An Iraqi refugee studying in the United States was removed from a flight operated by Southwest Airlines, which was travelling from Los Angeles International Airport to Oakland, simply because he spoke Arabic while onboard the plane.
The student, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, arrived in the United States together with his mother and his younger brother in 2010. They settled in Oakland, California. He later got admission to study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has become a senior student.
According to the account of the story, Mr Makhzoomi attended an event in Los Angeles. The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon participated in the event. He gave a speech, and Makhzoomi even had the opportunity for the first time in his life, to ask Mr Ban a question on the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
After the event, on April 6, Makhzoomi booked the Southwest flight to return to his family in Oakland discuss with them the event he attended in Los Angeles. Mr Makhzoomi was happy about the event that, while onboard the plane, he decided to share what he had experienced at the event with some of his family members in Iraq. He then called his uncle in Baghdad, telling him about the event, which has inspired him to study to become an important personality one day.
Mr Makhzoomi told his uncle that his flight is about to take off, and that he will call him again as soon as he touches down in Oakland. He ended the conversation with his uncle with the Arabic phrase “Inshallah,” meaning “God willing.”
When he ended the call, a woman sitting in front of him turned to stare at him. She then headed straight to the door of the plane. The woman reported to an official of the airline that she overheard Makhzoomi making potentially threatening comments.
Immediately, an Arabic-speaking Southwest Airlines official of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, came to Makhzoomi’s seat and escorted him off the plane.
The official initially spoke Arabic to Makhzoomi, but later switched to English, questioning Makhzoomi why he spoke Arabic in the plane. That was when tempers started to rise.
The New York Times quoted Makhzoomi as saying “I was very excited about the event so I called my uncle to tell him about it. That is when I thought, oh, I hope she is not reporting me, because it was so weird. I said to him, ‘This is what Islamophobia got this country into,’ and that made him so angry. That is when he told me I could not go back on the plane.”
The official then called for law enforcement officials. FBI agents arrived, escorting Makhzoomi to the terminal. They searched him in front of a crowd of onlookers, with more police officers arriving with dogs.
Makhzoomi was later put in a private room where three FBI agents questioned him further. They asked about his family, and how they entered the United States. One FBI agent told Makhzoomi that the official who escorted him off the plane said a passenger reported that he [Makhzoomi] used a martyrdom word in Arabic, often associated with jihadists, and that he intends to carry out an attack.
Mr Makhzoomi denied the allegation, telling the agents that he was only speaking to his uncle about an event he had attended. The agents having established that Makhzoomi was innocent and posed no threat or whatsoever, allowed him to return to the terminal. The airline refunded his ticket.
Mr Makhzoomi later booked a new flight on Delta Air Lines, arriving in Oakland eight hours after he originally planned.
A spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, Ari Dekofsky, confirmed to the New York Times that agents responded to the airport that day, but found Mr Makhzoomi was of no threat to security.
According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, there had been at least six cases of Muslims being pulled off flights so far this year.
Makhzoomi said he will not pursue any lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, adding that he only wants an apology from the airline.
As at the time of writing this story, Southwest Airlines had not issued any apology, or spoken to Makhzoomi.
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speaking Arabic is not a crime..
Welcome to America.
Murica. Land of the brain dead. Home of a bunch of cowards. So much for fairness or freedom. Islamophobia has become our national embarrassment.
And why don’t you report that the passenger spoke fluent Arabic and reported the words isis and jihad were spoken. An English speaking person would have had the same thing happen if he had mentioned bombing and white house. Don’t just tell half of the story.
So only tell half of the story. Tell that the passenger spoke Arabic and heard jihad and isis. Don’t tell the half that doesn’t support your tale of woe “poor, poor pitiful me, everybody discriminates against me”
Crap.the passenger will be vindicated by the friendly security folks and those other righteous admirers…it will be like 1940s and Japanese,Geman..FEAR…FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR
Sad thing is regardless of if the passenger understood they still would have reported the guy because thanks to our government we are reverting back to our hateful days of entraping innocent people in camps because we are scared. Worst thing is muslims that come into my work are usually the most respectful and kind and you can see people giving them dirty looks because of how they look and because they wont hide who they are in a country that was founded on freedom of religion!