US Woman Forced Off Plane in Newark for Being Muslim
- Skid
- Nov 27, 2015
- 1 min read
There is not a resurgence of Islamophobia since the Paris attacks, it never went away, said Kameelah Rasheed.
A young U.S. Muslim woman was forced off a plane at the Newark Liberty International Airport while trying to fly to Istanbul, Turkey, for a vacation. The victim of the racially-charged case said the incident was with the intention to “humiliate” her.
Kameelah Rasheed was forced off the United Airlines flight after already going through regular airport security and being subjected to further questioning by customs officers. She was eventually let on the plane, but was called off again ahead of takeoff in order to face further questioning by FBI agents, Rasheed explained to Al Jazeera Wednesday.
According to Rasheed, a New York resident, she was the only passenger on board Tuesday's flight who looked Muslim as she was wearing a headscarf, and the only one of about 200 passengers who was asked to leave the plane.
“I think this happened because I'm Muslim, because I'm travelling to Istanbul, because they have power with no checks and balances, because security means violating people's rights, because there's a general lack [of understanding of] what safety means, because people don't understand basic geopolitical situations,” said Rasheed told Al Jazeera. “It was an attempt to humiliate and ostracize me,” she added.
