Wanted: Non-Muslim Taxi Driver

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has had more than its share of problems with Muslims lately. It's been targeted by extremists trying to provoke confrontation.

There was the "Six Flying Imams" incident back in November 2006.

That resulted in protests and "pray-ins" and demands from the Muslim community.

They argued for a private prayer room at the airport.

From early December:

A group of Somali clerics met with airport officials Friday and said they would attract less attention if they had a private area for prayer. Devout Muslims pray five times daily, facing the holy city of Mecca.

"When we pray, we don't want a problem. We don't want what happened last week," said Abdulrehman Hersi, an imam at Darul-Quba mosque in Minneapolis, referring to six clerics who were barred from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis after drawing the concern of some passengers.

Instead of MSP caving in to such demands as a Muslim private prayer room, perhaps the Muslim passengers should make an effort to behave in a fashion that doesn't alarm other travelers.

Would that be too much to ask?

And I thought we don't do "separate but equal" anymore.

I wonder why Minnesota has come under assault. Is the extremist Muslim community ticked off about Zacarias Moussaoui and out for revenge?

In addition to the Flying Imams mess, Muslim cab drivers are causing problems at the airport.

From the Associated Press:

Some Muslim cab drivers are refusing service to a growing number of passengers with alcohol or dogs, and officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are trying to fight it.

"Our expectation is that if you're going to be driving a taxi at the airport, you need to provide service to anybody who wants it," said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airport Commission.

Each month, about 100 people are denied cab service at the airport. Refusals for religious reasons have grown in recent months, airport officials said. About three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at the airport are Somali, many of them Muslim.

The belief that carrying alcohol or dogs, including those that help people with disabilities, violates religious beliefs is "unfortunate," Airports Commissioner Bert McKasy said.

Officials on Wednesday asked the commission for permission to hold public hearings on a proposal that would suspend or revoke drivers' airport licenses for refusing service for reasons other than safety concerns. The commission is expected to vote Jan. 16.

Last year, the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society saying "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

Eva Buzek, a flight attendant, said she was recently refused service by five taxi drivers when she was carrying wine as she returned from a trip to France.

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if a cab driver refused service to people based on their skin color or sex or age?

That wouldn't go over too well, would it?

Airport officials shouldn't bend to the demands of the Muslim airport cab drivers. I agree that their licenses should be suspended or revoked for refusing service.

What's odd is that transporting passengers with alcohol or dogs is the subject of the fatwa and considered "cooperating in sin."

What about other things that offend some Muslims? Wouldn't transporting a female passenger without a headscarf be a problem?

Why didn't the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society push for that?

Would that cut down on too many fares? I suppose so.

Clearly, the group is intentionally stirring things up and being very inconsistent.

The bottom line:

MSP is an AMERICAN airport.

Minneapolis-St. Paul is in AMERICA.

These Muslim cab drivers are working in AMERICA, not in the Islamic world.

They should not be allowed to engage in discrimination when on the job.

If being an airport cab driver requires them to violate their religious beliefs, then they should get a different job or drive a cab in a Muslim country.

This is AMERICA. Alcohol isn't illegal and we like our dogs.

Minnesota is in the Midwest, not the Middle East.