Allegations of anti-Semitism: Lufthansa excludes more than 100 Jewish passengers from the flight

Created: 05/11/2022 11:59 am

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

A Lufthansa employee prepares boarding for a flight at a gate at Munich Airport.

© Sven Hoppe/dpa

Last week, Lufthansa denied onward flights to over a hundred Jewish passengers after a mask dispute.

The company apologizes after fierce allegations of anti-Semitism.

Frankfurt/Main – Lufthansa is under fire because of allegations of anti-Semitism: Last Wednesday, the German airline denied a group of orthodox Jews the onward flight from Frankfurt to Budapest.

"Lufthansa expressly apologizes to the guests," the airline said in a tweet published on Tuesday.

"The events are not in line with our values." Hesse's anti-Semitism officer, Uwe Becker, called on Lufthansa management to take a stand.

Lufthansa: Allegations of anti-Semitism after the exclusion of Jewish passengers

Last Wednesday in Frankfurt, the airline refused to allow a group of strictly religious Jews from New York to fly to Budapest.

This was preceded by the repeated refusal of some passengers on the flight from New York to Frankfurt, even after the crew had asked them to wear masks to protect against infection with the corona virus, Lufthansa said on Friday on request.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing a passenger on the Lufthansa plane from New York, wrote that all passengers who could be identified as Jews by their hat and sidelocks were excluded from further carriage - and not specifically the passengers who were would have acted wrongly.

According to a report by the Jewish news agency JTA, the group had asked Lufthansa to apologize for the incident because of anti-Semitism.

Around 130 Jewish Orthodox passengers were affected.

A further flight ban was issued against them and enforced by federal police officers.

They are also said to have been banned from buying a new ticket to Budapest for 24 hours.

They were on an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of the miraculous Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner in a village in Hungary.

According to the Jewish weekly magazine Tachles, the stranded passengers were able to continue their journey with other lines after sometimes considerable delays.

Hesse's anti-Semitism commissioner calls on Lufthansa to take a stand

Lufthansa took until Tuesday to apologize.

The airline's statement states that the incident is being taken very seriously and that investigations are continuing to be carried out intensively.

"Notwithstanding this, we regret that the larger group was not allowed to continue their journey, rather than limiting this decision to individuals."

Hesse's anti-Semitism officer announced on Tuesday evening that a whole group of people had obviously been held responsible for something that obviously only affected individual travelers simply because of their recognizable belief.

"This is discriminatory and not trivial, and it is all the more important for the top management to feel personally responsible for apologizing for this incident and taking a clear and unequivocal position," says Becker.

He would be happy to talk to Lufthansa.

"Something like this must not be repeated," said the anti-Semitism officer.