Lufthansa’s executive offices are feeling the heat after the DansDeals original investigation of anti-Semitism at the airline.
Since it was posted on Sunday, that story has gone viral across the globe, featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS News, JTA, Forward, The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Haaretz, and all major publications in Germany such as the Frankffurter Allgemeine, Die Welt, BILD, and more.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is now in damage control mode and had a 30 minute video chat with Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, Rabbi of Berlin’s Jewish community.
The Rabbi sent me a short clip of that conversation:
I reached out to Lufthansa for comment on the CEO’s chat with the Rabbi, but did not receive a response as of the time of this article’s posting.
I called Rabbi Teichtal to learn more about their chat.
Lufthansa’s head office reached out to him to setup the video chat. I asked the Rabbi why he thought the airline called him, instead of a Rabbi in Frankfurt, home of the incident and the airline’s base. He wasn’t positive, but notes that Berlin is the capital city and that he has worked with the federal government and companies in the past when similar cases about anti-Semitism have surfaced.
Rabbi Teichtal said that the CEO’s apologies sounded genuine and personal, a far cry from the generic “apology” that was published by the airline yesterday which ignored anti-Semitism and merely “regretted the circumstances.” That non-apology also referred to the passengers on the flight as a group, when in fact there were many passengers who booked their own travel and were also denied boarding to Budapest.
Mr. Spohr said that anti-Semitism has no place in his airline of over 100,000 employees. He said that point-blank this incident should never have happened and that employees involved have been suspended, pending the airline’s investigation into what happened. The CEO did not specify exactly which employees have been suspended.
More specifically, Mr. Spohr said that the airline’s refusal to transport the Jews on the flight was not acceptable and the words used by the Lufthansa employee about punishing all Jews on the flight for the sins of the few were not company policy or acceptable behavior. The CEO stressed that Lufthansa stands for connecting people and cultures and that this incident was the antithesis of that.
Mr. Spohr asked to meet Rabbi Teichtal in person next week to discuss further actions and how Lufthansa can learn from this and grow moving forward. Rabbi Teichtal recommended that the airline provide sensitivity training to all of their employees so that such an incident does not repeat itself.
Rabbi Teichtal also asked me for suggestions to pass along, and I mentioned the list of 9 things wrong with their apology and bullet points of what they need to do going forward.
Perhaps most importantly for right now, the airline needs to make a sincere public apology to the Jewish community worldwide for what happened in Frankfurt last Wednesday.
Clearly, executives at Lufthansa are feeling the pressure and are now in full damage control mode. Will heads roll because of their delayed reaction to this fiasco? Is it too late for them to win back customers who won’t stand for anti-Semitism, or can the airline still salvage its reputation?
Over the past few days I’ve received several emails containing more allegations of anti-Semitism at Lufthansa. I don’t have the resources to investigate them (journalists can contact me if they do), but they don’t paint a very pretty picture of how Jews are treated by Germany’s national carrier.
Do you think that we will see any meaningful change from this story or will things go back to how they were before, once this news cycle ends?
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157 Comments On "Lufthansa CEO Apologizes To Rabbi Of Berlin For Anti-Semitism On His Airline, Suspends Employees Involved"
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Dan, you should feel proud. Without your deep-dive, I don’t think the world would have had an idea of how egregious an incident this really was.
An apology doesn’t end anti-Semitism, but the apology+suspensions should make people in similar situations think twice about discriminating against or generalizing Jews, just like they would—and should—for people of any other race.
agreed. well said
Yes, thank you Dan for pushing this issue. It’s time to stop kicking Jews around.
To be honest, I was shocked that no media had properly covered such a crazy story from Wednesday morning until Sunday afternoon when I finished investigating and writing the story.
A couple of blurbs, but nothing substantive and no mainstream media was even looking into it.
I’m happy that it raised awareness of what’s out there. I’ll be more happy if there is some real change that comes out of it.
It was actually very surprising to me as well. Switch “Jewish” for any other race in this story and you have an international outcry. There is a line between playing victim, which many are wary of, and needing to call out anti-Semitism when it is blatant and unambiguous. This was blatant and unambiguous.
Do I think all of the people involved hate Jewish people? Nope. Maybe some of them. Maybe none of them! But the fact that they feel it’s okay to lump us all together and punish many for the actions of the few… that’s the anti-Semitism.
And that is exactly why I wasn’t surprised at all. You’re 100% right, if it would’ve been a group of African Americans or Muslims, Asians etc. this would’ve gone viral the second it happened. But NOBODY cares about the jews. “Eisav Sonei L’Yaakov- Halacha Hi”. That’s all there is to it.
Do you think switching “Jews” to “Christians” would have made any difference, especially for left wing media, which is majority of media?
Christians are not a race. Jews are a race.
For a group to call itself “race”, in true sense, there can not be any crossbreeding. So, in today’s world, i doubt the word “race” has any meaning.
Given the way the same media contorts itself in intellectual gymnastics when reporting about terror attacks against Jews in Israel it’s not surprising.
Maskim this is a horrible story I’m still shocked 7 months after the story
Well said! Kol hakavod for not letting this story die
I think ALL lufthansa crew should be suspended to pay for the anti-semitic acts of a few
Dan – Are you equally outraged over this tragedy?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-chaos-jerusalem-israeli-police-attack-slain-al-jazeera-journalists-funeral
I hope that an investigation exonerates the IDF, but either way, it is truly tragic. As is the over a dozen Jews that have been killed in Israel by Palestinian civilians over the past month.
But neither were covered here as they are not in my aviation wheelhouse, so I’m not sure where we’re going with this.
And to that end, I will note that the story about the funeral broke on Friday and has been immediately picked up by the wire services. The Lufthansa story took many days to slowly waft through and it is still missing even from searches on major outlets like CNN, ABC and others.
I believer that we are all outraged how the Palestinian’s turn every event, whether its the holy Ramadan or like here, a sad funeral, into a riot which threatens peoples lives…
There’s video filmed by the Palestinian terrorists, who fired hundreds of rounds (they often shoot erratically, aiming from the hip and sometimes firing into the air). In contrast, trained IDF soldiers fired about a dozen rounds directed at the armed terrorists. One of the Pal terrorists said they “shot someone” and the Al-Jizz woman was the only one with a gunshot wound. The fact that the PA doesn’t want to allow Israeli investigators in, well that says it all.
yasher koach Dan!
Go Dan!
They should compensate each traveler $50,000 take out pages in all newspapers sincerely apologize and move on. (And we pray it doesn’t happen again)
Wow. Wasn’t expecting it to go this far. Very impressive for him to man up to the plate.
When cows fly
Bravo Dan for publicizing this egregious incident. Thank you!
יישר כוחך
A little funny that the Lufthansa CEO apologized to a Chabad Rabbi!
(I personally am Chabad with ancestral and familial roots in Vizhnitz, Belz, Kotzk, and Satmar)
Great work Dan! Much respect
Dan’s Deals News coming soon?!
Only if I can clone myself.
if you clone yourself will you be able to have each clone sign up for a credit card and get the bonus?
asking for a clone 🙂
Yes, and that night each clone transfers most of his bonus to his fellow clone’s account. You see, one of them is married with a family, while the other is single… In the morning they see their respective balances are unchanged…
Yishar Koach and thank you!
It is amazing what can be accomplished when we do not allow ourselves to be bullied or sit idly by when blatant acts of Anti- Semitism occur in front of us .
May this be a lesson to all who think that we will tolerate anti Semitism in any form.
Talk the talk and walk the walk.THANK YOU Dan.
Be gebenched.
Thank you Dan for making such a huge impact here. It’s really amazing to have a platform that can help the Jewish community on this large a scale. And Of course saving us money constantly is an excellent bonus!
Your ability to investigate so thoroughly and report on the facts in a clear and unbiased manner is truly admirable. One can sense the pursuit of truth in your queries and the resolve to filter out so much complicating “background noise.” Reading your posts makes me realize how good journalism can be/ought to be when applying a golden standard. Thank you for your activism, clarity and being a just voice in time of need.
Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot after spending so much time on this.
I think that I’m an investigative reporter in an alternate timeline 😉
But I’m ready to go back to deals and miles now!
Dan’s professional journalism managed to cover very sensitive topics like masks and vaccines without annoying his diverse readers. His insights are always enjoyable to read, but this episode took it to a new level.
Thank you Dan for the days and nights you’re still dedicating to fighting antisemitism and for Klal Yisroel.
הקב״ה ישלם שכרך-in airline miles
well said jeff
This is great. Antisemitism will always exist, but when it’s punished, it causes fewer people to perpetuate it. Kudos to you, Dan, and kudos to Lufthansa for finally getting it right.
Let’s hold off on the Kudos towards Lufthansa. I want to see what punishment, if any, will be doled out to the Nazi Schweine responsible for this act of hate. I have a feeling the answer will be none – bupkes. A groissen yasher koach to your Dan. Git gemacht!
Great work Dan. As a minimal starting point, they should be reimbursing everyone for all out of pockets costs.
Why did he meet the Rabbi of Berlin and not just meet Dan?
If you look in the corner of the CEO’s office you can see my picture on a dartboard 😉
That’s every airline CEO. At least those that ever had a price mistake.
My grandparents A”H used to always fly Lufthansa from Israel to California when they visited.
At the end of their last trip when my father was seeing them off in SFO he tried to get a pass to escort them through security. The tall blond Lufthansa agent at the check-in was extremely unhelpful to the point that my father started to feel it was intentional. Instead of making a scene in front of his parents he said his goodbyes outside security.
Afterwards my father went back to the desk to complain. The same agent was there and was again very rude and muttered something about “Jews always thinking they deserve special treatment” in German. She had seen my father talk to his parents in Russian and assumed incorrectly that he wouldn’t also know German. He called her out in his fluent German. She turned white and fled to the back, another agent had to come out to take down the complaint.
I’m sure they filed it in the circular file.
That was over 20 years ago. I doubt anything has changed there since.
Amalek. It’s in their genes. We have to come to terms with it.
So you don’t like it when Germans discriminate Jews, but for you, all Germans are the same? You are part of the problem. I would understand it if Germans don’t like you if you think this way.
Gotta love it when the Nazi/Amalek/Yishmael apologists blame the Jews. Sure there may be some nice, Jew-loving, genuinely distraught over their ancestors’ treatment of ours, Germans, but for the most part that’s not the case. They are a people who have proven themselves over and over again for hundreds of years to hate us and try and kill us. To create a moral equivalence between a people who were decimated for no reason other than being Jewish and those who perpetrated that and their fellow countrymen and children is absurd.
You have it completely backwards. The Germans don’t hate us because we lump them together. We lump them together because they hate us and have tried to eradicate us.
If there’s a good German out there and you feel offended by this, cry me a river. There was no outrage amongst your people when you were torturing and killing our families, so excuse me if I hurt your feelings a little bit.
One positive thing to come out of this episode is that our kids growing up in the relatively friendly and safe USA are seeing that antisemitism still exists everywhere. Growing up (in the 80s) I remember being cursed and physically attacked on more than one occasion for being Jewish. A lot of people today don’t have a clue about what that’s like, and it’s good for them to be reminded every so often that we’re still in Galus and still not welcome, despite the fake smiles put on by those around us.
That reminds me of a story from my father-in-lay A”H who grew up in Berlin in the 1930’s and made it out of Germany in 1939 at 15 years of age, along with his immediate family; obviously he was fluent in German. About 25 years ago he went to a kosher hotel in Switzerland, which had Jewish proprieters, and a German guest was unhappy with something. He made an antisemitic statement in German, apparently thinking my father-in-law, who was standing nearby, wouldn’t understand. My father-in-law replied back to him in perfect German that “some things never change”. The guy turned white, and walked away as quickly as his legs could carry him.
This is why Dansdeals is way more then just a deal site (like other sites) Yasher Koach Dan!
I have an upcoming flight with them in a few weeks. Is there a way to get moved to a different airline based on the incident? Unfortunately the ticket is not refundable…
Of course not. It’s not because there are some rotten apples in a company of 100,000+ employees that the whole company is rotten! If you judge all of Lufthansa is AS and you don’t want to fly with them any more, you will need to buy a new ticket with another airline. They won’t reimburse your ticket if your ticket is not refundable.
“Some rotten apples”? The entire company is still in denial and refuses to even recognize what happened and apologize properly.
Just behave yourself. Act like a mensch. Say please and thank you. Daven in your seat. Wear your mask if requires and please please don’t make a chillul hashem like the guys on the last flight. Oh and if you cant do that? Just cancel your flight and stay home.
Why are you on the Natzies side?
Great job getting the interest going on this.
I would love to see those police officers disciplined, suspended, fired….. “Just following orders”‘is not acceptable.
And the pilot who refused to fly them to Budapest
Great that Lufthansa is owning up but now we as a community should also work on improving our behavior and image. We frum jews must understand that we stick out and that we are scrutinized and bad behavior is reflected on all of us.
The CEO of Lufthansa calling the Rabbi of Berlin offering an apology, suspending employees involved and further investigating the matter is a very nice step in the right direction for Lufthansa.
Marko: Do not delude yourself. Had it not been for the outcry and potential loss of business Lufthansa would have done nothing. It is called “damage control”.
Why must it be a “potential loss of business”, why not a “loss of business”?
My turn to tell a story, which goes back to the 1950s. At which time, the top income tax rate was 90%. Someone came to this gentleman, Mr. Green, asking for a contribution. Mr Green said that he would give the organization $100. The solicitor said “but I heard that you were in the 90% tax bracket, so the Government pays 90% of every contribution”.
Mr Green replied – “you are correct, but I determine where the other 10% goes”.
We control the credit cards in our wallets, we determine from which airline to purchase a ticket. It should not be Lufthansa.
The answer to this incident, should not be and cannot be – “we apologized to the Jews, but it didn’t cost us anything”. A boycott of Lufthansa will send a strong message.
Lewis_ I agree 100% but you know that many of our people will do nothing and will continue to patronize Lufthansa.
Thanks Dan for a superb job! No one does it better than you!
Upon reflection , there is one glaring omission in terms of follow-up to this story. Where is the mea culpa of the German police? Their actions were shameful, acting as public representatives of Germany as they blindly aided Lufthansa in their bigoted behavior. It begs the question of what the police was told, in arriving in such numbers and armed. More importantly, does it make sense why they would not investigate the situation to assess if any police intervention was necessary? Police do not act at the behest of private companies as their personal security. And if police is called, they have a responsibility to determine what, if any action is necessary. The police should have informed Lufthansa their behavior was, at minimum, un-just and certainly not remained there in such a menacing manner. Shameful.
Agreed though I doubt we’ll get any apologies from those neo nazis
They were just following orders… … …
That’s what Eichman said.
It is so true the police should of arrested the Lufthansa staff for antsemtisim
The legal system does not work like this. Germany is not the jungle where police can arrest anyone they want. Anyone can file a complaint against a certain police officer or against Lufthansa staff for AS. This complaint will be verified and then court will make a judgment. That’s how things work.
No kidding, Sherlock
Good morning Dan. I think Jeff is right. What has to be done to call the police to their responsibility? Coming in arms to enforce that madness was even worse, what an absolute shame!
Perhaps a monetary compensation to the passengers.
Wow, thank you Dan! You should feel great with this accomplishment. As others have pointed out; you’d just goes to show that we don’t need to ignore such actions. In many cases, change can be effected.
Having said that- for me personally no apology will suffice. Prior to this incident I never flew Lufthansa and I don’t think I would have considered it unless I was truly without other options. After this incident; there is nothing to even think about. My grandparents lost their entire immediate and extended families to the German beasts. They remain the same murderous animals they were 80 years ago.
And I can’t stand reading comments demanding compensation. In what way does money vile hatred?! Why allow them such an easy way out? And, if you ask me- always demanding monetary compensation strengthens some of the oldest Anti-Semitic attitudes about our beautiful nation. The only compensation I would be okay with is actually repayment of expenses incurred by passengers to rebook or the like. Stop with the stupid let’s get rich off this incident comments. They are dumb, pointless and actually add fuel to the antisemitic flames no IMHO.
You might be able to sit up on your high horse and forgo the money, but people lost 1000s of dollars in this mess. Why shouldn’t they at least be reimbursed?
You apparently did not read my ENTIRE comment. Read before talking down to someone
Until they’re ready to make this a Dr dao situation and compensate as such they haven’t cleaned up their mess. Kol hakavod for your work Dan. Doesn’t go unnoticed
With companies, the only apologies that matter are numerical and denominated in currency.
@dan with all due respect
we are in gulas and you made a HUGE CHILLEL HASHEM
check out pupa translation in hebrew
No way. He did a great job ! Keep it up Dan !
They need to reach out to every person who was discriminated against, not a Chabad rabbi who lives in Berlin (nothing against him, but he wasn’t the one who was discriminated against or had travel plans upended). And for those who flew, if you’re reading this blog and do get a phone call, please respond in a way that communicates your hurt but not in a way that is vindictive.
@dan do you think it’s enough to call a Chabad rabbi to apologize vs social media, 2nd why only that employee who said that statement what about the agent who said you know why, pilot, crew member or HQ office who locked all the passengers for no-fly on Lufthansa for 24 hr
1. “Perhaps most importantly for right now, the airline needs to make a sincere public apology to the Jewish community worldwide for what happened in Frankfurt last Wednesday.”
https://twitter.com/DansDeals/status/1524483429026484225
2. “The CEO did not specify exactly which employees have been suspended.”
Re #2, if he didn’t specify how do we know it actually happened?
Dan, Thanks from all of us frequent flyers, who don’t have the time to thanks you for all your great work separately.
One question here, you mention in your post, “Over the past few days I’ve received several emails containing more allegations of anti-Semitism at Lufthansa”
Did you pass this on to Rabbi Teichtal for discussion with them?
Daumen hoch für dich
Comment from Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt
@StateSEAS
Special Envoy Lipstadt: Concerned by reports many Jewish passengers were denied boarding last week @Airport_FRA on a flight to Budapest because of the behavior of some passengers.
https://twitter.com/StateSEAS/status/1524501692011761665
Did she just wake up? A meaningless and insipid statement.
@dan, it would be nice if you will be joining the meeting next week.
I don’t think they want me there 😀
Did Rabbi Teichtal himself ever make a statement regarding the incident? If not, then that may explain why they chose to go with him. They may be afraid to face others who publicly stood out against them.
Starting May 16 masks not required on EU flights or airports.
Incorrect, up to each country and airline.
“Germany’s Health Ministry said it will continue to require all passengers over the age of 6 to wear medical masks on flights to, from or within the country, though they can be removed during meals.”
What about Air France?
I recently traveled with Lufthansa to Israel.The experience was far from good.Already decided Never again! Now for sure I refuse to fly with them no matter what the price!
@Dan why don’t you pin this one just like you pinned the other headlines?
The New York Times article was surprisingly well written and researched, and it really covered all the minute details of the story.
Most other news organizations simply parroted what was written in the Hamodia and others.
Kudos to them for researching and documenting this story properly.
Yes, I worked with the WaPo and NYT journalists on those articles and helped them with sources and information.
They did a great job!
Kudos to you for following up and helping out these reporters.
We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
Wow!
Dan Fantastic achievement What you have managed to do in holding them accountable please tell the rabbi to make it clear to them they should be refunding all cost incurred for each passenger on top of substantial compensation and maybe even donate to the reb shayala organisation who these passengers were on there way to next year they should fly them there first class at there expense
When mashiach comes they might be the carrier to eretz yisroel and get no payment The biggest nekuma
Kol hakavod Dan!
The apology was great and is acceptable. In this decade, no airline could continue operating unless they have sensitivity and equal good treatment to all their passengers.
No, it needs to be made publicly.
Will they reimburse people for their costs incurred due to this story ??
חזק וברוך!!
Dan, Kol Hakavod!
Im a daughter of Holocaust survivors.
Shame on Lufthansa for their despicable actions.
You fid a super job, reporting & getting the world to hear.
May Hashem bless you for all your effors.
Dan, thank you!
(Should this post be stickied to the top with the others?)
+1 put it on top!
I don’t believe it’s a chillul hashem when we act according to the Torah. Also the rules set by the goyim allows Dan to do what he did. Job well done. Hopefully this will contribute to a light unto the nations
Thank you DAN
I wish there were 72,000 responses here instead of 72
Where are you people
At least post!!!
Thank You Dan.. and thanks to the poster who pointed out the lack of thousands of appreciative posts. I would like to clarify something. I hope you and Dan both realize that even when necessary (like when this incident took place a week ago), most people don’t feel like what they say or do will make a difference. Then, many are fearful of the consequences, even if it’s only to have their name told in the story. We are a nation of shy people and it’s one of our top 3 traits (along with empathy/sympathy and kindness to others) that make us stand out. There are only a handful of people like Dan who are brave and do Askanus for our nation when needed. The lack of Shadchanim is real. But the fact remains. Those who do, without thinking of wether or not they will succeed, end up being rewarded. (לא עליך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתה בן חורין להתבטל ממנו). It is not up to us to finish the work, yet we are not free to dismiss it either. Many Shidduchim and miracles have happened over the years when people stepped out of their comfort zone and did what they felt was right at a time of need. (Reminds me of R’ Michael Ber Weissmandel. He could’ve thought he will never make a difference. Yet he persevered.) So just know that there are MANY who thank you and talk about the greatness of your deeds even though you don’t see them here. And to whoever was concerned; A chillul Hashem it is definitely not. Had Dan gone out and recommended our nation to rob German stores, burn them, destroy their planes on our next flights etc. etc. we have an issue. But standing up and letting the world know what’s happening? Skulener Rebbe did just that too!
I have witnessed anti-semitism on Lufthansa many times. It was shocking. They don’t train their employees. And management doesn’t know better.
Stop making it sound like regular antisemetism
this is WAY, WAY WORSE!!!
grounding people in the most miserable airport on earth (no kosher food dirty unkepmt) for 24 hrs bec they are jewish
also just flew them month ago to california got some dusty putrid a330
how is this rated as 5 star on skytrax?
thanks dan for clarifying
Lufthansa is the second biggest airline in the world right after American Airline. They can not be that bad!
china is the biggest country in the world…
islam is the biggest religion…
lufthansa almost the biggest airline..
anyway aa is 3 stars beats me how the schweinhunds got 5
Lover- It is rumoured that Lufthansa paid off Skytrax to get the five star rating.
Dan:
Excellent work on your part. You have shown yourself to be a man of integrity and perseverance. G-d bless you and your family.
Kol Hakavod Dan, you surely made a Kiddish Hashem.
May I just add, Sensitivity training is a white-wash way of saying – remain a Nazi but be polite about it. unfortunately the hate is deep within them for generations and all the niceties are just a facade.
This incident reaffirms the idea of many Yidden that will refuse to buy German made products even all these years later
As far as I am concerned this apology is meaningless. Carsten Spoor made the apology only because the evidence was so overwhelming and the optics were odious. It is a public relations gesture in order to minimize the damage to Lufthansa. Another word for it is damage control.
Personally I have never flown Lufthansa and never will. Anti-semitism is rife at Lufthansa and will not be eradicated. I have hundreds of thousands of points with Star Alliance but would never get on a Lufthansa plane. I would rather walk than give them one dollar of my money.
The one thing that I have learned form this disgraceful episode is that only Jews can rely on themselves to help each other. Had it not been for Dan and a few others this disgusting episode would have been ignored. Once the video and evidence of the affected passengers was publicized then Lufthansa had no choice but to react.
I wish all of you a good day.
Just one point…
Apologizing to a Rabbi, in your home country, for somthing done to a large group of people who have nothing in common other then being of the same religion and whom which the said Rabbi probably has no relationship with is inherently racist and anti-semitic. It’s doing the same thing his employees did. ..
hilarious because a) you are 100% right but also b) they actually contacted a chabad rabbi and dansdeals is run by chabad followers so it actually would get through to them who would pass it on to their sites followers etc.
so basically it’s like the joke “just because I’m from (country x) doesn’t mean I know (so and so)!! But he happens to be my cousin”
Dan, excellent job. It’s true we are in golus and should expect anti Semitism, especially from amalek-Germany, but we should also do our hishtadlus to fight it when we can. Of course we should behave properly in our fight but the fight itself is no different than the askanim who fought and complained to the noblemen and emperors in Europe when pogroms happened. I can’t believe some think it’s a chillul Hashemi.
I also agree that beyond the actual expenses and tickets that the passengers paid, we should not demand compensation, but I think if Lufthansa is sincere, they should offer it without our asking for it. The fact that they aren’t is probably indicative that they’re not as sincere as they want us to believe. (Maybe I’m wrong about this but I think I’m right).
Lastly, an apology to 1 chabad rav who had nothing to do with the passengers beyond the fact that we’re all brothers, is a lot too little a lot too late. They should issue a public apology to all jews, as they offended all of us, and then separate phone/ in person apologies to all those who were affected.
They also need to tell us who they disciplined and how they were disciplined.
My late husband stopped using Lufthansa airlines 35 years ago after he and a business associate were traveling with the carrier. Lufthansa, then I don’t know if this still holds true, had a policy. The plane did not leave till all the passengers on the list were on the plane. My husband’s connecting flight was delayed. The Lufthansa plane waited. When they boarded, the pilot announced, the 2 JEWS who were late are now on board, the flight can now go. My husband and his associate said they could feel the hatred all the way to their destination.
Thank you Dan for your exceptional coverage of this matter. We are all expecting an official and real apology from Lufthansa; and we hope to see real actions to prevent this from happening again
Hi Dan,
My name is Tamar from Shurat Hadin- Israel Law Center. In a nutshell, we’re an organization that takes legal action to protect and defend the State of Israel and Jews all over the world.
I’ve been trying to contact you regarding this case of blatant antisemitism.
We’re trying to think up a course of action, the number at our office is 845-709-8130.
Let me know to reach you.
Thanks,
Tamar
Let Israel take care of anti-semitism in its borders first
The most shocking thing about this is that the NY Slimes managed to get an article out that didn’t blame the Jews for causing the problem. It must have slipped by the editor.
I’m shocked that you’re shocked over the lack of coverage. Since when does antisemitism get normal coverage anytime? And what comes out of it in the end if it does??
As far as hearing other reports about this airline not treating Jews properly, there’s another way to find out…book a trip with them now (post-incident) and write your experiences. You have a good radar, look at their faces, take note of their gestures, and, well, good luck!
No, you won’t see a permanent change, because it comes down to individuals’ behavior, which is driven by their internal biases. The employees that were involved (pilot, gate agents, etc.) will probably not be fired (I hope I’m wrong), but at the moment they are merely “suspended” – a slap on tbhe wrist, at best. But if a few employees have been shown to be antisemitic at heart, many more are likely to be, but just haven’t yet been exposed. Or have they, given the number of other antisemitic incidents that have been reported to occur on Lufthansa? I believe that this is nothing more than window dressing masquerading as true remorse – it’s all about the money, not the antisemitism that the CEO claims to regret and claims has no place in his airline. The truth will be told by future behavior; over time I expect it to regress right back to what it has been in the past.
Very well done, Dan. If not for you, this could have drifted by with little notice.
Thank you, Dan!!
I will never fly LH Group.
Lol win back customers… so will Dan’s deals never again suggest mileage or cheap tickets on Lufthansa or Lufthansa owned airlines? Your hypocrisy is non ending. Let’s see YOUR commitment to this?
I’d rather wait and see how they will make this right before making a rash decision on that.
Got it. Like I said never ending hypocrisy and outrage playing victim when convenient. Let me guess Lufthansa will be ok whenever there is a great mileage deal or cc offer or cheap ticket until next time there is a story about jews at which point we will reminded about this one as well..
What if it was Spirit?
You also realize that the collective decision to not fly the jews was not made at the airport level. The same guy who called the rabbi certainly knew of the decision before it was made. Shocking you don’t point that hypocrisy out.
I’m sure it was made by someone higher than airport staff, but I very strongly doubt the CEO made that call.
Again how does firing the minion who didn’t make the decision change anything ?
The decision maker should be fired.
I didnt say he MADE the call. I said he was aware of the decision before it was executed. Why not get him on record on THAT issue Bec if so then all the phone calls etc are a blatant lie and cover up. Zero investigation on the most critical issue.
I strongly doubt the CEO of a massive airline like Lufthansa would have been made aware of banning passengers for 24 hours. The odds of that going up the flagpole to the CEO are close to nil.
Well done, Dan, responding reasonably and without rancor to this Mark N’s nastiness. An additional Kiddush Hashem!
Maybe move this post to the top where more can see it?
Unfortunately, very few minds will be changed. It is like a R/D debate. Those who are fair minded will see this for what it is, antisemitism. Those who are not will see it as not a big deal.
I think making this story a real story was important. That said, as a Jew, I think it is important in Judaism to educate, not to see blood spill, that is not what Jews are about and I would say to Dan if he reading this, that accountability is real and it is occurring. Education, not cancellation. Accountability not excommunication.
I really hope that they haven’t merely suspended the junior people, and absolved the true culprits,, who were the decision makers. The juniors, who were on camera, were told to enforce the policy, including the lady on video who was trying to explain the decision made by others.
@Dan perhaps the rabbi ought to inform the CEO about some of the statements made by others about how they have been treated for many years by the airline, and the persistent level of background anti-semitisim that appears to have been experienced by multiple people. Hopefully it is just a few airline employees and not the company culture, but either way, its not just a matter of a single incident and one or two people. If it was,, this massive incident would not be how it would display itself for the first time. So there obviously needs to be general education of all staff and a change in company culture. Employees need to be made to understand that it won’t be acceptable to make such statements, even if only quietly to other employees. That takes a culture change.
please do not use the term ‘chilul hashem’ so lightly. standing up for your rights is not chilul hashem. doing an aveira in public is ‘chilul hashem. it’s in halacha
i spoke today to one of the passengers who flew on the flight, he says that the apology is useless, he says its was pure hate and antisemitism the way they selected people,
Thank you Dan for covering this story.
Another thing glaring at me is the fact that the other passengers boarded the flight and left as if nothing happened. I would have expected them to walk off in solidarity. Or could they have been so blind not to notice what was going on? Doesn’t that sound like another time when the Germans did what they did and everyone else just kept on with their lives?
The Lufthansa employees involved here may be protected by their trade unions – and probably don’t know enough history to realize that many leaders of that movement, for the past couple centuries, were Jewish.
Thank you so much Dan for all you do and what you did to seek out the truth of what really happened, otherwise this would be a classic example of oppressing the true story..
Please read below.
This is huge!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/us-envoy-decries-unbelievable-antisemitism-lufthansa-jews-flight-rcna28763
What did they do that made the airline upset?
Dan, the rabbi should not forgive so quickly. They should also investigate all other claims and take appropriate action. The hate in the agents voice that lumped everyone together, was unbelievable. Also everyone involved including the captain should be terminated, not suspended, as-well as a stern warning to all employees of consequences if such shall happen again