Yahoo: Muslims, police scuffle at Rye Playland over amusement park’s head scarf ban

[Tweedr01]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/new-york/muslims-police-scuffle-rye-playland-over-amusement-park-123309825.html

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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...maybe if we all just followed the rules? They were also notified ahead of time of the rule, and never NEVER put your hands on a cop, nothing good comes of that.

[DeaconTheVillain]

If your not gonna take off the head scarf then you can't ride the rides that don't allow "headgear."

[Corcaigh]

It's a misleading article title - they weren't banned from the park. They were refused access to high-speed rides while wearing headgear.

As for what can happen when you wear headgear ... http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/man-hit-by-roller-co-2664/

[Tweedr01]

If your not gonna take off the head scarf then you can't ride the rides that don't allow "headgear."

agreed, it wasn't spotlighting their scarves, it was for all headwear. safety is the most important thing here, if it comes flying off there are multiple things that can happen, none of which are a good thing.

It's a misleading article title - they weren't banned from the park. They were refused access to high-speed rides while wearing headgear.

As for what can happen when you wear headgear ... http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/man-hit-by-roller-co-2664/

very misleading, i usually don't start threads but it bothered me how this situation was portrayed.

[mjah]

As for what can happen when you wear headgear ... http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/man-hit-by-roller-co-2664/

That looks more like what can happen when you're a complete blithering moron. The hat could just as easily have been his wallet, keys, etc.

The no-headgear rule is mostly to prevent flying headgear from hurting other riders, or people on the ground -- and to prevent lost headgear from potentially becoming track debris.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Stealth Jihad at its finest

[Dan T.]

Here's a key passage from the article:

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.

[Tweedr01]

That looks more like what can happen when you're a complete blithering moron. The hat could just as easily have been his wallet, keys, etc.

The no-headgear rule is mostly to prevent flying headgear from hurting other riders, or people on the ground -- and to prevent lost headgear from potentially becoming track debris.

i understand, but you never know if there is a blithering moron under the headgear, doesn't matter what kind of headgear it is. rather not have to worry about it.

---------- Post added August-31st-2011 at 12:46 PM ----------

Stealth Jihad at its finest

really? we know they aren't out for that purpose, it was a rule and as Dan and I pointed out they were warned of this ahead of time. The lady actually pushed the police officer first, pretty sure that's just plain stupid to do, but whatever.

[DeaconTheVillain]

Do NOT Ride

[Corcaigh]

Stealth Jihad at its finest

Religious people with a dumb persecution complex at its finest.

---------- Post added August-31st-2011 at 01:04 PM ----------

That looks more like what can happen when you're a complete blithering moron.

And the people in this article seem to fall into that category.

[AsburySkinsFan]

This is what I don't get, and some Christians are just as bad for it too. When you set yourself apart as a different community with requirements on dress etc, you should expect that it will cost you something because of it, and you accept that. To demand that everyone cater to your specific thing that you do that sets you apart misses the whole point.

[mjah]

i understand, but you never know if there is a blithering moron under the headgear, doesn't matter what kind of headgear it is. rather not have to worry about it.

I'm not arguing against the no-headgear rule, and the world is absolutely packed full of idiots. I'm just pointing out the primary reasons why the no-headgear rule is in effect on thrill rides.

And the people in this article seem to fall into that category.

Belligerent and entitled enough to endanger others on religious grounds? Empirically, yes.

Stupid enough to get smacked in the head(scarf) by a moving roller coaster? Empirically, we can't say yes.

Self-interest explains why the first is a yes while the second is probably a no.

It bothers me tremendously that more than one person speaking for the Muslim park guests immediately ran to "This happened because we are Muslim." No, it happened because they wanted to break safety rules which they were informed of in advance, and then got belligerent about it on the scene.

(Taking the article's accuracy on nothing more than faith here. And we know how dicey faith-based "knowledge" can be...)

[DCBnG21]

Very misleading....if they were told they couldn't ride because of head gear and they allowed a Jewish person with the little hat to ride (yarmulke?), I'd see a complaint. If no one is allowed to wear head gear....then no one is allowed to wear head gear & just because you don't feel you're allowed to take your head gear off does not allow you to make it

I think AsburyPark hit the nail on the head.

[herrmag]

Read this article earlier today. Here's my question. If someone is on the ground being handcuffed, how do you try and "help them"? Seriously. How do you HELP them? Fight the police? Help them off the ground? Something doesn't add up. If the park warned the group ahead of time, which seems to be the case, where's the argument? Now, if the popo ran in like nut jobs and attacked, ok. But common sense tells me an "argument" got into shoving, and shoving turned into an arrest, and an arrest turned into family getting pissed off and acting out of line.

[Tweedr01]

Read this article earlier today. Here's my question. If someone is on the ground being handcuffed, how do you try and "help them"? Seriously. How do you HELP them? Fight the police? Help them off the ground? Something doesn't add up. If the park warned the group ahead of time, which seems to be the case, where's the argument? Now, if the popo ran in like nut jobs and attacked, ok. But common sense tells me an "argument" got into shoving, and shoving turned into an arrest, and an arrest turned into family getting pissed off and acting out of line.

common sense tells me this is right, lol

[Sikbug]

This article alludes that they didn't really tell anyone a head of time about not being able to wear them. http://gothamist.com/2011/09/01/rye_playland_bans_hijabs_for_safety.php

This is also a park that for NYer's is known for people getting hurt and killed a lot so their rules are stricter than others. 6 flags would let you wear one as long as it's secure.