Riot at Rye Playland over Religon

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."

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/new-york/mu ... 09825.html

Because they're Muslim? That makes zero sense because the religious headscarves are possibly safety risks! If one of those things just happened to become loose and get caught on one of the coaster supports there, then there would be a much more serious concern. These people need to realize that there are some serious reasons behind the simple rule of securing loose articles.

[mkingy]

Argh some people are so clueless. rcking hit the nail on the head. I can't express how much this story annoys me.

You also should never wear bellbottoms when you ride a bicycle.

i work around muslims and they oftern use there faith as an excuse for anything. so many racist claims over nothing at all but they use it more than any other use especially the women. they are not the most friendly people either so this report dosent surprise me at all.
ive been at alton towers when people have been refused entry because there wearing burkers. ive been at drayton when sikhs (spelling?) were thrown out for having there religious knives on them and ive been in the pleasure beach when a hugh fight broke out over this exact same matter on avalance.

i hate to sound racist but if your in our country obay our rules. we are a christian country obay our way of life as we would have to if we went to your country

The whole point of the head-scarf thing is so women stay at home and hidden..... going on a roller coaster isn't exactly doing that. Either be Muslim, or don't.

I guess the people who want to wear their head scarves on rides never heard of Isadora Duncan.

Idiots. If your religion says not to obey safety rules, then don't got on the goddamn ride.


MOD EDIT: Please keep it clean. We get the point with or without strong language.

There goes my 'Not a s*** was given that day' response...

Originally posted by wersigobra

You also should never wear bellbottoms when you ride a bicycle.

cool5?

^

Its similar to the situation on Cali Screamin. You get something tied up into something it shouldn't, say, a nice large piece of fabric into the wheel assemblies or somewhere it shouldn't and it becomes a safety hazard.

But of course, because the ride isn't made so you can wear your religious outfits, its suddenly Islamophobia.

Freedom of religion means you can believe whatever you want, but it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. This is according to the Supreme Court.

inb4 religion flame war. Mod's, please lock this topic.

^Haha, no.

There's no real flaming here.

Originally posted by bandman232

inb4 religion flame war. Mod's, please lock this topic.

Not going to lock a news story topic. At least, not at this point.

[gouldy]

Does their religion not call for their faces to be completely covered in public, anyway? Not this lazy, half-arsed, head scalf thing that litterally just covers their hair and beard...


"In this heightened state of Islamaphobia, a woman wearing a hajib is an easy target these days," said Zead Ramadan

Just f*ck right off. Do they not think people might have reason to not like Muslims? Do they not think it's precisely because of events like this? They were warned before they ever went to the park, head gear is banned on some rides because of safety... then they get there and complain they can't go on some rides. F*cking religious nuts.

Most of you guys know where I stand on religious articles, because I am Muslim myself. However, I am completely for the park on this one. Certain dress is required for Muslim women, indeed. However, if a park has a policy then so be it.

If the policy is an actual document by the park and it says that hijab, Hats or anything like that cannot be permitted on rides then it is perfectly legit. However, if it's just a verbal communication that it's totally not.

Let's look at it this way. Parks say that overweight people can not ride certain rides in writing. If they didn't then overweight people would have an uproar about not being allowed to get on a ride because nothing was actually in writing and it was only verbal.

So overall I side with the park on this one.

[mkingy]

I disagree somewhat with the point about verbal communication. You're inherently suggesting that if someone found a loophole in safety rules they should be allowed to exploit that and put themselves and others at risk. Obviously in this case it is a rather more sensitive issue however, if there is a perceived, genuine risk to safety I think the operator has a duty to protect those riding the ride.