Claim: A viral X (formerly Twitter) post shows two cabin crew members from Delta Air Lines wearing “Hamas badges” on board.
Fact: Delta staff members wore pins of the Palestinian flag;they were not wearing “Hamas badges”. In a Tweet apologising for the incident, Delta Air Lines validated the user’s accusations.
On 11 July 2024, X user @iliketeslas shared a screenshot of another X post, carrying the images of two cabin crew members on board Delta Air Lines. Both staff members are seen wearing “Hamas badges” on their uniform, according to the user’s claim.
The screenshot is accompanied with the caption, “Since 2001 we take our shoes off in every airport because a terrorist attack in US soil. Now imagine getting into a
@Delta flight and seeing workers with Hamas badges in the air. What do you do?”
Since 2001 we take our shoes off in every airport because a terrorist attack in US soil. Now imagine getting into a @Delta flight and seeing workers with Hamas badges in the air. What do you do ? pic.twitter.com/xBbQllq2SM
— i like teslas (@iliketeslas) July 10, 2024
The post refers to the heightened security measures at US borders and airports following the 9/11 attack. In the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza, which began on 7 October 2023, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim sentiments have surged (archive). In a similar vein, the X post in question appears to liken a display of solidarity with Palestine to solidarity with ‘terrorists’.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check initially found that the user’s post prompted a response from the airline itself.
In a now-deleted response, Delta Air Lines replied, “I hear you and I’d be terrified as well, personally. Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take it lightly when our policy is not being followed.” At the time, the airline did not correct the user’s wrongful association of Hamas with Palestine, and added that the matter was being “investigated” already.
from: https://x.com/CAIRNational/status/1811172255541633110/photo/1
However, Soch Fact Check inspected the image of the cabin crew members closely and confirmed that the staff members are wearing a pin of the Palestinian flag, as evidenced by the comparative image featured below:
On the contrary, the flag of Hamas contains the Arabic script of the first kalma [Islamic scripture that translates to ‘There is none worthy of worship except God (Allah); Muhammad is the messenger of God’] written against a green background.
Additionally, there is also an emblem/logo of Hamas (pictured below):
The crew members’ pins are not of the flag nor emblem of Hamas.
Users, activists and civil rights organisations on X called out Delta Air Lines’ response for its “anti-Palestinian racism” and for validating a false claim. Consequently, the airlines’ response was deleted due to backlash.
Moreover, on 11 July, the airline apologised for its response in an X post (archived), and stated, “On Wednesday, we removed a reply that was not in line with our values. We strive for an environment of inclusivity & respect for all, in our communities & our planes. The employee responsible no longer supports Delta’s social channels. We apologise for this hurtful post.”
On Wednesday, we removed a reply that was not in line with our values. We strive for an environment of inclusivity & respect for all, in our communities & our planes. The employee responsible no longer supports Delta’s social channels. We apologize for this hurtful post.
— Delta (@Delta) July 11, 2024
On 13 July, however, Delta adopted a new policy barring flight attendants from wearing pins that represent any country or nationality except the United States.
Virality
While the X users post gained 185.3k views, calls against Delta Air Lines were greater, and even prompted calls to #Boycottdelta. The false claim was shared on Facebook here, here, here and here. Many of these posts shared the false claim about “Hamas badges” despite being linked to articles that clarify the wrongful attribution.
Conclusion: Two Delta Air Lines’ flight attendants did not wear Hamas badges on their uniform. They wore pins of the Palestinian flag, a fact that was later confirmed by the airline on their official X account.