The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order last week, effective January 26, 2021, requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 for all international air passengers arriving from a foreign country to the US. Under this order, nearly all travelers aged two or older including US citizens must show a negative viral test within three days of departure or documentation of recovery from COVID-19. The CDC will consider waivers of testing requirements for passengers coming from countries with little or no testing capacity, including certain places in the Caribbean.
Read moreNew York Times: “US Limits Devices for Passengers on Foreign Airlines From Eight Countries”
The US government has barred passengers on foreign airlines headed to the United States from ten airports in eight majority-Muslim countries from carrying “personal electronic devices (PEDs) larger than a cell phone or smart phone” under a new flight restriction enacted by the Trump administration. Claiming that “intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items,” the new policy states that items including laptop computers, tablets, cameras, travel printers, and games bigger than a phone must be placed in checked baggage and are not permitted in the cabin. As to the definition of “larger than a cell phone,” DHS explains: “The size and shape of smart phones varies by brand. Smartphones are commonly available around the world and their size is well understood by most passengers who fly internationally. Please check with your airline if you are not sure whether your smartphone is impacted.”
Read moreNY Times: “Inshallah Is Good for Everyone”
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a college student at UC Berkeley and a refugee from Iraq, was about to take off on a flight from Los Angeles to Oakland when he called his uncle to tell him about a dinner event he attended the previous evening featuring U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. As he spoke to his uncle in Arabic, he noticed one passenger staring at him, and after Makhzoomi hung up, he was escorted off the plane and questioned by the airline and FBI about "threatening comments,” according to a statement by Southwest Airlines.
Although Southwest Airline’s statement claimed that Makhzoomi was removed for the “content of the passenger’s conversation” and not his language choice, Makhzoomi believes it was a clear case of discrimination and Islamaphobia. What did he say before the passenger alerted the airline? Apart from telling his uncle about the event, where he was able to ask the secretary-general a question about defeating ISIS, he explained, he signed off with the Arabic expression “inshallah,” which translates as “God willing.”
Wajahat Ali, author of the play The Domestic Crusaders and creative director of Affinis Labs, a hub for social entrepreneurship and innovation, elucidates the meaning of “inshallah” and its general use for Arabic speakers, calling it the “hallmark of the Arabic vernacular.” He writes:
Inshallah is the Arabic version of “fuggedaboudit.” It’s similar to how the British use the word “brilliant” to both praise and passive-aggressively deride everything and everyone. It transports both the speaker and the listener to a fantastical place where promises, dreams and realistic goals are replaced by delusional hope and earnest yearning.
Examples of how “inshallah” is used in conversation:
If you are a parent, you can employ inshallah to either defer or subtly crush the desires of young children.
Boy: “Father, will we go to Toys ‘R’ Us later today?”
Father: “Yes. Inshallah.”
Translation: “There is no way we’re going to Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m exhausted. Play with the neighbor’s toys. Here, play with this staple remover. That’s fun, isn’t it?”
Ali summarizes, tongue-in-check, that “inshallah is used in Muslim-majority communities to escape introspection, hard work and strategic planning and instead outsource such responsibilities to an omnipotent being, who somehow, at some time, will intervene and fix our collective problems.”
In recent months, those problems have included numerous incidents of alleged discrimination against Arabic speakers and “Muslim-looking” peoples including Sikhs while flying or attempting to board airplanes. Earlier this year, three Muslims and a Sikh filed a lawsuit after being removed from a flight because the captain of the airplane did not feel comfortable with them as passengers. In November, two men were nearly prevented from boarding a Southwest flight because a few passengers heard them speaking Arabic and were afraid to fly with them. While there are many more similiar incidents, perhaps there is a silver lining in this latest one, Ali writes: “Opportunity is often born from absurdities. I believe this latest episode is actually a great moment to bring the versatile and glorious term inshallah into the vocabulary of more Americans.”