CAIR Launches Lawsuit Against FBI for Illegally Blacklisting Pro-Palestine Activists
In a dramatic legal battle, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has launched a lawsuit against the FBI and top officials of several U.S. government agencies, accusing them of unlawfully blacklisting two Palestinian-American men due to their outspoken pro-Palestine activism.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the lawsuit highlights the cases of Osama Abu Irshaid and Mustafa Zeidan, both prominent figures within the Palestinian-American community. Abu Irshaid, the Executive Director of American Muslims for Palestine, was subjected to intense interrogation and had his phone seized by federal agents upon his return from a trip to Qatar in June—allegedly due to his vocal opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza. His phone has yet to be returned.
Meanwhile, Zeidan, who frequently travels to Jordan to visit his ailing mother, was shockingly barred from boarding a flight earlier this year, later learning that he had been placed on the no-fly list. Neither man has ever been charged with a violent crime, yet they find themselves ensnared in what CAIR argues is a discriminatory and racist abuse of power.
CAIR contends that the actions taken against Abu Irshaid and Zeidan are motivated by prejudice, not legitimate security concerns, and is challenging their blacklisting on constitutional grounds. The lawsuit not only targets the FBI but also implicates leaders from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, signaling a broad accusation of civil rights violations at the highest levels of government.
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