Ultra-Orthodox Jews cause chaos on flight to Israel
Flight delayed for hours because of demand to segregate men and women
By David Millward, US Correspondent
4:29PM BST 25 Sep 2014
An El-Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv
was turned into an “11-hour nightmare” after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women.
According to those on board the flight descended into chaos because of their demands.
The
flight was full with Israelis, secular, orthodox and ultra-Orthodox
Jews – known as Haredim – flying home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.
Even
though the passengers had been pre-assigned seats
before boarding, the ultra-Orthodox Jews refused to accept the
arrangements because their beliefs required that men and women were
segregated.
As
the aircraft prepared to take off, the haredi men, distinguishable by
their black suits and in many cases wide-brimmed black hats, stood in
the aisles rather than sit down, delaying the departure.
Others on board toldynetnews.com of their frustration, which was shared by the pilot who pleaded for everyone to sit
down.
"People stood in the aisles and refused to go forward," said Amit Ben-Natan, a passenger on the flight
"Although
everyone had tickets with seat numbers that they purchased in advance,
they asked us to trade seats with them, and even offered to pay money,
since they cannot sit next to a woman.
“It was obvious that the plane won't take off as long as they keep standing in the
aisles."
The flight took off after the haredim agreed
to take their places to permit departure, before the chaos resumed once the seat belt signs were switched off.
One passenger described the entire experience as an 11-hour nightmare.
"El Al does everything it can to give its passengers the best possible service year-round,” an airline spokesman said.
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