CAIR: Seattle Interfaith Leaders to Seek Probe of Imam's Forced Removal from Delta Flight

SEATTLE, March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, April 1, the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA), along with a group of pastors, rabbis, imams, and labor leaders, will hold a news conference to ask Delta Air Lines and the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate the apparently bias-motivated removal earlier this month of a Seattle-area imam (Islamic religious leader) from a flight by Delta employees.

The imam, who is a Delta Platinum Elite member, was forced to disembark his flight and take another flight. He was reportedly informed by the Delta employee who escorted him off the plane that this was being done because a crew member judged "the way you used the restroom" to be "doubtful."

WHAT: Seattle Interfaith Leaders to Seek Probe of Imam's Forced Removal from Delta Flight
WHEN: Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: SeaTac International Airport, Delta Airlines Ticketing Area
CONTACT: CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, 206-367-4081 or 206-931-3655, [email protected]

[MEDIA NOTE: CAIR's San Diego chapter yesterday called on Navajo Canyon Republican Women (NCRW) to drop notorious Islamophobe James Horn as a speaker for the group's April 8 meeting. SEE: http://t.co/ekGfBYXvKU CAIR's Michigan chapter today called on the Oakland County Republic Party to drop notorious Islamophobe Richard Thompson as a speaker for its April 1 meeting. SEE: http://tinyurl.com/MichGOP2]

"The Department of Transportation must investigate this shocking incident to hold Delta Air Lines accountable for discriminating against a respected religious leader," said CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari. "Not all passengers who go to the bathroom get kicked off their flight, so Delta's discriminatory act was due solely to the imam's perceived racial, ethnic and religious affiliation."

Bukhari noted that there have been a number of similar incidents nationwide in which Muslim leaders and community members have been forcibly removed from airplanes after boarding due to their language, religious attire or appearance. 

Video: Muslims Call Plane Incident Islamophobia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-CFw0jhZ00  
Video: Family in Muslim Clothing Ejected from Flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06b3gB42QtQ  
Video: AirTran Apologizes to Muslims Kicked Off Plane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqqTD_X0uQo  

In 2011, CAIR and United Firm of Carolina Law (UFC Law) announced the filing of a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines for removing two imams from a flight to a conference on Islamophobia in Charlotte, N.C.

Video: Tenn. Muslim Leaders Sue Delta for Discrimination (CAIR)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiXz3GNqt04

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, 206-367-4081 or 206-931-3655, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-341-4171, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations