Hundreds of people have pledged to boycott United Airlines after a Muslim passenger alleged discrimination due to Islamophobia over an unopened can of Diet Coke onboard the American airliner. Tahera Ahmad’s Facebook post over the “clear” discrimination went almost immediately went viral on Saturday.
The Muslim chaplain at Chicago’s Northwestern University was onboard a flight this weekend when she was denied an unopened can of soda and was told “we are unauthorised to give unopened cans to people, because they may use it as a WEAPON on the plane.
“I am sitting on a United airlines flight in the air 30,000 ft above and I am in tears of humiliation from discrimination... #IslamophobiaISREAL,” she posted.
Ahmad did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but Muslim activists took to social media to call the alleged incident an “inexcusable” act of bigotry as other social media users said they would boycott United Airlines based on what they interpreted as open discrimination.
Ms. Ahmad told the Chicago Sun-Times that she received an apology from the flight attendant on behalf of herself and the other passenger, saying that the United employee had “acknowledged it was unethical and said he never should have said anything”.
