On video: Breslav Hasidim at Ben-Gurion Airport before the flight to Uman (photo: Mats Korman, editing: Amit Simcha)
Sometimes it pays to sue the airline: Lufthansa will pay 2.7 million dollars in compensation to ultra-Orthodox passengers, which it took off a flight in May of this year because "Jews were seen", as published in Walla!
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The incident that happened on May 3, 2022, caused great outrage among a large group of Jewish passengers who were flying with the German airline from New York JFK to Frankfurt and were supposed to catch a connecting flight to Budapest.
However, many of them were banned from boarding the flight to Hungary because several passengers on the first flight did not comply with the requirements to wear a face mask against the corona virus.
The passengers who were taken off the flight claimed anti-Semitism and "collective punishment" which quickly turned into a "racist" incident, according to them.
As a result, a discrimination claim was filed by nearly 130 passengers, all of whom were removed from the flight by Lufthansa ground crew because they allegedly "looked Jewish."
Watch the confrontation between the police and the ultra-Orthodox passengers
Each passenger will receive 21 thousand dollars
Instead of identifying the individual lawbreakers who refused to wear masks, Lufthansa's ground staff noted that the passengers appeared to be Jewish.
As a result, the airline allegedly imposed flight bans on anyone on the flight who looked Jewish or had a name that sounded Jewish.
The shocked passengers recorded their interaction with Lufthansa ground staff at Frankfurt Airport, where one employee allegedly confirmed on film that the entire group was being punished collectively based on their religion.
Furthermore, Lufthansa made the situation worse by calling in heavily armed police to deal with the peaceful group of passengers.
Facing a major lawsuit, it appears that Lufthansa has now reached an out-of-court settlement, with each passenger involved in the incident set to receive a $21,000 payment.
The settlement includes compensation of $20,000 plus $1,000 for expenses incurred after the passengers were denied boarding their connecting flight.
However, the law firm that negotiated the settlement will receive a commission of 18% of the one-time compensation amount.
More in Walla!
19 Jewish women are suing two airlines: they discriminated against us on flights
Elderly Jews were thrown off the plane because they did not agree to place the tallit under the seat
During a Rainier flight: Brits sang anti-Semitic songs to an ultra-Orthodox passenger
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It's the truth
Lufthansa made the situation worse by calling armed police to the peaceful passengers (photo: screenshot, DansDeals)
Following Lufthansa's fight against anti-Semitism, it became the first airline to fully adopt a more comprehensive definition of anti-Semitism, created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Lufthansa also claims that it continues to work with the American Jewish Committee to develop sensitivity training sessions on the issue, and even announced a new senior management position that will deal with cases of anti-Semitism and discrimination.
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