The “Youtube sensation” Adam Saleh recently made an
accusation that he was kicked
off a Delta Airlines flight for speaking Arabic. My first reaction to this story was utter
shock and horror. According to Mr.
Saleh, he was speaking on the phone to his mother when a “white” lady nearby
said she was uncomfortable. There was a
verbal altercation, and he and his friend got kicked off the plane. Adam Saleh recorded part of the episode, and
aired it on his popular Youtube channel.
What is or was your reaction upon hearing this story for
this first time? Anger? Sadness?
Confusion? What is the world coming to,
right? Well, this is one of those
situations where it pays to check the facts before drawing a conclusion. Who exactly is Adam Saleh? My independent research (cough… Google) has
shown that he is a young man well known for “crying wolf.” For example, he once published a video of
himself being allegedly frisked by a policeman for dressing like a Muslim. It later emerged that this video was faked and
that the “policeman” was an actor. Adam’s defence? Apparently
it was a re-enactment of what had happened earlier. I agree that a person’s prior wrongdoing does
not conclusively prove that their current action is wrong. It does however make you think twice, thrice
and even four times about the integrity of their current position.
An alternative version of events, according to a witness on
the plane, is that Adam Saleh randomly pumped his first in the air and shouted
in Arabic on 3 occasions, causing her to state that she was uncomfortable, and
that this is what kicked off the whole debacle.
Now that puts a whole different spin on things. I know I would feel extremely uncomfortable
under those circumstances! Here is a
great summary by David
Wood.
Whatever the facts, this is a lesson that life has taught me
well. There’s always another side to the
story, and you are forming your opinion on incomplete facts, if you have not
heard that other side. As much as
possible, always seek out both sides of the story, digest them, and then decide
what you believe.
What is your opinion of Adam Saleh and the #boycott Delta
trend?
No comments:
Post a Comment