WASHINGTON - A Muslim advocacy group filed a lawsuit on Monday against the FBI and leaders of other U.S. 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 U.S. 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 in Gaza, 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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. ...