Ugly plane ride drives Muslim chaplain to tears

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Sarah Kaplan

A dispute over a can of soda 30,000 feet above the ground left a woman in tears, spawned a hashtag and provided yet more kindling to the raging debate about Islamophobia in the United States. Ahmad, who is Muslim and wears a headscarf, asked for an unopened can of diet coke “for hygienic reasons,” she wrote in an angry Facebook post from the air. She says the flight attendant denied her request, then proceeded to bring an unopened can of beer to the man sitting next to her. “She said, ‘We are unauthorized to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane'” Ahmad wrote. A 2013 Pew Research Center Survey found that more than 40 percent of Americans believe that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. [link]