Hundreds of Jews heading to a pro-Israel rally on Tuesday in DC were left stranded when the bus driver made a “deliberate and malicious trip,” a major Jewish organization said.
The “anti-protesters” left a scheduled flight from Detroit — about 300 people — on the runway at Dulles Airport for about 11 hours before being sent home, causing them to miss the entire March for Israel event.
“I think it’s crazy, I think it’s crazy that we were blocked from participating in the rally,” Jonathan Kaufman told The Post, adding that there were “panic” calls to find out what happened because they were stranded for hours.
“Our right to assemble is a constitutional right – and this directly prevents that.”
Kaufman and 900 others boarded three private planes out of Detroit chartered by the Jewish Federation of Detroit, which also booked several buses to transport the large group to the march on DC’s National Mall.
A third of passengers were not allowed to leave the tracks, however, after several buses failed to appear on the tracks when they landed at 10:30 a.m., according to a federal spokesman.
Group photo from Jonah Seinfeld-Chopp on the runway at Dulles International Airport as the Jewish rally is stranded.Jonah Seinfeld-Chopp
Drivers have organized a “mass sick” day to prevent Jewish gatherings from attending the much-anticipated parade, leaving only a handful available to fulfill their obligations.
“We have learned from the bus company that this was caused by a driver who intentionally and maliciously ran away,” the spokesperson told The Post.
The bus company — which the federation has repeatedly declined to name — told the Detroit Jewish Federation that “a large number” of drivers screamed sick when they learned they would be taking hundreds of American Jews to a pro-Israel rally, the organization’s David. Kurzmann told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
“The way this action prevents proud American Jews from exercising their freedom of speech, the protest rally gathered today in the nation’s capital, that to me is an act of malicious intent. It is an act that targets the Jewish community as far as their participation in this gathering,” said Kurzmann.
Shari Ferber Kaufman and Jonathan Kaufman in the charter plane they took to Dulles International Airport.Jonathan Kaufman
CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations William Daroff, one of the organizers of the March for Israel, also confirmed that “bus drivers refuse to take them to pro-Israel events.”
Those left behind spent about three hours on the tracks before they were finally herded into several buses — from which they were quickly removed after it became clear the bus was not for their group.
Since charter flights cannot take off from the runway without pre-arranged vehicle transport, passengers who cannot board the limited buses are forced to return to the aircraft and miss the assembly for the day.
About 300 people were stranded on the tracks in Detroit for 11 hours.WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7
They also had to wait several hours for their team members who attended the rally to finally return before the chartered flight could fly back to Michigan.
Throughout the fumbling day, organizers from the Jewish Federation of Detroit gave passengers updates on the supposed counter-protest over loudspeakers on the plane.
Kaufman – who spent hundreds of dollars attending the march with his mother – called the crackdown a “deliberate antisemitic act,” which “would be called a hate crime” if it happened to any other ethnic group.
“This is a historic moment – and I want to be a part of it.”
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The massive group was initially told that the bus was struggling to get through security to enter the concourse and reach the track before they were told the truth.
“About an hour and a half later we were told that there were bus drivers constantly out of the company hired to drive us into the city and that the lack of drivers was making it very difficult to get us to DC,” Jonah Seinfeld-Chopp, an 18-year-old freshman year at the University of Michigan, told The Post.
Thousands of people attend the March for Israel on the National Mall November 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
Seinfeld-Chopp and his girlfriend were up at 5 a.m. for the march, billed as an opportunity for “Americans from all walks of life” to condemn growing antisemitism across the country and demand that Hamas finally release hundreds of Israeli hostages it is hiding in Gaza.
The student, who is taking a year off his studies in 2022 to visit Israel, said he expects to see others from his birthright journey.
“I’m actually really looking forward to seeing the dozens of kids from my program who flew/bused from all over the country to get there,” he said.
Thousands gathered on the tracks as they were stranded.WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 The large group was initially told the bus was struggling to get through security to enter the concourse.WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7
The walkout could land the bus company in legal trouble for its apparent antisemitic actions, Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney and founder of The Lawfare Project, exclusively told The Post.
“Any company that blatantly refuses to provide services to Jews is engaging in illegal discrimination,” Goldstein said.
“The scale of what is allegedly happening to these Jews is outrageous; on a day when hundreds of thousands of allies gather to spread a message of solidarity with, and support, the Jewish community, and to demand the release of hostages taken by barbaric terrorists, we see firsthand the discrimination that Jews face every day. base in the United States.”
The massive pro-Israel rally comes as the Israel-Hamas war enters its sixth week following Hamas’ October 7 attacks.Getty Images
The Jewish Federation of Detroit stressed that the bus company did everything it could to help the stranded gathering group, but was ultimately left helpless with its limited staff.
“They are great, working together. It was just an unfortunate logistical snafu that they had no control over,” Kurzmann said.
When asked by The Post why Kurzmann and the organization declined to name the bus company, he said: “The answer is no, that’s not what we’re doing at this time.”
However, the closest flight passengers get to a parade is the one they perform on the runway.
The group waved Israeli flags and sang “Am Yisrael Chai” before they were pushed onto the plane to wait for a lucky few from their group to return from the parade.
The Detroit group wasn’t the only one headed to a pro-Israel rally to be turned away by bus drivers on Tuesday.
Hundreds of others who gathered in Westport, Conn., to board two chartered buses to the event were also left without boarding, organizers told News 12.
The transport firm claimed there had been a scheduling error and the bus had been cancelled. The marchers took matters into their own hands and piled into 38 cars to make the 280-mile journey to DC.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
