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A Delta Airlines plane parked at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on June 19, 2024 in Seattle, Washington.
CNN
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Delta employees His removal from his role on the airline’s social media channels came following backlash over some posts made from its official accounts. It is seen as anti-Palestinian.
In a statement shared with CNN on Friday, Delta Air Lines said the company “We have removed a comment posted in error on Wednesday X as it does not align with our values or our mission to connect the world.”
“The team member responsible for this post has been coached and will no longer support Delta’s social channels,” the airline said in a statement. “We apologize for this error.”
On Wednesday, X’s account reposted the photo. Two Delta Airlines flight attendants are seen wearing Palestinian flag pins on their uniforms. The original photo was posted by an unknown account.
“Since 2001, we have removed our shoes at all airports due to terrorist attacks on US territory. Now imagine boarding a Delta flight and seeing an employee flying with a Hamas badge. What would you do?” the post read, falsely equating the Palestinian flag with one flown by extremist groups.
Screenshots show Delta’s official account responding on Wednesday, writing, “I understand your sentiments and I am personally horrified. Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take lightly when our policies are not followed.” The post has since been deleted, and it is unclear which policies the post was referring to.
The response sparked immediate backlash from Delta employees and Palestinian and Muslim community leaders.
Azka Mahmoud, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Georgia chapter, where the airline is based, said in a statement that linking Palestinian national symbols with Hamas “erases the existence and legitimacy of the entire Palestinian state.”
“The Palestinian flag represents the statehood and national aspirations of more than seven million Palestinians,” she said. “It is clear that some groups wish to completely delegitimize the Palestinian flag, suppress any expression of a Palestinian presence, and prevent overt support for the rights of the Palestinian people.”
A Delta spokesman said the flight attendants pictured were following the airline’s current uniform guidelines and that the airline had reached out to offer assistance. The spokesman said the two flight attendants remain employed by the airline..
But Delta told CNN that starting Monday, it will only allow American flag pins on its flights, a change from previous policy that allowed pins representing countries and nationalities around the world, a spokesperson said.
Mahmood criticized the changes to the uniform policy, saying they “violate[Delta employees’]freedom of expression.”
“It is particularly concerning that this policy change comes in the wake of negative attention regarding Palestine, especially when flight attendants have previously been able to wear pins showing solidarity with Ukraine, for example, without issue,” she said. “Instead of bowing to pressure, Delta should uphold its employees’ right to freedom of speech and expression.”
On Thursday, a group of Delta employees seeking to unionize He posted an open letter They sent a letter to the company’s CEO, demanding that he publicly apologize for the post.
“For decades it has been common practice for flight attendants to wear pin badges reflecting their roots, and the strength of the diversity of our network airlines is celebrated as a reflection of the places and people we connect with around the world,” the group said. He said in the letter.
“Everyone should be able to freely express pride in and support for their heritage without encountering hostility or discrimination from employers or customers.”
Following the incident, civil rights activist and American Islamic scholar Omar Suleiman, who has around 8 million followers on the social media platform, called on his followers to boycott Delta Airlines.
In 2023, CAIR will The highest number of complaints CNN previously reported that the incident marked the highest level of anti-Muslim bigotry in the group’s 30-year history.
The civil rights group said nearly half of the complaints it received occurred in the last three months of the year. of Hamas attacks Israel on October 7. Mahmoud argues that this figure likely “underestimates the true scale of anti-Muslim activity in the United States” due to a lack of knowledge about how to report incidents and “simply acceptance” by some citizens.[ing] As part of American life
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that the group of Delta employees who posted an open letter to the airline’s CEO are not recognized as a labor union.
