Muslim student 'kicked off flight for speaking Arabic' sues Southwest Airlines

[Landon Caeli]

I suppose there's a few that'd lose their minds if they were to visit our church and hear prayers recited in Arabic.

I think it's too soon on an airplane.

 

[dzheremi]

From the article:

So the Arab employee escorted him out and questioned him. Seems to suggest he was listening to the conversation, as an Arabic speaker himself.

No, the employee escorted him off, and he was questioned by agents (not the employee). And he was allowed to leave after explaining what he actually said. Again, there is no statement in the article that the attendant heard him say anything about martyrs, only that he asked him why he was speaking Arabic.

 

[High Fidelity]

I think it's too soon on an airplane.

Because of what, 9/11?

Can I claim it's too soon for anything Catholic considering what Catholic terrorists did to my country a generation ago?

 

[Ana the Ist]

It certainly wasn't racism. Unless we think Arabs singling out Arabs can be considered racism... Because thats exactly what happened on this flight.

You already know how certain posters will respond to that point...

They'll claim airlines are a racist institution...and the problem is systemic, not just a simple mistake.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Because of what, 9/11?

Can I claim it's too soon for anything Catholic considering what Catholic terrorists did to my country a generation ago?

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. Too soon for me. Sorry.

 

[High Fidelity]

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. Too soon for me. Sorry.

That's fair enough. My Dad still checks under his car for bombs.

 

[JackRT]

This brainless fear of everything and everyone who even seems Muslim to dumb people has to stop. It's not illegal to be Muslim (or non-Muslim, but from the Middle East) in America, but treatment like what this guy got from Southwest Airlines ought to be.

A teacher colleague of mine was also the pundit (priest) of the local Hindu Temple, a renovated school building. Two days after 9/11 a group of punks set fire to it thinking it was Muslim.

 

[SummerMadness]

From the article:

So the Arab employee escorted him out and questioned him. Seems to suggest he was listening to the conversation, as an Arabic speaker himself.

It appears you're taking a quote out of context here, the flight attendant was not the one that singled him out for removal, it was a passenger who reported him.

UC Berkeley student questioned, refused service after speaking Arabic on flight

On April 6, UC Berkeley senior Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was supposed to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland, get to campus and go to class. Instead, Makhzoomi was removed from Southwest Airlines flight 4260, detained by security officers, questioned by the FBI and refused service from Southwest after speaking Arabic before his flight took off.

Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Iraqi refugee, left Iraq in 2002 after his father, an Iraqi diplomat, was killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime. His family fled to Jordan, where they lived until the United States granted his family asylum. Today, Makhzoomi helps his mother care for his younger brother, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Arabic-speaking student kicked off Southwest flight

The political science student thought the woman might have been concerned with how loudly he spoke on the phone. He saw her abruptly leave the plane. And suddenly, the situation turned.

"One guy came with police officers within two minutes -- I can't believe how fast they were -- and told me to get off the plane," he said.

But I understand the desire to distort the situation to remove the element of discrimination. Whether it is a person accused of stealing or someone accused of being a terrorist, there will always be someone looking to justify racial profiling because we should skin color, ethnicity or religion to do police work. It's not about behavior, let's use the way they look and argue that "those people tend to do this, so it's okay."

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. Too soon for me. Sorry.

I remember 9/11 like it was 16- 20 years ago. Some people harp on thing way to long. People have gone crazy when Mexican speak Spanish.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I remember 9/11 like it was 16- 20 years ago. Some people harp on thing way to long. People have goon crazy when Mexican speak Spanish.

Tell you what...I'll stop bringing up 9-11 when the black community stops bringing up slavery...sound fair?

 

[Landon Caeli]

No, the employee escorted him off, and he was questioned by agents (not the employee). And he was allowed to leave after explaining what he actually said. Again, there is no statement in the article that the attendant heard him say anything about martyrs, only that he asked him why he was speaking Arabic.

Strange that he explained he said "inshallah" when he was escorted out by another Arab and asked by an agent if he said "el shuhada".

...Did he think they sound the same?

 

[Landon Caeli]

I guess the courts will determine. In the meantime, until I get the whole story, I'm going to refrain from accusing Sourhwest of racism and "Islamaphobia".

 

[Landon Caeli]

I remember 9/11 like it was 16- 20 years ago. Some people harp on thing way to long.

Harping on it? Not really, I'm just saying a phone conversation in Arabic, on a plane, in the U.S., saying words that sound like "Martyr" (the very word used for suiciders who blows up planes), is a lot like me getting on a plane saying words like 'I got a bun' or 'I'm having an explosively good time tonight on this plane'.

...we all still have to be careful what we say on a plane or in an airport.

 

[Landon Caeli]

That's fair enough. My Dad still checks under his car for bombs.

And the TSA still make us remove our shoes and belts before we get x-ray'd.

 

[DaisyDay]

You already know how certain posters will respond to that point...

They'll claim airlines are a racist institution...and the problem is systemic, not just a simple mistake.

How was it "a simple mistake" to not allow him to fly with the airline at all, leaving him stranded at the airport until he could book a flight with another airline?

 

[SummerMadness]

Harping on it? Not really, I'm just saying a phone conversation in Arabic, on a plane, in the U.S., saying words that sound like "Martyr" (the very word used for suiciders who blows up planes), is a lot like me getting on a plane saying words like 'I got a bun' or 'I'm having an explosively good time tonight on this plane'.

...we all still have to be careful what we say on a plane or in an airport.

Now you've just shifted to victim blaming. The victim is at fault for not doing more to accommodate the ignorance of others. He should know he can't speak Arabic... well, no, the bigoted people that associate any Arabic they hear with terrorism are the problem.

 

[Ana the Ist]

How was it "a simple mistake" to not allow him to fly with the airline at all, leaving him stranded at the airport until he could book a flight with another airline?

My guess is once they open an investigation into a passenger, it takes more than a little time to clear them as a passenger again.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Harping on it? Not really, I'm just saying a phone conversation in Arabic, on a plane, in the U.S., saying words that sound like "Martyr" (the very word used for suiciders who blows up planes), is a lot like me getting on a plane saying words like 'I got a bun' or 'I'm having an explosively good time tonight on this plane'.

...we all still have to be careful what we say on a plane or in an airport.

You're still harping on nothing. The only people should be harping on anything are true native of America. They lost a lot more than you.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I remember 9/11 like it was 16- 20 years ago. Some people harp on thing way to long. People have gone crazy when Mexican speak Spanish.

Yeah, I know. Racial prejudice is still deeply rooted in this country and it stems all the back to its beginning 242 years ago (and even before its founding). I know some people who still go on about 911, but it is also the same people who ironically like to tell Native Americans and African-Americans to stop living in the past and get over it. They tend to get upset and defensive whenever I mention that and point out the obvious inconsistency in their argument about getting over the past.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

You're still harping on nothing. The only people should be harping on anything are true native of America. They lost a lot more than you.

But the irony is Native Americans are always told to get over it and stop living in the past. Native Americans are told they need to live in the here and now, and stop playing the victim. I know this all too well from personal experience. If I had a dollar for every time I was told to stop talking about what happened to Native Americans and to get over it during my 20+ years involvement in Native American social and political activism, I would have a comfortable fortune saved up by now. But I will tell you one thing, I know some people who would tell me in a heartbeat to stop talking about what happened to Native Americans in the past and to get over it, but the very same people would be terribly offended and upset if I told them to stop living in the past and get over September 11th.