Here’s an incredibly whiny op-ed at the LA Times by Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who was detained for a short time at LA International Airport and (gasp!) asked some questions: Guilty of ‘Flying While Muslim’?

He found it incredibly humiliating and degrading that US officials would ask him where he had traveled and which Islamic charities he was associated with.

Over Thanksgiving, my wife and I took our kids to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. After our relaxing vacation, we returned home to Los Angeles, only to face some disconcerting homeland insecurity.

We were met by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as soon as we left the jetway at LAX. Evidently, they were looking for someone, and it turned out to be me.

When they looked at my name, they provided us with an armed escort to a special area. All I could think about at the time was my kids. I prayed they would not be exposed to anything that would cause them to resent their birthplace, the United States, as a result of this encounter with law enforcement.

Salam Al-Marayati is notorious for telling radio station KCRW, within hours of the September 11 mass murder: “If we’re going to look at suspects we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what’s happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies.”

CAMERA has a long list of similar statements by Al-Marayati, supporting extremist movements and terrorist groups, vilifying Israel, and condemning US anti-terrorism measures.

And Daniel Pipes also has a piece about this character: Needed: Muslims against Terror [and Not Salam Al-Marayati].

Now why in the world would his name be on a watch list?

More importantly, why does the LA Times give column space to this person without providing the context of his past statements? His piece is presented as if he were spotless and without blame, simply an innocent American citizen brutalized by the evil authorities—when in fact, he is exactly the type of person who should be questioned, a Muslim “activist” who makes antisemitic statements and refuses to condemn Hamas and Hizballah.