“We’re approaching Palestine” – Such a bold announcement by Israel-haters on passenger flights must not become mainstream! Don’t let it go!
Passengers on a recent Ryanair flight from Italy to Tel Aviv were outraged when a flight attendant repeatedly described their final destination as Palestine, ignoring protests from several passengers, Hebrew-language Channel 14 reported.
“We didn’t [buy tickets] on the airline to deal with anti-Zionist opinions [from flight staff],” a passenger said. “All we wanted was [an announcement] that Tel Aviv is in Israel.”
Rather than respecting the passengers’ requests for a correction, the crew accused them of creating a disturbance that compromised safety.
An Italian-speaking passenger was surprised that the flight attendant doubled-down during a conversation, insisting that Tel Aviv is located not in the State of Israel, but in Palestine.
Another passenger was threatened with arrest if she left her seat to take a photo of the crew member making the announcement.
Ryanair, which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, refused to respond to multiple requests for comment from Channel 14 regarding the incident.
“It is wholly unacceptable that on a flight from Italy to Tel Aviv, a member of Ryanair staff would repeatedly broadcast their own political ideology over the facts by stating that the flight in question was landing in Palestine, rather than in Israel,” Jackie Goodall, executive director of the Ireland Israel Alliance, told World Israel News.
“The Ireland Israel Alliance believes that such a view is not Ryanair policy, and we will request that they make an unreserved apology statement to this effect and to address the employee in question,” Goodall said.
Channel 14 commentator Danny Newman called on Israelis to avoid using the airline in the future, should Ryanair refuse to apologize for the episode.
This incident cannot be ignored!
Please contact the airline and demand an apology.
Send your complaint to: customerqueries@ryanair.com