A chareidi father of eight detained a flight from Tel Aviv to Kiev as it was preparing for takeoff.
The flight was a low-cost El Al affiliate, UP, which was scheduled to fly to Kiev. The flight was delayed for over an hour as he insisted the cabin crew close the movie screens which was visible.
Passengers explain that some on board worked to persuade the man to back down, as did members of the cabin crew but he persisted despite all efforts to allay the situation.
The passengers add there were many chareidim on board, and they told him “sit down because you are making a major Chilul Hashem” but he would not adhere to their words.
At the end, he agreed to wear his eye mask, and he was given sufficient number for all of his children as well.
El Al officials confirm it was UP flight LY2654 to Kiev and that the passenger was insistent regarding demands to fold down the screens. When the passenger finally agreed to be seated the flight could take off as he and his family members had their eyes covered.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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23 Responses
Why didnt they throw him off the flight
I’m glad this was taken care of without people being forcibly removed or dragged off the plane
Next time he should fly United
that’s sad
He has bechira, don’t fly.
If the chareidi father did not want his children to see the screens, why didn’t he just put the air sickness bags over his kids’ heads?
I have no problem with this man’s high level of shmiras einayim. I have a great problem with his low level of ahavas Yisroel. Why didn’t he bring eye masks with him for him and all his children and put them on immediately the safety film had been screened, thus avoiding inconveniencing others. He should take them with him as he will see far worse in the streets of Kiev or Uman than on any film on El Al!
The flight crew should have called the police and insisted the man be removed from the flight. People like that who think their rights usurp others and their worldview must prevail, are dangerous and should not be allowed to fly. Hopefully someone tipped off the Kiev Customs agents that he was smuggling drugs. That would have delayed him somewhat longer than the delay – time stolen – he caused the other passengers.
The guy was obviously out of line. But to throw in a bit of lechaf zechus here, it seems obvious he thought he was flying El Al itself, which always has individual screens that can be easily avoided, and not the old-fashioned big ones up front that the low-cost planes still have. So he gets to the plane, knowing (and possibly having called El Al and asked, your planes don’t have big movie screens, right?) there’s no movie screens to worry about – and then he sees the movie screens.
Of course, he should have thought about how to remedy the situation on his own and not made a whole big hairy deal that delayed the flight.
Luckily for us Brits wasn’t flying to London. Or some of the more liberal ‘Jewish’ papers here would have a juicy anti chareidi front page story!
None of the British airlines, not BA, Easy Jet or Monarch, would have waited an hour to call security and have this man removed. People with obsessive compulsive disorder issues really shouldn’t fly.
How did this guy know what movies were scheduled?! Maybe it was a movie about R’ Nachman?
just a nutcase thats all. we move on to the next article
A few articles before this one, YWN reports how “Religious Parties Respond To High Court’s Tel Aviv Chilul Shabbos Ruling.” I would have expected the erstwhile commenters to unleash their vindictive keyboards against the religious MKs who are interfering with the lives of others (many more than a hundred or so plane passengers), and they are trying to waste the time of potential Shabbos shoppers who — if the religious parties get their way — will have to drive around looking for a supermarket that’s open on Shabbos. And the unbelievably low level of Ahavas Yisroel these chareidi MKs display toward their fellow secular citizens, who merely want to be able to shop whenever and wherever they please.
I don’t understand why the commenters to this article and indeed YWN’s own editorial stance seem to differentiate between not wanting chilul Shabbos in Tel Aviv, and not wanting pritzus on the plane. What is the criterion for deciding when protest against disobeying halacha is legitimate (chilul Shabbos in Tel Aviv) and when it’s not (not wanting to expose one’s kids to some movie on a plane)?
He was clearly told when he bought the ticket that his children would not be exposed to the avak yerag vaal yaavor. I don’t know if I’d have the guts to don’t he same but it’s hard to blame him.
The English in this article is as crazy as this guy
If it was an inappropriate movie, I’d understand… But the worst it could be is PG… what does he do when he walks down the street? I mean I understand he is trying to be careful, but this isnt his own personal movie theater, hes just flying on the plane.
I suspect this individual may have been suffering from some mental illness since as many posters above have pointed out, any normal frum yid would have either used eye masks or left the plane but would not have engaged in such a chilul hashem and delayed over a hundred others with his fixation on the movie screens. The El Al flight crews also should have acted more quickly to have him and his brood removed from the plane for their own safety and that of the other passengers. To the extent necessary, the discount airline should make clear on its website that that their planes have overhead screens so hamayvin yavin and will fly the regular El Al flights or those of another airline.
So now more people know of the danger of films. Good.
Chussid Shoteh to say the least…
Fool of a person!
mushkie100,
“… worst it could be is PG.”
Have you watched PG movies in the last ten years?? I’ll bet not!!! The PG of today is the R to X of the pre Bill Clinton days.
to 7. whats got to do with ‘ahavas yisroel’?