A United Airlines captain has been grounded after an inflammatory post that appeared to praise the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel went viral on social media. Like the Qatar Airways issue earlier today, I find myself taking a more nuanced approach to the matter.
United Airlines Captain Suspended After Grotesque Antisemitic Social Media Post
On October 7, 2023, just hours after the Hamas attack against Israel, United Airlines Captain Ibrahim Mossallam posted the following message on Facebook:
For all my friends here in FB land with Questions / Thoughts / Assumptions / Critique about whats [sic] 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. 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.
Wow, so the murder of civilians, including children, was simply “a resistance by brave people” and Israel is not a country but simply a “Zionist occupation?”
Yesterday, a Twitter (X) account under the name StopAntisemitism exposed his remarks:
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".
This is abhorernt @united – how can Jewish passengers feel safe… pic.twitter.com/lD76WcvwqZ
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 20, 2023
There is a long history of antisemitic remarks from Mossallam as well as remarks that were hostile to the state of Israel.
United has suspended, with pay, the Newark-based 757-767 pilot:
“This pilot has been removed from service, with pay, while we look into this matter.”
Many on social media have vowed never to fly United again unless the pilot is permanently sacked and compared him to Gameel Al-Batouti, who is believed to have deliberately crashed Egypt Air 990 off the coast of Nantucket in 1999 (as the plane rapidly descended, Al-Batouti repeated 11 times, “Tawkalt ala Allah” [“I entrust myself unto God”]).
An Easy Case For United But A Difficult Dilemma For All Of Us…
United Airlines has a vague social media policy for employees, but it is safe to say that this particular post likely runs afoul of it.
“We work to promote a safe and inclusive environment. It’s valuable to bring together people from different backgrounds who express different views, but we need to pay attention to our words and how they may impact our diverse population of employees and customers. It’s not okay to say (or post) things that are offensive or racially charged…
“And where social media is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether your post is public or within a closed group – nothing on the internet is truly private or anonymous. Use common sense and good judgment, and if you have any doubt about whether or not what you’re saying or posting may be offensive, you probably want to avoid it…
“We’re committed to maintaining a workplace free from offensive or harassing statements, language and actions. It’s never okay to criticize others on the basis of race, gender, age or any other protected category. This includes conduct within the workplace, as well as outside of the workplace and on social media. We take this very seriously. Employees who violate this policy may be subject to discipline up to and including termination.”
> Read More: United Airlines Warns Employees Over Social Media Use
Mossallam certainly has the First Amendment right to criticize Israel or the US government, but words do have consequences when it comes to private employment.
Live And Let’s Fly has reached out to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for comment and has not heard back.
Here’s the difficult part of this. I find Mossallam’s viewpoint absolutely vile. And indeed, I don’t want to fly with him and if I ever found myself on an aircraft he was piloting, I would call out his intolerance and bigotry.
And yet, I have a hunch that most non-European pilots operating in the Middle East and Turkey feel exactly the same as Mossallam. Look at how the thuggish Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has all but adopted the same language as Mossallam. You think pilots in Turkey, the Gulf, and the Levant think any differently?
Will all the people saying that they will not fly United because they feel unsafe with this particular pilot no longer fly Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Royal Air Jordanian, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Emirates, and other carriers with pilots who may also agree that Israel does not have a right to exist or that the Hamas attacks were justified?
I’m not prepared to say that Mossallam is a bad pilot. Instead, I will simply condemn his words and hope that he will one day see how repugnant and frankly barbaric his viewpoint is.
CONCLUSION
United has suspended a Muslim pilot who posted a vile antisemitic rant praising the Hamas attack on Israel. While I condemn his vile opinion, I’ll stop short of saying that he is unfit to fly. However, he may never wear a United uniform again if his postings are found to run afoul of United’s rather strict (though vague) social media policy.
United has been put in a really difficult position with this guy. While I imagine his career is over in the U.S. he will, if fired, most likely get a significant settlement. As well probably get hired in no time by one of the ME carriers. I guess in our system it sometimes pays to be a lunatic.
What settlement would he get? He violated the social media policy. I got the popcorn ready for all the keyboard warriors start going off about 1st ammendment. Doesn’t apply here and in 99% of situations, just ask good ole Elon now that all his advertisers are leaving…
In the end the policy is vague. It does not state specifically that an opinion regarding a conflict (despite the fact we know it to be barbaric as to Hamas’s attack) is at the heart of their message as to termination. There could be valid arguments on both sides. The end result, and you know it to be true, they will just come to a settlement agreement to get rid of it and out of the press any further than the damage that’s already done.
Indeed, it does pay to a lunatic in the US… we may get one as President if Mr. Trump is re-elected.
I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU.
I cannot believe you have the AUDACITY to have a NUANCED view on ANYTHING.
What an EMBARRASSMENT, bringing SHAME and DISHONOR to yourself, family, and profession.
(For the uninitiated, reflexive twerps, yes this is 100% sarcasm)
I will never fly an airline and spend my money in a company which support Israel’s destruction and killings of Jewish. That is a Red line! The pilot needs to be fired! No tolerance here!
There is no way that I or anyone else should fly in an aircraft piloted by an obviously deranged individual. United Airlines should be reprimanded and fined for hiring him – there is no place in the world for his sick kind.
I find his opinion absolutely reprehensible, but would you step on the aircraft of an Emirates or Gulf Air or Oman Air pilot who held the same opinion? Would you ask?
First of all most of ME carriers pilots are not muslim
secondly views on jews are much more positive in bahrain, emirates than in the usa
I know there are many expats hired, but there are locals hired as well and this was the basis of my question. On what basis do you make your claim about the views towards Jews in Bahrain, UAE, etc?
The general public working in the GCC countries are generally more favorably inclined toward Palestinians’ grievances than they are to Israelis’ grievances. And for the ruling powers in the GCC states, they tend to be exploitative and transactional-oriented: “what is in it for me now and especially in the future” when it comes to their views of Israel.
And about anti-semitism in the GCC states, I would say it’s not less prevalent in the mentality of people in the GCC countries than it is in the US, Canada and Europe. But you know the state of “freedom of expression” in the GCC countries has implications for what is tolerated in the open and what is merely undercover.
The unspoken (by most) issue is the correlation, unlike most other religions and ideology, between extremism and the willingness to sacrifice one’s own life (and perhaps those of “infidel” passengers) in exchange for glory on the other side. While I am certainly not suggesting that he is a terrorist nor do I know enough about him to make broad assumptions, I also don’t consider those genuinely concerned to be paranoid. While most other religions have extreme sects, Islam is unique among its similarly-sized peers to have ultra-believers view suicide attacks as a holy path to eternal glory. Orthodox Jews don’t often blow themselves up. Nor do born-again or evangelical Christians. Nor do Buddhists. Nor do Sikhs. Nor do Hindus.
It’s a long-winded way of saying that it’s not unreasonable to think that crashing a plane full of Americans, particularly between EWR-TLV, could be the playbook of someone who posted that.
Looks like Mohammad Atta’s son. This is what diversity hires get you.
Wow you actually said something sensible for once. Are you really the raving leftist weirdo Billy Bob or just someone using the name?
Abe was is not a “diversity” hire. I flew with him extensively in jets years ago. He is a highly skilled pilot who earned his position. While I do not agree with his post whatsoever, I will defend his professional accomplishment.
I completely disagree with his ideas but I also completely disagree with this cancel culture.
His ideas as not fringe and do not present him to be mentally unfit to be a pilot.
As you note, these are common views in some parts of the world and even common among many Americans.
Silencing “reprehensible” views only exacerbates polarization and radicalization.
If you’re Pro-choice, are you going to refuse to fly with a pilot who is pro-life? or vice versa?
If you’re a Democrat, are you going to be upset that your pilot voted for Trump?
This doesn’t end well.
I wouldn’t feel comfortable flying with him. He publicly supports terrorism. Also, I am assuming he is a Muslim (though he may not be), and we all know what can happen when angry young Muslim men get in the pilot’s seat.
I would be more worried about your fellow xenophobic travelers having access to guns, drugs (including alcohol) and automobiles in America. Nothing like rage in America coming from the “good old boys” crowd — you know like those clowns who keep talking up the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.
Awe wow. Topical. How can I be xenophobic if I’m an avid international traveler?
Trump traveled to a lot of countries and had sexual relations with lots of foreign women and yet he is a xenophobe. Next thing you will try to tell me that it’s not been possible to be racist against “black” people while living in sub-Saharan Africa. But then what do you make of all those South African apartheid regime supporters who lived or live in South Africa?
You’re all over the map there pal. You really need to organize your thoughts better. It’s like reading a college student complain on twitter. Also you started with a false premise: Trump is not xenophobic. So, why should we bother with a conclusion when your premise is false?
It’s not a “conspiracy theory” it’s and easily verified fact. One only needs to look at demographic changes.
Not shocking you’re taking the side of islamic radical
I am sure that MEAs are acutely aware of the damage to their image and trust by the flying public if one of their pilots should voice or, more horrifically, act due to their hatred towards the West and the State of Israel. Then, you would have to look at banning all MEAs to avoid a repeat of 9/11. You could imagine a Jihadi airline pilot crashing their plane full of passengers into any suitable target.
Perhaps 10/7/23 marks a moment when some of the world realized that this is not just someone “venting,” but Antisemitism is a deeply ingrained racial hatred virus that has mutated for centuries. And the current denial of the crimes of 10/7/23 is no different from Holocaust Denial.
Israel is an occupying force. According to international law, all actions taken by the Palestinians to free themselves from an illegal occupation and enslavement are appropriate, legal, and legitimate. The Palestinians are literally slaves. Most Israelis are either active duty, reserve, or discharged from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF). A heavy majority of Israelis support the actions of the IOF. The Israelis before October murdered thousands of Palestinians each year yet no one in the West complains. When the pro freedom anti slavery Palestinian forces kill a few hundred mostly soldiers, the West goes berserk.
Israel is a terrorist state. Israel is a globalist state. Israelis created and control globalism. Whites, Christians, and Conservatives should wake up to the fact that the Israelis are globalists and not ones we should be defending, protecting, bowing down to, and funding. All the problems in the West are directly attributed to the actions of the globalists from lgbt in schools to speech control to dangerous groups in our cities. They even owned 85% of the slave ships that brought the problems here yet we get blamed.
This pilot is right to stand behind Palestinians. He shouldn’t have been a pilot for obvious reasons in the West but not because he opposes the enslavement and genocide of the Palestinian people. He should be a pilot in Palestine and MENA.
“Israel is an occupying force.”
If you mean in certain West Bank settlements, then sure, but if you mean the state of Israel has no right to exist then I simply dismiss anything else as the ravings of an antisemitic partisan.
Quite a few people in Gaza were driven from their land or homes in Israel without compensation. There’s little or no talk about compensation. Many people in the West Bank have lived there for a long time. A 2 state arrangement would be more fair for the West Bank resident than the Gaza resident.
If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth: Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister.
All the above statements are literally lies. No historical or factual basis.
Please document.
There is a pro-Israel website that has a FAQ.
QUOTE:
MYTH
“One million Palestinians were expelled by Israel from 1947-49.”
FACT
The Palestinians left their homes in 1947-49 for a variety of reasons. Thousands of wealthy Arabs left in anticipation of a war, thousands more responded to Arab leaders’ calls to get out of the way of the advancing armies, a handful were expelled, but most simply fled to avoid being caught in the cross fire of a battle.
Many Arabs claim that 800,000 to 1,000,000 Palestinians became refugees in 1947-49. The last census was taken by the British in 1945. It found approximately 1.2 million permanent Arab residents in all of Palestine. A 1949 Government of Israel census counted 160,000 Arabs living in the country after the war. In 1947, a total of 809,100 Arabs lived in the same area.1 This meant no more than 650,000 Palestinian Arabs could have become refugees.
END OF QUOTE
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-and-facts-the-refugees
So, I take that as Israelis do admit Arabs were driven out or fled but not a million, just 650,000.
There was no compensation. This is not to say that Hamas hostage taking is justified.
PLEASE DO NOT ACCUSE ME OF BEING A NAZI.
Except HAMAS and the corrupt PA no palistenian wants to live in an arab country
Do you think they would rather live in western israel or arab syria, yemen, lebanon, libya?
Egypt and Jordan refuse Gaza refugees
What he said was reprehensible and I’m saddened at the rampant antisemitism in the US. I would condemn ANY group, country or religion that carried out this type of massacre; there is no justification for this level of brutality.
I used to work for United, there policies regarding talking to the media were made very clear during new hire orientation. The short version-talk to the media, without permission from senior management, you were terminated. They made it very clear and unambiguous.
He may be terminated, but it will be interesting to see if ALPA backs him and tries to get him back to flying again. Then there might be the FBI or other agencies that might weigh in.
Posting on Social Media your opinions is not talking to the media. It’s no different than his standing on a street corner on his days off and speaking. I’m not defending him. I’m simply saying this is entirely different. The fact that any media chose to cover it does not make it a “speaking to the media” event.
Wow white Americans are super dramatic and biased on this issue. I don’t see his comments simply mean Israel should not be a state as you interpret…. Are you Jewish? Why are you so biased on this issue? Do you justify what Israel has been doing to Palestinean people? I am not Jewish or Muslim but I find Israeli attitude quite problematic. Even the UN condemns Israel. How can the entire America do not see any issues with Israel. And for what is worth, understanding Palestine doesn’t mean supporting Hamas eothwr
I understand the Palestinian grievances going back decades. I grieve for the loss of civilians in Gaza, though I hold Hamas primarily responsible for them. If you whitewash the Hamas attack on 07 Oct as “resistance by a brave people” as this captain does, then you are willfully blind and part of the problem. Spare me your “white American” bulls**t as if we are too stupid to see the situation or all think alike.
You got sympathy for dead israelies, which I have too, but nothing for multiple orders higher number of dead Palestinians, is pretty racist.
That’s quite an assumption and an incorrect one. I weep for the civilians who have died as a result of Hamas’s unprovoked attack in Israel or using their own people as human shields.
Hamas isn’t going to build a building like the Pentagon because it would be blown up immediately. Of course, they are going to build command centers underground and dispersed.
Both sides are highly aggressive and don’t compromise. Each side has different tactics, with varying degrees of savagery. Each side points out they are right but that determination is far from easy or clear cut.
Would anyone here want an employee alienating the customers? Of course not.
Once an employee is identified in this way, you must release them. Whilst I believe in free speech we all need remember how we are paid. And in this way he will collect a comfortable going away package from United. And he can fork it over to Hamas as he believes in so very much. Somebody wake me when that happens.
It’s a slippery slope. That’s why I am empathetic to UA’s situation. While a lawsuit might be argued either way (he did not threaten or technically espouse hate language directly) the likelihood is that his firing would result in a settlement to get rid of the entire thing. The reality is, where do we cross the line on a citizen’s right to express their opinions on a conflict? While people may correlate the idea that he is anti-semitic because he supports Hamas, that is not directly stated. His position could be argued as nothing more than support for Palestine in what he considers an ongoing conflict. So where does it end? If Trump gets elected (god forbid) is the next step that employees can be fired for speaking out against his policies on social media? Would we tolerate the owner of a business who supports Hamas firing an employee because he spoke out against atrocities committed by Israel? Calling that employee anti-Muslim?”
In some ways I really wish that would become a lawsuit and move up the chain of court hearings. It would be fascinating to see how it is judged in relation to 1st amendment rights. My feeling is that no matter what we think about this pilot he is still within his rights to express an opinion on a conflict. And that firing him is putting UA into an expensive and long lawsuit with a lot of press. However, settling with him opens the door for other employees to see opportunity to push the boundaries on their personal opinions.
@stuart.
I suspect it will be a go away money settlement with a NDA. As UA did not have a clear policy at the time, there may be other prior incidents ( with other employees and their issues) that would complicate a trial. That is probably what United would wish to avoid. But who knows? As the Chinese curse (?) suggests, may we live in interesting times. Just kill me now.
Very small thing but ALPA is the Air Line Pilots Assoc. The Allied Pilots Assoc is APA, which represents AA.
IOW it’s not Islamophobia if they’re really out to get you.
And quite a few of them – surely not all – really are.
Replied to another reply. The site is confusing…
I don’t mean to make it confusing – which comment did you intend to reply to?
Intelligent operators know that there is a counterterrorism/coubterinsurgency math to consider in taking out a criminal enemy: if the anti-militancy actions undertaken create more enemies than they eliminate, they are a recipe for disaster.
The Israeli government’s overkill actions in the name of eliminating Hamas this time around don’t seem to be a strategic success in terms of the counterterrorism/counterinsurgency math. And even if going for an ethnic cleansing objective, that’s going to increase the long term strategic threat to Israel in a world where WMD proliferation isn’t going to be a declining threat anytime soon.
I have enjoyed this blog over the years, but after your response, Matthew Flint, I can no longer support you or anything you do. I work with an Israeli Family Office in Berlin, Germany. When they are appalled by their government’s actions, then it’s clear anyone who takes any criticism of Israel so strongly is, at best, missing the point and, at worst, brainwashed.
I am a US citizen, and I often speak out against US government policies, but that does not make me anti-American. As a black American, White Americans were equally outraged and horrified when some black Americans expressed the same sentiments as United Airlines Captain Ibrahim Mossallam during 9/11. When you’ve been beaten, oppressed, murdered, or pushed to the margins, the sentiment isn’t always going to be sympathy. That’s SOME black Americans. Now add to that the Israeli government prevents Palestinians from collecting rainwater, cuts off their electricity whenever they want, travel freely, NOTHING, and you’re surprised certain people have sympathy for their plight?
Where was your outrage about the thousands of civilians killed in Gaza during this operation? Hospitals are being targeted. International doctors have confirmed Hamas was not operating there, and the Israeli government has now explained they built the bunkers decades ago under certain hospitals. If you are going to condemn Hamas for October 7, which you should, then where is your outrage for October 8? October 9? October 10? October 11? October 12? October 13? Until November 21.
Israel has every right to exist and protect their borders. Period. Indiscriminately bombing areas that cause the deaths of women and children? Unjustificable. Period. Are you going to put cities on your no-visit list? The hundreds of thousands who protested in London, Berlin, Paris, etc? You’ve confused anti-Zionist with Anti-Semitic.
I am pro-Israel and am disgusted by antisemitism and racism in general. And it is also because of my concern for Israel and wanting Israel to be the best Israel it can be that I criticize the overkill actions of the Netanyahu regime and the other dehumanizing actions of the government as they are a dark mark on a country that should be a beacon of light amidst darkness and yet has shown how pain, anger and fear can unleash a monster from within those who should know and behave better as state actors in a position of responsibility and privileged leadership positions.
The potential blacklisting of this UA cockpit crew member probably won’t be the only blacklisting to happen in the aviation and travel worlds that arise in the aftermath of the chaos sparked by Hamas’s brutality this fall. We will probably also eventually see additional blacklisting of those who serve in positions of responsibility for the Israeli government and IDF as war crimes, crimes against humanity and international
humanitarian law drive forward additional blacklisting and prosecutorial pushes.
Netanyahu and Israel’s response to 10/7 may indeed be excessive, putting too many innocent people in harm’s way and in the grave.
But radical Islamic terrorism is an ideological disease that’s plagued the world for too long. Join the civilized world or
eat shit.