When a passenger overheard him speaking Arabic on his cell phone, a Muslim man was asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight.
The 26-year-old Berkeley grad, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, was removed from the airplane in April of this year at Los Angeles International Airport.
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When Khairuldeen took his seat on the plane, he made a call to his uncle in Baghdad. He was telling him how excited he was that he got to ask a question to the UN secretary-general during a dinner the previous day.
Khairuldeen said the word “inshallah,” meaning “God willing,” before hanging up the phone. As he hung the phone, Khairuldeen noticed a woman that was staring at him. His first thought was that she was annoying by how loudly he was speaking.
“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,” Makhzoomi told CNN.
An agent asked him why he was speaking in Arabic on the phone as he was being escorted out. The agent said that it was unsettling to the passengers given “today’s political climate,” according to Independent.
“You need to be very honest with us with what you said about the martyrs. Tell us everything you know about the martyrs,” one agent said to the Muslim man.
The questioning soon ended after Khairuldeen explained that he had said “God willing,” in Arabic. However, the agents proceeded to search his person, bring in the dogs to sniff his luggage, and take his wallet.
“The US is the land of freedom. People respect the rule of law. How could people be humiliated like this? That was the real shock,” Khairuldeen explained.
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was given a full refund for the incident, but he was not permitted to reboard the plane headed to Oakland.
Southwest Airlines Spokeswoman Brandy King stated, “Since that time, we have researched the event internally and also reached out to the customer.”
She continued: “The internal review determined that it was the content of the conversation, not the language used, that prompted the report leading to the investigation. Our crew responded by following protocol, as required by federal law, to investigate any potential threat. We regret any less than positive experience a customer has on Southwest. Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind.”
Do you think this incident with Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was handled well by Southwest Airlines?
[H/T CNN, Independent]
