Minneapolis Taxi Update

We’re a bit late on this one, but Daniel Pipes has the latest, here; scroll down for more.
As you probably remember, most Minneapolis taxi drivers are now Somali immigrants, and a group of them have started claiming that it violates Muslim law for them to carry passengers who are in possession of alcohol. This group has begun refusing service to people at the Twin Cities airport, and demanding that they be permitted to take the next non-alcohol-possessing customer instead.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission has been negotiating with these cab drivers, but apparently has been unable to work out an accommodation that is acceptable to all parties. Accordingly, MAC is now proposing “stricter penalties for refusal of service: a 30-day suspension of a driver’s airport taxi license for the first instance, and license revocation for a second instance.” It seems that popular opposition to the importation of Shar’ia into the taxicab system at the Minneapolis airport has had some effect.
The MAC will hold a public hearing on the issue at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27, 2007, to solicit testimony from the public on the proposed increase in penalties. The hearing will take place at the Ramada Mall of America, 2300 East American Boulevard, Bloomington, Minnesota. Testimony can be submitted orally or in writing.
The public hearing will remain open until March 2. Through that date, comments can be submitted to the following address:
Landside Operations Department
Metropolitan Airports Commission
MSP International Airport/Lindbergh Terminal
4300 Glumack Drive
Suite LT-3129B
Saint Paul, MN 55111-3010.
This may not seem like a big issue, but in fact I think it is critically important. It is vital that a second, Shar’ia-based commercial system not be permitted to spring up alongside the rules that govern everyone else. That is the path toward the kind of separatism and alienation that are now haunting much of Europe.
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