Emirati man hospitalized in Ohio after being mistaken as ISIS militant

It doesn't matter if they wear western clothes to "fit in". If they even LOOK Middle Eastern/Muslim, they raise suspicion, and if they speak Arabic (or any other Middle Eastern-sounding language), they can be harassed. I recently read of someone at one of the US airports (I can't remember which one) who was prevented from getting on his flight because some busybody overheard him speaking Arabic on his phone. And someone else, already mid-flight, was harassed, and, I think, kicked off the plane because he held a cake box (containing baklava) on his lap that some idiot thought was a bomb.
 
robert99 said:
Yep, never any shortage of idiots! :D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call anyone an idiot if their country had undergone recent terrorist attacks and that they were nervous of unusual behaviour. It is normal to be aware of anything that is suspicious or something that many be worrying.

I've travelled quite a lot in these recent months and there are constant reminders at airports for people to report anything that may be suspicious. Bearing in mind the high numbers of innocent people killed by terrorist attacks, it is normal to weary of your surroundings.

The majority of travellers from the Middle East are treated with respect if they behave in a normal manner. There were many citizens from the Middle East on the Los Angeles flight that I boarded last month and nobody bothered them even if most of them only spoke Arabic.
 
This poor guy, I posted the link to, was standing outside his hotel talking into his phone,
"CCTV footage shows Ahmed Al Menhali – who is an owner of a business marketing company in Abu Dhabi - was talking on his phone in Arabic and standing outside his hotel wearing traditional Emirati garments when around five officers pointed their guns at the 41 year old, yelling at him to get to the floor, causing him to suffer a stroke and be admitted to hospital."
The full story here too - gulftoday.ae | Emirati hospitalised after panicked police follow up false claim that he pledged allegiance to Daesh
"They (the Police) had been responding to a 911 call from the sister of a woman working as a hotel clerk at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon. She said her sister had told her there was a man in the hotel lobby “in full head dress with multiple disposable phones pledging his allegiance to Isis.""
Yeah ... idiot.
 
I wonder if the clerks arabic was rusty as she mistook "Can you get me another hotel room " for " I pledge allegiance to ISIS"...
 
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