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Arabic student removed from Southwest flight, "why were you speaking Arabic?"

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Dingens

Member
and than people wonder why "they" hate "us"
If I was of Arabic descent, chances are that I would hate "us" too by now. paranoid stuff like this is just fucked up.

It's no justification by any means, but it does make it easier to understand why someone would choose to join IS or other similar groups
 

NEO0MJ

Member
Says right in the story why he mentioned Isis.

Maybe any Arabic speaking GAF members can answer this, but how would Isis be pronounced in Arabic? Does it sound anything like "Isis" when spoken? Not that it really matters, the lady that reported him probably couldn't make out anything other than "there's a brown man talking funny".

Daesh is the word you get when you use the acronym in arabic.
 

Weckum

Member
Daesh is the word you get when you use the acronym in arabic.

Daesh is more the insulty version I think, mostly used by people that oppose ISIS. Official name is ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah

While the use of either one or the other acronym has been the subject of debate,[31][65] the distinction between the two and its relevance has been considered not so great.[31] Of greater relevance is Daesh, an acronym of ISIL's Arabic name al-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī al-ʻIrāq wa-al-Shām. Daesh, or Da'ish (داعش‎), has been widely used by ISIL's Arabic-speaking detractors,[clarification needed][66][67] although – and to a certain extent because – it is considered derogatory, as it resembles the Arabic words Daes (lit. "one who crushes, or tramples down, something underfoot") and Dāhis (loosely translated: "one who sows discord").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
 
Mr. Makhzoomi said an F.B.I. agent told him the Southwest Airlines employee who was upset by the allegation of anti-Muslim bias said a passenger reported hearing him talk about martyrdom in Arabic, using a phrase often associated with jihadists.

Brilliant. A little bit of the "but what about the racists feelings" mixed with some "speaking muslim so he is up to no good".

Sue their fucking asses off if you can.

“My family and I have been through a lot and this is just another one of the experiences I have had,” he said. “Human dignity is the most valuable thing in the world, not money. If they apologized, maybe it would teach them to treat people equally.”

Nice thinking but these fuckers only understand money and loss.
 

Exodust

Banned
If inshallah (or allahu akbar) is associated with terrorists, then every single muslim must be a terrorist.

Or anybody speaking Arabic. Inshallah, allahu Akbar and other words tied to Islam are such a big part of Arabic lexicon that it's tough to not instinctively say them. I'm an atheist, and I say those words and terms all the time.
 

Socreges

Banned
I'd go so far as to suspect that she didn't react to the whole of "inshallah" as much as to the "Allah" part. So yes, in her mind all probable Muslims are plausible terrorists. At least on airplanes (but probably in general too)

I must admit though, that shit is infectious. I've felt a jolt at times when someone unexpectedly start to speak Arabic on public transport, and I somewhat hate myself for it. I would never dream of acting on it, but for some reason the instinctive xenophobic fear is there anyway.

Maybe I should learn some Arabic to defuse it if I get the time.

That's the literal meaning, yes. It's pretty versatile as I understand it. The problem is that the media has essentially indoctrinated us into thinking about it as something terrorists yell before they blow something and/or themselves up.
Same. I live in a community right now where there are very few people who speak Arabic. So when I travel through the US, it's definitely jarring. In recent years I've really only been exposed to Arabic through the media, which tends to characterize people from the Middle East in a specific context.

Like you, I'm tempted to learn Arabic - for a variety of reasons but including 'desensitization'.
 

Exodust

Banned
Same. I live in a community right now where there are very few people who speak Arabic. So when I travel through the US, it's definitely jarring. In recent years I've really only been exposed to Arabic through the media, which tends to characterize people from the Middle East in a specific context.

Like you, I'm tempted to learn Arabic - for a variety of reasons but including 'desensitization'.

عيب عليكم
 

YN12

Banned
I am not familiar with the company Southwest, so I have no context for this story.

Does the company have a bad rep? Is it implied here that muslims should avoid flying with Southwest, or flying to the Southern States, or to the USA in general?

Also...WTF is happening over there? These stories are becoming common.
 

cwmartin

Member
I am not familiar with the company Southwest, so I have no context for this story.

Does the company have a bad rep? Is it implied here that muslims should avoid flying with Southwest, or flying to the Southern States, or to the USA in general?

Also...WTF is happening over there? These stories are becoming common.

Southwest is just the company name of an airline. There are many reasons to avoid Southwest that have nothing to do with this story.
 

Syriel

Member
Probably a guideline based on a simple cost-benefit analysis. Investigate and letting him stay = risk of uproar on the plane and expensive delays if the person who reported him throws a fit. Forcing him off = airport police detaining him if he throws a fit to no expense to the company and no risk of expensive delays. They're basically applying the "problematic passenger" standard to him even though he didn't actually do anything.

As long as there are no real downsides to doing what prejudiced passengers say they will continue to do it. That's why he should probably consider litigation to apply some counter-pressure and make them think twice before discriminating against Arab speakers in the future.

Should have just taken the racist complainer off the plane. No chance of delay there.

And even if the guy doesn't sue, he should demand full denied boarding compensation. That's going to be a lot more than a refund of his ticket.

Kinda crazy that the FBI already had a deep file on him, and an unlucky coincidence that he has an objectively deep file anyway (his Dad, Abu Graibh, etc).

Still, as long as the TSA keeps yelling at my seven year old to take off her flip flops, I feel safe.

Figures the TSA wouldn't even be able to get the shoe thing right:

From the TSA webpage:
untitled.JPG
 

Ogodei

Member
This one's a skoch more justifiable? Not for the blatant racism that got him flagged, but he did have connections to politically active Iraqi nationals.
 

E92 M3

Member
Kinda crazy that the FBI already had a deep file on him, and an unlucky coincidence that he has an objectively deep file anyway (his Dad, Abu Graibh, etc).

Still, as long as the TSA keeps yelling at my seven year old to take off her flip flops, I feel safe.

She could be hiding biological weapons in those flip flops.

Safety always should come first.
 
Says right in the story why he mentioned Isis.

Maybe any Arabic speaking GAF members can answer this, but how would Isis be pronounced in Arabic? Does it sound anything like "Isis" when spoken? Not that it really matters, the lady that reported him probably couldn't make out anything other than "there's a brown man talking funny".

It's usually 'daesh' with a ع arabic letter. Look it up for pronounciation.

Sounds nothing like ISIS.
 
Just some background info on the word "Allah".

Etymologically, the name Allah is a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.” The name's origin can actually be traced back to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for “god” was "il" or "el", the latter being used in the Hebrew Bible i.e. the Old Testament.

The word Allah had also been used by Arabs of different religions since pre-Islamic times. More specifically, it has been used as a term to refer to God by Arab-Muslims, Arab-Christians and non-Arab Muslims overall. It is now mainly used by Muslims and Arab Christians to refer to God. It is also often, albeit not exclusively, used in this way by Bábists, Bahá'ís, Indonesian and Maltese Christians, and Mizrahi Jews.Similar usage has been seen by Christians and Sikhs in West Malaysia.
 

Rymuth

Member
Just some background info on the word "Allah".

Etymologically, the name Allah is a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.”.
Yep.

It's always bizarre when I come across posts/quotes/someone saying "They worship their God whose name is Allah" or "The Muslim God is called Allah." and such people don't realize they're saying 'God the God'

Same deal with the Sahara Desert. Essentially I'm hearing 'Desert The Desert'.

The west can be so kooky sometimes.
 

PSqueak

Banned
I think a plane did that once a few years back or they bumped the person who was being accused to first class... I believe it was something with an old lady feeling uncomfortable with sitting next to a dark skinned person. Airline bumped him to first class for the inconvenience caused by her.

Wasn't that just a commercial against racism or something like that?
 
Oh yeah, white people are restricted to only knowing English. Can't believe I forgot about that!

What a ridiculous comment and how offensive it must be for millions upon millions of people who are fluent in more than one language.

BRB, gotta tell my best mate to stop speaking Fijian because he is white and he doesn't know WTF he is talking about.

Yes let's focus on the real victims here
 

darscot

Member
Figures the TSA wouldn't even be able to get the shoe thing right:

From the TSA webpage:
untitled.JPG

Yeah this is not true in the US. My daughter gets hassled all the time when we fly in the US. Leaving Canada, security asks me, how old is your daughter, 12, wow she looks like a handful already, she must be trouble, have a nice day. In the US security stops her, why do you have your shoes on, take them off now. My daughter, I'm 12, security, you are not 12 take them off now! I walk up and say I have her passport right here she is only 12, please don't yell at her, security I don't care how old she is I tell her to take her shoes off, she does what I say. I just say sorry try and be submissive and my daughter takes off her shoes. Security are these your carry on we need to take a look in your bags... The best part is we did stock photography when my kids were young, because we are the "perfect American family", white, first born son, with a cute daughter. Every once in a while we see one of the pics in photo frames and other generic things like that.
 

Yeoman

Member
Kind of feel like there's more to the story if even the Arab flight attendant got cross with the passenger. And yes the woman was wrong, but why are we ignoring that he was in fact talking about Islamic State?
How do you say Islamic State in Arabic? Wikipedia seems to say it's this:
"ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām". I believe it's usually shortened to "Dāʿish".
Do you really think that woman would recognise any of those words?
 
This happened to me at a restaurant; I had received a call from a friend while waiting in line. I said "Assalamualaikum!" a bit loudly and the 4 people in front of me whipped around in shock. That momentary look of alarm on their faces was amazing. I hadn't laughed that hard in years.

XD

I can see why speaking random Arabic on a plane would be a more alarming situation though.

9/11 has had lasting repercussions, unfortunately.

And you have a Putin avatar. You like to troll, don't you? :)
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Figures the TSA wouldn't even be able to get the shoe thing right:

From the TSA webpage:
untitled.JPG

The TSA inconsistency is ironically the reason SEATC airport shat the bed last month, because they had to fly them in batches, to Georgia, to be trained to do minimum wage work. At taxpayer's expense.
 
He told his uncle about the chicken dinner they were served and the moment when he got to stand up and ask the secretary general a question about the Islamic State, he said. But the conversation seemed troubling to a nearby passenger, who told the crew she overheard him making “potentially threatening comments,” the airline said in a statement.

The situation is horrible, but this reminded me of that scene from the Dictator. I can just imagine it on this flight.

What he said: "I was able to ask the secretary general a question about ISIS!"

What this passenger heard: *unintelligible unintelligible ISIS.*
 

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
The TSA inconsistency is ironically the reason SEATC airport shat the bed last month, because they had to fly them in batches, to Georgia, to be trained to do minimum wage work. At taxpayer's expense.

That's why Sea-Tac was so bad? Explains a lot.

Aside: This is why I shave before I fly now. :-/
 

linsivvi

Member
Kind of feel like there's more to the story if even the Arab flight attendant got cross with the passenger. And yes the woman was wrong, but why are we ignoring that he was in fact talking about Islamic State?

Yes there's more to the story that's not written in the article, that the woman is a completely racist and Southwest is a shitty airline.

BTW, why are you talking about the Islamic State on a forum? We should not ignore that either. You should be investigated too.
 

jmood88

Member
This one's a skoch more justifiable? Not for the blatant racism that got him flagged, but he did have connections to politically active Iraqi nationals.
So you're saying that the woman did a background check on him to make sure she wasn't just being an ignorant piece of shit?
 

RBH

Member
I wish there was more pressure put on these airlines to confront the accusers in these situations instead of just immediately removing the accused from the plane. It only empowers these racist idiots who think that they can get away with accusing someone else of being "suspicious" just because they look different or speak a different language. It sets a bad precedent that has been getting more and more common place in recent months, and I'm sick of it.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I'm really surprised at the people in this thread saying they get it (and I understand many of them are lamenting that they get it)

It's a language. Spoken by hundreds of millions of people. And you associate it with bad news.....??????????? Guys it's honestly weird.

"Every time I hear French I'm worried they'll make me a crepe." <---- That's what this is like.
 
Southwest is just the company name of an airline. There are many reasons to avoid Southwest that have nothing to do with this story.

I'd like to know these reasons also. I fly Southwest often, and have yet to have any problems.

As far as this story, it infuriates me. It's way past time to start holding some of these people accountable for their false accusations.
 
i understand the comments i'm reading and i'm concerned..
but let's look at it from the other side of the coin..
there are issue with terrorism? yes..
a random (stupid) joe sees someone from middle east speaking in arab, he cannot understand what's going on, the only thing he can do is one of the following:

1) be a bigot (like the passenger did)
2) be oblivious to everything
3) pray that it's only your pessimism projecting an unrealistic scenario in your mind..

I'm not saying that the passenger did the right thing, far from it, but as it stands now, from a purely practical point of view the terrorism is winning, in making us concerned towards other individual that have not done us any harm and in most case (in pretty much 99,999999999999% or add even some more :) ) are not going to do us any harm.. but they are fearful (stupid, bigot, but ultimately simply fearful) and will try to weasel out of a (unbelievably low chance) problematic situation...

this is depressing because this won't harm the western citizen (i mean, statistically speaking the sheer number of dead due to terrorist attack is so minuscule compared to potential target, that if you were to be a cinic it would be negligible numerically speaking.. being instead a rational human being, even one innocent death is always one death too many), but will only increase the "distance" between western culture and middle-eastern citizen in general that will not be able to continue the (hard and slow) path to a real integration in the western community (and i mean a "civil" integration, not a religious one.. for all i care, if you're a decent human being, you can even be a pastafarian worshipper of the spaghetti god, and i won't be fazed.. what you choose to believe is up to you)...
 
Yep.

It's always bizarre when I come across posts/quotes/someone saying "They worship their God whose name is Allah" or "The Muslim God is called Allah." and such people don't realize they're saying 'God the God'

Same deal with the Sahara Desert. Essentially I'm hearing 'Desert The Desert'.

The west can be so kooky sometimes.
I forgot my PIN number so now I can't use the ATM Machine. RIP in peace, me.
 

pgtl_10

Member
My students say inshallah all the time, as well as walla, yalla, and shaku. So of course now I say those words all the time as well. I hope to use them as much as possible this summer back in the US just to see the looks of confusion on peoples bigoted faces when they hear it and look around expecting Abdul Aziz and instead get my white pasty Jew ass.

I'm Palestinian with blue eyes. It's hilarious how I confound people.
 
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