Report says men speaking Arabic removed from flight at Boston airport

[Mr. Gibs]

Reports from Boston say the plane was about to head to Chicago but returned to the gate before takeoff after passengers cited concern about two men on the flight who were speaking Arabic.

Several of the people on that flight were marathoners. The two men were removed from the plane.

Fox in Boston reports the men were not sitting together and both were detained at Logan airport after they were taken off the flight.

There were concerns in New York and Philadelphia as well.

A terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated today after a suspicious package was found in a shopping area.

The terminal was shut down for less than 20 minutes when it was discovered the bag was lighting ballast that had wires sticking out.

Another plane was evacuated as soon as it landed Philadelphis after what was called a suspicious bag was found.

Source(s): http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/men-speaking-arabic-removed-flight-boston-airport/nXNWW/

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/21988916/2013/04/16/plane-brought-back-to-gate-at-logan-airport

Sigh America...that isn't the way we should be dealing with things. Thanks for once again proving to terrorists that they've won.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Detained for speaking a foreign language? That's ridiculous. Is the US trying to model itself on Nazi Germany?

[compl3x]

Wow. Removed from a plane for speaking Arabic. That's not racist or offensive at all.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Well I agree with compl3x, this is not racist nor offensive at all :/

[adrynalyne]

Wow. Removed from a plane for speaking Arabic. That's not racist or offensive at all.

Yeah, its not like that couldn't be sensationalized media or anything, right? They would never do that.

I am not saying it didn't happen for that reason, but the media likes to twist the sh*t out of things for ratings.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I didn't know Nazi Germany was against foreign languages.

Obviously I was referring to the treatment of demographics perceived to be undesirable or untrustworthy, which in the case of Nazi Germany were Jews, gypsies and homosexuals.

[compl3x]

Well I agree with compl3x, this is not racist nor offensive at all :/

Of course it is. You're discriminating against someone based on their race and the language they speak. That's Racist. I find racism offensive.

So you think suspicious people should just be ignored due to respecting their "whatever"?

If all they were doing is speaking a foreign language (and after reading the source links, that seems to be all they were doing) I don't think that belongs in the suspicious category.

[adrynalyne]

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com)....is where I stopped.

The other link refers to the Fox link.

Any other sources?

[compl3x]

And I am saying based on what we know so far there is nothing here that would justify kicking them off a flight.

Frankly, it wouldn't at all surprise me if talking in Arabic was all they were doing.

[compl3x]

Some Americans are. Just like some Australians are. Just like some <insert nationality/ethnicity > are.

Let's be honest, it wouldn't be the first time someone has been accused of wrongdoing based on race or cultural heritage.

[freak180]

really?

because it seems you guys are trying to paint a picture based off a vague story (which itself provides no real info), that Americans are so racist that we pull Arabic speaking people off of planes All the time, for no real good reason.

Blank appears to be right about everything everybody!!! No point of replying because he's always going to provide a counter for everything :rolleyes: really? really?

Besides that, Its pretty messed up that even occurred. Surely things are going to get worst.

[FloatingFatMan]

really?

because it seems you guys are trying to paint a picture based off a vague story (which itself provides no real info), that Americans are so racist that we pull Arabic speaking people off of planes All the time, for no real good reason.

It's happened before. This isn't the first time I've read stories on here of Arabic speaking people being removed from US flights because other passengers felt uncomfortable.

Personally, I'd remove the ones feeling uncomfortable and tell them to take their racist asses elsewhere.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

really?

because it seems you guys are trying to paint a picture based off a vague story (which itself provides no real info), that Americans are so racist that we pull Arabic speaking people off of planes All the time, for no real good reason.

And what picture are you trying to paint? That these men were rightfully removed? The article states the following: "[...] after passengers cited concern about two men on the flight who were speaking Arabic." / "Several of the people on that flight were marathoners. The two men were removed from the plane." / "Fox in Boston reports the men were not sitting together and both were detained at Logan airport after they were taken off the flight."

It's easy to assume that some passengers stereotyped the Arabic men as terrorists because of the way they looked and the language they spoke. People that were at the Boston marathon were at that flight and the two men weren't sitting together. If you still think that these men weren't discriminated against and were rightfully removed, then you need to reevaluate your definition of discrimination.

The unfortunate truth is that it's very easy for people in the US and Europe to be discriminatory against Muslims or Arabs. They hear or read about a lot of the bad stuff happening in the Middle East and when it hits close to home, they're quick to blame anyone that fits the stereotypical description of a Muslim or Arab male. This isn't the first time it's happened and it isn't limited to one religion or ethnicity (e.g. After 9/11, after Pearl Harbour, after World War 2).

Discrimination of any kind is disgusting and unacceptable.

[adrynalyne]

It is funny how much this site disses Fox News (and rightfully so) until they post something that they want to hear and make an agenda out of.

Seriously, can we get a freakin' source that isn't related to Fox? :rolleyes:

[compl3x]

A Fox news affiliate, like the one in this topic *, and the Fox News Channel aren't the same thing. It's the Fox News Channel that people usually give a hard time to, and for good reason.

[adrynalyne]

Fine, back it up with another source then and not just one.

The two here might as well be just one as one parrots the other.

[compl3x]

I don't know why the OP posted the two sources that way. I've never seen members on here demanding multiple sources for stories before. Sometimes you have 1 outlet which carries a story and then others copy it onto their own service. That isn't uncommon. It's unfortunately how many mistakes get repeated over and over.

[Stoffel]

really?

because it seems you guys are trying to paint a picture based off a vague story (which itself provides no real info), that Americans are so racist that we pull Arabic speaking people off of planes All the time, for no real good reason.

Maybe it's because as foreigners we have lots of trouble just passing through your country.

I have never met anybody ruder then American Immigration/TSA.

They assume straight away you want to be in the USA, and try to get an illegal job. They don't understand the concept of being in transit, ....

So I wouldn't be surprised if they took these 2 guys of the plane just because they were speaking Arabic

[LaP]

So you think suspicious people should just be ignored due to respecting their "whatever"?

:huh:

The problem is not suspicious people not being ignored,

The problem is being suspicious because you don't speak english.

Fron now on i think i wont speak french again when going to USA. After all i've seen people on XBox Live who thought i was speaking a middle east language while speaking french (not joking here some people have called me a terrorist while speaking french on XBox Live). But then my english is far from perfect so i might just need to avoid USA just to be safe. /s

[compl3x]

After all i've seen people on XBox Live who thought i was speaking a middle east language while speaking french (not joking here some people have called me a terrorist while speaking french on XBox Live). But then my english is far from perfect so i might just need to avoid USA just to be safe. /s

lol :laugh: For real? I'm no linguist, but those languages sound entirely different.

[LaP]

lol :laugh: For real? I'm no linguist, but those languages sound entirely different.

Yes for real. I know it's sad. It's really not uncommon for people in USA to not recognize french (even if it's really close to english lot of words are pretty much the same like table). Lot think we are speaking spanish (which is okay since it's close to french and english). Some think we are speaking german (dunno why since it's really different). The terrorist middle east thing happened once only though. They were probably joking or just dumb (i would say dumb). I must admit we won the game 50-6 (Halo 2) and the guys were very frustrated. From the way they were speaking english i would say they were from south USA maybe Texas not sure. People from Massachusetts, NH, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, RH and NY would recognize french though no doubt about it since it's really close to Quebec and lot of Quebecers go there on vacation (to watch Baseball, Football, go to beach or visit family). I personally have family in Providence and my dad has a cottage very close to Maine border.

[Astra.Xtreme]

It's happened before. This isn't the first time I've read stories on here of Arabic speaking people being removed from US flights because other passengers felt uncomfortable.

Personally, I'd remove the ones feeling uncomfortable and tell them to take their racist asses elsewhere.

Any do you understand why these things occur? Does 9/11 ring a bell? A before you blow a gasket, I'm not justifying these occurrences either. Nobody here is saying it was right, and why you and others have been railing on Blank, is beyond me. Various posts in this thread are generalizing all Americans as if we're all racists and that these things happen all the time. But guess what? They don't occur often, and a very small minority of people are sick like that.

I've been treated like crap multiple times overseas on vacation since I'm an American. I understand that it's probably because of my government or religion or some other reason that is irrelevant to my personal being. But I also understand that a whole country or race isn't represented by a few people that discriminate. The same applies here. These things happen everywhere, and when you spit out a violent backlash, it puts you on the same level as the people you're complaining about.

We all agree it's wrong, and we all want it to come to an end. But generalizing a whole population is laughable and ignorant...

[FloatingFatMan]

^ Umm.. I'm not sure who's posts you're reading, but they're clearly not mine. Nowhere in this thread have I "railed" on Blank; at all. Nor do I generalise it to all Americans. I specifically stated the ones that were made uncomfortable by the Arabic speaking passengers.

If you like, I'll rail at you though, for your reading failure. :p

[Richteralan]

really?

because it seems you guys are trying to paint a picture based off a vague story (which itself provides no real info), that Americans are so racist that we pull Arabic speaking people off of planes All the time, for no real good reason.

Wait. On one hand you said these are vague stories. On the other hand you said these guys should be removed for questioning.

So what were you trying to say again?

[adrynalyne]

I don't know why the OP posted the two sources that way. I've never seen members on here demanding multiple sources for stories before. Sometimes you have 1 outlet which carries a story and then others copy it onto their own service. That isn't uncommon. It's unfortunately how many mistakes get repeated over and over.

Yeah and sometimes you have garbage like that NY Post article that claimed 12 dead. Hence the desire to see more than one source.