Mehdi Hasan is a key “Islamophobia” propagandist; he has many times propagated the idea that Muslims are subjected to routine discrimination and harassment in the U.S. What a coincidence that his wife would become a victim of “Islamophobia”!
This kind of coincidence has happened before. In 2016, Rashid Dar of the Qatar-funded Brookings Institution claimed that he was punched in the throat by a random man on a Washington, DC street because he was wearing Muslim garb. And last February, “Islamophobia” professor Khaled Beydoun claimed to have been the victim of an “Islamophobic” attack by a Delta captain.
How amazing that of all the many, many people wearing Muslim garb on the street in Washington, the one that this lout decided to punch was an “Islamophobia” propagandist. And what a coincidence that of all the multitudes of Muslims who fly on airplanes every day, many while wearing Muslim garb, that the one that Delta captain decided to manhandle was a professor of “Islamophobia,” and that the hijabi this Southwest flight attended decided to hassle was Mehdi Hasan’s wife.
There is no doubt that flying on Southwest can be deeply unpleasant. The lack of reserved seating makes for all the predictable problems: people cutting ahead of others in line, people berating others for cutting ahead of them in line, and the like. It is not at all hard to believe that Mehdi Hasan’s wife had a bad experience. The idea that it was because she was “brown and wearing a headscarf,” however, is just more victimhood propaganda, and is frankly preposterous. No flight attendant would dare behave in such a way today, or keep her job for a moment if she did so.
Nonetheless, people will believe Mehdi Hasan. And there will be a new round of handwringing about “Islamophobia” in the establishment media, and new calls for the silencing of all voices critical of jihad mass murder and Sharia oppression of women and others.
“Flightmare: Southwest Airlines cabin crew ‘threatens to kick Muslim mum off flight after she asks to sit with family,’” by Qin Xie, The Sun, December 5, 2019:
A MUM was left in tears when she was told that she’ll be “escorted off the plane” – all allegedly because she wanted to sit with her family.
The nightmare incident took place on a Southwest Airlines flight between Houston and Washington DC, and was shared online by her husband.
Mehdi Hasan, a British journalist who’s based in the US, explained that he and his family were flying home after Thanksgiving on Sunday night and had just boarded the flight.
Southwest Airlines, a low-cost airline, operates an open-seating policy.
It means there are no allocated seats, and passengers can sit in any available seat on a first come, first served basis.
Mehdi explained how his wife had asked another passenger “politely” to switch seats so the family could sit together before the exchange took place.
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He wrote in a viral Twitter thread: “Hey @SouthwestAir: not a good look for your flight attendant on SW5539 to DC last night to loudly tell a brown woman in a headscarf she’ll be “escorted off the plane” for making people feel “uncomfortable” – because she wanted to sit with her husband & kids!
“The flight attendant called ground staff onto the plane, complained about the Muslim woman – my wife! – to them, & escalated rather than de-escalated the situation – simply because my wife politely asked a guy if he’d give up his seat for our family (which he was fine with!).”
Mehdi added that even the cabin crew’s colleague had sided with the family.
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He said: “Even her own @SouthwestAir colleague from the ground staff who came onboard to check things wondered why the flight attendant wouldn’t shut up & let things go so we could take off.”
The family also received support from other passengers, including one who told them the cabin crew had treated Mrs Hasan “like a venomous snake” according to Mehdi.
The Brit continued in his Twitter thread: “Thanks @SouthwestAir for ruining the end of our Thanksgiving trip and leaving my wife in tears – because she wanted us all to sit together as a family while your flight attendant wanted to single her out and humiliate her. Thanks a lot.
“FYI: @SouthwestAir flight staff seem to have form when it comes to mistreating brown/Muslim passengers. Hadn’t flown with them for years and, at this point, don’t plan to do so again anytime in the near future. Not worth it.”
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Mehdi’s tweets received thousands of retweets, with many offering messages of support....
A spokesperson for the airline told Sun Online Travel: “Once we learned about the Customer’s social media message, we began to research the flight and gather information internally.
“We also reached out to the Customer directly to discuss his Family’s experience prior to departure.
“From our initial discussions, we understand that some Passengers on Flight 5539 were involved in a disagreement over seat selection near the end of boarding. (Southwest does not assign seats; Customers select their seats as they board the aircraft.)
“The Flight Crew requested a Customer Service Supervisor come onboard to help address the situation and the conversation was resolved before the plane left the gate.
“The Family was (sic) able to sit together and the flight arrived safely in Washington, D.C. on Sunday night. We remain in communication with the Customer who sent the tweet and are working to address his concerns directly.”...
