British Muslim woman detained under terror laws after cabin crew report her reading Syrian art book on plane

Exclusive: Airline urged to apologise after honeymooner 'made to feel like a culprit'

Liam O'Hare, Ted Jeory

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• A Muslim NHS worker was detained at a UK airport and questioned under terror laws after a cabin crew member spotted her reading a Syrian culture book on board her honeymoon flight.
  Faizah Shaheen, who helps prevent teenage mental health patients from becoming radicalised, was returning from honeymoon in Marmaris, Turkey, when she was stopped by South Yorkshire Police at Doncaster Airport on 25 July. 
  The 27-year-old was pulled over because a Thomson Airways cabin crew member on her outbound flight a fortnight earlier had reported her for suspicious behaviour. 
• Police officers questioned her for 15 minutes under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act and told her the suspicions related to the holiday book she had been reading – Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline.
  The award-winning book by Malu Halasa is a collection of essays, short stories, poems, songs, cartoons and photographs from Syrian authors and artists. 
  Ms Shaheen, from Leeds, said she was left angry and in tears by the experience – and with a feeling she had been discriminated because of her faith.
• She said she now intends to make formal complaints against the police and Thomson Airways.
• She said: “I was completely innocent – I was made to feel like a culprit.”
  Recalling the incident, she said: “I was queuing at passport control and saw police staring at me. I just got through passport control and then two police officers approached me and took me aside and asked me to show my passport again. 
  “I asked what was going on and they said I had been reported due to a book I was reading and was to be questioned under the Terrorism Act. 
  

  Faizah Shaheen works in the NHS helping to prevent vulnerable teenagers from being radicalised
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• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-muslim-woman-detained-terror-laws-syrian-art-book-plane-cabin-crew-faizah-shaheen-a7168751.html

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