Thursday, April 30, 2009
British airline's antisemitism and pro-Arabism
British Airline Removes Israel from the Map
Iyar 6, 5769, 30 April 09 04:27
by Avraham Zuroff(IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131122
"The British airline, BMI, has removed Israel from the electronic maps displayed to passengers in some of its planes, Army Radio reports. The report claimed that the reason was to avoid offending Muslim passengers. However, the maps showed passengers the direction of Mecca.
Israel does not appear in maps on BMI flights between London and Tel Aviv, and Khefa, the pre-independence Arabic name for Haifa, appears on the maps.
In addition, the electronic maps display the distance between the plane and Mecca. The airline claims that the map has not been changed due to a “logistical problem.” Instead, it has presently been removed from the two planes that transport passengers to Tel Aviv.
“For this reason, the inflight entertainment system in the two planes was made to adapt to the passengers flying to and from those destinations and therefore the map showed mainly places holy to Islam,” the airline company said in a statement.
BMI denied that it had a political agenda. “If BMI had any political agenda in order not to anger neighboring countries, it would not have invested so much in the Tel Aviv line,” the company stated.
“This is a fault. The electronic map will be removed from the airline’s two planes that operate the route to Tel Aviv,” BMI stated. “We make every effort to take passengers’ sensitivities into account through an apolitical policy.”
The airline has flights to Syria, Lebanon, and even Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed “to wipe Israel off the map.” BMI has recently received an agreement with Israel’s Ministry of Tourism for expanding its flight operations to Israel.
Transport Minister director-general Gideon Sitterman told Army Radio, “Doing business with Israel has its advantages and disadvantages, but we will not agree to a situation where they hide the existence of Israel but want to do business with Israel.”
When in Saudi Arabia, Do What the Saudis Do…
BMI is apparently bending over backwards to accommodate the sensitivities of its Saudi passengers. The British weekly Sunday Times reported last week that a stewardess was fired because she refused to don an abaya head covering and to walk behind male flight attendants on a flight bound for Saudi Arabia, regardless of rank.
The BMI internal document issued to crewmembers bound for Saudi Arabia stated: “It is expected that female crew members will walk behind their male counterparts in public areas such as airports no matter what rank.”
The flight attendant, Lisa Ashton, refused to abide by BMI’s policy, and was fired when she refused to travel to Saudi Arabia if she would be required to don an abaya."
Iyar 6, 5769, 30 April 09 04:27
by Avraham Zuroff(IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131122
"The British airline, BMI, has removed Israel from the electronic maps displayed to passengers in some of its planes, Army Radio reports. The report claimed that the reason was to avoid offending Muslim passengers. However, the maps showed passengers the direction of Mecca.
Israel does not appear in maps on BMI flights between London and Tel Aviv, and Khefa, the pre-independence Arabic name for Haifa, appears on the maps.
In addition, the electronic maps display the distance between the plane and Mecca. The airline claims that the map has not been changed due to a “logistical problem.” Instead, it has presently been removed from the two planes that transport passengers to Tel Aviv.
“For this reason, the inflight entertainment system in the two planes was made to adapt to the passengers flying to and from those destinations and therefore the map showed mainly places holy to Islam,” the airline company said in a statement.
BMI denied that it had a political agenda. “If BMI had any political agenda in order not to anger neighboring countries, it would not have invested so much in the Tel Aviv line,” the company stated.
“This is a fault. The electronic map will be removed from the airline’s two planes that operate the route to Tel Aviv,” BMI stated. “We make every effort to take passengers’ sensitivities into account through an apolitical policy.”
The airline has flights to Syria, Lebanon, and even Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed “to wipe Israel off the map.” BMI has recently received an agreement with Israel’s Ministry of Tourism for expanding its flight operations to Israel.
Transport Minister director-general Gideon Sitterman told Army Radio, “Doing business with Israel has its advantages and disadvantages, but we will not agree to a situation where they hide the existence of Israel but want to do business with Israel.”
When in Saudi Arabia, Do What the Saudis Do…
BMI is apparently bending over backwards to accommodate the sensitivities of its Saudi passengers. The British weekly Sunday Times reported last week that a stewardess was fired because she refused to don an abaya head covering and to walk behind male flight attendants on a flight bound for Saudi Arabia, regardless of rank.
The BMI internal document issued to crewmembers bound for Saudi Arabia stated: “It is expected that female crew members will walk behind their male counterparts in public areas such as airports no matter what rank.”
The flight attendant, Lisa Ashton, refused to abide by BMI’s policy, and was fired when she refused to travel to Saudi Arabia if she would be required to don an abaya."
Labels: Airlines, BMI, British antisemitism, Israel on Middle East map, Israeli map, Map of Israel
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Anti-Semitism in modern Norway
Anti-Semitism at Supermarket Checkout Counter in Norway
Iyar 4, 5769, 28 April 09 11:54
by Ernie Singer(IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131079
Anti-Semitism is taking subtle and not-so-subtle forms in Norway, according to a report published Sunday by blogger Bennett Epstein of the Cleveland News.
Managers of a number of supermarkets in the Scandinavian country are drawing attention to the Israeli origin of oranges and other products, reported Epstein, who said the move was designed to help anti-Israeli citizens avoid them. The managers deny that anti-Semitism is a motive.
Boikott Israel I, a group that has urged Norwegians to avoid Israeli oranges since the beginning of the 1990's, recently extended its boycott to all Israeli products. A number of labor unions are also refusing to handle products imported from the Jewish State.
In addition, Norway’s Youth Labor Movement organized a demonstration against Israeli participants in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Norway has served as a neo-Nazi niche and free zone for European anti-Semites since the 1930's, when many people supported the Nazis, even though many others opposed them.
The second largest party in the country’s parliament today is an extreme right group which opposes the Jewish ritual of circumcision, among other things. Only 30 of Norway's pre-Holocaust communities remain. Most of the country's 1,500 Jews live in the nation’s capital, Oslo."
Iyar 4, 5769, 28 April 09 11:54
by Ernie Singer(IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131079
Anti-Semitism is taking subtle and not-so-subtle forms in Norway, according to a report published Sunday by blogger Bennett Epstein of the Cleveland News.
Managers of a number of supermarkets in the Scandinavian country are drawing attention to the Israeli origin of oranges and other products, reported Epstein, who said the move was designed to help anti-Israeli citizens avoid them. The managers deny that anti-Semitism is a motive.
Boikott Israel I, a group that has urged Norwegians to avoid Israeli oranges since the beginning of the 1990's, recently extended its boycott to all Israeli products. A number of labor unions are also refusing to handle products imported from the Jewish State.
In addition, Norway’s Youth Labor Movement organized a demonstration against Israeli participants in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Norway has served as a neo-Nazi niche and free zone for European anti-Semites since the 1930's, when many people supported the Nazis, even though many others opposed them.
The second largest party in the country’s parliament today is an extreme right group which opposes the Jewish ritual of circumcision, among other things. Only 30 of Norway's pre-Holocaust communities remain. Most of the country's 1,500 Jews live in the nation’s capital, Oslo."
Labels: Antisemitism in Norway Norwegian Antisemitism, Norway, Norwegian Jews
