Muslims, Police Fight at NY Theme Park

Rye Playlandwas shut down Tuesday after cops scuffled with Muslims upset that women wearinghead 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.

TheWestchester Countypark was packed with Muslims celebratingEid-ul-Fitr- the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month ofRamadan.

One woman,Entisai Ali, began arguing with cops over the amusement park's head scarf, or hijab, rule, saidDena Meawad, 18, ofBay 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.

'It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim,' says Dena Meawad. (Norman Y. Lono for News).

The ugly incident happened just after 1 p.m. The event was organized by theMuslim American Society of New York, and attracted 3,000 Muslims from Brooklyn, Queens, theBronxand 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."

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 theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations-New York. "Unfortunately, this turned ugly due to a lot of miscommunication."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/08/31/2011-08-31_muslims_cops_scuffle_at_rye_playland_over_amusement_parks_head_scarf_ban.html#ixzz1WccvrvnB

I think its kind of ridiculous to expect safety rules not to apply to you because of your religion. Wearing a head scarf on a ride with with moving mechanical parts is a pretty clear safety hazard.

What do you guys think?

The article states that after they requested a refund, cops came and were aggressive. I don't find that difficult to believe to be honest. Thats all I take from the article worthy of any note. People have disagressments all the time. This is not a muslime thing, this is a matter between the theme park and a specific group who happened to be muslims. I imagine this park has experienced other disagreements with other customers over the course of its exisistance. I do wonder how this is news.

You cannot "win" an argument with a Cop.You can only escalate it to an arrest.

The fact that she was arguing with police in the first place, doesn't make it racially specific. Cop could just been an A-hole.

[QUOTE="article"]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. "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."foxhound_fox

Muslim is not a race.

The rule is for peoples own saftey.

This complaining is pretty lame.

No. Rules are rules, and should be applied to everyone.

Muslim is not a race.spacedog1973

Rules apply to everyone, regardless of race or religion. No hats applies to everyone. The article said that the police started getting loud, most likely because she wouldn't listen to them.

[QUOTE="spacedog1973"]Muslim is not a race.foxhound_fox

Its a lazy way of using the phrase. Don't defend its use where not applicable. Just don't use it. This is a very specific muslim oriented issues linked to their dress. It has no racial conotations at all. Now, if the ride operator didn't want to let them on becasue he doesn't like 'muslims' when we know that is sometimes used as code for race, then it would have more relevance.

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."

Projectile? That's stupid. Solid objects like sunglasses and cameras flying from a rollercoaster are projectiles. A head scarf is not. Stupid reason for a stupid rule.

Its a lazy way of using the phrase. Don't defend its use where not applicable. Just don't use it. This is a very specific muslim oriented issues linked to their dress. It has no racial conotations at all. Now, if the ride operator didn't want to let them on becasue he doesn't like 'muslims' when we know that is sometimes used as code for race, then it would have more relevance.spacedog1973

Well the rule is there for a reason (the prevent lawsuits mostly :P) but I think the cops could have handled things better.

[QUOTE="spacedog1973"]Its a lazy way of using the phrase. Don't defend its use where not applicable. Just don't use it. This is a very specific muslim oriented issues linked to their dress. It has no racial conotations at all. Now, if the ride operator didn't want to let them on becasue he doesn't like 'muslims' when we know that is sometimes used as code for race, then it would have more relevance.foxhound_fox

Becasue all too frequently, these topics are affected by the terminolgoy that people use. I'm sure you know this.

Becasue all too frequently, these topics are affected by the terminolgoy that people use. I'm sure you know this.spacedog1973

We don't have enough information to know what happenned.

But usually when you see weak charges being brought against someone for a minor incident, that probably could have been defused isntead of being escalated, it's all about a cop's ego.

Or the "Respect My Authoritah!" Rule (also known as the Cartman rule).

Most cops are just doing their jobs. Some are a-holes with badges.

I am muslim (although not your typical muslim, most of the muslims from my country are very, very different from those who live in the Middle East), but anyway I agree with the park and the police. Granted they could have handled the situation in a better manner, park rules are park rules. If you want to ride the ride then you have to abide by those rules, and people wont make an exception just because of your religion (and your own rules). If they wanted to ride the rides that badly, they should have taken of the scarf. Furthermore, the park told the atendees many times that hats were not allowed, so uh kind of the fault of the people who went to the park.

And to what the woman said, no it did not happen because she is Muslim, it happened because she started arguing with the cops rather than simply leaving the issue alone. You never argue with the cops (at least in North America, in Asia, not so much of a problem lol)

This was probably an escalation by all parties involved.

It's typicla human behaviour, instead of looking fo rways to defuse the situaitons, people tend to escalate things, BUT the police are suppposed to know better. These officers either did the right thing because they saw a possibility for thigns to get violent and figrued arrestign some people might defuse a charged situation, or they did a bad thing by further escalating a simple disagreement.

Again, we have no way of knowing, unless someone has some more information about the incident.

The first thing I would have done as the manager of the park is explain why it's nto safe to go in the ride with the head covering. Then I would apologize and offer them a refund, or maybe some free dirnks and let them know about all the other rides that they CAN use without any danger.

That probably would have ended the issue right there.

I do wonder... They say the headcoverings were the issue, right?

Have you seen them? They are usually pulled tight around the head and are not much longer than shoulder length. Do they make girls with long hair tie their hair up? 'cause that would be more dnagerous...

Not saying there was bias, in fact it may have been that there was a possibility for the covering to fall off and be dangerous, but these people might have interpreted it that way.

[QUOTE=""]

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."

Projectile? That's stupid. Solid objects like sunglasses and cameras flying from a rollercoaster are projectiles. A head scarf is not. Stupid reason for a stupid rule.

[QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

[QUOTE=""]

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."

weezyfb

Projectile? That's stupid. Solid objects like sunglasses and cameras flying from a rollercoaster are projectiles. A head scarf is not. Stupid reason for a stupid rule.

Scarf or hat falls off and gets wrapped in the mechanical workings of the ride causing something to malfunction and break possibly hurting some body in the process. You don't want anything falling off of a person during a ride like that, it could get snagged in something that would potentially break the machine and cause injuries or death. It's a smart policy.

It was implemented years ago, obviously they had some problems with it so they decided to just ban them all together on the rides. No big deal.

The rules should not be bent as they are in place due to safety hazards. The issue is of the initial argument and following arrest. Why did it have to come to an arrest. Unless she was a threat to someone, even herself, then this could have been avoided. Unfortunately a cop can always say the felt threatened.

No. Rules are rules, and should be applied to everyone.

IPWNDU2

Eh, I think they were both wrong. The rules are pretty plain (even if silly), but the police reaction *sounds* like it was a bit much.Skittles_McGee

[QUOTE="weezyfb"][QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

Projectile? That's stupid. Solid objects like sunglasses and cameras flying from a rollercoaster are projectiles. A head scarf is not. Stupid reason for a stupid rule.

Wasdie

Scarf or hat falls off and gets wrapped in the mechanical workings of the ride causing something to malfunction and break possibly hurting some body in the process. You don't want anything falling off of a person during a ride like that, it could get snagged in something that would potentially break the machine and cause injuries or death. It's a smart policy.

It was implemented years ago, obviously they had some problems with it so they decided to just ban them all together on the rides. No big deal.

A falling head scarf is about as dangerous as a plastic bag blowing in the wind. Any ride that could possibly be that vulnerable would've been closed long ago.

Besides, ride malfunction isn't the reason cited by the park's deputy commissioner. He says the rule is in place because the item could become a projectile. Those are his words. And that's a complete load of bullcrap.

[QUOTE="spacedog1973"]Becasue all too frequently, these topics are affected by the terminolgoy that people use. I'm sure you know this.foxhound_fox

Actually this is a good things. If muslims are being beaten up by the cops, then it means they are being treated like average, every day americans. :P

Actually this is a good things. If muslims are being beaten up by the cops, then it means they are being treated like average, every day americans. :P

sonicare

perhaps a refresher course is in order.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8

Eh, from what I heard about this on the radio on my way in this morning, it seems that the park had extensive conversations with the leaders/organizers of many/most of the groups that were going to be at the park that day. From what I've heard, the organizers had no problem with people with the coverings not being allowed on certain rides (as this safety rule does not apply to all rides).

Basically, it seems that the organizers dropped the ball by not notifying everyone that was going about the rule, so they were put off when they were refused access to certain rides.

I'm not seeing why this is such a big deal (other than the fact that a few officers were apparently injured).

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]

[QUOTE="weezyfb"] indeed, the policy is stupid and they should have been refundedOleg_Huzwog

Scarf or hat falls off and gets wrapped in the mechanical workings of the ride causing something to malfunction and break possibly hurting some body in the process. You don't want anything falling off of a person during a ride like that, it could get snagged in something that would potentially break the machine and cause injuries or death. It's a smart policy.

It was implemented years ago, obviously they had some problems with it so they decided to just ban them all together on the rides. No big deal.

A falling head scarf is about as dangerous as a plastic bag blowing in the wind. Any ride that could possibly be that vulnerable would've been closed long ago.

Besides, ride malfunction isn't the reason cited by the park's deputy commissioner. He says the rule is in place because the item could become a projectile. Those are his words. And that's a complete load of bullcrap.

.. Rules are rules.. Parks always have these rules in big letters at the front and on the line to the ride.. The only fault here is the customers who didn't bother or ignored the rules/agreement set forward..

Rules are rules and are in place for a reason. Things can come loose or fly off at the strangest of times. Several years ago a teen was decapitated while trying to recover a hat lost while riding the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Loose articles can become a projectile. Physics play a large part in amusement/theme park rides to give the riders the feelings they enjoy (who would have thought science was at play on something designed for fun eh?) while riding said rides. Said physics act on all items aboard those rides including head gear, cameras (I am guilty of taking pictures on roller coasters, but have the camera secured to me multiple ways), flip flops, sandals, etc.

They should have heeded the rules. Did the cops get out of line? Hard to say, we were not there. Were the arrests warranted? Hard to say, it does not say if they were told to leave, but if so and they remained, then they were trespassing and then deserved to be arrested.

[QUOTE="sonicare"]

Actually this is a good things. If muslims are being beaten up by the cops, then it means they are being treated like average, every day americans. :P

Fightingfan

Rules are rules and are in place for a reason. Things can come loose or fly off at the strangest of times. Several years ago a teen was decapitated while trying to recover a hat lost while riding the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Loose articles can become a projectile. Physics play a large part in amusement/theme park rides to give the riders the feelings they enjoy (who would have thought science was at play on something designed for fun eh?) while riding said rides. Said physics act on all items aboard those rides including head gear, cameras (I am guilty of taking pictures on roller coasters, but have the camera secured to me multiple ways), flip flops, sandals, etc.

They should have heeded the rules. Did the cops get out of line? Hard to say, we were not there. Were the arrests warranted? Hard to say, it does not say if they were told to leave, but if so and they remained, then they were trespassing and then deserved to be arrested.

WhiteKnight77

I once lost a cell phone on the Great White in SeaWorld in San Antonio, i did try to get it back, but i waited to do that as the park was closing and the ride shut down. Basically went about the day until it was closing time to deal with it. Did not find that cell phone anyways. :(

Anyways i know that is the rules at some parks. the organizers should of fully let the park-goers know the rules. hell.. in Saudi Arabia there is a waterpark called Sunset Beach that i go to. No abaya's, no hijabs, and no niqab's allowed in the pool. So the women either wear bikini's or a modest looking one piece suit. Even in a place as conservative Saudi there are rules like this. and btw, young Saudi women are hot as hell. :P

So rather than them being civil, the police batter them? And if such law is in place, it should be said at the entrance where the person is selling the ticket.

So rather than them being civil, the police batter them? And if such law is in place, it should be said at the entrance where the person is selling the ticket.

Disturbed123

If it was a safety hazard, it's a safety hazard. Can't because you're Muslim? Don't get on.

It's too bad many people don't put 2 and 2 together, but oh well, what are you gonna do