About the imam flap - there's two sides to every story. That being the case, I declined to be outraged when I heard just the capsule description of the incident ("Imams detained for praying!"). Having read the followup stories with interest, I still think... there's two sides to every story (which is pretty much what you said).
Maybe some or all of the people involved were prejudiced against Muslims, but maybe the imams themselves were too oblivious to how they were behaving. Were they shouting their prayers or whispering them? Probably something in between. Were they loud enough to annoy people? I'm not disturbed by the concept of people praying, but am not at all receptive to people praying loudly in public (no matter what the religion).
Were they congregating in the aisles of the airplane? Sounds like it. Last time I flew, the airline had a new rule: no more than one person was allowed to stand "in line" for the bathroom because 2 or more people standing together in an airplane is now considered a threat! So there's no question that they were behaving suspiciously by at least one airline's definition. Did the imams know that? Likely not if they couldn't understand the pre-flight intro announcements. I doubt they were doing that to be provocative or because they were planning any mischief. But does that mean it wasn't suspicious behavior?
Did passengers complain about their conversation simply because it was in a foreign language? Maybe, but at least one passenger who was concerned about what he heard was said to speak Arabic. That changes the story quite a bit, doesn't it?
An interesting thought exercise: what behavior in an airport/airplane would you consider suspicious enough to report (as passengers are now being asked to do?).
About the imams
Maybe some or all of the people involved were prejudiced against Muslims, but maybe the imams themselves were too oblivious to how they were behaving. Were they shouting their prayers or whispering them? Probably something in between. Were they loud enough to annoy people? I'm not disturbed by the concept of people praying, but am not at all receptive to people praying loudly in public (no matter what the religion).
Were they congregating in the aisles of the airplane? Sounds like it. Last time I flew, the airline had a new rule: no more than one person was allowed to stand "in line" for the bathroom because 2 or more people standing together in an airplane is now considered a threat! So there's no question that they were behaving suspiciously by at least one airline's definition. Did the imams know that? Likely not if they couldn't understand the pre-flight intro announcements. I doubt they were doing that to be provocative or because they were planning any mischief. But does that mean it wasn't suspicious behavior?
Did passengers complain about their conversation simply because it was in a foreign language? Maybe, but at least one passenger who was concerned about what he heard was said to speak Arabic. That changes the story quite a bit, doesn't it?
An interesting thought exercise: what behavior in an airport/airplane would you consider suspicious enough to report (as passengers are now being asked to do?).