Muslim woman reportedly refused unopened drink

Tahera Ahmad. Photo / Facebook

A Muslim woman has accused a US airline of discrimination after an attendent refused to give her an an unopened can of Diet Coke because it could be used "as a weapon".

The incident happened on a flight from Chicago to Washington on Friday.

Tahera Ahmad, the head of interfaith engagement at Northwestern University in Chicago said on Facebook that she was told "I'm sorry, I just can't give you an unopened can, so no Diet Coke for you".

But when a man next to her was served an unopened can of beer, Ms Ahmad told the attendant she "was clearly discriminating against me".

"She looked at his can, quickly grabbed it and opened it and said, 'It's so you don't use it as a weapon'."

When Ahmad asked her fellow passengers if they witnessed the incident, she said a man yelled, "You Moslem, you need to shut the f**k up."

Ahmad said she "felt the hate in his voice."

After the incident was reported, other Muslims called for a boycott of United Airlines, tweeting under the hashtag: #UnitedForTahera. In a statement issued on Saturday, United Airlines called the incident "a misunderstanding."

- nzherald.co.nz