American Airlines found itself at the center of controversy turned viral online following a confrontation between flight attendants and a Jewish passenger on a flight from Miami last week, which ended only after police intervention.
The incident began when the passenger noticed a watermelon-shaped pin on a flight attendant's uniform and accused her of supporting terrorism and antisemitism due to the watermelon’s use as a symbol for pro-Palestinian support. He started recording the interaction, which angered the flight attendants, who claimed it was illegal to film them without permission.
According to U.S. aviation regulations, unauthorized filming of flight crew during work is prohibited. However, American Airlines policy also forbids wearing unauthorized pins that are not part of the official uniform or have not been pre-approved.
Flight attendants may wear approved pins representing freedom of expression on religion, nationality, pride, women’s rights and minority rights, as long as they adhere to size and placement guidelines.
The watermelon symbol has become associated with pro-Palestinian movements due to its historical, cultural and visual connections to the Palestinian cause. The colors of the watermelon — green, red, black and white — match the Palestinian flag.
In the 1980s, when Israel restricted the use of Palestinian national symbols, including the flag, the watermelon became an indirect way to express national solidarity. Thus, the watermelon pin in this case violated airline policies.
Despite the attendants’ protests, the passenger continued recording, accusing them of antisemitism and claiming they were targeting him because he was Jewish. The attendants demanded he delete the footage and threatened to prevent him from disembarking if he refused.
The passenger insisted on his right to keep the recording. After one attendant claimed he pushed her and raised his hand against her, police were called to the scene.
The confrontation then escalated further. “You’re supporting terrorism by wearing the pin and making us uncomfortable because we’re Jewish,” the passenger said. “Why are you stopping me? Because I’m Jewish?” The attendants responded, “We didn’t even know you were Jewish,” but the passenger persisted, accusing them of antisemitism.
One of the attendants warned the passenger that he was “harassing the crew.” The passenger countered, claiming she was harassing him by blocking him from leaving the plane: “Who are you? Move out of the way.”
The attendant responded, “Who are you to touch me?” The passenger replied, “This is ridiculous.” The attendant retorted, “You’re ridiculous! You’re not allowed to record,” and turned to her colleague, saying, “He touched me.”
Only when police arrived was the passenger allowed to exit the plane and was escorted back to the terminal. He refused to delete the footage and later uploaded it online. “They both locked me down and won’t let me leave the plane till I deleted the video,” he wrote.
“Which I obviously didn't and I asked for the police to come and assist,” he added. “Once officers came they told them I didn’t break any laws and they are the ones breaking the law by holding me on the plane for stupidity and they still refused to let me go so the officers got really upset and took me off the plane.”
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Tagging the airline in his post, the passenger added: “It was very upsetting to be treated like a criminal.”
“We want every customer who flies with us to have a positive travel experience. A member of our team has reached out to the customer to learn more about their experience,” American Airlines said in response to Ynet’s inquiry.