Russian TV Yanks ‘Flying While Orthodox’ Video
Image by wikimedia
A state-funded Russian television network pulled offline a video that ridiculed the air travel restrictions of some Orthodox Jews.
On Tuesday, Russia Today, or RT, removed the 44-second video it produced following critical questions by the Hebrew-language news website nrg.co.il, the site reported.
The video featured a slideshow of images and newspaper articles from recent years of complications connected to air travel by haredi Orthodox Jews.
“Want to make your trip a real adventure?” a caption in the video asked. “Ultra-Orthodox Jews are ready to help out.”
According to the video, “some ultra-Orthodox men refuse to sit next to women and this can result in 11-hour delays.”
“Rioting on board” can occur when “religious passengers disapprove of in-flight movies,” according to the video. And “while some show their outrage, others find ways of staying safe,” the slideshow read, showing an image of an Orthodox Jew wearing a plastic bag in an airplane “because his faith forbids him from flying over cemeteries.”
An RT spokeswoman, Anna Balkina, told nrg that her firm did not mean for the film to be offensive, adding it had been taken offline following nrg’s questions on its potential offensive character.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
