[Sharia meets the law of the land and an unfortunate
incident in a leafy New York suburb ensues. Keep a sharp eye out for the
aftermath. If the authorities go to the apology stage, then move on to the
sensitivity training stage, there will only be a few steps to go before we
reach dhimitude. df]
New
York Daily News, 8/31/11
Muslims, police
scuffle at Rye Playland over amusement park’s head scarf ban; 15 arrests
made
"It's clear, this all
happened because we're Muslim."
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."
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