CAROL EISENBERG
Newsday Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a “pray-in” here at Reagan National Airport yesterday morning, demanding an apology from US Airways for removing six imams from a flight last week.

They also called on Congress to combat religious and racial profiling.

“Whether it’s driving while black, flying while Muslim or traveling with a Torah, racial and religious profiling is not acceptable in America,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Falls Church, Va.-based Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation. “I believe we can protect the safety of our nation and still treat our Muslim citizens fairly.”

The removal of the six imams from the Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight after several passengers reported “suspicious” behavior - and US Airways’ refusal the next day to let the men board another flight even after police had cleared them - has become a cause celebre in the civil liberties and civil rights communities.

One of the detained imams, Omar Shahin, has called for a boycott of the financially beleaguered airline. Two Muslim advocacy groups are asking for congressional hearings on religious and racial profiling. And US Airways and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties are reviewing the incident.

Article here

“Imams, ministers and a rabbi…” Sounds like the beginning of a bar joke. hehehe