Controversy comes after United refuses to say if pilot who praised October 7th terror onslaught was fired.
By World Israel News Staff
United Airlines defended its flight attendants wearing PLO pins and Keffiyeh lanyards on their uniforms, claiming they were simply expressing “pride,” which apparently is protected within the airlines’ dress code for staff.
In a post that went viral on social media platform X, StopAntisemitism publicized photographs, taken by a concerned passenger, of multiple United staff wearing pro-Palestinian symbols during a flight.
“Pride”
Really @united ?? https://t.co/4p9LyB96T7
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 27, 2024
US airline employees displaying Palestinian flags and keffiyehs while on duty,” StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez told the New York Post.
“There are no flights to Palestine. Political stances belong off the clock,” she added.
“Airlines must ensure that passengers aren’t confronted with divisive symbols in what should be a neutral space.”
But United Airlines brushed off the criticism, releasing a statement that claimed they “allow flight attendants to wear flag pins that represent their pride in a place to which they may have a special connection.”
Blogger Live and Let’s Fly responded by asking if United allows “Taiwan pins on flights to Mainland China? Nazi Germany or Apartheid South Africa pins? The Confederate rebel battle flag pins?”
“There’s a real concern with front line airline employees voicing political positions and aiming those at passengers,” responded Gary Leff on the blog View from the Wing.
“The issue is asymmetric speech. Airline employees exercise power over passengers – power over whether they’ll board and fly, or whether they’ll be considered ‘disruptive’ for expressing their own contrary opinions. And bringing politics into the cabin is already enough of a problem with passengers.”
On October 7th, United pilot Ibrahim R. Mossallam praised the terror onslaught on Facebook, categorizing acts of brutality – include the murder of babies, mass rape, and the kidnapping of elderly people – as being “resistance by brave people.”
After public backlash, United said it had suspended Mossallam.
Notably, when media outlets questioned Mossallam’s employment status at the company several months later, United refused to state whether the pilot had been reinstated.
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