Air France has been fined almost $13,000 for kicking a pro-Palestinian activist off a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. They have also been ordered to pay the passenger almost $4,000. Horia Ankour was on her way to attend a “Welcome to Palestine” event in the Palestinian territories when an Air France employee asked whether she had an Israeli passport. When Ankour answered no, and then no again when they asked if she was Jewish, she was escorted off the flight. French prosecutors accused Air France of discrimination, and the court ruled in her favor.
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“I do wonder if this story would have been mentioned at all if it was a man being asked to get off a flight so that the plane could depart and further delays being avoided? ”
I didn’t know about the other things, but when I read that the passenger was female “Horia Ankour was on her way”, that was my immediate thought. Would people have had a problem with it if the passenger was male.
Wonderfully Simplistic – and misleading! 1 – the passengers name is Horia Ankour – 2 the date in question is 15 April 2012 – do remember it, it has a bearing. To quote a few news Agencies “Air France claimed Ankour’s name was on a list of undesirables provided by the Israeli government.” http://www.webcitation.org/6Fhe5cbnz You forget to mention that on the date in question, 15 April 2012, there was a bit of a Europe Wide issue with security – Isreal – Palestine and over 300 Flights were cancelled as a result. Average number of passengers 200 – 600 flights –… Read more »