The following is an editorial of Bluejeans' Place

I am sure you by now seen or even read an e-mail circulating on the Internet allegedly written by American Airlines Pilot Captain John Maniscalco that appeared in a very similar form under the name of a Kevin Daly of Beltsville (no state listed) on Gazette Net at this hyperlink:  http://www.gazette.net/200141/princegeorgescty/letters/75236-1.html 

Gus Whitcomb, Managing Director, Strategic Communications, American Airlines Corporate Communications advised me on Tuesday, October 1, 2002 that they found this tirade was originally published under the name of "Kevin Daly". 

While I think American Airlines would have done a better job in denying any connection to this tirade by having Captain Maniscalco, if he exists, publish a disavowal on their company's website or issuing a statement that no such person is employed by their airline, on behalf of my Lebanese and Irish ancestors who endured terrible religious persecution in the 1800s and 1900s, I accept Mr. Whitcomb's response.  In respect to Mr. Whitcomb at American Airlines, I am publishing his e-mail to me on a linked page here on Bluejeans' Place.

In any event, regardless of who the real author of the bigoted tirade is, in the name of common decency, a rebuttal is required.  The following Bluejeans' Place editorial addresses each of the bigoted document’s salient points with my comments appearing in our web site’s usual Comic Sans 10 pitch type.  I left the original document in the Arial 10 pitch font and style layout it is usually found in around the Internet.

A PILOT EDITORIAL-- "YOU WORRY ME."
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By: American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco
 
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"You worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.

If you don’t understand their grievances, you need to educate yourself by completing a few history courses.  You can start with the arbitrary decisions made by the British and French to carve up the Middle East after World War II as they withdrew from their colonial holdings, decisions at the root of many international problems of today.  You can then move on to the eviction of the indigenous Palestinian people from their lands and their movement into permanent refugee camps without any compensation.

On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.

I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know whether or not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation that He will protect and prosper it?

You have a right to ask and make demands just as much as the Muslim people have a right to ignore or answer you as they wish.  From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from north to south, Muslims in America have spoken loudly and often of their love for this country.

Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your "Jihads"? Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords…a freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.

Every Muslim I know in this country who can attain citizenship has obtained it or is currently pursuing it, starting with the Arabic grocers in Dayton, Ohio where I shop from time to time.  My nephew graduated from Air Force basic training in January with more than a few young Muslim men.

Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America. Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent because I worry about who you regard as innocent. And no more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy...I am only interested in action. What will you do for America—our great country—at this time of crisis, at this time of war?

Muslim leaders have spoken out with hard facts about Islam.  They have called upon their adherents to cooperate with the authorities.  Many Muslims were killed in the 9/11 attacks, not just people from other religions.  Many others serve today in the armed forces of our nation.

I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America.” I want to see young Arab-Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.

These things have been going on for a long time; open your ears, eyes and mind.  Muslims have served in our military for years.  Your ignorance of them insults their honor and service.

The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities.
 
You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now!

Many have spoken, at their community leaders’ request, with the authorities.  At the same time, who are you to tell them to be “handed over to us, now!”  For what--a lynching?  We are still a nation of laws and people of all faiths have rights guaranteed by the constitution, even for bigots and Muslims.

But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.

Your eyes are closed.  Inmans and other Muslim leaders speak out often and forthrightly on these issues.  The Muslim people have not disappeared, although they lowered their profile in response to fear of racial attacks as happened in some places in our country.
 
The very few Arab-Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.

Demanding one’s constitutional rights is not seditious, defensive or equivocating nor should it bring shame upon any leader.

If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance.

Educate yourself.  The Koran’s teachings have not changed through the years although some teachers, as happens in all religions, have deviated from the prescribed teachings. 

Since you asked for references from the Koran, here they are, The Five Pillars of Islam, as they have since they were handed down centuries ago:
 
1) The Declaration of Faith - This consists of the two-sentence declaration described above.

2) Prayer - Muslims perform five obligatory prayers each day. Islamic prayers are a direct link between the worshiper and God. Islam has no hierarchical authority or priesthood. A learned Muslim chosen by each congregation leads the prayers.

3) Zakat - One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God and that wealth is held in trust by human beings.   Zakat, or charitable giving, "purifies" wealth by setting aside a portion for those in need. This payment is usually two and a half percent of one's capital.

4) Fasting - Every year in the Islamic lunar month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from first light until sunset. The fast is another method of self-purification.

5) Pilgrimage - A pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, is an obligation for those who are physically or financially able.

It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion…a form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members defended Johnny Cochran and O. J. Simpson after the latter butchered his wife and murdered an innocent friend. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air.

Again, you condemn 1.2 billion adherents for the actions of a few.
 
A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security
checkpoints, in the name of Islam. 
 
Your bigoted tirade neglects to mention that some strict Muslim women choose, on religious grounds, not to expose their faces to a man other than their husband.  That does not mean they would not show their face to a female security officer at the airport if asked to do so.  This is much the same modesty as some Catholic women show when they wear a mantilla in church.

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly show their faces in public rather than cover up like a shameful whore?

Muslim women cover themselves as a sign of modesty as do the men.  The women are not “shameful whores”. Your comment insults the Muslim women of the world while you again condemn 1.2 billion adherents for the actions of a few.
 
Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine with dinner, or celebrate Christmas?

No.  Do you hate Muslims because they abstain from alcohol or celebrate Ramadan?

Do you and you fellow Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel, the ONLY civilized democratic nation in the entire Middle East?

The American support for Israel has been extremely one-sided, an issue pointed out to President Bush since 9/11/01 by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Mubarak of Egypt and other leaders.  For example,

- Israel is a non-declared nuclear power, yet any Islamic country seeking nuclear weapons is considered a threat. 
- President Bush noted Iraq refuses to comply with 16 UN Security Council resolutions but does not demand Israel comply with 27 others directed against it. 
- Israel dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on civilian residential area using American weapons without any cut-off of weapons by the US. 

At the same time, The US has had good relations with Arab and Muslim nations for years, ranging from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia.  One of the most famous pictures of the 20th Century is FDR meeting the new King of Saudi Arabia during WWII to secure that country’s assistance in our battle against the Axis nations.

 And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you even here?

Again, you condemn all 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide for the sins of a few.
 
Are you here to take our money?

Many Muslims work, pay their taxes, obey American laws and raise their families and do not take your money.

Are you here to undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us? If so, I want you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic extremists, and STAY THERE!

Again, you condemn all 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide for the sins of a few.

Maybe we should take all the Arab-inspired innovations of the world back with us starting with our number system.  How good are you at Roman Numerals?  You’ll need them if you’re not going to use Arabic numbers!  Or maybe we should take back all our contributions to the arts, sciences and medicine? 

We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded mentality, and your twisted, violent, intolerant religion. We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the greatest constitution in the world.
 
I want to know where every Arab-Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand."

Many Muslims have given their lives for this country as well.  Muslims worldwide condemn the actions of those terrorist fanatics.

Your bigoted demands have been heard.  Now hear another one—when will you open your mind?

-- Pat Shediack aka Bluejeans

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FOR THE BIGOTED AUTHOR'S USE

WHENEVER HE DARES TO RESPOND

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Click here

to see the excellent American Airlines response

to the bigoted tirade against Arabs and Muslims

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