Delta accused of antisemitism as 18 orthodox teenagers are kicked off two flights

Delta has been accused of antisemitism by a New York rabbi after a group of 18 Orthodox Jewish teenagers was kicked off two flights while returning to the US. The teenagers, who were part of a bigger group, had been initially barred from boarding a flight from Amsterdam to New York on Thursday, Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, said on Twitter. The group was reportedly banned following the first leg of their journey from Kyiv to Amsterdam, due to an alleged disagreement over Covid-19 protocols. Kahan said the dispute involved alleged masks violations. The Jerusalem Post reported that some of the girls had been eating their own food outside the designated mealtimes on the KLM-operated flight in partnership with Delta. Their rabbi, Yisroel Kahan, said that the group of teenagers was forced to sleep on benches at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport while he and a chaperone tried to find them another way home. The rabbi said he called for the help of New York lawmakers, including Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to remedy the situation. The group was said to have been re-booked on another Delta flight from Amsterdam to New York on Friday morning but was once again kicked off before take-off. This time, the girls were reportedly penalised for swapping seats with a woman who requested to sit next to her son. Delta reportedly offered to re-book the girls on another flight. However, the departure conflicted with the beginning of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. Story has more.<br/>