College Student Removed From Southwest Flight for Speaking Arabic

[Straight Shooter]

Earlier this month, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi found himself at a gathering with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He had been invited to the dinner-and-lecture event in Los Angeles by a friend who works for the World Affairs Council, and he was thrilled.

The University of California at Berkeley senior is a double major, after all, in political science and Near Eastern studies. At the close of Ban’s speech, Makhzoomi recounted Sunday night in a phone interview with The Washington Post, he stood up to ask the secretary general about Iraqi popular mobilization units, militia groups fighting against the Islamic State.

The question was greeted by applause from around the room, followed by a lengthy response from the U.N. chief. It was the kind of exchange that Makhzoomi lives for: He came to the United States as an Iraqi refugee six years ago, and his research now centers on how life can be improved in his home country.

But the next day, April 6, the 26-year-old’s fortunes took a sharp turn.

Makhzoomi had just settled into his seat on a Southwest Airlines flight when he pulled out his cellphone to call his uncle in Baghdad. His uncle is a political analyst, so Makhzoomi wanted to discuss the previous night’s event with him. He was speaking into the phone in Arabic when he noticed that the woman in the seat in front of him was turned with her neck craned in his direction, staring.

Feeling discomfited, Makhzoomi cut his conversation short. “Inshallah,” he told his uncle, using a customary Arabic phrase meaning “God willing.” “I’ll call you when I land.” After Makhzoomi hung up, he noticed that the woman had left her seat and was making her way up the aisle, weaving around passengers who were still boarding.

His sense of unease deepened. A thought occurred to him: “I hope she’s not reporting me.”

Except, Makhzoomi is now certain, that is precisely what happened. Shortly after the woman’s departure, he said a Southwest employee informed him, “Sir, you need to step out of the plane right now.”

Makhzoomi was then led off the plane to a hallway by the boarding gate, where three police officers were awaiting him. He said the Southwest employee appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and began speaking to him in Arabic. The employee told him he used to live in Dubai and asked him where he was from. At Makhzoomi’s urging, the employee switched back to English.

“Why would you speak in Arabic on the airplane?” the employee asked him. “It’s dangerous. You know the environment around the airport. You understand what’s going on in this country.” The employee’s tone made Makhzoomi feel demeaned, he said. He was immediately deferential.

“I’m sorry,” Makhzoomi responded. “I shouldn’t have done that.” But the employee continued to be accusatory, and Makhzoomi said he grew frustrated. Exasperated, the college student said, “This is what Islamophobia has done.”

This angered the employee only further, he said. According to Makhzoomi, one of the police officers then said into his radio, “Call the FBI.”

With the plane long having taken off without him, Makhzoomi was joined by more police officers, sniffer dogs and, eventually, three FBI agents. At one point, a police officer pressed his head against the wall and restrained his hands behind his back, he said. When the authorities asked him whether he had any weapons on him, Makhzoomi said he teared up. “I don’t have a knife,” he repeated.

The FBI agents took him into a separate room and began the questioning anew.

“Okay, you need to be honest with me,” Makhzoomi recalled one agent saying to him. “Tell us everything you know about martyrdom.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...thwest-flight-after-speaking-arabic-on-plane/

Proper action or did they go way overboard?

 

[BlkHawk]

SW airlines posted this as a response:

Statement Regarding Customer Situation on Flight 4620

A Southwest passenger onboard flight 4620 heard another passenger make comments perceived to be threatening and notified our Crew. Both passengers involved in the situation spoke a shared language, Arabic. Our Crew responded by following protocol, as required by federal law, to investigate and report to law enforcement agencies any potential threat to civil aviation. It was the content of the passenger's conversation, not the language used, that prompted the report leading to our investigation. We provided the passenger an immediate refund of his unused ticket. Federal law enforcement agents became involved and conducted their own investigation.

We regret any less than positive experience a Customer has onboard our aircraft. We welcome onboard more than a hundred million Customers each year; and we aim safely to transport each, while maintaining the comfort of all. Safety is our always first focus, and our Employees are trained to make decisions to safeguard the security of our Crews and Customers on every flight. We would not remove a passenger from a flight without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures. Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind. Our Company could not survive if we practiced or believed otherwise. In fact, a cursory view of our workforce, as well as our expansive, multi-cultural Customer base is a reliable indicator that we exalt and appreciate diversity.

http://swamedia.com/releases/statement-regarding-customer-situation-on-flight-4620?l=en-US

Apparently the passenger that reported him spoke Arabic as well. In that case what he was saying may have been misunderstood, which moves it into a proper precaution.

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

I would have removed him just for meeting with the asshats at the U.N.

 

[Supafly]

Ace, you must be somewhat traumatized by your Marine Corps experience.

 

[Johan]

How did it ended ? Was he able to catch another plane ? Did the company refunded him ? I hope they did. I hope they provived him a seat in another plane, for free.

 

[Jack Davenport]

How did it ended ? Was he able to catch another plane ? Did the company refunded him ? I hope they did. I hope they provived him a seat in another plane, for free.

An Arabic speaking person reported him for the content of his conversation, not because of the language he was speaking.

Why don't you start providing free meals and lodging for Muslim Arabs in your home?

Charity begins at home pendejo.

 

[BeatMan]

According to the Happening Now report, the woman who allegedly reported Makhzoomi to the airline crew was actually an Arabic speaker herself. This woman reportedly said that she overheard Makhzoomi mention ISIS and possibly another terror group during his phone conversation and that is why she alerted the airline crew.

Perhaps that explains why Makhzoomi has reportedly turned down offers from multiple lawyers to file a lawsuit against the airline.

http://lawnewz.com/video/student-ki...bic-was-reportedly-overheard-mentioning-isis/