TEFILLIN TERRORIST

The Islamic terrorists are winning! The underwear bomber has set off a state of panic among air travelers and airline crews. A Jewish youth set off a bomb scare on an airliner when he started to pray with his tefillin.

Tefillin are a set of small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, with leather straps dyed black on one side, and worn by Orthodox Jewish men during weekday morning prayers. The hand-tefillin is placed on the upper left arm, and the strap wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers; while the head-tefillin is placed above the forehead, with the strap going around the head and over the shoulders. The Torah commands that they should be worn to serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.

When the youth started his prayer ritual, the passengers and crew panicked. The flight was diverted to Philadelphia International Airport where it made an emergency landing and taxied to a remote section of the tarmac. The plane was immediately surrounded by fire trucks, ambulances and police cars. The passengers and crew were evacuated and the plane was boarded by Philadelphia police officers, FBI agents and TSA officials. Police “escorted” the 17-year-old “terrorist suspect” off the aircraft. A bomb squad searched the plane for explosive devices.

Here is a New York Daily News report on the tefillin terrorist:

JEWISH TEEN’S TEFILLIN SETS OFF BOMB SCARE THAT DIVERTS US AIRWAYS FLIGHT FROM LaGUARDIA AIRPORT
BY Rocco Parascandola and Larry Mcshane

NYDailyNews.com
January 21, 2010

A Jewish prayer box worn by a teen passenger caused a Thursday morning furor on a flight from LaGuardia Airport, forcing an emergency landing in Philadelphia, authorities said.

The mix-up involved the 17-year-old boy's tefillin, a black box filled with Biblical verses and tied with leather straps to his head, said Philadelphia police Lt. Frank Vanore.

Fears of a potential terrorist attack led the Louisville, Ky.,-bound flight to instead land at Philadelphia International Airport just before 9 a.m., authorities said.

All 15 passengers and 3 crew members aboard U.S. Airways Express Flight 3709 were safely evacuated after the sudden landing, said airline spokesman Jim Olson.

Although the teen explained the significance of the tefillin to the crew, the pilot opted to land the plane in Philadelphia anyway, Vanore said.

The tefillin-wearing youth was traveling with his sister from New York to Louisville. The boxes - a second one is tied around the arm - are typically worn by men in certain Orthodox Jewish communities.

The flight was met by law enforcement personnel and officials from the Transportation Security Administration.

The teen was interviewed and the plane swept for explosive devices, with nothing found, the TSA said in a statement.

Vanore said the unidentified youth was cooperative with authorities after the plane landed.