Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Jews in America! Get on the Next Plane while you still Can!

כ״ה לחודש הרביעי תשע״ד
ABC News: FAA Orders US Air Carriers to Suspend All Flights to Israel
Genvieve Shaw Brown and Matt Hosford 
via "Good Morning America," July 22, 2014

American air carriers have suspended flights from the United Stated to Israel "for a period of up to 24 hours" after the FAA issued a warning in response to a rocket strike this morning near Tel Aviv's main airport, officials said.

In a statement, the FAA said, "The notice was issued in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport on the morning ... [and] applies only to U.S. operators, and has no authority over foreign airlines operating to or from the airport," according to the statement.

Earlier today, Delta Air Lines Flight 468, which was flying over the Mediterranean at the time, was en route from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv when a rocket fired from Gaza hit Yahood, a Tel Aviv suburb close to the airport.

The rocket escaped interception by the Iron Dome, which Israel has used to intercept missiles launched by Hamas.

The flight was eventually diverted to Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

On Monday, the State Department updated it's warning for Americans traveling to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza due to ongoing hostilities. The Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens consider the deferral of non-essential travel to Israel and the West Bank.

Passengers have also been jittery about travel safety since last Thursday, when a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over Ukraine by a missile, killing all 298 people.

Delta and other airlines had already issued a travel waiver for customers holding tickets to Tel Aviv.

The waiver is good through July 31 and allows customers to make a one-time change to their ticket. The other U.S.-based carriers not allowed to fly to Israel -- United and U.S. Airways -- have a similar policy.

I have warned you, Jews in the U. S., that this might happen. Whether due to the cost and availability of fuel or a natural disaster damaging airfield infrastructure and planes, or volcano, like the one in Iceland, preventing planes from landing in Israel or even in neighboring Europe.

Yet, all it took to shut down air travel in and out of Israel's main airport, were just a few rockets.

"Fly El Al - most of the pilots are former Israeli air force pilots who aren't afraid..." @ASoldiersMother

Ben-Gurion Internation Airport, just outside of Tel-Aviv, has been shut down anyway. One rocket hitting a plane taking off, landing, or in the vicinity could lead to fatalities in the hundreds on board, not to mention all those killed, resulting from a hit jumbo jet crashing into a residential area. (God Forbid!)

Perhaps now the Israeli Government will step things up in Gaza, if for no other reason than all of the money the country is losing because of the reduced air travel. No planes, no tourists, no business men, no trade, no income....

After my initial warnings, several years ago, one reader called me "Chicken Little," for declaring that the sky was falling,...in an apocalyptic sense, no less.

Well, guess what. The sky does, indeed, appear to be falling, and not just in the form of rockets. Jew-hating riots and violence in France, threats on Jews in Chicago, Jew-hating rhetoric and violence in countless other countries, are only a few pieces of the falling sky.

Yet, most of you still just want to say, "Don't Panic!"

Sure. It is still possible to get to Israel, right now, by flying into Jordan or Egypt, and the hop on a bus. From Cairo, that bus ride is about 14 hours. And do you really want to risk flying into an Arab country, albeit one which technically has a peace agreement in place with Israel? Such peace agreements have not prevented missiles from being fired into Eilat, at the southern tip of Israel, nor attacks on Israeli tourists in the Sinai Desert. Nevertheless, such agreements exist,...on paper anyway.

It is also possible to fly into Cyprus, and perhaps other Mediterranean counties, and then hop on a boat to Haifa. I will assume that you would prefer to avoid the southern port of Ashdod, do to rocket fire from Gaza, the same reason why flights to Israel from the U. S. were cancelled in the first place.

But, you are still not even thinking about packing your bags, and getting on the next possible flight, are you?

Nope. You just think that this will pass, and everything will be back to normal. And, quite possibly, it will.

But, what if it doesn't?

2 comments:

Jesterhead45 said...

What other Euro nations on the Mediterranean regular provide ferry services to Haifa since quite a few websites say that services from Cyprus to Haifa are suspended?

Esser Agaroth said...

Hmmm...

First off, thanks for doing the research I should have done.

Suspended, huh? Not good.

If any other countries have a ferry or passenger boat service to Israel besides Cyprus (Greece? Italy?), I suppose we shouldn't be too optimistic about their continued service.

Off the top of my head, I only know that cruise ships stop in Ashdod (probably not now), and I believe Haifa.

I forgot to mention that air travel could still operating in Eilat,...only a 5 hour(?) bus ride to Jerusalem.

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