sky

In early December, an Israeli plane took off from Eilat headed to Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv. As passengers watched in fear and amazement, rockets could be seen outside the windows, many, if not all, intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system known as Iron Dome. American airlines aren’t willing to take those kinds of risks. As the war was launched by Hamas on Oct. 7, thousands of rockets and their interceptors dotted the skies over many Israeli cities, preceded by piercing sirens warning residents to flee for safe rooms, stairwells, and bomb shelters. And foreign airlines delayed, then canceled their flights to and from Tel Aviv, some for the immediate future and some indefinitely. Delta Air Lines direct flights between Atlanta and Tel Aviv fall into the latter category. A statement released by the Atlanta-based airline said, “Delta is continuously monitoring the security environment in Israel to inform cancellations to our flight schedule to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.”<br/>

Tommy Dorfman has accused Delta Airlines employees of committing a “human rights violation” after claiming they intentionally misgendered her “incessantly” at an airport. The 31-year-old 13 Reasons Why star, who reintroduced herself as a trans woman in 2021, posted a video of the confrontation on TikTok on 24 December, alongside the caption: “When you try to advocate for yourself at @delta and are met woth [sic] even more transphobia and threats of being arrested at La Guardia. “Tristan, the employee, said he was fine with me posting this. Didn’t realise it was condescending to flag a human rights violation after another employee misgendered me incessantly.” In the since-deleted clip, an airline attendant is seen standing in front of a boarding gate, while Dorfman can be heard saying: “And what about when a Delta employee misgenders you intentionally?” The attendant then responds to another person off-camera, informing them that while Dorfman is talking, “you’re talking over him”. “You just misgendered me again, multiple times, both of you have,” Dorfman points out. “It wasn’t intentional, but if you want to take it personal[ly] that’s also okay,” the employee replies, before telling Dorfman that she’s “being condescending and if you want to continue, I have port authority to escort you out of this building right this moment if you want to play that game with me”. “Would you like to continue three days before Christmas? I really don’t mind,” the employee adds. “I’m good. I’ll just put this on,” Dorfman answers. The airline is “aware of the video and looking into the matter, including reaching out to our customer to understand more about what occurred”, a Delta spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. Dorfman, best known for her role as Ryan Shaver in Netflix’s hit drama 13 Reasons Why, announced that she was transgender in a 2021 interview with Time.<br/>