6 men removed from flight, questioned

A few days before Thanksgiving this headline appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: 6 men removed from flight, questioned.
These six men were Muslim Imams, attending a conference of the North American Imams Federation, which was in Minneapolis. They were praying on their US Airways flight before takeoff when a passenger became concerned and passed a note to the flight attendant. The six men were then escorted off the flight (I believe I saw that they were in handcuffs).
Here is the orginal story:

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/825684.html

While the story didn't really make national news that much (I saw a blip about it on CNN) it was discussed a lot in the news and in the paper.
From a pundit on CNN:
"It just shows how little Americans trust their government if they feel they have to become vigilantes."

A link to an article that about people's reactions. Many liked to think they would have reacted differently. Others reflected that we all have to watch our behavior in airports, Muslims included. This comment came from a Somali airport worker. Minneapolis has a large Somali population, most of whom are Muslim. Many of the airport workers are Somali.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/828896.html
This is from a letter to the editor:
Apples and oranges

In reaction to six imams being removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis, Asad Zaman, communications director for the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, said, "This event would be the equivalent of Roman Catholic bishops being arrested in China because they wore clerical robes and invoked Jesus Christ in prayers."

The last time I checked there were no reports of Catholics flying planes into Chinese buildings.

PAUL JOHNSON, EDEN PRAIRIE

FDR's advice

Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous words "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance" are still timely.

The incident this week with several Islamic scholars is an important example of how fear can cripple us not only as a community, but as a nation. Suspicious activity is one we must all be aware of -- yet it is also important to understand that people of diverse faiths do things differently. There is a big difference between doing something unusual and doing something that should be considered "suspicious."

This incident humiliated innocent people visiting the Twin Cities. If several nuns or priests were praying while waiting for their flight at the airport and then were arrested and handcuffed on grounds of suspicious activity, the community would be in an uproar and justifiably so.

THASNEEM AHMED, WOODBURY