Last weekend Muslims furious over a head-scarf ban at Rye Playland got into a brawl with police. They were upset that burqa-clad women were banned from the rides. 15 people were arrested.
It didn’t take long for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to call the move by the park another case of Islamophobia.
The New York Post reported, via ROP:
The finger-pointing is well under way over Tuesday’s melee at Rye Playland involving Muslim holiday parkgoers incensed that they were asked to remove religious headgear on some rides.
Police were called out in force, and 15 people were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct, assault and obstruction of governmental administration.
Despite accusations that Muslims were being targeted because of their religion, it seems clear that the county-owned park’s strict policy — instituted three years ago — is broadly worded to cover all headgear on faster rides, like the Crazy Mouse roller coaster and the Dragon Coaster.
…Groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations are now decrying what they term “this heightened state of Islamophobia.” But what seems to have occurred is a massive case of miscommunication.
Once again, CAIR is completely out of line. Muslim women are being banned from rides for their own protection. Just last year a young Muslim woman was strangled by her burqa in a go-kart accident.
The Daily Mail reported:
A young Muslim woman had died after her burkha became snagged in a go-kart.
The 24-year-old woman, who has not yet been named, died a terrifying death today when a fluttering part of her burkha became caught in the wheels of a go-kart she was driving near the town of Port Stephens, north of Sydney.The Muslim clothing the woman was wearing flew back as she sped around the track and part of it became entangled in the go-kart’s wheels.
She was strangled in a second and crashed the vehicle.
Maybe the real issue is that CAIR doesn’t care so much for Muslim women or their safety.