A United passenger says he was ordered to change a T-shirt reading “Bombing kids is not self-defense” before boarding.
Apassenger traveling on a recent United flight says he was asked to change out of his t-shirt. Sam Saadeh, who is of Palestinian descent, was flying on June 4 from Atlanta to Newark wearing a t-shirt with the message: “Bombing kids is not self-defense.” A flight attendant found the clothing to be offensive, and he nearly got kicked off the flight, he alleged.
Saadeh told CBS News that a supervisor pulled him aside after boarding and told him to change. “He was like, ‘Hey, the flight attendant finds your shirt offensive,’ and I was like, ‘Why?’” Saadeh said. Confused by the remark, he was given two options: change his shirt, or he would not be allowed to fly.
The passenger chose not to escalate the situation and changed out of his t-shirt. But even after landing, airline staff could not explain why the shirt was considered offensive. “Do you think kids shouldn’t be bombed, or kids should be bombed? Like, what are you offended by?” he asked an airline employee after landing.
The message may be related to the bombing and killing of children in Gaza. A U.N. report recently stated that Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children, including after the ceasefire, and killed more than 20,000 while injuring more than 44,000. An independent inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide, allegations the country has repeatedly rejected following similar reports by Amnesty International and other scholars.
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A United spokesperson told CBS that the passenger flew as scheduled after changing his shirt. The matter may be over for the airline, but Saadeh is consulting lawyers and has filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation. “At the end of the day, this shirt, to me, is very clear that I think bombing kids is wrong … regardless if you’re Palestinian or if you’re from Mobile, Alabama.”
Meanwhile, Wear the Peace, the nonprofit behind the shirt design, posted about the incident on Facebook, arguing that the word “bomb” was being used in context and that the shirt did not say, “I have a bomb.” “By that logic, someone couldn’t wear a TNT Wrestling shirt because it contains the word ‘TNT,’ or a shirt from the brand Killer Acid because it includes the word ‘Killer,’” it said.
The organization also said that one of its team members recently flew while wearing an Israeli Defense Forces shirt without any issues.
Dress Code
When passengers buy an airline ticket, they agree to the airline’s contract of carriage, which specifies that they can be removed from a flight for failing to comply with its code of conduct. Passengers cannot be intoxicated, have a strong body odor, travel barefoot, or have bare torsos.
Related: Do Airlines Have the Right to Dictate Dress Codes?
Additionally, airlines can penalize passengers for wearing offensive or inappropriate clothing. Because those rules are not specifically defined, the policy is open to interpretation. In the past, female passengers were often policed for their clothing choices, drawing criticism that airlines were slut-shaming women. More recently, political statements, particularly those related to support for Palestine, have become a source of controversy.
Last year, a man was detained at London’s Heathrow Airport for wearing a sweater featuring a map of Palestine, one of several incidents that drew media attention. It’s also not just passengers who have come under scrutiny for their clothing choices. Last year, a passenger on an American Airlines flight accused a flight attendant of being antisemitic for wearing a watermelon pin, a symbol of solidarity with Palestine.
In fact, several U.S. airlines have also banned employees from wearing pins with political messaging following altercations with passengers. United adopted the rule in 2024 after a social media backlash in which a passenger criticized flight attendants for wearing Palestine pins, which the passenger referred to as “Hamas badges.”
Related: JetBlue Bans Flight Crew From Wearing Political Statements