(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) United Airlines removed a pilot from service after he posted on Facebook in support of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
On the day of the attack, pilot Ibrahim R Mossallam posted to his Facebook describing the violent massacre as a “resistance by brave people,” according to Breitbart.
“This is a resistance by a brave people who have endured decades of occupation, oppression, humiliation, apartheid, and straight up murder,” he said in the post. “This was not an unprovoked attack, but a response to this past years attacks by the Zionist regime.”
He argued that the United States media skewed the story in favor of “non-occupying narrative of Palestine” and called upon his social-media friends to perform their “due diligence” by visiting the website for If Americans Knew.
The group StopAntisemitism shared a picture of the post, catching the attention of the airline, which quickly started an investigation into it and suspended Mossallam with pay.
UPDATE: @united has removed this pilot from service while they investigate his atrocious social media post promoting Hamas terrorists. https://t.co/EgZI9Yg737
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 21, 2023
In addition to his career as an airline pilot, Mossallam is acting vice president on the board for of the Council on American–Islamic Relations in New York.
The United Arab Emirates dubbed CAIR a terrorist organization, and federal prosecutors have recognized the group as a conspirator with Hamas, which provides them with funding and information.
Both CAIR and Mossallam have made or endorsed other extremist statements that might give many passengers pause to board a plane knowing the speaker was in the cockpit.
The news of the pilot’s affiliations went viral, causing many concerned United customers to chime in.
“@united I’ve been flying with you exclusively for the past 15 years. I’m a MileagePlus member,” said one Twitter user. “I am NEVER getting on another United flight until this pilot is fired! I do not feel safe flying with you anymore. Waiting for your reply.”
@united I’ve been flying with you exclusively for the past 15 years. I’m a MileagePlus member.
I am NEVER getting on another United flight until this pilot is fired!
I do not feel safe flying with you anymore.
Waiting for your reply.— Mor Hogeg (@SHMSBS7) November 20, 2023
“Looks like I don’t feel safe anymore flying United with guys like this,” another user commented. “We’ll always have American Airlines.”
Looks like I don’t feel safe anymore flying United with guys like this.
We’ll always have American Airlines.
— Daniel S. Levi 🇦🇷 (@danielslevi) November 20, 2023
Air Canada fired pilot Mostafa Ezzo after he posted pro-Hamas messages on his social media, including pictures of himself in his uniform wearing a Palestinian flag and politically vitriolic signs decrying Israel.
“We are aware of the unacceptable posts made by an Air Canada pilot. We are taking this matter very seriously, and he was taken out of service on Mon, Oct. 9,” Air Canada posted on Twitter. “We firmly denounce violence in all forms.”