New job at the German airline: Lufthansa will appoint a "Director of Anti-Semitism"

Germany's national airline has announced a new senior management position to deal with cases of anti-Semitism and discrimination.

This is after an incident that happened in May, in which about 100 passengers were not allowed to board a plane because they allegedly "looked Jewish"

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02/08/2022

Tuesday, 02 August 2022, 08:10 Updated: 08:29

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The German airline Lufthansa is expected to create a new senior management position, in order to deal with cases of anti-Semitism and discrimination, after an incident that occurred in May of this year, which we also reported on in Walla!

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According to the same report, the airline allegedly did not allow about 100 passengers to board the plane due to the fact that they "look" Jewish or have names that sound Jewish.

On top of that, the German flagship company also confirmed that it intends to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism, as determined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

This definition was adopted by the German government in 2017. The wording of the definition is: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which can be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Verbal and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed towards individuals, Jews or non-Jews, and/or against their property , against Jewish community institutions and religious sites"

Watch the incident from May

"There was no evidence of institutional anti-Semitism"

The JC website reports that after that incident, the German airline commissioned an independent investigation.

According to the findings of the investigation, there was no evidence of institutional anti-Semitism, even after a Lufthansa staff member was filmed saying "Jewish people made the mess, they created the problems."

The incident happened on May 4, when a large group of Jewish passengers arrived from New York to Frankfurt, Germany.

The passengers were supposed to transfer to another flight to Budapest, but a large number of them were detained due to alleged racial and religious discrimination.

The decision not to allow those passengers to board their onward flight was made after some of the customers on the first flight, from New York to Frankfurt, allegedly did not comply with the restrictions on wearing face masks on the plane.

The ultra-Orthodox blamed Lufthansa for kicking them off the flight because they "looked Jewish" (Photo: screenshot, DansDeals)

Lufthansa: "expresses deep regret"

In a letter sent on July 22 to the Conference of Presidents of the Major Jewish Organizations in the United States (CoP), Lufthansa CEO Jens Ritter noted that the airline's internal task force investigating the incident acknowledged that some of its staff members were "insensitive and professional", but the report concluded that "the thorough investigation did not reveal anti-Semitic views, prejudices or pre-planned behavior by Lufthansa representatives".

Ritter went on to claim that it was an "unfortunate chain of inaccurate communication, misinterpretation and unintended judgments", and noted that "a number of religious Jewish passengers who did not follow the regulations regarding wearing masks created a delicate situation".

As a result of the incident and the report, Ritter committed to creating a new senior management position for the prevention of discrimination and anti-Semitism, as well as working to train teams on the subject.

"Lufthansa deeply regrets the delayed boarding (of those passengers) and the impact it had on our passengers."

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