AviationSouthwest Airlines, police remove Muslim from plane for saying “inshallah”

Published 6 October 2016

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Berkeley graduate, was removed from a Southwest Airline plane at Los Angeles International Airport in April this year — after another passenger overheard him speaking Arabic on his mobile phone. He was escorted off the plane by police officers, searched, and dogs sniffed his luggage. The Department of Transportation is investigating. “This is our home,” he said of the United States (he came here legally in 2010). “We don’t have another home. The experience [in April] was just unpleasant,” he said.

Southwest Airlines removes for saying "inshallah" (God willing) while boarding a Southwest airliner // Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Berkeley graduate, was removed from a Southwest Airline plane at Los Angeles International Airport in April this year — after another passenger overheard him speaking Arabic on his mobile phone.

Fox News reports that after he reached his seat, Makhzoomi made a short phone call to his uncle in Baghdad, telling him about a dinner at the university the previous evening attended by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

Before hanging up, he used the traditional Arabic phrase of “inshallah,” meaning “God willing.”

A woman sitting nearby alerted the crew, and it took less than two minutes for several police officers to come on board, asking him to come with them.

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 told CNN.

When he reached the lounge, still accompanied by police officers, an airline agent asked him why he was speaking in Arabic considering “today’s political climate.”

You need to be very honest with us with what you said about the martyrs. Tell us everything you know about the martyrs,” the agent said to him.

Makhzoomi, a political science graduate student, explained he had only said “God willing,” and the interrogation soon came to an end, but not before dogs were brought in to sniff his luggage, he was searched from head to toe, and his wallet was taken away.

Makhzoomi came to the United States in 2010 as a legal refugee with his older sister.

He was not allowed to go back on board the Oakland-bound plane, and the airline gave him a full refund. He booked another flight with Delta.

Southwest Airlines has not responded to requests for comment – and also has not responded to a request from apology from Makhzoomi.

The incident took place 6 April.

CNN notes that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings against Southwest Airlines for “racial and religious profiling of a Muslim passenger.”

We don’t want this to become ‘normal’,” said Saba Maher, civil rights coordinator of the local CAIR chapter.

We are looking for a federal investigation and for the Department of Transportation to hold Southwest Airlines accountable.”

Makhzoomi said he is grateful that the United States has provided him with “the best education, and so many opportunities.”

This is our home. We don’t have another home. The experience [in April] was just unpleasant,” he said.