(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/10/2023) — On Wednesday, July 12, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will offer oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case Abdallah v. Mesa, No. 22-10686.
[NOTE: CAIR offers a guide for airline passengers who believe they have been targeted by racial or religious profiling or discrimination.]
Abdallah is a federal antidiscrimination lawsuit against Mesa Airlines on behalf of Issam Abdallah and Abderraouf Alkhawaldeh, who were kicked off a flight in 2019 because of the bigoted fears of a Mesa pilot.
SEE: Muslim men seek inquiry after being racially profiled on US Flight
MEDIA ADVISORY: The argument will take place on Wednesday, July 12, at 9 AM in the En Banc Courtroom at the John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building, 600 Camp Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130. The argument will also be live-streamed at a link available on the court’s website, here: https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/home
BACKGROUNDER:
Issam Abdallah and Abderrauof Alkhawaldeh, two respected leaders of the Dallas-Fort Worth area Muslim community, were subjected to racial discrimination while attempting to fly home to Texas after an international relief fundraiser in Alabama. The pilot assumed they were terrorists based on their “Arab, Mediterranean” race and refused to fly with them on board, telling security that she was “not flying this plane with a brother named Issam on it.”
Last year, United States District Judge Reed O’Connor granted summary judgment for Mesa. As CAIR explained in its Fifth Circuit brief, that was a mistake because a jury could find that Mesa violated federal law by racially discriminating against Abdallah and Alkhawaldeh.
SEE: CAIR BRIEF
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR Staff Attorney Hannah Mullen, 202-742-6420, hmullen@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com