Travelers reported that all Jews identified as Orthodox were prevented from taking the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. At that time, the reason why the company’s staff did not allow them to board was because they did not comply with the airline’s mask and health protocol standards.
In a video recorded by a passenger, an airline supervisor is seen saying that “everyone has to pay for a couple”, adding: “They are the Jews who come from JFK. The Jews are the ones who made the mess, the ones who created the problems”.
The video went viral on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. There were comments of comparisons with the treatment that the Jews received during the holocaust. After the scandal, Lufthansa issued an apology on Tuesday for what happened. In the statement, the company stated that only “non-compliant passengers” should have been prevented from boarding and not the entire group. “Lufthansa regrets the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude passengers. passengers of flight LH 1334 on May 4. Lufthansa sincerely apologizes,” he said.
The video has blurry scenes because in Germany it is illegal to record someone without their consent. It was removed for violating YouTube and Instagram’s hate speech policies, although it is still available on Twitter.
In the video recorded by a passenger, an airline supervisor is seen saying that “everyone has to pay for a couple”, and adding: “It’s the Jews who come from JFK. The Jews are the ones who made the mess, the ones who created the problems.”
The travelers were on an annual pilgrimage to visit the grave of Rabbi Yeshayah Steiner, a rabbi who died in 1925 and is buried in a village in northeastern Hungary. It is estimated that between 135 and 170 Jews were traveling on the flight, 80% of whom were wearing visible Hasidic clothing.
One passenger, Usher Schik, told New York Jewish Week that he was sitting in the front of the plane. He claimed that he didn’t notice that people weren’t wearing his masks, but acknowledged that some passengers in the back of the plane might not have complied.
“If you think you have to punish individuals who have not complied, that’s fine,” Schik said. “But you can’t punish an entire race just because we all look alike,” she remarked. According to a Lufthansa statement, there was a larger group of passengers who “refused to wear the legally required mask on board.”.
“For legal reasons, we are unable to disclose the number of passengers involved in the incident,” the statement said. “Lufthansa will continue to comply with all legal requirements, including the mask mandate imposed by the German government and those of the countries it serves. We do it without prejudice and with the well-being of all our guests”.
It later emerged that an individual named Max Weingarten was able to get on the plane to Budapest because he was wearing a black polo shirt and did not appear orthodox.
Weingarten traveled first class, didn’t wear a mask from New York to Frankfurt, and said no one asked him to put it on. He also commented that the flight attendant was not wearing a mask. “What happened is not consistent with Lufthansa’s policies or values. We do not tolerate racism, anti-Semitism or discrimination of any kind,” the statement said.
“On the other hand, people were being punished simply because they shared ethnicity and religion with the alleged rule-breakers”the letter concluded.
Source: Ambito
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