A Muslim woman has claimed that she was removed from a plane bound for Istanbul from New Jersey due to her religion.
For more than two hours, 30-year-old Kameelah Rasheed was questioned by US officials at Newark Liberty International Airport Tuesday in what she says was a deliberate attempt to ‘humiliate and ostracize’ her.
Rasheed, who is a Stanford University graduate, artist and contributing editor at The New Inquiry, described the incident as Islamophobic treatment. 
‘I think this happened because I’m Muslim, because I’m travelling to Istanbul, because they have power with no checks and balances, because security means violating people’s rights, because there’s a general lack [of understanding of] what safety means, because people don’t understand basic geopolitical situations,’ Rasheed told al-Jazeera.
Rasheed, who is 2006 Amy Biehl US Fulbright Scholar, also stated that she doesn’t think there is a ‘resurgence of Islamophobia’ after the recent Paris attacks.
‘I think it never went away. It’s becoming more legitimized,’ Rasheed told al-Jazeera.
‘I’m still very angry and hurt, but I have to temper that with not having expectations for being treated better.’
‘These are the consequences of me being Muslim and black and American – everything at the moment is organised around me being checked. This is what it is.’
