Arabic-speaking student kicked off Southwest flight.

edition.cnn.com...


Ridiculous.

One day, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was proudly asking the U.N. secretary-general a question. The next, he was booted from a Southwest flight and questioned by the FBI.

For the 26-year-old student at University of California, Berkeley, it was a shocking turn.

Reported for Potentially Threatening Comments, Khairuldeen had said...

"I just called him and talked to him about it and everything, and he told me (to) call him when I get to Oakland, and I said, 'insha'Allah insha'Allah (God willing), I will call you when I arrive.' And during the conversation a lady was staring at me," Makhzoomi said.

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.

Inshallah is now "potentially threatening"...

Inshallah comes as easy a breathing to Muslims.

Could he say "God willing" instead of speaking in his heinous Arabic tongue... (Sarc)
Sure...

But as I said, for a Muslim, Inshallah is an instinctive response to a great many things.



I don't blame Islamophobia...

I blame a lack of education.


The woman who complained is a f#ing moron.



Good to see the FBI are dealing with this sort of thing...
God knows what could be invoked by speaking another language.


I shall return to debate soon, Inshallah.

a reply to: Hazardous1408

Not gonna lie, I was on a plane a few years ago sitting next to a guy of a similar culture, who was speaking in a similar fashion on the phone just before the plane took off.

Although I did not get up to tell anyone about how I felt, I was ready to take action if anything was to occur.

Obviously nothing happened but I think people need to stop being scared of every thing and learn to be strong no matter what you may or may not face down the road.

a reply to: Hazardous1408

Inshallah is a very positive thing to say in Muslim culture...I say it to with a Muslim friend of mine. I feel good when I say it even though I am not of Muslim faith. God willing help this woman.

Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

*****Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?*****

(Sadly, this post needs a disclaimer. No, I'm not advocating this, implying that, or following an agenda of some kind. Unfortunately some adults cannot interpret satire)

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

What?

He only said "Insha'All-llah" - i.e. "God willing".

a reply to: Hazardous1408

For crying out loud.

There is not a face large enough to encompass the scale of the facepalmery necessary to accurately respond to this information. And to the individual who posited that a person ought to refrain from speaking Arabic on a plane...my goodness. I could have sworn blind that this was 2016, not 1931. It appears, however, as though I was mistaken. Apparently backwards thinking, discrimination, and oppression are absolutely alive and well, and the order of the day for some people.

What a crock of crap.

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

I get what you are saying and I have to agree here.

The fact of the matter is everyone in the World right now is very vulnerable and very sensitive to anyone who may be from the middle east. Nothing is going to change that until terrorists stop doing what they are doing plain and simple. How many times have we heard in the media about a terrorist action and with that them saying "Allah Akbar"? A lot...so it's unfortunately embedded in our brains anything with "Allah" is going to raise a concern.

I can't say that what the woman did was right but I don't want to get to the point where we are blind to everything and we don't report. If you are in America those who speak a different language need to be the responsible one's.

a reply to: Hazardous1408

I read that article earlier this morning and my conclusion was much the same, i.e., I blame lack of education. But something else that's at work is the rate of societal change in the US, or the "change rate"; so, this woman may have gone to school in the 1980's, she'd not have been exposed to any Arabic in a US American school. Today, I'd think that would have changed.

But also, for someone raised say in the 1980's, the high change rate coupled with the sheer volumes of immigration together with the massive globalization of the world's economy mean that for that person, traveling around the US today is much like traveling about a foreign country. So, her experience of traveling around the US would not be like Chevy Chase's vacation trip to Wally World, but rather more like taking the Orient Express train from Paris to Istanbul. In many respects, this woman's experience isn't anything like that of a citizen traveling in their home country, but rather more like that of a tourist in a foreign land.

Interesting times.

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

Mohamed was the prophet. Allah is the word for God. You're saying there should be a law against saying the word God on a plane????

Yes, I see that education of the public is in order.

originally posted by: HawkeyeNation

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

I get what you are saying and I have to agree here.

The fact of the matter is everyone in the World right now is very vulnerable and very sensitive to anyone who may be from the middle east. Nothing is going to change that until terrorists stop doing what they are doing plain and simple. How many times have we heard in the media about a terrorist action and with that them saying "Allah Akbar"? A lot...so it's unfortunately embedded in our brains anything with "Allah" is going to raise a concern.

I can't say that what the woman did was right but I don't want to get to the point where we are blind to everything and we don't report. If you are in America those who speak a different language need to be the responsible one's.

As long as you are also aware that this line of thinking makes YOU the problem, not the average Arabic speaking person.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe

originally posted by: HawkeyeNation

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

I get what you are saying and I have to agree here.

The fact of the matter is everyone in the World right now is very vulnerable and very sensitive to anyone who may be from the middle east. Nothing is going to change that until terrorists stop doing what they are doing plain and simple. How many times have we heard in the media about a terrorist action and with that them saying "Allah Akbar"? A lot...so it's unfortunately embedded in our brains anything with "Allah" is going to raise a concern.

I can't say that what the woman did was right but I don't want to get to the point where we are blind to everything and we don't report. If you are in America those who speak a different language need to be the responsible one's.

As long as you are also aware that this line of thinking makes YOU the problem, not the average Arabic speaking person.

Yes I am fully aware that it is my problem to get over however it's not that simple for a lot of Americans. It's the fear of unknown...most Americans can't understand Arabic so they don't know what is being said. Most know for sure what one word means and that is Allah. Some may call it ignorance but I just call it the reality we live in. I don't like it but it is what it is.

originally posted by: kaylaluv

originally posted by: Psychonautics
Don't yell fire in a movie theatre?

Don't bring up the prophet on a plane?

Mohamed was the prophet. Allah is the word for God. You're saying there should be a law against saying the word God on a plane????

Yes, I see that education of the public is in order.

Oh, we agree that education of the public is in order, especially with the amount of stars this post received

a reply to: Hazardous1408

I think this situation is egregious, but airlines have a lot of leeway with who / why they can kick anyone off of a plane. I wasn't there, so who knows how these persons were acting towards each other? (I.e. either raising voices, etc.).

I had a recent situation flying for work that pushed my limits of open-mindedness, on a flight to DC from Dallas.

It was a super early a.m. flight and a middle eastern, Arabic speaking gentleman sat down next to me. He never looked at or spoke to me even after I tried greeting him. He then proceeded to film specifically all of the luggage being loaded onto our plane with his camera while praying in Arabic, then posting said video to an Arabic twitter site. At this point I felt an urge to communicate with the gentleman, because maybe he was a nervous flyer (I fly often and known to reassure folks sitting near me since I have a lot of friends in the industry). No response to me.

Then, he filmed a selfie video with his index finger pointed in the air while making pronouncing statements / prayerful tones in Arabic and posting to Arabic twitter after. I looked at him while he was doing this and he just smirked at me. At this point, I had a serious inner conflict of saying something. I am well travelled and have been around plenty of Muslims while in Germany and Austria, but this was a feeling I never had before.

The last straw was when he was putting his phone away the background was Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS (I know for certain because I had just read an article my friend sent me who is still active duty). I got up, quietly told the flight attendants, and their answer was to let me off the plane. As I was leaving a lady behind me (who I didn't know) also got off the plane.

We spoke with an airline rep. as well as a security agent at the airport, but the FBI (at least to our knowledge) wasn't even notified, and the gentleman was not removed from the plane.

I guess the question is, we face so much propaganda about these things I can see how ignorance reigns. However, I think every individual has a limit and a line to draw when it comes to political correctness versus a combination of factors that make one feel uneasy.

I think the difference is that I handled it quietly and just removed myself from the situation, rather than made a scene, and let the airline handle it their way without trying to get someone else removed from the flight.

Just another insight based on this intense experience I had.

Honest question - is the index finger pointing up to the sky another common aspect of prayer or communication in Islam in general? We just see that in every ISIS video so it would be good to learn the meaning behind that gesture.

Same sort of thing happened in Glasgow just after 9/11.

A bunch of White guys from central Scotland telling a bunch of Glasgow Pakistani guys from central Scotland to get tae # aff the plane and vice versa.
Funny if it wasn't so tragic. I think they all made it to Magaloof on time and had a blast...ooops..Hoot...I mean hoot.

originally posted by: Psychonautics


Oh, we agree that education of the public is in order, especially with the amount of stars this post received

Well if my post helped you to understand the difference between Mohamed and Allah, then I have helped to educate you.

originally posted by: kaylaluv

originally posted by: Psychonautics


Oh, we agree that education of the public is in order, especially with the amount of stars this post received

Well if my post helped you to understand the difference between Mohamed and Allah, then I have helped to educate you.

While you're at it, would you like to explain the whole father-son-holy spirit trinity thing too? That always confused me, I mean, is he God's son, is he also God himself? Who's the Holy Spirit?! It's all so confusing!

Edit; Omg guys this was sarcastic too, lol. C'mon two in a row?

originally posted by: Psychonautics

originally posted by: kaylaluv

originally posted by: Psychonautics


Oh, we agree that education of the public is in order, especially with the amount of stars this post received

Well if my post helped you to understand the difference between Mohamed and Allah, then I have helped to educate you.

While you're at it, would you like to explain the whole father-son-holy spirit trinity thing too? That always confused me, I mean, is he God's son, is he also God himself? Who's the Holy Spirit?! It's all so confusing!

That's a whole different thread...

originally posted by: Psychonautics

originally posted by: kaylaluv

originally posted by: Psychonautics


Oh, we agree that education of the public is in order, especially with the amount of stars this post received

Well if my post helped you to understand the difference between Mohamed and Allah, then I have helped to educate you.

While you're at it, would you like to explain the whole father-son-holy spirit trinity thing too? That always confused me, I mean, is he God's son, is he also God himself? Who's the Holy Spirit?! It's all so confusing!

Back in the 300's, the Christians had many convocations of bishops and scholars to decide on the right 'interpretation' of Christology, which for some reason was really super-important. (Rather like virulent nerd rage over the intrinsic magical nature of the D&D White Dragon scales if you ask me).

They ended up choosing the least logical doctrine of those available, and started suppressing anybody else as heretics. Further councils continued with this path and usually chose the least sensible interpretation.

The question is exactly that of the Arians, considered heretics by the Church, for whom it was obvious that if one is the Father and the other is the Son, then well, Father came first and made the Son, because why else call Him "Father" instead of "Twin Brother"?

The orthodox position is:

They [anti-Arians] declared, as did Athanasius,[44] that the Son had no beginning, but had an "eternal derivation" from the Father, and therefore was co-eternal with him, and equal to God in all aspects.

To Jews and some Christians, that was illogical and an obvious violation of the 1st Commandment. [Isaac Newton was probably a secret Arian]

Where number Three comes in, well, that's an even weirder expansion pack.

originally posted by: SonOfThor
a reply to: Hazardous1408

Honest question - is the index finger pointing up to the sky another common aspect of prayer or communication in Islam in general? We just see that in every ISIS video so it would be good to learn the meaning behind that gesture.

It means "One" as in "One God".

a reply to: SonOfThor

You did the right thing and I'd have done the same if I knew the airline would let me get off the plane. I didn't know they'd do that. They should also have refunded your ticket! I bet they didn't do that.