United Airlines has suspended a pilot after a Facebook post he put up calling the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians “a resistance by a brave people who have endured decades of occupation, oppression, humiliation, apartheid and straight-up murder.” In the post, Capt. Ibrahim R. Mossallam also accused U.S. media of bias toward Israel and urged his unknown number of followers to “work on expanding your media literacy.” The post went up on Oct. 7, the day Hamas members killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israeli settlements close to the border with Gaza.
Eventually Mossallam, who is also reportedly on the board of directors of the Council on American Islamic Relations, was identified as a United pilot and comments poured in from people who said they would never fly United again as long as there was a chance he was up front. “This pilot has been removed from service, with pay, while we look into this matter,” a spokesperson told The New York Post Monday. Air Canada FO Mostafa Ezzo was suspended in early October when he posted photos of himself in uniform draped in Palestinian colors and carrying signs with profane statements about Israel on Instagram.
