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Flight To Tel Aviv Delayed After Ultra-Orthodox Refuse To Sit Next To Women
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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Tell us if you've heard this one before: A flight from JFK Airport to Tel Aviv was delayed when ultra-Orthodox passengers refused to sit next to women. Yes, it happened again, this time on a Delta flight to Ben Gurion International Airport yesterday.
Failed Messiah reports, "The haredi passengers refused to take their assigned seats and chose to get off the plane when their demands could not be accommodated. Because their baggage then had to be located and then removed from the plane’s cargo hold, departure had to be delayed by approximately 75 minutes."
Last month, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, an El Al flight from JFK to Tel Aviv became an "11 hour ordeal" because some of the Ultra-Orthodox passengers stayed in the aisles to pray. A petition was then started by a Chicago woman, asking El Al to stop gender discrimination and bullying, "Why does El Al Airlines permit female passengers to be bullied, harassed, and intimidated into switching seats which they rightfully paid for and were assigned to by El Al Airlines? One person's religious rights do not trump another person's civil rights."
Haaertz notes, "El Al says it has no official policy for dealing with the issue and has no intention of putting one in place. A spokeswoman for the airline said that its 'policy in general is to try to accommodate any customer request,' and that it deals with requests on a case-by-case basis."
Tagged
air travel
delta
jfk airport
Tel Aviv
ultra-orthodox
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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