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Discrimination against US Muslim woman ‘despicable’: Activist

Monday, 01 June 2015 5:09 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 01 June 2015 5:10 AM ]

Safiyya Sarkin described a recent discrimination act against a Muslim woman on board an American plane as “despicable.”

An American activist has described a recent discrimination act against a Muslim woman on board an American plane as “despicable,” saying discriminatory practices should be stopped around the world.

“I find this despicable and there is no excuse for discriminatory practices when a person was an innocent person on a plane,” said Safiyya Sarkin, the president and founder of Women Beyond Survival.

She made the remarks while commenting on an incident described by Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim chaplain and director of interfaith engagement at Chicago’s Northwestern University, who was denied an unopened can of coke by a United Airline flight attendant for security reasons.

This happened while another passenger sitting next to her was freely handed an unopened can.

The airline, however, stated that the matter was a “misunderstanding.”

According to the 31-year-old woman, asking passengers to come into her defense did not work and she was even told to “shut the f*** up” by a passenger.

“I think it’s absolutely horrifying that American airlines not only were they discriminating but they allowed passengers to discriminate against this innocent woman,” Sarkin said.

“Asking for simple service and not to open up a can behind her and then all of a sudden a can of beer is given to a passenger unopened,” she told Press TV on Monday.

“Discriminatory practices should not be allowed any place on the planet,” she said. “I would be the first one to boycott American airlines and anything to do with American airlines.”

“I find the whole thing absolutely despicable,” she noted.

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