Ultra Orthodox Jews and Planes

Hemant Mehta ([ Ссылка ], [ Ссылка ] , [ Ссылка ])

Suppose you're on an airplane. You have your seat. And someone asks you to switch. For the most part, unless you have some really good reason not to, I think you should do it. It's polite. It's not really asking for much, and it makes the other person really happy.

Sometimes, they might need to switch for an important reason. Maybe they're traveling with a family member and they just want to sit together. All the more reason for you to accommodate them.

But for years now, some ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have been making that request specifically to women. The Jewish men have their seats, they realize they're sitting next to a woman, and they ask the woman to leave -- to change spots with some other guy.

Because according to their religion, they can't be near women who aren't their wives. They might accidentally touch shoulders... and that's forbidden.

As you can imagine, this has not always gone well. A lot of women have basically said, "hell, no" -- I'm not switching because your religion makes you sexist. And then the Jewish men argue they're being discriminated against. Flights have been delayed if not entirely held up over this, especially flights directly between the U.S. and Israel, where you might have several ultra-Orthodox Jewish men on the plane.

So what's the right move in this case? Do we say, "I respect your religious beliefs and I'll move?" Or do we say, "Your religion doesn't trump my existence?" Personally, I'm all for the second option. If your religious beliefs are crazy, I shouldn't be under any obligation to help you out, especially when, without religion, it would be obvious that you're just being a dick. These women are minding their own damn business, not trying to get close to you.

All of this really hit the fan recently when the CEO of an Israeli tech company called "Nice" said he was banning all employees' travel on El Al, the Israeli national airline that often accommodates the men, because the CEO said he didn't want to do business with companies that discriminate -- in this case, against women.

El Al responded by saying, guess what? We're no longer accommodating faith-based sexism. If ultra-Orthodox Jews want to fight about where they sit, they will -- and I quote -- "immediately be removed from the aircraft."

Now, that's great. It's also a little weird.

El Al didn't care when people complained on social media about this. They didn't budge when someone filed a lawsuit over this problem. But when a major tech company complained, they bent over backwards to make sure religious bigotry didn't win.

Still, it's the right move.

If ultra-Orthodox Jews want to fly without the possibility of sitting next to a woman, let them buy two seats and keep one empty. If they can’t handle sitting next to a female stranger, that’s their problem.

Flying is hard enough when you're next to a crying infant. No airline should be rewarding more of them.

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