US female Muslim leader claims discrimination on United flight

A Muslim chaplain recognized by the White House “as a leading Muslim female in the United States” is claiming that she was discriminated against by a United Airlines flight attendant who refused to give her an unopened can of Diet Coke because it could have been used as a weapon.

Tahera Ahmad, director of interfaith engagement and an associate chaplain at Northwestern University in Chicago, posted on Facebook while in the air last Friday that she was crying as a result of having been humiliated by a flight attendant who discriminated against her because of her being recognizably Muslim (Ahmad wears a hijab, or Muslim headscarf).

Ahmad had asked for an unopened soft drink can for hygienic reasons. The flight attendant reportedly refused to serve her, saying that she was allowed to serve only opened cans. Ahmad wrote on Facebook that the same flight attendant proceeded to hand a man sitting next to her an unopened can of beer.

When Ahmad pointed out the discrepancy and claimed she was being discriminated against, the flight attendant reportedly said, “We are unauthorized to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane”—and then she quickly reached over and opened the man’s beer can.

Upset by how she had been treated, Ahmad, 31, turned to those seated around her and asked whether they had witnessed what had happened.

“The man sitting in an aisle across from me yelled out to me, ‘You Moslem, you need to shut the f**k up,'” Ahmad wrote. “I said, ‘What?!’ He then leaned over from his seat, looked me straight in the eyes and said, ‘Yes, you know you would use it as a weapon so shut the f**k up.'”

“I felt the hate in his voice and his raging eyes. I can’t help but cry on this plane because I thought people would defend me and say something. Some people just shook their heads in dismay,” Ahmad continued.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, executive director of Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix, Arizona, has known Ahmad since 2006, when they began to be filmed for “The Calling,” a documentary series that follows seven Muslims, Catholics, Evangelical Christians, and Jews as they trained to become professional clergy.

“I really felt bad for Tahera when I read what happened,” Yanklowitz told The Times of Israel.

“My first reaction was that they really picked on the wrong person. She is on the progressive edge of Islam in the US, she’s a pioneering female Muslim leader, and she’s an activist who agitates for more inclusivity in American society,” he said.

According to CNN, Ahmad, who has attended a Ramadan dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama, “sparked outrage among Islamic conservatives when she became the first woman to recite the Quran at the Islamic Society of North America convention in Washington, the nation’s largest Muslim gathering.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ05yNYmFrk

Yanklowitz, who is currently visiting Israel, plans on reaching out to his colleague to see how she is doing a couple of days after the incident. Although he was dismayed to read Ahmad’s Facebook post, he said he was not surprised that such an incident happened.

“I am very close with an imam in Phoenix and I am constantly getting emails from him with updates on Islamophobic incidents. Not all of these make the headlines, but the people who track these kinds of things are noticing an increase,” the rabbi said.

While Yanklowitz was in Israel last Friday, a “Freedom of Speech” rally took place back in Phoenix outside a mosque and Islamic community center. Police separated counter-protesters from the protesters, who were demonstrating in response to two Muslim men’s shooting up a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas on May 5.

“There is definitely an increased sense of insecurity within the Muslim community. It’s not that they feel their lives are at risk, but they have been facing more discrimination lately,” he said.

According to CNN, Ahmad had not yet been contacted by United Airlines in response to her complaint. However, United spokesman Charles Hobart issued a statement that the airline “strongly supports diversity and inclusion,” and that United and partners “do not discriminate against our employees or customers.”