British Muslim teacher taken off US-bound flight: I was treated like a criminal

[Equinox Moon]

Source: The Guardian

A young British Muslim teacher escorted off a New York-bound flight by US officials in front of the school party he was helping lead has spoken of his concerns that he was targeted simply because of his religion.

“This shouldn’t happen to anyone. I’ve followed all the procedures. I’ve ticked all the right boxes yet they made me feel like a criminal. I’ve got no criminal record, I’ve never been in trouble. I was in shock, I couldn’t believe it was happening. I felt powerless, as if I was being targeted and there was nothing I could do.

“No one could give me an explanation. The only thing I can put it down to unfortunately – I hope I’m wrong – is because I’m a Muslim. That’s all I can put it down to. I hope that’s not true.”



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/21/british-muslim-teacher-taken-off-us-bound-flight-i-was-treated-like-a-criminal

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[fountainofyouth]

1. There's nothing more outrageous

Than when a Muslim is told to get off a plane because someone else on the plane was "uncomfortable." The person who felt uncomfortable should be the one to get off!

[NotThisTime]

2. They're not even claiming that.... They weren't letting him in the country.

[applegrove]

3. I heard on CNN that an undocumented woman went to get a restraining order

Last edited Wed Feb 22, 2017, 09:16 PM - Edit history (1)

on her abusive boyfriend. He called ICE and turned her in. She got taken into custody while living at a Texas shelter. There will be more and more of these cruel stories. They will over time desensitized people to people being hurt. Psychopaths do that. They school people in sadism. Happened to a former friend of mine. Psychopath, I'm sure, was who had her watching gerry springer to get her into breaking bad mode.

[iluvtennis]

4. Just disgusting how this teacher was treated cuz his name is Mohammed. #Resistance

[Yo_Mama]

7. This most assuredly did not happen because his name is Mohammed.

See my other post.

[zentrum]

5. We need to take

...to the streets in the millions. Non-stop.

This must stop.

[Yo_Mama]

6. Okay, I googled the full name and this appears to be a security hold (diff person, I think)

There is a Mohammed Juhel Miah who pops up as being very active recently in fundraising for various Syrian charities, which is not itself necessarily bad, but funds are being sometimes sent to the wrong people in Syria, so it raises a red flag. And one of the charities involved was under investigation for poor everything, plus there is an issue with the partners in these countries:
http://standforpeace.org.uk/charity-commission-launches-inquiry-into-human-aid-uk/

Then there's a Juhel Miah who came up as being involved in the precursor activities to what was eventually a murder of an older Muslim in Britain because the younger group of Muslims was ISIS-affiliated and disapproved of the older guy's brand of Islam:
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/national/article/Muslim-leader-murdered-by-IS-supporters-for-practising-Islamic-healing-ba9835d6-58fc-4ddc-9823-819c6e6a5506-ds

I cannot prove it, but I think the teacher here is not this person, but it is a legitimate security issue and the name would probably pop up on lists of suspected persons. Apparently the teacher Juhel Miah was born in Birmingham, although he's now teaching in Wales.

A JuhelMiah twitter account appears to have been deleted, although it was very recently active. And I did find a very recent tweet commonly associated with radical Islam.

As I am saying, I think this is a case of two different people, but the age brackets and birthplaces are close for sure. One of these characters is very suspicious and should be blocked.

[TomVilmer]

8. And it is OK to kick random people away?

This sounds like it is same systems matching these names, as was matching the voter suppression lists - a similar name is enough to kick you out. Why look at all that biometric stuff now hidden in our passports, if a name kind of match... Such stories is not keeping "bad guys" out - it is scaring any kind of travelers away.
https://audioboom.com/posts/5631640-neath-maths-teacher-juhel-miah-talks-to-claire-pearson

[Yo_Mama]

9. That's the reality - there are people on the no-fly list who can't get off, and

have nothing to do with terrorism. Why should a foreign entrant have more rights than an American citizen? This wasn't done due to discrimination - it was done because he was a close match to flags that would be legitimate for any meaningful security net.

There's been tons of litigation about innocent people who are incorrectly flagged. Start here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/28/i-help-innocent-people-get-off-terror-watch-lists-as-a-gun-control-tool-theyre-useless/?utm_term=.52913c463382

This happens EVERY DAY.

Does it increase security? Probably, but at a cost to those who find themselves impacted. Many are mistaken identity cases.

I have a brother who looks very similar to a man who was on the FBI's terror biggie list. He's been stopped at airports. He went through security and was kicked by the airline! I've been stopped and gotten the total search - taken off, strip down, explosives check. Another brother got the same thing.

None of us are Muslims or look Middle Eastern. At the time when I was put through the ringer, I apparently matched the profile on a warning. My one brother (big joke is that he has continuously held a security clearance for decades) really is a dead ringer for a terrorist. They say everybody has a double. It's his bad luck that his double is a really bad murderous dude. I told him to change his hair, and it helped. I am pretty sure my younger brother was pulled out because of his frequent travel - for work.

This is not discrimination - it's bad luck.

I don't think there is any way to have relative air security without a lot of false positives. I try to avoid flying now. I feel very sorry for this kid, but this isn't discriminatory.

[TomVilmer]

10. Thanx for scary answer!

I agree, that obviously a foreign entrant should not have more rights than an American citizen in your country. But then American citizen are paying a way to high price for what is mostly a fiction of security.