Palestinian Americans say they were put on No Fly List because of Gaza war activism

Two Palestinian-American men say they were punished for their pro-Palestinian activism by being put onto the No Fly List.

Osama Abu Irshaid and Mustafa Zeidan, both naturalized U.S. citizens, filed a lawsuit Monday saying they had flown without issue until recently.

But when Mr. Abu Irshaid tried to fly to Qatar in May, he found he faced intrusive questions and pat-downs and had to be escorted onto the plane. On his return, he was greeted on the ground in the U.S. by agents who confiscated his phone and quizzed him about his activities as executive director of American Muslims for Palestine.

“Only one thing has changed for Dr. Abu Irshaid in recent months: his constant and passionate advocacy for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and an end to the United States’ complicity in that genocide,” the lawsuit says.

Mr. Zeidan, meanwhile, said in the court complaint that he was blocked altogether from boarding his March flight from Los Angeles to Jordan. When he submitted an official inquiry, the Transportation Security Administration said he was placed on the No Fly List as a possible “threat to civil aviation or national security.”

“Only one thing has changed in the last several months for Mr. Zeidan: he organizes a weekly protest to call for an end to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and the United States’ complicity in that genocide,” the lawsuit said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which filed the suit for the two men, said the cases challenge the operation of the No Fly List, which is part of the government’s security precautions for trying to prevent another 2001-style terrorist attack.

The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, asks the court to impose new limits on how people get listed and what sorts of treatment can follow from that listing.

The two men are also seeking to have their names expunged.

The lawsuit names Attorney General Merrick Garland and nearly 30 other officials, including multiple people at the Cabinet level of the Biden administration.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the complaint.

The new case is the latest in CAIR’s ongoing battle with the No Fly List.

In March the group won a major victory at the Supreme Court after the justices ruled that the FBI, which maintains the No Fly List, had been too secretive in refusing to answer questions about why a Muslim man, Yonas Fikre, had been listed.

The No Fly List is the government’s high-level terrorism watchlist.

The list has been shrouded in secrecy from its start after 9/11, and Muslim advocates in particular have been eager to pierce the veil, saying they believe the government has used unfair criteria to decide who gets on it.

CAIR, using a leaked version of the list, estimates that 98% of the people listed are Muslim.

This week’s complaint argues the government is using the list as punishment for people advocating against Israel’s ongoing retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza.

Mr. Abu Irshaid said he was on the No Fly List from 2010 to 2017, when he was removed. Each time he faced intrusive scrutiny and repeatedly had his electronic devices probed.

He contends in the lawsuit that he was placed back on the list earlier this year and that led to him getting searched.

On his return, he said federal agents questioned him about his “relationships overseas” including whether he had ties to two specific members of a designated terrorist organization. Mr. Abu Irshaid called those claims “baseless internet rumors propagated by bigots.”

He said he knew enough from previous encounters to carry a backup phone when he flies. Agents still confiscated the device on June 3. As of Monday, despite his entreaties, the government has yet to return it, the lawsuit says.

He also filed a formal request with the TSA about his listing. It has not been answered.

Mr. Irshaid said he faced similar treatment last week on another flight back from Jordan.