[aldo_14]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770

(quoted in full so you don't have to raise the *hack* *spit* Mails' readership figures; translation in red)

British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed.
Bunch of twats disrupt flight due to being racist ****bags.

The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.
Passengers expressed shock, horror and terror at the possibility of people 'who what don't look or talk like us'

Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB 613 in the departure lounge refused to board it.
Presumably Spain didn't want the ****ers either, otherwise I'd have left them behing.  Don't like flying with slightly different people?  Thenk **** off and don't fly!

The incident fuels the row over airport security following the arrest of more than 20 people allegedly planning the suicide-bombing of transatlantic jets from the UK to America. It comes amid growing demands for passenger-profiling and selective security checks.
Oooh, lets reinforce some prejudices now; it's what the Mail does best!

It also raised fears that more travellers will take the law into their own hands - effectively conducting their own 'passenger profiles'.
The Daily Mail and it's ilk scapegoating anyone with slightly different skin colour doesn't have anything to do with this outbreak of paranoid racism, of course

The passenger revolt came as Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary was accused of using the terror crisis to make money. Government sources say he boasted to an official at the Transport Department: "Every time I appear on TV, I get a spike in sales."
Oooh, look, lets switch to an irrelevant divergence so we don't have to condemn this utter ****ing stain on the countries reputation.

The Tories said the Government's failure to reassure travellers had led the Malaga passengers to 'behave irrationally' and 'hand a victory to terrorists'.
Strangely, no mention of the media in this....

Websites used by pilots and cabin crew were yesterday reporting further incidents. In one, two British women with young children on another flight from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding.
What, do all the stupid people go to spain or something?

The trouble in Malaga flared last Wednesday as two British citizens in their 20s waited in the departure lounge to board the pre-dawn flight and were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic. Worries spread after a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her.
Yes, because the female passenger speaks arabic?  Sorry, what was 'took to be arabic'.  Yes, that's right; she's so thick that she doesn't know the language but assumes what's being said.

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.
They're waiting on a ****ing plane going to a colder country!  anyway, they're furriners!  Maybe this is cold for them! **** sake.  (perhaps this is the heavy clothing in the same sense that de Menenzes' denim jacket became a big thick puff winter coat with wires hanging out)

Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out"

The Monarch pilot - a highly experienced captain - accompanied by armed Civil Guard police and airport security staff, approached the two men and took their passports.
Oh, for.....

Half an hour later, police returned and escorted the two Asian passengers off the jet.
(see above)

'There was no fuss or panic'
No fuss, just racist twats

Soon afterwards, the aircraft was cleared while police did a thorough security sweep. Nothing was found and the plane took off - three hours late and without the two men on board.
Well, colour me surprised.

Monarch arranged for them to spend the rest of the night in an airport hotel and flew them back to Manchester later on Wednesday.
Well, that just makes it fine, then.

College lecturer Jo Schofield, her husband Heath and daughters Emily, 15, and Isabel, 12, were caught up in the passenger mutiny.
You'd expect a lecturer to have some common sense, but evidently not...

Mrs Schofield, 38, said: "The plane was not yet full and it became apparent that people were refusing to board. In the gate waiting area, people had been talking about these two, who looked really suspicious with their heavy clothing, scruffy, rough, appearance and long hair.
Yes, because every white passenger was immaculately dressed, coiffed and wearing a short and t-shirt.

"Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television, were starting to mutter things like, 'Those two look like they're bombers.'
Little racist idiots.

"Then a family stood up and walked off the aircraft. They were joined by others, about eight in all. We learned later that six or seven people had refused to get on the plane.
Soooo....what, 15 twats stuck in a Spanish airport?  There's a joke in there somewhere.

"There was no fuss or panic. People just calmly and quietly got off the plane. There were no racist taunts or any remarks directed at the men.
Well that just makes it alright, then.  No taunts, just overt racist actions.

"It was an eerie scene, very quiet. The children were starting to ask what was going on. We tried to play it down."
No kids, it's just some racist cretins, don't worry about it.

Mr Schofield, 40, an area sales manager, said: "When the men were taken off they didn't argue or say a word. They just picked up their coats and obeyed the police. They seemed resigned to the fact they were under suspicion.
Presumably they're used to racism.

"The captain and crew were very apologetic when we were asked to evacuate the plane for the security search. But there was no dissent.
No dissent, because it's evident these people are paranoid arses who believe the very presence of a darker skinned person puts them in immenent danger of being exposed to slightly different cultures (er, maybe).

"While we were waiting, everyone agreed the men looked dodgy. Some passengers were very panicky and in tears. There was a lot of talking about terrorists."
Yes, because they were *shock* foreigners!  I'd be in tears, myself, but not because of that....

Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: "This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.
It's also a victory for paranoid government and media coverage, of course.  But what the **** is a 'Homeland security spokesman'?

"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."
Special marks for observation for Captain Obvious.

Monarch said last night: "The captain was concerned about the security surrounding the two gentlemen on the aircraft and the decision was taken to remove them from the flight for further security checks.
Entirely coincidentally, it's a lot cheaper & easier to rebook 2 people rather than 15.

"The two passengers offloaded from the flight were later cleared by airport security and rebooked to travel back to Manchester on a later flight."
i.e. they were made to wait overnight thanks to about 15 dickheads

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga said: "These men had aroused suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking in a foreign language thought to be an Arabic language, and the pilot was refusing to take off until they were escorted off the plane."
In other words, no good reason, and the pilot couldn't take off with 100-odd paranoid passengers acting the arse and possibly ready to beat the **** out of these poor sods.

The Daily Mail, of course, apparently choses to interview some of the racist cretins and not the poor bastards who suffered thanks to the racist cretins.  I wonder how they'd have phrased it for a plane full of asians wanting to remove some white people?

(NB: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/7days/story/0,,1854145,00.html; It's at times like this, I remember that The War Against Terror spells TWAT.)

[Mefustae]

Damn. Seriously, if I were one of the two guys everyone *thought* were terrorists, I would have gone ape-****.

[Zuljin]

Sickening. Human stupidity never ceases to amaze me

[Fineus]

I read the same Daily Mail article this morning. It's utterly pathetic but I expect nothing less from the Mail.

That said, they wrote a story about it - they weren't the ones who actually took part in the whole thing. I find it amusing that looking scruffy and being colored is now cause enough for concern here. I'll have to take care not to fall over in a puddle of mud lest I to be accused of being a terrorist.

I agree though aldo, I'd have been fascinated to see what would happen if a plane of asian people refused to fly with a white man on board. The mail would have had a field day.

This is all going to end very badly in the next few years. I wish I lived some place else.

[Mefustae]

Wait, I just realised something. It's effectively the 50's again! Only with "Terrorist" instead of "Communist".

[Prophet]

Now that you mentioned it... Just don't anyone tell the US that. Or they'll start an arms race and begin stockpiling suicide bombers and car bombs.

[Fineus]

What makes you think they aren't already? Any war requires arms, a war on terror need be no different.

[Mr. Vega]

See, America ain't so bad, compared to that anyway.

[Rictor]

Well in theory, you should be predisposed to thinkink that a guy in tattered clothes, dishevled hair and muttering to himself is a bum, but everyone does. Profiling of any sort is only natural, since its only an extension of the basic process of the human mind: categorization. We categorize everything, so it's only natural that we categorize people as well.

[Fineus]

Do you know exactly how the accused asian guys looked  though? I gathered they looked a mess, but that could mean anything... students look a mess.

[Rictor]

Or hippies. I certainly wouldn't want hippies on my plane, that's for sure. Better to let the jihadis on.

[aldo_14]

See, America ain't so bad, compared to that anyway.

I wouldn't be so sure

A father was quizzed for four hours and then thrown out of the United States in front of his wife and family.

Azar Iqbal, from Cheadle, Greater Manchester, was sent home on a plane at Atlanta last Thursday - despite officials allowing his family through.

He said he was shocked when US police allegedly saw him as a security threat as the group headed for Disneyland.

The US Department for Homeland Security told the BBC it did not comment on individual cases.

A statement for the United States Customs and Border Protection said it denied entry for "thousands of individuals every year on grounds of inadmissibility".

Mr Iqbal said he was also told Asian people needed a special visa.

The incident is alleged to have taken place on the day British airports were put on alert over a reported plot to blow up several Transatlantic flights.

Mr Iqbal said after landing at Atlanta he was questioned by immigration officers who asked if he knew any of the terror suspects arrested in Britain.

He had already been cleared by airport security in Manchester before he boarded the 0900 BST Delta flight.

Mr Iqbal was travelling with his wife Rizwana and their three children Ibrahim, 5, Murvah, 10, and Mohin, 14.

He said: "It all started with the immigration man saying he wanted to ask me a couple of questions and they took me and my family to a secure area, where they quizzed me for four hours.

"They asked if I had heard about the arrests in Britain that had happened earlier that day. They said did I know any of the people involved?

"I was really upset and said that there was no way I would know or associate with these people.

"The whole experience was completely demeaning. One of them even said sarcastically 'we didn't tell you to come to America on holiday' after we complained about our treatment.

"They went through all the suitcases including the children's belongings before telling me I was being sent back because I needed a visa despite having a British passport."

'No documentation'

A spokeswoman for Delta Airlines said: "This is an issue which you would have to take up with the American authorities.

"Delta is not behind Mr Iqbal being refused entry into the United States."

Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle, said he would be writing to the Home Office and to the American embassy to ask for an explanation.

"He appears to have been turned back at Atlanta airport with no clear explanation, and he has been handed no documentation," he said.

"All he has is a hand written note that has been entered into his passport by an official in Atlanta.

"I don't see why our citizens should have to put up with it."

[Herra Tohtori]

Ooo...kay.


Way to fight the terrorism, to increase antipathy everwhere.

McCarthy days certainly do pop up in front of our eyes. Who will be the new Rosenbergs?

Oh wait - they're already in Guantanamo. Bah. Though I must say that Rosenbergs actually got a "trial".

EDIT: Well perhaps the Rosenbergs are a bit bad comparision. They really were spies after all.

[karajorma]

"They asked if I had heard about the arrests in Britain that had happened earlier that day. They said did I know any of the people involved?

And not one of the geniuses involved in this questioning realised that the fact the plane landed would surely suggest that he might not be involved in a plot to blow it up?

One of them even said sarcastically 'we didn't tell you to come to America on holiday'

Funny. I could have sworn that they spent millions on advertising American holidays in the UK.

[Roanoke]

Well, it's unfortunate that Muslim Extremists have a history of targeting planes and it's also unforunate that Muslim Extremists also look, um, Muslim.

[Blue Lion]

How do you look muslim?

[Fineus]

Roanoke: That much is true, if you're looking for Muslim terrorists then you must start with Muslims. One would hardly expect them to start closely examining white redneck Americans or chav British families for suspected terrorist association.

That said.

This should not be a witch hunt. Stopping every person of asian decent with no good reason other than "well, his skin is the same color as the guys we're after" is no way to go about this. The only thing you can garuntee from a process like that is the reinforcement of racism from the white element and the reinforcement of dislike for the western system from the asian element. If anything - if you're not careful - you end up creating more terrorists because they're tired of being treated like criminals.

I know if I were to be stopped every time I tried to get on a plane or even do the most mundane of things - I'd get pretty sick of it and look to move out of that country all together.

[Kamikaze]

Related story (a doctor removed from American Airline for praying): http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/08/18/doctor-winnipeg.html

[Herra Tohtori]

How do you look muslim?

You beat me to it...



I can see it right from those...ears? Yes, ears, they tell me this man is a moslim. Or perhaps the nose...

[Flipside]

It's the eyes, can't you see that burning hatred for all things Non-Islamic?