More Airport Nazis

the “crime” of Flying While Muslim. Forget Snakes on a Plane, how about Islamophobia on a plane?

First some British passengers “mutinied” because two apparently Muslim men were on the flight.

Then a Canadian doctor was removed from a flight because a drunk passenger thought his Muslim prayers were suspicious.

Now a British pilot was removed from a flight apparently for being Muslim.

Where will this end? Muslim-only lines at the airport?

Sara Robinson at Orcinus has some good commentary on this:

There’s only one word for this. It’s vigilantism, pure and simple. It’s no different than any other kind of lynch mob. And it is beneath the dignity of a civilized society…

…But there’s far more at stake here than meets the eye. If these vigilante mobs are allowed to get their way on airplanes, what’s to stop them from taking their show on the road? Are we going to see subway mobs assaulting brown people on train platforms to “prevent” subway bombings? Are restarauters going to find themselves under pressure from upset diners not to hire — or seat — certain “frightening” classes of people? Will neighborhood groups press realtors to stop selling local homes to specific ethnic groups, for fear property values will drop? Or will they, perhaps, subject “undesirable” neighbors to harassment campaigns until they’re forced to move on?

This all sounds far-fetched — until you realize that we’re hardly forty years past an era when most of this was standard operating procedure in much of America. Vigilante justice, racial segregation in public accommodations, real estate redlining, and sundown towns are part of a past that we’ve worked hard to leave behind. It will be a disgrace to all of us if we allow a few irrational bullies on airplanes put us on the road to bringing it all back.

This is something that we should not allow to continue. It is beneath us. [Al-Muhajabah’s Islamic Blogs]