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His being Jewish has nothing to do with it. Use some common sense - pray silently. everynametaken Send a noteboard - 22/01/2010 12:32:40 AM
A US Airways flight was diverted to Philadelphia after a Jewish man's prayer items triggered a bomb scare, Philadelphia police said.

Passengers grew alarmed when the man used a phylactery - a small black box Orthodox Jews strap to their head as part of their rituals, police said.

The man was not arrested and the plane landed without incident.

US airports are on high alert after a Nigerian man was held over an alleged bomb plot on a plane last month.

His device allegedly malfunctioned and he was quickly overpowered by passengers and crew on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The latest incident took place on a 50-seat regional jet originally bound for Louisville, Kentucky from New York's LaGuardia airport. It landed in Philadelphia at about 0900 local time (1400 GMT).

Phylacteries - called tefillin in Hebrew - are two small boxes, usually made of black leather, with straps attached to them.

Observant Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm as part of their morning prayers.

Seriously? Could you do your morning prayers before the flight and not on the middle of it? The plane is not the place for your morning prayers and no, I don't care how devout you (the passenger) are!
There is a simple way to stop all the shenanigans happening on flights. This man should be charged for all the extra fuel and employee wages that the diversion caused. If they start charging people and billing them thousands of dollars for their disturbances (and stupidity) then people will begin to think twice before acting a fool or inappropriately.

All things considered, it might be a good idea; I can certainly see why a devout Jew might feel that way. I definitely think tackling a man, diverting his flight and then charging him tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars FOR PRAYING is not an America in which I want to live. Doing it to an Orthodox Jew sounds more like bin Ladens America, but many new policies have that ring. We could easily prevent shoe bombers and the like if we strap in and sedate all the passengers, too, but those who would sacrifice essential liberty for security deserve and receive neither. JOL sleep now....


In the middle of the flight is not the time to strap on his gear. And no one "tackled" him. But, as I said to Greg I am willing to reconsider that he might not have considered that an entirely different culture that just went through multiple scares on flights might not understand what the hell he was strapping to his head. Fine. Make sure he understands that the middle of flight is not the time to do that and ask him to please not do it again. It still comes down to common sense - the middle of the flight is not the time to be doing stuff like digging prayer accessories out and strapping them on.
But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
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US Airways Philadelphia alert sparked by Jewish prayer - 21/01/2010 08:58:52 PM 823 Views
Sorry, your comments are dumb. - 21/01/2010 09:57:02 PM 485 Views
re: Sorry, your comments are dumb. - 22/01/2010 12:27:49 AM 497 Views
- 22/01/2010 02:11:43 AM 523 Views
Sorry, I don't consider praying on a plane acting foolishly or inappropriately. - 21/01/2010 10:28:58 PM 478 Views
His being Jewish has nothing to do with it. Use some common sense - pray silently. - 22/01/2010 12:32:40 AM 410 Views
I feel guilty praying on planes because of attitudes like that - 22/01/2010 12:24:04 AM 429 Views
Which is what's wrong with attitudes like that. - 22/01/2010 01:11:32 AM 477 Views
Another take on the story...somewhat more informative - 22/01/2010 01:11:24 AM 633 Views
I hate to break it to J.J. Klaver of the FBI.... - 22/01/2010 04:29:54 AM 415 Views
I'm sorry...Orthodox Jews tend to irritate me. - 22/01/2010 03:23:18 AM 524 Views
thank god youre not running this country. *NM* - 22/01/2010 04:22:19 AM 214 Views
Foollishness all around - 22/01/2010 01:26:12 PM 426 Views
You are just outright wrong. - 22/01/2010 01:40:41 PM 483 Views
As I said to Aisha, God is bigger than the "Prayer Time". - 22/01/2010 05:47:43 PM 424 Views
Well... - 22/01/2010 06:33:54 PM 479 Views
There's something that strikes me as odd about this whole thing. - 22/01/2010 06:12:40 PM 431 Views
bingo! - 23/01/2010 12:45:35 AM 442 Views
Seriously. - 25/01/2010 02:18:23 PM 438 Views

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