Again-Muslim Student Was Kicked Off Southwest Flight After Speaking Arabic to His Uncle
Security Theater blowback
When the officers searched his genital area and asked if he was hiding a knife, Makhzoomi said the situation became overwhelming.
“At that moment, it was the maximum point of humiliation, he said. “My eyes began to water.”
He learned during questioning that the passenger who reported him thought he said the word “shahid,” which means martyr, and associated it with terrorism. Makhzoomi had been telling his uncle about a dinner he was returning from at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and said “inshallah,” meaning “if God is willing” when he hung up.
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