{"id":25097,"date":"2022-08-05T22:34:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T17:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=25097"},"modified":"2022-08-06T16:24:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T10:54:50","slug":"two-black-muslims-sue-alaska-airlines-after-removal-from-flight-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/05\/two-black-muslims-sue-alaska-airlines-after-removal-from-flight-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Two black Muslims sue Alaska Airlines after removal from flight | Exclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two men, both of whom are Black and Muslim, are suing Alaska Airlines for alleged racial discrimination and violations of their civil rights, telling them they have kicked off a flight in February 2020 over text messages in Arabic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abobakkr Dirar and Mohamed Elamin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Abubakar Dirar and Mohamed Elamin, both American citizens<\/a>, were heading out on a business trip together from Seattle to San Francisco when they were unjustly removed from their flight, according to their complaint against the airline in federal court Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alaska Airline|aviationa2z.com<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Travelers sitting next to Dirar in first class saw him texting in Arabic. The passenger, who didn\u2019t speak or read Arabic, was alarmed by the messages and complained to a flight attendant before exiting the plane, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That passenger\u2019s concerns led to a chain reaction of \u201cunjustified, unnecessary, and self-serving display of discriminatory security theater,\u201d the lawsuit alleged, even after it was clear the text messages were innocuous and neither man posed a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlaska Airlines<\/a> could have in that time chosen to not listen to a passenger\u2019s complaint, but they did,\u201d said Katie Walker, a spokesperson for the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is representing Dirar and Elamin. In a statement, Alaska Airlines told it could not share details on the incident because the case is pending litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaska Airlines strictly prohibits unlawful discrimination<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We take such complaints very seriously,\u201d the company told in a report Tuesday. \u201cOur greatest responsibility is to confirm that our flight operations are safe \u2014 every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dAdvocates told the incident reflects a pattern of xenophobia and Islamophobia that Muslim and Middle Eastern passengers experience while flying. In the years since 9\/11, some Muslim passengers have reported additional security screenings, racial profiling, and invasive religious questioning at airports and on flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alaska Airline | aviationa2z. com<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlying While Muslim has been for far-too-long a very real phenomenon,\u201d CAIR-WA Executive Director Imraan Siddiqi said in a statement. \u201cThis incident with Alaska Airlines is one of the most egregious examples of this happening in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dAfter receiving the complaint about Dirar\u2019s text messages from the passenger, an airline manager pulled both Dirar and Elamin off the plane, according to the lawsuit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No passenger complaint was raised against Elamin, but \u201che was also racially discriminated against through wrongful removal and exclusion from Flight 304\u201d because he looked and sounded like Dirar, the lawsuit alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n