This situation is a tough one for any Captain to deal with. From what has been said so far it would appear that the F/A. sucked the Captain into a scene already gone bad. "TAN"
The statement above seems to arise out of an idiot reporters description of the events and misinterpreting the Captains report. The big problem wasn't his arabic history book, it was the fact he got out of his seat and appeared to LEAVE the plane, and left his belongings.This is a big red flag and any belongings left are fair game for a search.