The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed an apology from Delta Air Lines for a now deleted anti-Palestinian tweet agreeing with the false claim that a Palestinian flag pin worn by a flight attendant was a “Hamas badge.”
CAIR yesterday called on the airline to apologize.
In a statement, Delta said: “Delta removed a mistakenly posted comment on X Tuesday because it was not in line with our values and our mission to connect the world…The team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels…We apologize for this error.”
SEE: Delta apologizes for posts criticizing flight attendants wearing Palestinian flag pins – Star Tribune
“We welcome this apology and hope it sends a message to those who continue to dehumanize the Palestinian people as they face genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced starvation imposed by the far-right Israeli government, and enabled by the Biden administration,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
CAIR’s Georgia chapter also welcomed the apology:
“CAIR-Georgia welcomes Delta’s statement about and removal of the offensive tweet that affirmed some anti-Palestinian posts on X. We also welcome the Delta spokesperson’s clarification on the employment status of the flight attendants whose photos were circulated online and are pleased to see that the extremist intimidation did not result in their termination.”
“As the Georgia chapter of CAIR, we are happy to offer cultural competency training to all Delta employees so that employees do not equate support for any country with terrorism or make disturbing statements like the one that Delta was forced to delete.”
Earlier today, CAIR supported a call by more than 60 media and civil society organizations – coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists – demanding that Israel to give journalists independent access to Gaza.
CAIR’s support for media access to Gaza came as The Guardian reports that Israel is using munitions designed to maximize casualties, resulting in the massive number of deaths women and children. Israel has slaughtered almost 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. Other estimates put the total death toll at 186,000.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected], Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected], 678-653-5822
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