US government sued over alleged discrimination against Palestinian Americans
Lawsuit relates to placement of one plaintiff on no-fly list and the seizure of an electronic device belonging to another complainant who organized anti-Israel protest
WASHINGTON — A Muslim advocacy group filed a lawsuit on Monday against the FBI and leaders of other US government agencies over what it called the discriminatory and racist placement of two Palestinian Americans on a watch list.
The lawsuit is related to the placement of one Palestinian American – Mustafa Zeidan – on the US government “no-fly list” and the seizure of an electronic device of another Palestinian American – Osama Abu Irshaid – while federal agents interrogated him about his organizing against Israel’s war against Hamas, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.
Irshaid, who is the executive director of an organization called American Muslims for Palestine, traveled to Qatar from the US in late May and returned in early June, according to the lawsuit, which alleged that he was forced to undergo extra screening and questioning while having his phone seized. The phone has not been returned, it added.
“CAIR is challenging the mistreatment of these Palestinian American activists on constitutional grounds,” the group said.
“Neither Dr. Abu Irshaid nor Mr. Zeidan have ever been charged or convicted of a violent crime,” added the lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit were the leaders of government agencies including the Homeland Security Department and the State Department. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zeidan lives in California and frequently visits his ailing mother in Jordan, the lawsuit said. He was not allowed to board a flight on his way to Jordan earlier this year and was told later by authorities that he was placed on the no-fly list.
The list was established in 2003 and is administered by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had no comment on the lawsuit specifically but a spokesperson said its Terrorist Screening Center does not list people based on race or religion or any free-speech activity.
Along with a major spike in antisemitism, human rights activists say there has been a rise of Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias, anti-Arab hate in the United States since the Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
