http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770 This story troubled me a little bit. These men went through security like everyone else and were still booted off the flight. I'm glad Americans are a little bit more level headed than these passengers in the UK.
Yea, I meant to post "Arabs." The passengers thought they were Arabs, but it turned out they were South Asian. Story doesnt make it clear. Edit: Thread titles don't allow parenthesis.
Kind of lame really, there hasn't been a hijacking since 9-11......so no need to panic, passengers are more alert these days, I doubt one would succeed. DD
LOL @ Stupid Brits. What's even more hilarious, or pathetic, depending on how you look at it, is that lady is a college Professor. Way to think with an open mind!
Again, Muslims/Arabs and others must realize that if they do not fight against extremism then the extremists will succeed in creating a negative impression of Islam amongst the gentry. The terrorists are winning and there's no counter force in the Islamic world to stop them from hi-jacking the religion.
The terrorists are winning due to actions by both sides, not just one or the other. As I have said in the past and will say again: the necessary conditions must exist if the West is truly interested in empowering the moderate forces in the Islamic world. The endless use of force to 'get our way' will never get the desired results. The Muslim world is not going to choose between the extremists among them on the one hand and Israel or American-British aggression on the other; that's a false choice that doesn't offer a real alternative. Under the current conditions, the extremist forces on all sides are the only ones who will be empowered and emboldened. Nothing will change from the current state of affairs -- indeed, things might continue to escalate -- until some level-headed leaders on both sides start to take control of the situation Otherwise, God help us all...
In england, south asians are referred to as "asians". This is pretty much due to the huge numbers of south asians and rather small number of east asians. Pretty much anyone with olive skin is called asian, so even a middle eastern person could be referred to as asian. In fact what is even more interesting, my south asian cousins in england refer to themselves as black.
Problems exist here also. On a flight just last week, a somehwat inebriated middle-aged woman from Saint Louis leaned over to whisper and quite audibly announced that the person on the row behind us was speaking Arabic to his friend, who (apparently luckily) was sitting closer to the front of the plane. Out of disgust, I never informed her of the fact that he was speaking Hindi. Still, I recall another thread here where someone stated that (to paraphrase) 'all Jews around the world should be very very afraid' because of what was happening in Lebanon. I hope that all of us can see how this type of stereotyping is wrong for any race or religion and should be fought by all ... and if the fact that's it's just wrong is not enough to motivate you, don't forget that your 'group' could be next.
But where are the moderate voices rising up to fight against the extremism for the west to support???? In the other article you dismissed the woman who did speak up....she was a moderate voice. The moderate voices do not have the support of the mainstream Islamic establishment, and without that, support from the West means nothing.
They're there and they do speak out and have spoken out hundreds of times, and I personally (along with a few poster here) have posted numerous links to highlight just that. However, moderates will continue to by and large 'stand at the sidelines' as long as they perceive themselves to be under attack by outside forces (i.e. America in Iraq and Israel in Lebanon, West Bank, and Gaza). No, she's far from a 'moderate' voice, in order to be that you have to be a 'Muslim' to begin with, she clearly identified herself as a non-Muslim. Her views are treated as such. That's simply not true. What do you identify as the "mainstream Islamic establishment"? Do you mean Al-Azhar in Egypt or some other establishment? We have millions upon millions of Muslims who are allies around the world, many of whom are actively fighting terrorists or have done so in the past. It's wrong and counterproductive to dismiss their efforts, and it's unfortunate that some Western governments have undertaken policies that undermine their influence and more or less forced them into silence.
I agree, we need to have dialogue and support those people in a peaceful manner to get this thing fixed. So? Are you saying that in order for her view to be given credence she would have to be a Muslim? That sounds extremely self righteous to me. DD
No, that's not what I am saying, I am responding to his point that "moderate Muslims" voices are discredited; that lady is not a Muslim, period, and she identified herself as such. She can't be a "moderate Muslim" if she isn't a Muslim to begin with...work on your reading comprehension skills, DaDa.
