeleteYes...if some cretin really did that he is disgusting.
DeleteI have had flght attendants refuse to give me an unopened can. I walked to the station in the back on my last flight and asked for a Diet Coke and asked them not to open it since it was a bit turbulent and I didn't want to spill it. They said they were not allowed to give an unopened can. So, I took it. Didn't know they were saving me from having a weapon.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope she sues the shit outta the airline.
ReplyDeleteI cannot even begin to understand why people would do such things. Oh wait - religion...
Me too, sue the person the attendant and they guy as well. It's time US stops this, even bad cops. They ruin it for all.
DeleteShe was traveling to a 'Kids for Peace" conference.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/TaheraHAhmad/status/604703371510054912/photo/1
United Airlines Is Being Boycotted After 'Islamophobic' Treatment Of Muslim University Chaplain Tahera Ahmad
ReplyDelete...Ahmad, who is Director of Interfaith Engagement and Associate Chaplain at Northwestern University in Illinois, claimed she was on a flight and asked a flight attendant for an unopened can of Coca-Cola.
Her request was refused, she says, because the attendant claimed Ahmad - who wears a Hijab in her Facebook profile picture - may have used it "as a weapon on the plane."
Opening drinks cans before serving them is common practice for staff on many airlines, yet, Ahmad said in a Facebook post, the attendant then immediately proceeded to hand the male passenger sitting next to her an unopened can of beer.
...Ahmad claimed she couldn't help but cry because she thought "people would defend me and say something" and could "feel the hate" in the voice of the passenger who yelled at her.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/05/30/united-airlines-islamaphobic-unitedfortahera-hashtag-tahera-ahmad_n_7476084.html?1433010070
How horrible for that poor woman! Wish I'd been on the airplane. Appalling that no one came to her defense until AFTERWARDS.
ReplyDeleteA good reason NOT to fly UNITED! They truly are 'not united'!
The 'bad apples' are definitely ruining the barrel in a big way.
ReplyDeleteThe way that woman was treated is reprehensible.
Unfortunately, when you put it in context with what is happening to women at the hands of ISIL, this is what people are reading in the headlines under the banner of 'Muslim', which justifies mistreatment and bigotry of all followers of Islam, in their minds, rather than recognizing that ISIL and their followers are not representative of the 1 Billion Muslims around the world. And certainly this woman is experiencing blowback from this fear.
OMG.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/05/25/isis-islamic-state-sex-crime_n_7434948.html
So we are no better than ISIL? We must treat Muslim's like they treat "the other"? No, there was no excuse for the treatment of this lady. We have to start challenging these people even though it is uncomfortable to do so.
DeleteElizabeth 44
It looked for a sec like the last line of her tweet was:
ReplyDelete#IslamophobiaISRAEL
Ahmad, who has Premier frequent-flier status with United, said Saturday that she had not heard from the airline.
ReplyDelete"I'm not doing this to go after United Airlines. This is about bigotry and racism and our country is going through a very difficult time right now. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others worked so hard ..." Ahmad said, breaking into tears.
"They strove so hard so that Americans would not mistreat each other on the basis of the color of their skin or religious or ethnic background but I guess we're still on that journey."
The flight attendant as well as the pilot later apologized, she said.
"She said she's working on her rude behavior and that the man (sitting across the aisle) should not have said anything," Ahmad recalled.
Ahmad was recognized at the White House last year "as a leading Muslim female in the United States" during Women's History Month, according to Northwestern University.
...Ahmad was born in India and grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois. She said she has been spat on and had her hijab ripped off in Islamophobic encounters after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
"This time I was being treated as a threat to everyone around me 30,000 feet above the ground and being told that I could use a can of Diet Coke as a weapon," she said. "And no one said anything."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/30/us/united-flight-muslim-chaplain/index.html
O/T Beau Biden has passed away.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, Joe sure has had an enormous amount of loss in his life. Not long ago his beloved mother, the tragic loss of his first wife and daughter. And now his son. My heart is breaking for him.
Delete(In December 1972, the Biden family suffered a tragic car crash that killed the vice president's daughter, Amy, who was a year old, and his first wife, Neilia. Beau Biden, who was two at the time, and his brother, Hunter, survived the accident.)
Beau Biden, Joe Biden's Son, Dead At 46 From Brain Cancer
Joseph "Beau" Biden III, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, has died from brain cancer, the White House announced Saturday evening. He was 46.
Biden served as Delaware's attorney general for eight years between 2007 to 2015. In 2010, he suffered a mild stroke but recovered and went back to work. In 2013, he began receiving treatment to remove a small lesion in his brain. He was also being treated at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center as recently as last month.
Beau Biden, who was also an Iraq war veteran, had planned to run for governor of Delaware in 2016.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/30/beau-biden-dead_n_7477370.html
https://www.facebook.com/topic/Beau-Biden/107223902640745?source=whfrt&position=3&trqid=6154868151043004774
DeleteOh. I'm so very sorry for our wonderful VP. Peace.
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/30/joe-biden-swearing-in-photo_n_7477592.html
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/30/beau-biden-death-reactions_n_7477462.html
Excuse my bluntness, but if this happened to me on a plane, they wouldn't dare try to apologize to me. I got into it with an attendant during a business trip. It was a long flight and my partner and I had work to get done on the plane, which is why we booked two adjacent seats in business class. There were men allowed the privilege of doing the same, but us womenfolk's use of wifi was against the rules? There were people everywhere on their fricking wireless phones and computers, but they wanted to confiscate ours for the duration of the flight. Let's just say, they quickly changed their minds.
ReplyDeleteReading this poor lady's experience over a diet coke was obviously ignorant, sexist, bigoted and poor service in the least.
Sorry, but an apology parade just doesn't cut it. She paid like everyone else and should have been treated accordingly.
This is $arah chance to redeem her humanity, by saying something kind about the death of Vice President's Son.
ReplyDeleteSarah said she's sorry about the passing of the younger O'Biden.
DeleteNo. She hasn't.
DeleteI think it is simply outrageous she was treated in this manner. And, the man who chimed in should have been shamed. It is outrageous he felt so inclined to cut loose and think others would agree with him. We are losing the ability to be civil in this country anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of an incident of a radio & TV personality here in Philly, a man name E. Steven Collins (who since Passed) him and his wife had to deal with a racist on a plane who had his funky feet on their chair and refused to move them (his shoes were off) he was comfortable throwing around the N word, NO ONE came to their defense, the flight attendance said nothing to this rude man, as soon as they touch ground, Mr Collins called the Police Chief, there was a trial and of course the racist got a slap on the wrist. A while ago someone here made a comment, " I'm glad I'm white"
ReplyDeleteThis is horrible. And for the record, when I was flying on DC-8s and 707s in the olden days, these aircraft could withstand any damage that an unopened can of Diet Coke could do! Guess they don't build aircraft the way the did in the dark ages.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haEyId7jHss
DeleteThey must have been some amazing airplanes if they could prevent this.
Meh, all religious people always feel discriminated against. I have one piece of sage advice for all of them; stop the religious stupidity and then maybe the rest of the world will take you seriously. Don't care about her whining don't care about her interpretation of what happened to her, simply stated there is a much better way to live, seek it and embrace it.
ReplyDeleteGet over yourself! Your arrogance and lack of compassion don't speak well for your so-called "better way to live."
DeleteI hate to say that I agree with you. And she should stop with her hygienic opened can nonsense. If the airlines have policy about not serving drinks in unopened cans, so be it.
DeleteGreat, Anonymous 3:42, then let them treat everyone equally. As in, don't hand the man near her an unopened can and then tell this lady that she doesn't qualify for the same outside-the-rules exception. It's really not rocket science--I'm sure if you thought hard enough about it you'd figure that out by yourself some day.
DeleteAgreed 7:45.
DeleteI'll assume you include all Christians in with that statement.
DeleteDo you also include vegetarians?
What about those with allergies so severe they go into anaphylaxis?
My thoughts & prayers are with the Baden family.
ReplyDelete-Karen
Did you mean "Biden"?
DeleteThe only way to weaponise a can of coke is to drink the contents very, very quickly and then let the gas out from your other end.
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about it, I believe an unopened can could be used as a bludgeon to overpower someone. So with that thought in mind I can understand the airline's position.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haEyId7jHss
DeleteA can full or otherwise would be a lame weapon.
DeleteA pen or a rolled up magazine would be much more effective.
If the airline is that concerned about weapons, do they collect all of the women's stiletto heels and then return them upon arrival? Doubt it.
Couldn't a woman's purse be used as a weapon? A shoe? A laptop? Maybe instead of taking away all possible weapons, we could focus on treating people to make them less likely wanting to use a weapon against us.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Coke thinks about the messaging that their product can be used as a weapon?
I guess a can of soda, shaken and opened toward someone's face COULD be a weapon, but one with a very short period of use. I've always thought a BIC pen to the jugular would be a pretty effective weapon, too. I used to travel a lot and I'd fantasize how I'd take out a "bad guy" if necessary. My best idea was a BIC pen so always had one accessible when I flew. I fly seldom now and not for business so I don't have my lethal weapon with me anymore.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haEyId7jHss
DeleteFor that matter, you can do a lot of damage by tightly rolling up one of the many magazines they have in the chair pockets.
DeleteThe stewardess' excuse was stupid. It was United's cheap policy of splitting cans to save money.
The @$$hole was simply a bigot and a racist.
This is just wrong. Hypocrisy and racism. It's wrong! No defense of the airline works. And Balzafiar, you are wrong, too. I can buy a can of coke at one of the shops near the gate and carry it onto the plane, and the man next to Ms. Ahmad got an un-opened can of beer. They treated the lady wrongly!
ReplyDeleteIn defense, however, of the rest of the passengers; most people didn't probably even know what was going on, so they couldn't really stand up for Ms. Ahmad's rights. If I'd been seated next to her, I would've said something, because that is how I am (my family despairs). But if I was a row or two back, I'd be unable to get involved.
The rude man who swore at her was a beast. No excuse for him at all.
Obviously the flight attendant and the yelling man have been heavily influenced by the MSM that screams everyone who appears Moslem is going to kill them. Suspend the woman for a week and she'll get more angry, but I bet she'll be less nasty to passengers.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I thnk the passenger was being ridiculous in demanding an unopened soda. What "hygienic reasons?" If you are that germaphobic, do without.
ReplyDeletewhy is her request unreasonable? just because you say so? sheesh!
DeleteIs it ridiculous to require a kosher or vegetarian meal?
DeleteIf you require an unopened beverage then purchase as many as you require at one of the many convenience stores lining the terminal near the boarding area, after clearing security, of course, because you can't take a large drink through TSA, but still she could have purchased one after clearing security.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think this is about the cheap airlines that want to give you a glass of coke instead of a full can and give the rest to another passenger more than racial profiling.
ReplyDeleteMuch ado over nothing. Everyone thinks they are royalty these days. She should have let it go. Beyond that, yes, muslims are going to be looked at with suspicion when flying, get used to to it muslims.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not.
DeleteWould a flight attendant tell a passenger to eat their pork if they had requested a kosher meal? Or were vegetarian?
It's none of the flight attendant's business why a passenger requests what they do. Their job is to serve.
I'm sure it is United's cheap ass policy to never give out an entire can of soda because if you put plenty of ice in their little plastic cups they can serve three people with one can.
Trust me.
ReplyDeleteIf I had been sitting anywhere near this woman and heard this exchange I would have told the flight attendant she was discriminating and to give the woman an unopened can of soda.
And I would have told off that racist bigot F&*k in no uncertain terms.
One thing a higher education gives you is an expanded vocabulary in which to crush such bigoted b@$turds until they cry for momma.
I would also have gone with the woman to file my own complaints.
Well, it's United and I totally understand how it happened.
BTW never fly United. They $uck.
United breaks guitars.
Oooooh the great educator with higher education has spoken.... evreyone shake in their boots now.
DeleteYou're an idiot.
I think the way Ms. Ahmad was treated by United and by her fellow passengers is a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteI also think the Ms. Ahmad inserting Israel into hashtag of her note with no relevance whatsoever to the not is bigotry and make her whole standing and claims on shaken basis.
Israel - the ONLY country on the middle east where Muslims are completely free to state their mind, practice their faith in any way they see fit, choose freely their orientation - sexual, political or any other, Have opportunities for education and personal development like no other place.
I always ask for the whole can and have never been given an unopened can or seen anyone else receive one. I think the unopened beer can was a lapse on the part of the flight attendant. That said, it is not acceptable for the man to speak to her like that or everyone else to sit quietly while he did.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the can was actually opened. An 'opened' can just means the seal is broken. I suspect the beer had been opened, but just not all the way.
Delete