Man Removed from Southwest Airlines Flight for Speaking Arabic

A man was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month after another passenger heard him speaking Arabic and believed that it expressed a threatening message.
Man Removed from Southwest Airlines Flight for Speaking Arabic
A Southwest Airlines jet passes two ATA Airlines jets sitting on the tarmac at Midway Airport April 3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Jonathan Zhou
Updated:

A man was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month after another passenger heard him speaking Arabic and believed that it expressed a threatening message. 

Makhzoomi was slated to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland and return to classes on April 6.

According to Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, who was removed from the flight and then interrogated by an FBI officer, he said “inshallah,” a common phrase that means, “if God is willing.” A female passenger had heard “Shahid,” which means martyr, and has a jihadist subtext.  

“At the end of my call I said, ‘Inshallah, I will call you,’ and he was like, ‘Call me when you get home.’ I was like ‘Inshallah, Inshallah,’” Makhzoomi elaborated to NBC Bay Area.

“She kept staring at me and I didn’t know what was wrong,” he told the Daily Californian.

“Then I realized what was happening and I just was thinking ‘I hope she’s not reporting me.’”

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi (Facebook)
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi Facebook
Jonathan Zhou
Jonathan Zhou
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Jonathan Zhou is a tech reporter who has written about drones, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.
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