A United Airlines pilot, Ibrahim R. Mossallam, was suspended over the shocking response that he posted online about the deadly Hamas attack of 7th October on innocent Israeli citizens. Mossallam posted the comment on 20th November. He referred to the terrorists as “brave people” and blamed the media for being “heavily politicised and skewed to show a non-occupying narrative of Palestine.”
A group known as ‘StopAntisemitism’ reacted to his comments and dubbed them as “abhorrent” and noted, “Ibrahim R Mossallam is a United Airlines pilot who stated on an October 7th Facebook post the massacre in Israel that left 1400 people dead, women raped, and babies burned alive was resistance by brave people.”
“How can Jewish passengers feel safe with this man flying their plane,” they questioned and tagged the official account of the airline.
Ibrahim R Mossallam is a United Airlines pilot who stated on an October 7th Facebook post the massacre in Israel that left 1400 people dead, women raped, and babies burned alive was "resistance by brave people".
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 20, 2023
This is abhorernt @united – how can Jewish passengers feel safe… pic.twitter.com/lD76WcvwqZ
The action on the pilot and his suspension from United Airlines flights has been confirmed by the airline. A spokesperson announced, “As of these moments, the pilot has been removed from service with continued payment of his salary,” the airline mentioned in a statement and added, “We are looking into the matter and his continued work at the company.” He was suspended from his position on the same day that his post became viral on social media.
Ibrahim R. Mossallam took to Facebook to show his appreciation for the brutality inflicted by Hamas. He wrote, “For all my friends here in FB land with questions/thoughts/assumptions/critique about what is transpiring in Palestine currently in response to the Zionist occupation, please work on expanding your media literacy. Know that mass media here in America is heavily politicized and skewed to show a non-occupying narrative of Palestine.”
He claimed, “This is a resistance by a brave people who have endured decades of occupation, oppression, humiliation, apartheid, and straight-up murder. This was not an unprovoked attack, but a response to this past years’ attacks by the Zionist regime. Don’t take my word, do your due diligence in acquiring your information. Here is a non-Palestinian site with the facts. The “current situation” tab has more accurate information than what’s on mass media,” and pasted a link to a website to conclude his alarming pro-Hamas rant.
Ibrahim R Mossallam and Islamist CAIR
The suspended pilot is one of the board of directors of the Islamist organisation the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) based in the United States.
Muslim American Society of New York congratulated him on being elected as board chairman in CAIR- New York and lauded him as “a longtime Muslim activist who is passionate about dawah (converting infidels to Islam).”
The group, which is accused of having ties with terrorist outfits including Hamas, called on the US government in January of this year to discontinue the use of the term “terrorist watchlist” since it is made up “almost entirely” of Arab and Muslim names.
CAIR had reportedly also taken offence at the display of the names of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists and scenes from the deadly 26/11 terror attack that were displayed on a mobile billboard truck in New Jersey. It condemned the transmission of the pictures from the horrific assaults as ‘messages of hate’ and called the vehicle’s movement ‘deliberate and well-coordinated.’
Ibrahim R. Mossallam isn’t the only pilot who was grounded for making antisemitic remarks on social media. First Officer Mostafa Ezzo posted, “Fuck you Israel. Burn in hell,” on Instagram after which Air Canada put him on a no-fly list. He even praised Adolf Hitler and was seen holding a placard with a figure throwing the Israeli flag in the dustbin with the caption “Keep the world clean” in a photograph.
