By Abdirahman Aynte
Minneapolis, MN (HOL) - Ever since six Muslim Imams were removed from a Minneapolis flight late last year, many local Muslims said they avoid the attention-grabbing activities that prompted the whole incident. Still, most of them hardly board a flight without being thoroughly searched, and at times questioned for hours.
For many, a new post 9/11 era was born. And they have a new name for it: “Flying While Muslim,” or FWM.
Modeled after “Driving While Black,” a term coined for a widely held belief that African-American drivers are disproportionately targeted by the police, Muslims say the actions of a few bad apples are causing them immense hurdles at U.S. airports.
No one knows that better than Mohamad Elmasry, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student, who was born in the United States. While on a plane on the tarmac recently at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and waiting to take off, the pilot suddenly announced over the intercom system that "Mr. Elmasry should make himself known to the flight attendant.”
“It was humiliating,” said Elmasry. “I said to myself: ‘What have I done to deserve this?’”
When he raised his hand, the flight attendant politely told him that they just wanted to make sure that everything was OK. Over the duration of the flight, Elmasry said “his moves were watched by pretty much everyone in the plane.”
Though this incident is unique, other Muslim travelers say the so-called “random searches” by the staff of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mean regular searches for them.
In a recent Public Broadcasting Services documentary, a reporter and a producer posed as a Muslim couple to examine the truth about FWM. Sure enough, they were pulled aside and thoroughly searched on several flights. The pair was able to board other flights with minimal security checks when not dressing like Muslims.
On another incident, Elmasry was recently held for four hours as he returned from Egypt. He was told that his laptop will be investigated for 30 days. After pleading with security officials, they told him they will extract all the documents in his computer before they release it.
TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said while she wouldn’t respond to specific cases, the agency has taken great strides in training its staff on “cultural awareness.”
Some in the Muslim community said they avoid attracting attention since the Imams’ incident. Mohamed Helal, who frequently travels, said he tries to pray in a secluded area of the airport or skips it entirely—a special religious option.
“I don’t want to repeat the Imams’ disaster,” he said in a telephone interview while waiting for a flight in Memphis, Tenn.
Before he was recently hired by a major airliner, Helal said he used to expect extra searches at the airport. Now, with an airline badge, “They treat me like a king,” he said.
‘Travel tips’
A local Muslim complied 10 humorous “travel tips” for Arabs and Muslims in the wake of the Imams’ incident. In it, Muslims are urged to avoid traveling in groups, carrying the Qur’an or growing a big beard—signs that could touch off suspicion.
Tip number six is especially cautious: “If there’s an emergency landing,” it says, “it’s not the time for saying Allahu Akbar.” The Imams were accused of chanting that phrase, which means God is great.
And tip 10 couldn’t be blunter: “If they ask you to move to the back of the plane, [it] is not a Rosa Parks moment.” Parks is the iconic civil rights activist who refused to give up her bus seat to white male in Alabama during the segregration.
The mind behind the list is Ahmed Tharwat, who hosts “Belahdan,” the Arab-American TV show on Twin Cities Public Television. “I put [the list] in an ironic way,” he said. “But it’s the reality facing Muslim and Arab travelers today.”
Abdirahman Aynte can be reached at [email protected]