Muslim taxi drivers refuse to transport customers with dogs and Booze

[Jenn! 918]

Yeah, it's not like this is public transportation funded by the state that we're talking about here. Maybe if muslim bus drivers started doing this, it might be a story...

[Fandango 1,440]

if I ever need a cab (which is unlikely here in FL but whatever) I'mma go buy a bottle of hooch and hold it out in plain sight.

Anyone who doesn't wanna pick me up then doesn't get my money Win-win!

[mybackpages 0]

Forcing taxi drivers to do business with whom the state declares they should- sounds like <gasp> socialism to me

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

Deported? Seems a tad extreme.

Yes it is ridiculous - but surely if they choose to behave this way then not only will they lose money, but they will find it increasingly difficult to find employment as a cab driver.

Yes it is ridiculous and that's as far as you need to go.....

Anyone, or any group, that won't acclimate to U.S culture and society should be deported- of course those people should be identified by individualy, but nevertheless, once identified as an individual they should be deported....

We do not abide by Sharia law.

Where do theese people get visas and "status"?

Nice to see that "resident liberals" are sticking up for their "rights", even though they don't have any.......

I am not totally familiar with the Bill of Rights here in the US, but i imagine that somewhere in it, a person is given the right to choose and practice the religion of their choice.

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

There, this ought to cover it:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the 58 Member States of the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France defines freedom of religion and belief as follows:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.

Edited January 6, 2007 by jane2005

[eric&gen 0]

Maybe the taxi drivers are jealous because they cant have dogs and Booze while on shift. The smell of booz on a dogs breats really turns them on lol.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Kaydee, what part of I worked until very recently at the airport featured in the article and registered these cab drivers for security badges where I had to examine their citizenship status, how long they'd been in the country, and why they had been allowed to immigrate at all, AND had to do this for every cab driver who works at the airport don't you understand. I think I have a better idea of how many are citizens and how long they have been there than, well, pretty much anyone on the planet.

It's nice to have that inside knowledge, isn't it?

Now, here's some more - I know for a fact that many taxi drivers don't pick of fares on the North Side of Minneapolis. Why? Because it's the bad part of town - crime, shootings, lots of drugs, etc etc etc. Why isn't it international news that these same cabbies aren't servicing the poor part of town?

[eric&gen 0]

Kaydee, what part of I worked until very recently at the airport featured in the article and registered these cab drivers for security badges where I had to examine their citizenship status, how long they'd been in the country, and why they had been allowed to immigrate at all, AND had to do this for every cab driver who works at the airport don't you understand. I think I have a better idea of how many are citizens and how long they have been there than, well, pretty much anyone on the planet.

It's nice to have that inside knowledge, isn't it?

Now, here's some more - I know for a fact that many taxi drivers don't pick of fares on the North Side of Minneapolis. Why? Because it's the bad part of town - crime, shootings, lots of drugs, etc etc etc. Why isn't it international news that these same cabbies aren't servicing the poor part of town?

[Chris-n-Veronica 0]

Apparently these yahoos are mostly from Somalia....I say america, love it or leave it!.....

Here's the article....

These idjits should be deported.......

Some Muslim Cabbies in Minneapolis Refusing Service to Passengers With Alcohol, Dogs

Thursday , January 04, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS — Some Muslim cab drivers are refusing service to a growing number of passengers with alcohol or dogs, and officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are trying to fight it.

"Our expectation is that if you're going to be driving a taxi at the airport, you need to provide service to anybody who wants it," said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airport Commission.

Each month, about 100 people are denied cab service at the airport. Refusals for religious reasons have grown in recent months, airport officials said. About three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at the airport are Somali, many of them Muslim.

The belief that carrying alcohol or dogs, including those that help people with disabilities, violates religious beliefs is "unfortunate," Airports Commissioner Bert McKasy said.

Officials on Wednesday asked the commission for permission to hold public hearings on a proposal that would suspend or revoke drivers' airport licenses for refusing service for reasons other than safety concerns. The commission is expected to vote Jan. 16.

Last year, the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society saying "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

Eva Buzek, a flight attendant, said she was recently refused service by five taxi drivers when she was carrying wine as she returned from a trip to France.

"In my book, when you choose to come to a different country, you make some choices," said Buzek, a native of Poland. "I never expected everything to be the same way as in my homeland, and I adjusted. I never dreamed of imposing my beliefs on somebody else."

Muslims do not consume, carry, sell or buy alcohol, and Islam also considers the saliva of dogs to be unclean, Hassan Mohamud, an imam and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, told the Star Tribune newspaper.

Mohamud said he would ask airport officials to reconsider.

But many Somali taxi drivers do not have a problem transporting passengers with alcohol and are worried about a backlash, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. Jamal said he supports the tougher penalties.

"We tell the taxi drivers, if you don't want to do this, change your job," he said. "You are living in a country where alcohol is not viewed the way it is in your country."

Hogan said the goal is to have a new policy in place by May 11, when airport taxi licenses come up for annual renewal.

I say Boy-cot Muslin taxi drivers.. As soon as they get alittle hungry..they will wise up..

[LaL 418]

I say Boy-cot Muslin taxi drivers.. As soon as they get alittle hungry..they will wise up..

i would boycot cloth drivers myself! good on ya!

[featherB 1]

I say Boy-cot Muslin taxi drivers.. As soon as they get alittle hungry..they will wise up..

i would boycot cloth drivers myself! good on ya!

Just what I was going to say... that can't be safe!

[melly 0]

I say Boy-cot Muslin taxi drivers.. As soon as they get alittle hungry..they will wise up..

i would boycot cloth drivers myself! good on ya!

Thanks, I needed that.

[MrsAmera 41]

Where do theese people get visas and "status"?

Nice to see that "resident liberals" are sticking up for their "rights", even though they don't have any.......

You might be interested to know that the Minneapolis area has one of the highest populations of Somali refugees in the United States and that most of them were given their visas and status by the US government after a little fiasco over there in the early 1990's - hence the fact that they are refugees. They were the ones being killed by gangs and forced into refugee camps so when the US went in and couldn't stop the fighting they offered them assylum. There is no law saying that if you drive a taxi you have to agree to drive whoever wants a ride. Not saying this isn't a pain or what have you but what harm is it doing to you? There are 100 other taxis waiting at the airport just get in the next one.

Edited January 6, 2007 by AmeraMouttaki

[sparkofcreation 0]

There are 100 other taxis waiting at the airport just get in the next one.

I believe the issue is that this is actually happening with a large percentage of taxis at MSP airport. 75% of the taxi drivers there are Somali, although I couldn't find the numbers for how many of them are refusing to carry dogs or animals.

Also, AIUI the issue isn't passengers who are drinking alcohol in the cab or who are drunk, it's passengers who have purchased alcohol at the duty-free shop and are carrying bags from duty-free, and that the cab drivers won't even carry passengers who put the alcohol in the trunk of the taxi, unopened and in its bag.

If it were only a few, I'd agree with those who say they don't have to carry people they don't want to carry. But at the same time, if you have applied to specifically work at the airport, you should be willing to transport the people coming out of it. It's like if you get hired by a reception hall to transport people who go there for weddings, you shouldn't have the right to refuse to transport people who are drunk, because that's the whole reason you were hired. If you don't want to transport drunk people, don't accept a job transporting people home after wedding receptions. And if you don't want to transport animals or alcohol, don't accept a job transporting people from an airport where people will be picking up/traveling with their dogs and buying things at the duty-free shop.

[Alex+R 0]

There are 100 other taxis waiting at the airport just get in the next one.

I believe the issue is that this is actually happening with a large percentage of taxis at MSP airport. 75% of the taxi drivers there are Somali, although I couldn't find the numbers for how many of them are refusing to carry dogs or animals.

Also, AIUI the issue isn't passengers who are drinking alcohol in the cab or who are drunk, it's passengers who have purchased alcohol at the duty-free shop and are carrying bags from duty-free, and that the cab drivers won't even carry passengers who put the alcohol in the trunk of the taxi, unopened and in its bag.

If it were only a few, I'd agree with those who say they don't have to carry people they don't want to carry. But at the same time, if you have applied to specifically work at the airport, you should be willing to transport the people coming out of it. It's like if you get hired by a reception hall to transport people who go there for weddings, you shouldn't have the right to refuse to transport people who are drunk, because that's the whole reason you were hired. If you don't want to transport drunk people, don't accept a job transporting people home after wedding receptions. And if you don't want to transport animals or alcohol, don't accept a job transporting people from an airport where people will be picking up/traveling with their dogs and buying things at the duty-free shop.

They don't get hired to specifically work at the airport; they work for companies who have contracts with the airport. Most cab companies do because Minneapolis is not a cab city; you don't find them on the street and you'd never be able to hail one--you have to call ahead. The airport is the big cab draw.

Most of the cab drivers do accept those with alcohol (dunno about dogs).