Delta apologizes for tweet about Palestinian employee badges

Delta Airlines issued an apology on Thursday after the company’s X account wrote that the airline would also be “terrified” in response to a user who incorrectly said that two flight attendants with Palestinian flag pins were wearing ” Hamas badges.”

A user on X with the handle posted two images of Delta Airlines employees wearing Palestinian flags on Tuesday, describing them as “Hamas emblems” and referencing 9/11.

According to a screenshot of the deleted post, Delta’s X account responded: “I would be scared too, personally. Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take it lightly when our policy is not being followed.”

A Delta spokesperson on Thursday told The Hill that the response was deleted “because it was not in line with our values ​​and our mission to connect the world.”

“The team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels,” the spokesperson added. “We apologize for this error.”

The post drew online scrutinyincluding the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organization, which called the airline’s post “racist” and an example of “anti-Palestinian racism” on Wednesday.

CAIR said the deleted tweet was problematic because it agreed with “the false claim that a Palestinian flag pin won by a flight attendant was a ‘Hamas pin'”.

The Palestinian flag consists of three horizontal stripes colored in black, white and green, next to a red triangle on its left side. Hamas, a Palestinian militant and U.S.-designated terrorist group, flies a green flag that features the Shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith, according to theInternational Counter-Terrorism Institute.

Delta will change its badge awarding policy starting July 15, a company spokesperson told The Hill.

From then on, only US flags will be allowed to be used on uniforms,” the spokesperson said. “Previously, badges representing countries/nationalities of the world were permitted.”

“We are proud of our diverse employee and customer base and the foundation of our brand, which is connecting the world and delivering a premium experience. We are taking this step to help ensure a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment for everyone,” they added.

The incident marks the latest example of tensions spilling over from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, where more than 38,000 people have been killed since early October, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead.

The number of deaths in the war and the exhaustion of the humanitarian situation provoked protests outside the Middle East, including on American university campuses, which led to the arrest of hundreds of student protesters.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story