Airport Not Caving To CAIR

[Annie]

http://www.examiner.com/a-487244~Twin_Cities_airport_balks_at_offering_Somalis_own_prayer_room.html

Twin Cities airport balks at offering Somalis own prayer room

The Associated Press
Jan 3, 2007 1:13 AM (1 day ago)
Current rank: # 109 of 16,831 articles
MINNEAPOLIS - Somali refugees who want a place to pray at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport might have to share space with people of other religions, airport officials said Tuesday.

Airport Director Steve Wareham told Somalis gathered for a meeting that if the airport provides a special area for Muslims to use, it potentially would have to accommodate other faiths the same way.

"Our request would be you try the quiet seating area," he said.

The prayer debate was sparked Nov. 20 when six imams - Muslim religious leaders - were removed from an airplane after they had been seen praying in public. According to witnesses, the men also made anti-American remarks, asked for seat-belt extenders they didn't need and spread out to different areas of the plane. The imams took another flight the next day.

Muslims criticized the treatment of the men, saying it was discriminatory, embarrassing and fueled by false rumors, while others praised the airline for taking the men off the plane, saying safety must come first in the post-Sept. 11 era.

Fuad Ali, who spoke at the meeting at the Darul Quba Mosque, said Somalis want a prayer room so they will not be faced with a similar incident. And he said they want their own room.

"Where you have Christians and Muslims praying at the same time, it will create a problem," he said.

The quiet seating area is a carpeted room with chairs but no religious symbols. It has been used for years but was never obvious to travelers, airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said.

The airport intends to install more signs directing people to it on the mezzanine level near a Chili's restaurant, near the entry to the F Concourse. At the same time, there's no restriction on praying in other parts of the airport, Wareham said.

Minnesota is home to the largest concentration of Somali immigrants in the country. The state estimates about 25,000 Somalis live in the state, though community leaders say the number is closer to 60,000.

Somalis are dealing with another issue at the airport related to Islam. Many Somali taxi drivers refuse to accept passengers who are carrying liquor, because their faith forbids it.

Wareham said he would recommend that the airport's management operations committee hold a public hearing on the matter. He favors stiffening the penalties against cab drivers who refuse fares for any reason other than their own safety.

"To be refused service by a taxi driver is, frankly, seen as an insult, and we don't want our customers to experience it," he said.

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