So I recently read this article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/student-speaking-arabic-removed-southwest-airlines-plane.html

of which the tl;dr version is that some woman heard a guy speaking Arabic on a plane and reported the guy to the authorities and they removed him from the flight. I feel personally that these incidents seem to be happening more often, but that might be just me. In light of the politics we've seen this year in the US, it seems a little unnerving. Is Islamaphobia an increasing problem?

It's a problem. But I heard that someone on the plane understood Arabic and claimed that the person was saying threatening things.

It is super easy to jump to an irrational inclusion. Do you honestly believe a man would be removed from a flight simply for speaking his native tongue? Like Alpheus said, the only way he would have actually been removed was if he was saying threating things, regardless of the language used. The media loves to leave out things like this and hate monger for a good story.

To say things like this don't actually happen would be inaccurate, but more often than not, IMO, their is more to the story.

the only way he would have actually been removed was if he was saying threating things, regardless of the language used. The media loves to leave out things like this and hate monger for a good story.

Or would they?

Don't get me wrong, it's a good story for them without it, but with it you get a 'see! we told you! he said <x>!' justification too which plays in to people's view points.

If the story is 'man speaks Arabic; woman gets freaked out; he is removed' it makes people look like dicks.
If the story is 'man speaks Arabic; someone who under stands it hears threatening things; he is removed' then you can bang the 'Islam is clearly bad! look at what this man said!' drum all you like.

The 'media leave it out' thing is a cop out frankly... as is "well, I heard that someone on the plane..." - citation or it is just hearsay and you are no better than the rumour and fear mongers of the press.

News stories are interesting things.

Normally headlines are designed to grab your attention and get you to read the story. In these days of analytics and view-based revenue, they'll say whatever they can to get you to click the link.

A common example that has been suggested for decades is to think about news articles written about your own field. News reporters are not in that field, unless the news report happens to be about the news media itself.

Whatever the field an individual is in, when they see a news story about their chosen industry most people can realize that the news stories had problems, missed details, or even completely missed the point. Yet when discussing something not in their field, most people consider news stories as true.

Also remember the nature of news is not to publish the commonplace and everyday events. If something is commonplace it is NOT reported.

Is there some Islamaphobia? Yes, some. Is it running rampant? No, most people are level headed. There are always idiots out there doing stupid things, but they are the exception to the rule which makes them newsworthy.

the only way he would have actually been removed was if he was saying threating things, regardless of the language used. The media loves to leave out things like this and hate monger for a good story.

Or would they?

Don't get me wrong, it's a good story for them without it, but with it you get a 'see! we told you! he said <x>!' justification too which plays in to people's view points.

If the story is 'man speaks Arabic; woman gets freaked out; he is removed' it makes people look like dicks.
If the story is 'man speaks Arabic; someone who under stands it hears threatening things; he is removed' then you can bang the 'Islam is clearly bad! look at what this man said!' drum all you like.

The 'media leave it out' thing is a cop out frankly... as is "well, I heard that someone on the plane..." - citation or it is just hearsay and you are no better than the rumour and fear mongers of the press.

Oh jeez, we could dive really deep into media bias if you want to. It is not hear-say, nor is it a cop out, it is reality. If I started going through it with you a flame war would start so I will refrain, but don't kid yourself.

But I heard that someone on the plane understood Arabic and claimed that the person was saying threatening things.

Those words are all indications that a source is needed. I'm not saying it isn't true, but when you say "I heard that someone".... well some research is in order.

As for islamophobia, It's definitely happening.

http://www.kmov.com/story/31286882/news-4-investigates-muslim-family-allegedly-threatened-by-south-county-man

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/18/woman-sentenced-for-threatening-muslim-couple

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/25/461046585/rural-wyoming-towns-first-mosque-sparks-anti-muslim-rhetoric?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/22/us-british-citizens-holiday-muslim-families

http://5newsonline.com/2015/12/21/muslim-couple-speaks-out-escorted-from-mall/

(this one also has +1 "ignoring white people conducting terrorism")

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/20/tip-leads-bomb-squad-to-man-suspected-of-making-bombs-in-richmond-home-to-harm-muslims/

Also, people are morons

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2015/12/new-polling-data-30-of-republicans-support-bombing-agrabah-the-fictional-city-from-aladdin/

But I heard that someone on the plane understood Arabic and claimed that the person was saying threatening things.

Those words are all indications that a source is needed. I'm not saying it isn't true, but when you say "I heard that someone".... well some research is in order.

As for islamophobia, It's definitely happening.

http://www.kmov.com/story/31286882/news-4-investigates-muslim-family-allegedly-threatened-by-south-county-man

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/18/woman-sentenced-for-threatening-muslim-couple

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/25/461046585/rural-wyoming-towns-first-mosque-sparks-anti-muslim-rhetoric?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/22/us-british-citizens-holiday-muslim-families

http://5newsonline.com/2015/12/21/muslim-couple-speaks-out-escorted-from-mall/

(this one also has +1 "ignoring white people conducting terrorism")

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/20/tip-leads-bomb-squad-to-man-suspected-of-making-bombs-in-richmond-home-to-harm-muslims/

Also, people are morons

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2015/12/new-polling-data-30-of-republicans-support-bombing-agrabah-the-fictional-city-from-aladdin/

PublicPolicyPolling ?@ppppolls

What kills me is so many Christians seem perfectly happen attacking Muslim's freedom of religion. If they actually want to give power to the government to discriminate based on religion then surely the day will come when, as our society continues to move away from God, that same power is used against them.

So I recently read this article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/student-speaking-arabic-removed-southwest-airlines-plane.html

of which the tl;dr version is that some woman heard a guy speaking Arabic on a plane and reported the guy to the authorities and they removed him from the flight. I feel personally that these incidents seem to be happening more often, but that might be just me. In light of the politics we've seen this year in the US, it seems a little unnerving. Is Islamaphobia an increasing problem?

Yes. Even without the politics that have been fanning/exploiting Islamophobia it would be a problem. As to whether or not it's happening more often lately I can't say; it could easily be the case that it's just getting more prominent press stories lately. The same thing happened with airplane crashes when that flight vanished a few years ago.

It's a problem. But I heard that someone on the plane understood Arabic and claimed that the person was saying threatening things.

From what I read, he said "ISIS" and "inshallah". That's perhaps marginally more suspicious than Arabic alone, but it seems like a stretch to me that the eavesdropping passenger heard and understood an articulated threat against the flight and/or its passengers. Unless man that was removed is telling a very detailed and easily falsifiable lie, the passenger that reported him 1. didn't hear a whole lot of what the man said and 2. almost certainly reacted to hearing a man speak Arabic say two isolated words that he or she associates with terrorism. Understanding Arabic would seem to make the panic worse, not better, because he or she had the ability to gather more than zero context.

Also, is selective quote ever coming back?