LISTENING TO AMERICANS

The following first-hand report from reporter Annie Jacobsen is not unique, but it is important to note. She has since written a book describing her "probing" experience. There have since been many similar probes, which we never hear about in the mainstream media. So be diligent and do your homework. As Ms. Jacobsen puts it: "there's no one looking out for us."

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On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases—thin, flat, 18 long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg—he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, You go ahead, this could be awhile. No, you go ahead, one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plan.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back.

As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large group of Middle Eastern men boarding. The first man wore a dark suit and sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closet to the cockpit door. The other seven men walked into the coach cabin. As aware Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get comfortable. I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the situation as well. As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other. They continued to look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I could tell that my husband was beginning to feel anxious.

The take-off was uneventful. But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach—taking his full McDonald's bag with him. When he came out of the lavatory he still had the McDonald's bag, but it was now almost empty. He walked down the aisle to the back of the plane, still holding the bag. When he passed two of the men sitting mid-cabin, he gave a thumbs-up sign. When he returned to his seat, he no longer had the McDonald's bag.

Then another man from the group stood up and took something from his carry-on in the overhead bin. It was about a foot long and was rolled in cloth. He headed toward the back of the cabin with the object. Five minutes later, several more of the Middle Eastern men began using the forward lavatory consecutively. In the back, several of the men stood up and used the back lavatory consecutively as well.

For the next hour, the men congregated in groups of two and three at the back of the plane for varying periods of time. Meanwhile, in the first class cabin, just a foot or so from the cockpit door, the man with the dark suit—still wearing sunglasses—was also standing. Not one of the flight crew members suggested that any of these men take their seats.

Watching all of this, my husband was now beyond anxious. I decided to try to reassure my husband (and maybe myself) by walking to the back bathroom. I knew the goateed-man I had exchanged friendly words with as we boarded the plane was seated only a few rows back, so I thought I would say hello to the man to get some reassurance that everything was fine. As I stood up and turned around, I glanced in his direction and we made eye contact. I threw out my friendliest remember-me-we-had-a-nice-exchange-just-a-short-time-ago smile. The man did not smile back. His face did not move. In fact, the cold, defiant look he gave me sent shivers down my spine.

When I returned to my seat I was unable to assure my husband that all was well. My husband immediately walked to the first class section to talk with the flight attendant. I might be overreacting, but I've been watching some really suspicious things... Before he could finish his statement, the flight attendant pulled him into the galley. In a quiet voice she explained that they were all concerned about what was going on. The captain was aware. The flight attendants were passing notes to each other. She said that there were people on board higher up than you and me watching the men. My husband returned to his seat and relayed this information to me. He was feeling slightly better. I was feeling much worse. We were now two hours into a four-in-a-half hour flight.

Approximately 10 minutes later, that same flight attendant came by with the drinks cart. She leaned over and quietly told my husband there were federal air marshals sitting all around us. She asked him not to tell anyone and explained that she could be in trouble for giving out that information. She then continued serving drinks.

About 20 minutes later the same flight attendant returned. Leaning over and whispering, she asked my husband to write a description of the yellow-shirted man sitting across from us. She explained it would look too suspicious if she wrote the information. She asked my husband to slip the note to her when he was done.

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified.. Before I'm labeled a racial profiler or—worse yet—a racist, let me add this. A month ago I traveled to India to research a magazine article I was writing. My husband and I flew on a jumbo jet carrying more than 300 Hindu and Muslim men and women on board. We traveled throughout the country and stayed in a Muslim village 10 miles outside Pakistan. I never once felt fearful. I never once felt unsafe. I never once had the feeling that anyone wanted to hurt me. This time was different.

Finally, the captain announced that the plane was cleared for landing. It had been four hours since we left Detroit. The fasten seat belt light came on and I could see downtown Los Angeles. The flight attendants made one final sweep of the cabin and strapped themselves in for landing. I began to relax. Home was in sight.

Suddenly, seven of the men stood up—in unison—and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves and to the man in the yellow shirt sitting nearby. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down. I watched as the man in the yellow shirt, still in his seat, reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small red book. He read a few pages, then put the book back inside his shirt. He pulled the book out again, read a page or two more, and put it back. He continued to do this several more times.

I looked around to see if any other passengers were watching. I immediately spotted a distraught couple seated two rows back. The woman was crying into the man's shoulder. He was holding her hand. I heard him say to her, You've got to calm down. Behind them sat the once pleasant-smiling, goatee-wearing man.

I grabbed my son, I held my husband's hand and, despite the fact that I am not a particularly religious person, I prayed. The last man came out of the bathroom, and as he passed the man in the yellow shirt he ran his forefinger across his neck and mouthed the word No.

The plane landed. My husband and I gathered our bags and quickly, very quickly, walked up the jetway. As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw many, many men in dark suits. A few yards further out into the terminal, LAPD agents ran past us, heading for the gate. I have since learned that the representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Federal Air Marshals (FAM), and the Transportation Security Association (TSA) met our plane as it landed. Several men—who I presume were the federal air marshals on board—hurried off the plane and directed the 14 men over to the side.

Knowing what we knew, and seeing what we'd seen, my husband and I decided to talk to the authorities. For several hours my husband and I were interrogated by the FBI. We gave sworn statement after sworn statement. We wrote down every detail of our account. The interrogators seemed especially interested in the McDonald's bag, so we repeated in detail what we knew about the McDonald's bag. A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his hand. We answered more questions. And finally we went home.

TWO VIEWS ON SIX IMAMS

US Airways went too far, says one righteous dude. They really treated these guys like manure. Once they investigated them and their luggage, discovering that they didn't have any bombs or other dangerous contraband, they should have apologetically placed them on the next flight to their location and seated them in first class.

Sadly, US Airways has no class. Or so say this same righteous dude.

He admits that he doesn't have any problem with these six Imams being interrogated and investigated, but the airline should conduct its business of security with the utmost civility and respect. In other words—don't punish them for simply being Muslim, or inconsiderate to their fellow passengers or the airlines.

Righteous dude surmizes that the airlines will probably be sued for racial and religious discrimination, and will sadly have to pay up because the "Holy Men" were not allowed to take any flight, even after a full investigation.

Sorry Charlie. There's another viewpoint.

One Muslim apologist is quoted as saying "If up to now they (meaning the general public and the airlines) don't know about prayers, this is a real problem."

Another righteous fellow named Mark explains his own insight when he suggests that the previous quote clarifies the entire incident. He writes,

"When I fly, to Israel, and the religious folks pray, ten at a time, everyone's polite with apologies if they're doing it in the context of others. In other words, the normal bounds of manners apply. The doers owe those not doing the manners to explain or apologize if their words or bodies in any way impede those not doing. Thus, they are 'accepted' even by those who don't believe in any of that.

But this is not the case. Instead we hear a sarcastic—If they don't know about prayers—remark, in what has become the normal response of Muslims. We are here, this is our culture, deal with it. We are superior beings (except when we are victims), we are holier than thou. Frankly, in my opinion, that's the root of it all.

More than likely all the Muslim imams they had to do, was smile, saying to those in their seats next to where they were praying "excuse us, please, we do our prayers, and we don't mean any intrusion" or the like. Simple manners, politely telling people, who have been threatened with airline hijackings, beheadings, and mutilation on a worldwide basis, that they—the Muslims—merely wish to pray, mean no harm, and in short, announce themselves as polite, normal decent folks.

They of course were arrogant, and refused to explain to the stewardesses and fellow passengers what they were doing. Thus they were giving off the usual muslim vibe of 'Screw you infidel.'

Which explains why they got tossed. This is also why the airlines refused to book them elsewhere. In a nervous interview with the media circus surrounding this event, the Muslim apologist announced there were over 200 iMams in the airport at the time since they had all gone to and were returning from the same religious conference. "Surely," he noted "the airlines should have known what was going on." He meant simple prayers were going on. But this admission can have another interpretation. If over 200 iMams made their flights back why did only six get treated to the boot. Perhaps the attitude of the individual "holy men" in question might explain the airline's behavor.

Concerning public prayers, and this goes for all those self-enamored Christian evangelicals among us as well, let's see what Jesus of Nazareth had to say:

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Ah, the air is much better now. Too bad few people believe these very decent words to the wise. Bottom line, Muslim passengers have been flying for years. Why now, this outrage in a long string of Muslim outrages? I'll tell you why. To rankle and buckle the system. To encroach further into the public eye always on the scan for a politically correct victim. To anybody with common sense this latest Muslim outrage is oblique non-sense, a calculated propaganda stunt.

This whole incident underscores the fact that many Muslims seem to feel no sense of accountability for all of the violence committed in the name of their religion. Here's another take I found from Hoosier Gal:

"A few days ago, I was reading a thread on the Big Pharoah blog, in which he questioned why non-Muslims object to the phrase "Allahu Akbar", since all believers of every faith believe that God is great. Several people set him straight: 'Allahu Akbar' are the last words that an infidel hears before a Muslim kills him. If you hear it on a plane, it's the equivalent of yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater—it will create panic. It is a war cry. Abruptly standing up and reciting Muslim prayers on a plane has an identical effect on people. These Imams need to get a clue. If you want to stay out of trouble, don't "go all Islamic" when you're on a plane!"

Very interesting concept. While America is busy policing religion out of every public arena great and small, and has gone on record stating the yelling fire in a crowded theatre is NOT constitutionally protected speech, it seems highly logical that screaming a recognizable war cry on a Western airplane would also be outlawed.

America is beginning to wake up to these dangers. The dhimmi Left will continue to support as strong allies almost anything the Muslims try to pull until the real hurt begins to be felt, such as a nuclear blast on American soil, and perhaps even then will find a way to embrace their won worst enemy, but I am occasionally surprized at how interested and informed middle America is becoming while the leftist street boondoggle remains comfortably numb with its denial of the dangers that await America, Israel, and Europe, in the form of jihadist and their so-called "moderate" Islam rearguard.