Brainfade Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 This amusement park has a rule that no headgear is allowed. No caps, no scarves, nothing because there is a danger of hats falling on the tracks of the roller-coasters and becoming dangerous (not sure how that works, but that is beside the point). So, you go in there with a hijab, pick up an argument with security, your brothers get involved in the scuffle, and when all hell breaks loose, you blame it on Islamophobia. It's getting old. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/new-york/muslims-police-scuffle-rye-playland-over-amusement-park-123309825.html Police on the scene at Playland on Tuesday (Norman Y. Lono for NY Daily News) Rye Playland was shut down Tuesday after cops scuffled with Muslims upset that women wearing head scarves were barred from the rides, witnesses said. Fifteen people, including three women, were charged with disorderly conduct and assault in the chaos, authorities said. The Westchester County park was packed with Muslims celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr - the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. One woman, Entisai Ali, began arguing with cops over the amusement park's head scarf, or hijab, rule, said Dena Meawad, 18, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The ban, which is not Muslim specific, was imposed about 3 years ago mostly to prevent hats from falling onto the tracks of roller coasters and other rides, park officials said. "The cops started getting loud with her and she started getting loud, too. They pushed her on the ground and arrested her," Meawad said. Her cousin, Kareem Meawad, 17, went to try to protect the woman and was beaten by cops and also arrested, she added. Her brother, Issam Meawad, 20, was pushed to the ground and taken into custody when he tried to help his cousin, she said. "She just wanted to get on a ride. That was it," Dena Meawad said of the initial confrontation. "It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim." John Hodges, chief inspector of Westchester County Public Safety, insisted that police did not use excessive force. He said up to 100 cops from surrounding departments converged on the park. Two park rangers were injured in the melee, prompting felony assault charges against two people arrested, officials said. The ugly incident happened just after 1 p.m. The event was organized by the Muslim American Society of New York, and attracted 3,000 Muslims from Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County. Ali's sister, Ayman Alrabah, 24, of Brooklyn said her husband, brother and father were all tackled by cops and put into handcuffs when they tried to help her sister. Alrabah said she was unaware of the head-scarf rule until she and her sister tried to get on the park's Dragon Coasters. "We requested a refund and all of a sudden an argument became a riot," Alrabah said. "Cops came. They were hitting my brother, my dad. My husband was on the floor and they were handcuffing him. She said her 4-year-old son was "traumatized" by seeing his father arrested. "They treated us like animals, like we were nothing," Alrabah said. "They came with their dogs and sticks. We came to have fun." 'It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim,' says Dena Meawad. (Norman Y. Lono for NY Daily News) The park was closed for about two hours because of the fracas. It reopened at about 6 p.m. Peter Tartaglia, deputy commissioner of Westchester County Parks, said the Muslim American Society of New York was warned in advance of the rule barring head scarves on rides for safety reasons. "Part of our rules and regulations, which we painstakingly told them over and over again, is that certain rides you cannot wear any sort of headgear," Tartaglia said. "It's a safety issue for us on rides, it could become a projectile." Many Muslims were given refunds as they left the park disappointed. "In this heightened state of Islamaphobia, a woman wearing a hajib is an easy target these days," said Zead Ramadan, president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations - New York. "Unfortunately, this turned ugly due to a lot of miscommunication."
Lurker Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 It didnt happen because you were Muslim, it happened because you were stupid. Who said stupid only came in the form of Rednecks?...or those who live in England :--D
Iconoclast Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Disagreement over the head gear ban is one thing but why did the cops feel the need to beat up teenage girls ? Cowardly 'men'.
Alchemist Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 The rules are for safety and they need to follow irrespective of the religon. I would like to know if people in Islamic countries start crying foul and play victim card when their own government acts against them ?
Clarke Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Disagreement over the head gear ban is one thing but why did the cops feel the need to beat up teenage girls ? Cowardly 'men'. So neutral of u, believing the word of teenagers who carry religion on their sleeves compared to the county police :nice: PS: CAIR :hehe: Its fun to watch them on fox news
DomainK Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 It's not just Muslims. Some people in the minority have this attitude of playing the victim card. I have seen it happen several times.
ganeshran Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Safety of self and others comes over religion - The girls should have obeyed the rules and either taken the headscarves off, or not get on the rides if they felt it went against their religion.
Ram Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 Don’t blame the park visitors entirely. The shameless, self-propagating machine that is the US media literally goads people into saying sensational statements when confronted with a microphone and a camera. You see it all the time in the news. If a reporter had gone to one of those park visitors involved and asked them what happened and he/she said ‘No big deal, she tried to get on the ride with her hijab on, the authorities refused. An argument broke out, the police were called in and a scuffle ensued’, you can bet this would not have made into the news. However, if the same visitor said things like ‘In this heightened state of Islamaphobia, a woman wearing a hajib is an easy target these days’, then that obviously falls perfectly into the national narrative that prevails in the US at the moment. These days, the majority of the ‘news’ isn’t naturally occurring, it is mostly manufactured. That said – the US is by far, one of the most religiously tolerant societies in the world at the moment. Religious extremism is quite literally the norm in the middle east, Europe is right now lurching dangerously towards the right and even traditionally moderate societies like Indonesia have seen the rise of some unwelcome elements.
cricket_usa Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 You have the choice, your relegion or the ride. Can't have it both ways.
Mariyam Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 The article says that the Muslim American Society of New York was informed about the head gear rule much in advance. If that truly is the case, then the onus is on the society to inform its members accordingly. The ire of the girls should be at the society which apparently hasn't informed them. If they (society) had a problem with the rule, they should visit another another amusement park or none at all. Going there and expecting special treatment and creating a ruckus is not the way. And then blaming Islamophobia and what not. Looks more of an attention seeking gimmick, unfortunately :(( Having said that, what were the police doing at an amusement park? Is it generally the practice in the land of the free and the brave to guard vital installations of national interest like amusement parks with policemen and police dogs? A hijab as a projectile? Well, its different from a cap. Not as likely to fall off, and even if it does, it wouldn't hurt anyone. Unless it gets stuck in some machinery of the ride and causes a breakdown, how could a loose piece of cloth be dangerous? What about stuff falling off pockets, like cell phones and coins? Just thinking out loud. This whole thing is stupidity x10000. Who the hell spends Eid at an amusement park anyways?
Mariyam Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 You have the choice' date=' your relegion or the ride. Can't have it both ways.[/quote'] So, what does a Sikh gentleman do if he wishes to experience a roller-coaster at the said amusement park?
suraj Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 One thing that this thread really proves between Ram and Mariyam- anything that can be said or written in 20 words or less takes 20,000 melodramatic sentences; can u guys & gals be a little more drama?? seriously !!!
jaggadaku Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 So' date=' what does a Sikh gentleman do if he wishes to experience a roller-coaster at the said amusement park?[/quote'] He wouldn't have created a scene http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/05/991449/-Australia-hotel-apologises-for-sending-out-turbaned-Sikh
Brainfade Posted September 2, 2011 Author Posted September 2, 2011 So' date=' what does a Sikh gentleman do if he wishes to experience a roller-coaster at the said amusement park?[/quote'] Too bad. Roller coasters are not a basic right to which anyone is entitled.
CSK Fan Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 Too bad. Roller coasters are not a basic right to which anyone is entitled. and you dont see anything wrong in that?
cricket_usa Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 So' date=' what does a Sikh gentleman do if he wishes to experience a roller-coaster at the said amusement park?[/quote'] The sikh gentleman has to decide if he will take the turban off or walk away.
Ram Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 One thing that this thread really proves between Ram and Mariyam- anything that can be said or written in 20 words or less takes 20,000 melodramatic sentences; can u guys & gals be a little more drama?? seriously !!! You know dude, its really not our problem if you have attention deficit disorder and cant remember what was said in the first line by the time you get to the third.
yoda Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 Too bad. Roller coasters are not a basic right to which anyone is entitled. Wrong. Roller Coaster is not the issue here, Religious freedom and freedom to express your religious beliefs is a constitutional right here in the US. The conflict arises when there are safety issues, but then again these theme parks and every other organization must make every accommodation possible to be inclusive. There will always be gray areas and this one seems to be one of them. It is very easy to say oh remove your turban, get rid of your stupid scarf. Ofc it is easy to throw those words around as long as you are not affected. Canadian Police required Sikhs to not wear their Turban and then made an accommodation to permit it I believe. Now that is common sense. What is common sense in this case I am not sure, but you can't tell people to just feck off if they don't like the rules. There are laws protecting religious beliefs and if you need to deviate from them, there better be some very valid reasons for doing so. Ofc, the behavior of these people in this case is despicable. You can't assault Park Rangers and Cops if you don't like the rules of a place. There are procedures to fight such issues and it doesn't not involve violence. From the prelim reading of this, it looks like it is the visitors who created the scene and initiated violence which needed 100 extra cops to be brought in.
Brainfade Posted September 2, 2011 Author Posted September 2, 2011 Wrong. Roller Coaster is not the issue here, Religious freedom and freedom to express your religious beliefs is a constitutional right here in the US. The conflict arises when there are safety issues, but then again these theme parks and every other organization must make every accommodation possible to be inclusive. There will always be gray areas and this one seems to be one of them. It is very easy to say oh remove your turban, get rid of your stupid scarf. Ofc it is easy to throw those words around as long as you are not affected. Canadian Police required Sikhs to not wear their Turban and then made an accommodation to permit it I believe. Now that is common sense. What is common sense in this case I am not sure, but you can't tell people to just feck off if they don't like the rules. There are laws protecting religious beliefs and if you need to deviate from them, there better be some very valid reasons for doing so. Ofc, the behavior of these people in this case is despicable. You can't assault Park Rangers and Cops if you don't like the rules of a place. There are procedures to fight such issues and it doesn't not involve violence. From the prelim reading of this, it looks like it is the visitors who created the scene and initiated violence which needed 100 extra cops to be brought in. No. The issue in this case *is* the roller coaster and its safety. If the park authorities were being discriminatory, would they even have allowed these folks in the park in the first place? The rules are that headgear is not allowed on *some* rides. And this girl wanted to get on one of those rides. And I don't see why she should be allowed to do so. If, by some quirk of fate, her hijab did fly off, got stuck in the tracks, messed up trajectory of the coaster and ended up killing someone, the park will be deluded in lawsuits and probably fold. This is not a case of someone being denied a living (which would've been the case with the RCMP you cited). It is one ride in the park. Apples and brinjals.
yoda Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 No. The issue in this case *is* the roller coaster and its safety. If the park authorities were being discriminatory, would they even have allowed these folks in the park in the first place? The rules are that headgear is not allowed on *some* rides. And this girl wanted to get on one of those rides. And I don't see why she should be allowed to do so. If, by some quirk of fate, her hijab did fly off, got stuck in the tracks, messed up trajectory of the coaster and ended up killing someone, the park will be deluded in lawsuits and probably fold. This is not a case of someone being denied a living (which would've been the case with the RCMP you cited). It is one ride in the park. Apples and brinjals. I am not trying to debate whether there are safety issues here. Ofc that is obvious. What I am stating here is that it is an issue of Safety over Religious freedom, not just an insignificant roller coaster issue.
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