Emirates, the UAE’s national carrier, has denied rumours that a Tunisian pilot has been suspended for refusing to fly to Israel, saying it has not suspended any of its pilots.

The Dubai-based company said in a tweet that “Emirates has never employed any pilot by this name and all reports circulating on social media around this are false.”

Emirates has never employed any pilot by this name and all reports circulating on social media around this are false.

— Emirates Airline (@emirates) January 13, 2021

CJ Werleman, an Australian journalist based in the United States and an anti-Islamophobia activist, claimed in a tweet on Wednesday that Emirates Airlines had allegedly fired a Tunisian pilot.

later he wrote, “I got duped into sharing a fake news story regarding an Emirates Airlines pilot, a story that first appeared on Quds News. I have since deleted the tweet.”

I got duped into sharing a fake news story regarding an Emirates Airlines pilot, a story that first appeared on Quds News. I have since deleted the tweet.

— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) January 14, 2021

The alleged pilot has been named as Moneem Saheb Tabaa. He has also confirmed his dismissal in a post on Facebook, but as soon as the story started being advertised on social media, his Facebook account was deactivated.

According to the Middle East Monitor, Monem Tabaa wrote in his post: “Today I have been suspended from my job as a pilot of Emirates Airlines. I refused to fly one of its planes to Tel Aviv. Allah is my guardian and I have no regrets.”

منعم الطابع طيار تونسي حر يُعاقب بوقفه عن العمل من قبل شركة طيران #الإمارات والذنب رفضه المشاركة برحلة لـ(تل أبيب).. رده كان باختصار " الله فقط من يرعاني ولست نادما" تحية لك من #فلسطين يابن #تونس الخضراء 🇹🇳🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/ELXd5taMqt

— Tamer Almisshal تامر المسحال (@TamerMisshal) January 13, 2021

Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a Palestinian media outlet, first reported the suspension of the alleged pilot, but without examining the facts, social media and central media outlets began publicizing the suspension of the Tunisian pilot.

But the Emirates later denied the existence of any such pilot in the company, saying it had never hired a pilot by that name.

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