Playland Amusement Park in New York was shut down Tuesday after a massive brawl broke out when Muslim visitors became angry after being told they couldn't wear head scarves on some of the rides.
The exact details of the incident vary (as you probably can imagine given the controversial nature of the dispute). But most reports say that the park was crowded with an estimated 3,000 Muslims celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, a major Islam holiday at the end of Ramadan. The trouble began when women wearing Muslim hijab scarves tried to get on rides banning head coverings for safety reasons. The women said they were unaware of the safety regulations and asked for a refund. And that's when all hell broke lose ...
Members of the Muslim group began scuffling with park security officers; the police were called, the fight grew to 30 to 40 people, and, according to several witnesses, many Muslim visitors were hit, pushed to the ground, arrested, and handcuffed. All in all, two people were charged with felony assault, 13 people (including three women) were charged with disorderly conduct and assault, and two police rangers were injured. And, the park was forced to shut down for two hours because of the chaos.
It's tempting to dismiss this incident as simply a case of people (Muslims, in this instance) getting what they deserve for not following the rules. After all, Playland has strict secruity regulations in place (after two fatal accidents between 2004 and 2007) including a ban on hats, scarves, and other headgear, which can become entangled in mechanical parts, choke riders, or fly off and land in a ride's tracks. Everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, should absolutely be expected to obey the rules -- no exceptions. (And the amusement park allegedly did offer refunds to many members of the Muslim group.)
But what makes this story so upsetting is its context -- that it happened less than two weeks before the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and at a time when racial tensions in general are at all-time high in this country. Seemingly innocuous situations -- like a dress code -- have the potential to spiral out of control. Consider this explanation from Zead Ramadan, president of the Council on American-Islamic:
In this heightened state of Islamaphobia, a woman wearing a hijab is an easy target these days. Unfortunately, this turned ugly due to a lot of miscommunication.
Of course, this statement is strongly biased (remember the source), but Ramadan does have a point: Whether it's unfounded or not, people all around the country have heightened fear and anxiety of people who are different from them. In some instances, Muslims, in particular, feel especially discriminated against; while they may have understood the head scarves ban at the amusement park and been willing to follow it, that doesn't mean that it wasn't upsetting to them and/or that it was communicated to them in a respectful way. And, in this case, a little sensitivity may have gone a long way in preventing an all-out brawl.
So, who was in the wrong here? ---
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