A United Airlines pilot was suspended over disturbing comments he posted online about the October 7 Hamas attacksuman. In the post, Ibrahim R Mossallam called the Hamas terrorists “brave people”.
Mossallam also said that “mass media is heavily politicized and skewed to show a non-occupying narrative of Palestine,” and added that the October 7 attack, where some claimed babies were burned alive, were not “unprovoked.” Mossallam went on to tell people to “expand their media literacy,” and urged them to do their “due diligence” while judging what Hamas did.
United Airlines later confirmed that Mossallam has been suspended by the company, according to New York Post. “This pilot has been removed from service, with pay, while we look into this matter,” a spokesperson told the outlet.
Screenshots of his post were shared by the groupStopAntisemitism on X. Posting his photo and a screengrab of the post, the group wrote, “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 with this man flying their plane?”
‘This is scary’
Many commented on the post, condemningMossallam, with one of them saying, “This is unacceptable @United. I am a Premier 1K customer and have flown on your airlines since I was on active duty in the Marines. No pilot should support terrorists and call them brave. Will this pilot take innocent lives to be brave?” “Looks like I don’t feel safe anymore flying United with guys like this. We’ll always have American Airlines,” one user wrote, while another said, “This is scary. I wouldn't want a pilot flying my plane who is a pro-Hamas supporter. Follow if you agree.”
{{/usCountry}}Many commented on the post, condemningMossallam, with one of them saying, “This is unacceptable @United. I am a Premier 1K customer and have flown on your airlines since I was on active duty in the Marines. No pilot should support terrorists and call them brave. Will this pilot take innocent lives to be brave?” “Looks like I don’t feel safe anymore flying United with guys like this. We’ll always have American Airlines,” one user wrote, while another said, “This is scary. I wouldn't want a pilot flying my plane who is a pro-Hamas supporter. Follow if you agree.”
{{/usCountry}}“@united please ensure that your Jewish passengers are safe with this pilot,” one user wrote, while one said, “Not only jewish passengers, ALL passengers will feel unsafe travelling with him at 30,000 feet”. “OMG this is frightening. Not flying @united so long as this is one of their pilots,” one user wrote.