A photo circulating online alleges an American Airlines flight attendant was wearing a keffiyeh in uniform to show support for Palestinian resistance. The bigger issue is power: crew members control whether you fly and whether you get labeled disruptive. Political signaling from the people in charge of the cabin is a problem. It’s also against airline rules.
This was reportedly on American Airlines 2692 from New York LaGuardia to Miami. In the photo, a man is standing in the aisle wearing a red-and-white checkered scarf with tassels draped over his shoulders:
So a good friend just took off on an @AmericanAir flight.
This is his flight attendant.
Not normal. Not ok.
But a sign of the times.
How is this allowed?! pic.twitter.com/1YXupSgRhS
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) January 30, 2026
This is reportedly a flight attendant, who has authority over passengers – including Jewish passengers. Some in social media thinks this is great, and are thrilled that Jewish passengers are subjected to this. There are numerous antisemitic insults hurled in the comments of this post on Twitter.
- Here’s the version of the company’s flight attendant uniform standards that were issued when the current uniforms came out.
- Flight attendants break company policy all the time. We saw Let’s Go Brandon pins a few years ago. From time to time the airline will crack down on violations.
There’s a real concern with front line airline employees voicing political positions and aiming those at passengers. The issue is asymmetric speech. Airline employees exercise power over passengers – power over whether they’ll board and fly, or whether they’ll be considered “disruptive” for expressing their own contrary opinions. And bringing politics into the cabin is already enough of a problem with passengers doing it.
When Democrats were in power, United supported a flight attendant wearing a Palestine flag pin, absurdly claiming it was to indicate language skills. The flight attendant wasn’t from Gaza or the West Bank, and does not speak ‘Palestinian’. They were also confused, wearing both a LBGTQ+ rights pin alongside the Palestinian flag, not ralizing that these rights are respected in Tel Aviv but not in Gaza.
Then, once United began wanting things from the Trump administration, they began restricting flight attendant pins to the American flag.
What next, Gary, flight attendants wearing the kippah? Sikhs with kirpan?? Red hats??? *gasp*
30,000 plus Iranians have been slaughtered by their Muslim overlords in Iran. All those who virtue signal in support of the Palestinians are amazingly silent. I Wonder why?
I’m in agreement with the Poster (It is NOT OK) and with Gary (The Flight Crew does hold asymmetric power over the passengers). About the only resolution that I see would be to raise the issue with AA Corporate, and hope that they put a stop to it.
@David — I’m feeling hawkish. Have those carriers made it to the Persian Gulf yet? Light ‘em up!
To the best of my knowledge the red kafeya are worn by Jordanian tribes and nationals and the grey ones are the ones worn by Palestinians and their supporters
All the airlines have been slack post Covid about uniforms. What gets me is its called a UNIFORM. When I get on a Delta flight (Diamond here), I see one FA in the newest purple uniform, one in black pants and black top, another in the previous uniform (gray) and you just get a whole array of wearables. I find it sloppy and shows no one is paying attention. As for American, I’ll stay with Delta. I dont need that on my flight. Their politics should not be thrown to everyone on the flight and to many, its offensive b/c of what is stands for. Every airline needs more ‘inspectors’ to see if the cabins are clean (prior to letting people on), crew looks sharp, etc. And while I’m at it, both AA and DL have some very tired interiors. I know Delta is updating but I’ve yet to be on a new interior. I fly a lot of the 757 and the screens are so old they are a tarnished yellow, half the tray tables are broken and their 737 no better (and can you imagine thier 50 year old 767s for an international flight?!? Spend money, airlines, in your product.
That’s a No Go item What happened to standards? He’s also fat and sloppy.
And if he was Jewish and wearing a yamaka? We have no idea if this is part of his religion and thus protected expression. Did he treat anyone differently? That would be the issue. I’m not a fan of MAGA hats, but anyone can wear one if they leave me alone.
I’d threaten to boycott AA over this but I already do becasue they are such a crappy airline!
What’s a protester to do?????
Fake.
No employee should express, display or demonstrate political views while on the job.
The only non-airline pins should be those that indicate that they are FLUUENT in another language.
If they want to express their views go to Facebook , X or Instagram and do it on YOUR OWN TIME.
@Gene – it is not fake. I wish it was, believe me…
Bad times in America all around.
Airlines need their products to appeal to the widest possible number of potential customers.
Allowing anything that could drive customers away is bad for business. AA will either deal with this or it will regret failing to deal with it.
If I were the Captain he would have been replaced.
@Dude26 — Right… this is the WoRsT thing in America… in 2026… (@Gene, please note my sarcasm.)
Gary, not a god damn thing is respected in Tel Aviv. Not truth, not rights, not life, not anything.
@tomri when businesses police social media they eliminate people’s “OWN TIME” so that argument is the most head in the sand rejection of reality i have ever seen. Keep businesses from firing people over their posts on their “OWN TIME” and maybe people will keep their opinions there.
@MGHOW consolidation means they do not care. You want to fly LAX to BNC at X time? Guess youre flying the carrier thats flying that route.
Fat and sloppy is pretty much what you get now. Standards were relaxed and the company is too cowardly to enforce them. We just went through the call me this ‘pronoun’ name tag. Passengers need to be called out as well for inappropriate attire.
Clearly it was a shock for an Israeli to learn that in the US today, black people and Muslims are not second-class citizens.
The problem is not fat and sloppy. And the shawl is not a religious garb like a yarmulke. Gary is right and pointing out that we shouldn’t tolerate asymmetric political messages like this. Someone should write to AA about it.
I am thinking as Mosques in essence in the US are functioning as extra-governmental agencies of Islam and promoting none-assimilation into Western Christian much less Western Judeo-Christian Cultures, or even our Western Heritage and Culture of Democracy as opposed to Sharia Law which yes they do promote. There should be no new Mosques in the US. Scenes like this on American Airlines need to absolutely be stamped out and are an absolute insult to everyone at American Airlines employee who was murdered on 9/11.
This guy is insulting the United States, American Airlines, our passengers, our people, every military person that has died and what ever ethnic heritage he is because obviously it’s not us he is proud of. Perhaps this guy is just particularly not bright, wants a payout or disrespects his profession so much that he just is begging to be fired.
This is a Jordanian hattah (a symbol of Jordanian national pride), not a Palestinian keffiyeh (which is black and white). Not even sure how this article gets published without this basic fact-checking.
This looks more like a Saudi Ghutrah and not a Palestinian Keffiyeh – wrong color, wrong pattern. So not the political statement the headline makes it out to be. But probably still not in line with uniform standards.. How strong should uniform rules be? And why not research what a Keffiyeh looks like before getting upset over it and posting it?
This is why I fly SE Asian Flagged Carriers. Singapore Air is my favorite. Thai is second. North American flagged carriers are the worst.
Some people are excusing it as Jordanian, or comparing it to religious garb. This is not religious, at the very least it’s tribal- like fan colors, but in today’s climate you can’t be ignorant about the political implications. That would be as tone deaf as waving a confederate flag and claiming it’s just because you love the south.
The ironic thing is that a lot of people don’t remember plane hijackings. In the 70s/80s/90s a lot of planes were hijacked by groups aligned with the palestinian cause.
I’m fine with it, just as long as they don’t wear those obnoxious crosses around their necks.
Really?..who cares. Are we supposed to get up in arms over every leftist idiot wearing an Iraqi scarf now? Didn’t he hear the “genocide” is over and all the action is in Iran…err, MN I mean? Tone deaf much?
That said, if you’re an employee, you wear a uniform. If the scarf isn’t part of it, don’t wear it (unless you’re cold…but AA cancelled all the flights to cold places already).
this flight attendant is simply not acting professional. Customer facing airline employees need to follow company policy
Whining about outfits. Who care.
Someone report him to ICE.
The moral outrage on here is pathetic. One can have the cross, the Star of David and other religious artifacts shoved in their faces and down their throats. But, Allah forbid someone don Islamic paraphernalia.
That is just a bridge too far. Because, of course, no other religion but Islam has ever killed in the name of their religious leader. Not a one. At least that’s what some folks on here would have you believe.
The keffiyeh is forbidden under the American Airlines dress code in which only company issued scarves are allowed. For many Palestinians, it symbolizes their yearning for freedom and serves a nod to their history. For non-Palestinians, it’s a show of solidarity with Palestine & its peoples. Thus the keffiyeh is not just a fashionable “scarf” but a visual statement of the wearer’s political & ideological views. It is my personal opinion that any item of clothing, jewelry, or other adornment representing a political/ideological/moral viewpoint should never be worn on any official uniform whether military or corporate. American Airlines was negligent in regard to their own rules in not insisting the keffiyeh be removed.
On a side note, as a recent airline passenger to the Middle East & a Caucasian, non-Muslim, U.S. citizen, I wore a keffiyeh to show my support for Palestine & human rights (read: NOT Anti-Semitism). Until ALL passengers are banned from wearing any visible religious and/or political adornments, I will continue to do so & exercise my freedom of expression.
Which religion requires wearing the Hamas rape towel? Not only is this not analogous to wearing actual Jewish (or Muslim) religious items, it’s particularly inappropriate to wear the symbol of a movement whose highest virtue is airplane hijacking while working for an airline.
@Ron Mexico — Now you’re making me wanna rewatch Escape from Entebbe (the original); horrible real-life incident, great made-for-TV-film. Israeli special forces got them all out. Wild. I believe Bibi’s brother died in the rescue. Seemed like he was the better son.
“He didn’t even speak Palestinian?” Is that like the equivalent of telling someone you don’t speak Mexican?
And WTF do you know you know whether or not he speaks Arabic? You don’t.
The Keffiyeh is work by both Arabic Muslims and Arabic Christians- so you don’t know and wouldn’t be able to derive his religion from wearing it or not. And you don’t know what his cultural background is, whether he speaks only English or multiple languages.
This is virtual signaling and pearl clutching. It’s annoying at best and a symptom of the social rot of an unnecessary triggered white population.
As a member of the white population, I sincerely say this: worry about you and your own and less about what other people are doing. You’ll be happier for it.
Your article reeks of ignorance.
Take every thought and emotion out your assessment. Is the article of clothing part of the uniform? No. The purser should enforce uniform standards. If the employee does not comply, the purser can refer to employees relations for further action needed.
Have not seen so many extraordinarily xenophobic and racist posts in a long time. But, not surprising responses to a click-bait story not worthy of an otherwise informative travel blog.
Equivalent to posting pix of a FA wearing a veil, haube, hijab, kufi, dastar, or kippah, and screaming: this offends my faith and should not be allowed!
Can you possibly cover travel without stirring up hatred?
Please.
These people support actual terrorists. People that murdered actual civilians in Israel.
Remember that next time they cry about radical leftists that attack federal agents and get what’s coming to them.
@Bob Not Bob
“Have not seen so many extraordinarily xenophobic and racist posts in a long time”
You must not see many of my posts.
ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form
Sorry, Lets Go Brandon doesn’t support a terrorist organization. I would not be comfortable on that flight.
Hopefully since his photo was published he will be doxxed and AA will take action. Forget any freedom of expression, religion, etc you libs want to dream up. Companies have every right to set uniform standards. He broke them so should be disciplined. Probably a DEI hire.
@Walter Barry
Perhaps you could report this known antisemitic terrorist to ICE:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/us/bovino-jewish-prosecutor-minnesota.html
As a retired AA F/A, management made a big mistake when they authorized the wearing of any pin other than our wings, name plate, an AFA pin or ALPA pin. That is more than enough to wear and look professional while in uniform and doing our jobs. Any other pins are superfluous and are simply trying to buy gratis.
Since uniform standards are always stated and many times ignored, it would be nice to see supervisors at the gates, loading bridge area, not in the gate area and doing uniform inspections.
Ok yeah politics aside I support bro in wearing the thing around his neck and who cares why is everyone not liking him you all are disrespectful to him and its not nice
A red keffiya is not automatically a political statement. Lots of Arabs wear red and other keffiyas for tribal, cultural and sometimes political reasons. Would you ban a French attendant from wearing a scarf because culturally some still do?
Magats are the whinest people in history. All they do is find something to be offended about, find something to claim victimized their delicate feelings and cry endlessly about.
The scarf does not comply with uniform standards. Period.
“Western Judeo-Christian Cultures” – not a thing
all religion is horse – s; The US was founded explicitly to not discriminate over religion. Keep religion out of government and what you “think” the US should be.
Plus, look around bud. That ship has sailed.
Kefiyah a nod to Palestinian history?
The kefiyah was adopted by Yassar Arafat (an Egyptian by birth, as were his parents) after 1967. It originates in Iraq where it was worn by both Arab and Iraqi Jews until, the entire Iraqi Jewish community was ethnically cleansed from Iraq post 48.