LOS ANGELES – A UC Berkley student says he was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month after speaking Arabic on board.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Iraqi refugee, came to the United States in 2002 when his diplomat father was killed. 

Now a senior at UC Berkley, Makhzoomi was in Los Angeles attending a dinner at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, an event that was also attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

While on the plane, he called his uncle to tell him about the dinner and ended the phone call by saying “inshallah” — a common term used in Arabic that translates to “God willing.” 

But after he hung up, he noticed a female passenger eyeing him suspiciously. The passenger reported Makhzoomi, who was then removed from the flight and searched.

“The way they searched me and the dogs, the officers, people were watching me and the humiliation made me so afraid because it brought all of these memories back to me. I escaped Iraq because of the war, because of Saddam and what he did to my father,” 

The FBI questioned him because the passenger thought he had said “shahid,” which translates to martyr, instead of “inshallah.” They then informed him that Southwest would not fly him back to Oakland, even though he  was a Southwest premier rewards member. 

Although Southwest called Makhzoomi the following Monday to inform him that his status was clear to fly, the airline didn’t offer any apology.

“I don’t want money,” he said. “I don’t care about that. All I want is an apology.”

-ThinkProgress