Knee-Jerk Reactionaries and hysteria-mongers are undermining efforts to target and isolate REAL antisemitism by indiscriminately calling for boycotts against any and all things that, in their narrow and if a Jew did it, it cant be wrong or bad opinion, smacks of an unpleasant and negative experience involving a Jew. Case in point - JetBlue Airways is being pilloried for an incident that occurred in the closed pre-flight cabin between two women - one, a self-proclaimed New York Jewish Doctor and the other, a Palestinian female. People are calling for boycotts against JetBlue because of the following incident: wpbf/news/jewish-woman-says-racism-to-blame-for-her-removal-from-plane/26893076#!beTkAY First of all, JetBlue has yet to complete their internal investigation of what occurred. Let us wait to see what they have to say, and any actions that they do or dont take before screaming boycott. Secondly, Massive assumptions being made on social media threads without proof. Its easy to scream racism especially in these tense times. I happen to know JetBlue Airways is NOT racist nor anti-Israel. How do I know that personally? Because they are the corporate sponsors of Radio Free Nachlaots JetBlue Blues Hour (Wednesdays 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern) on Radio Free Nachlaot AND they sponsored RFNs coverage of Blues for Challah last December at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center The JetBlue corporate promotions department is well aware that RFN is A JERUSALEM-BASED JEWISH INTERNET RADIO STATION broadcasting the best music, talk & Torah 24/6 from Jerusalem to the World, and they wouldnt have sponsored our programming if they were racist or antisemitic. In fact, Im FAR more worried that some anti-Israeli activist will notice JetBlues sponsorship of an Israel-based Internet station and call for a boycott against JetBlue for their sponsorship of our shows!!!! So lets see what happens when they release their INTERNAL INVESTIGATION. Third - People are asked to leave flights for all sorts of reasons, including perhaps the perception of the inability of the flight crew to contain the emotions and passions of passengers in pre-flight conflict. That doesnt make them RACIST. NOR does the security decision of one flight crew condemn the policies of an entire airline and its corporate structure. Fourth - JetBlue is NOT a racist, anti-Semitic organization. Ive been flying them since inception (used to live in Long Beach, California, their original HQs) Calling for boycott against a company that does not deserve it undermines the REAL villains and companies and organizations that deserve to be boycotted, whose policies and fiscal decisions are driven by Jew-hatred. NOT so JetBlue. Ive personally seen with my own eyes JetBlue support of the JCC of Long Beach, of Jewish events and initiatives, of MY Jewish, Zionist, Jerusalem-based radio station - theyre as far from systematically and systemically anti-Semitic as possible. MIGHT it be true that a single employee or a supervisor or members of one particular ground crew made a judgement call that MIGHT appear anti-Semitic? I guess well wait and see, but I wont throw the baby out with the bathwater, I wont call for a JetBlue boycott on the strength of this one incident, nor will I tolerate those who insist on screaming for a boycott without a thorough investigation of the company policy, circumstances, etc. because it undermines the legitimate advocacy done by REAL pro-Israel activists. Fifth - and perhaps the touchiest and most uncomfortably nuanced point so far in my argument - Nobody with any intelligence is going to believe that Jews NEVER do anything wrong, rude, bad, etc. Jews are people too - and Israel is a country where the garbage man is a Jew, the waiter is a Jew, the hotel owner is a Jew, the landlord (the nice one AND the one who rips you off) are Jews, criminals in jail are Jews and so are the judges who put them there. Knee-jerk reactionary statements like Ill never believe a Jew could have murdered that Arab boy and such are what is contributing to the inability of Am Yisrael, both globally and in Eretz Yisrael, to take an honest self-examination / cheshbon nefesh of our situation and in what ways our beliefs about ourselves may have contributed to the alienation some feel toward us, which is NOT the same thing as rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth antisemitism, against which there can only be blanket condemnation. But there are shades and nuances here people are missing simply because they CANT believe a NEW YORK JEWISH DOCTOR talking loudly on her cellphone in a closed airplane cabin could POSSIBLY have said anything potentially frightening or offensive to a Palestinian woman passenger seated far enough away from the LOUD JEW ON THE PHONE to hear her every (possibly vitriolic) word. I mean, come on, get real. Who amongst us hasnt cringed at the grating sound of a voice speaking too loudly in a closed airplane cabin - and if that loud grating voice is also saying things that might be scary or offensive - who amongst us might have the guts to complain? Also please note: an airline flight crew that has to decide to separate passengers for their own safety and the safety of the other passengers and crew will seldom if ever ask the passenger who complained to leave the flight. The Palestinian woman complained that she felt threatened, intimidated and afraid of another passenger - a Jewish woman who was loudly speaking into her cell phone about the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Gee, I wonder why she felt nervous! If people choose to boycott JetBlue because of this incident (which we still know relatively little about) without waiting to see how JetBlue investigates and responds to the incident, theyre no better than the knee-jerk reactionaries that say boycott Israel (G*d forbid) because they dont look any deeper than the most superficial surface. Grow up. Focus on the REAL enemies - not the imaginary ones. So - bkitzur - JetBlue - NOT a racist or antisemitic airline. Did something potentially unpleasant happen on this flight? Apparently. Is Dr. Lisa Rosenberg a victim of anti-Semitic or just someone with bad closed-cabin cellphone etiquette? Did the Palestinian passenger REALLY scream Zionist Pig at Dr. Rosenberg? One would imagine other passengers who heard such an epithet would be outraged and inform the cabin crew - and yet, nobody else apparently heard this alleged curse but Dr. Rosenberg. Will wait and see what JetBlue says and does about this before throwing blue corn chips in their direction. My own personal history both as a passenger and a business colleague with the JetBlue organization over a period of 10 years, as well as my gut, tells me their corporate culture, policies and procedures are neither anti-Semitic nor racist, but simply a domestic American airlines trying to ensure a safe and trouble-free flight for their passengers and crew in a very emotionally volatile, highly-charged situation. Avi Abelow Chloé Simone Valdary
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 18:07:55 +0000
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