What’s intended to be a cute initiative on Ethiopian Airlines’ part has backfired, as authorities in Lebanon took issue with a little detail on an aircraft belonging to the airline…
Continue reading: Ethiopian Airlines Flies “Tel Aviv” 787 To Beirut, Drama Ensues
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New levels of childishness. Lebanon has basically proven that it’s a colony of Iran.
So infantile. Grow up, Lebanon. A few letters on a plane doesn’t mean anything.
"Sad"? And Qatar and the LH jet is "trolling"? Can you at least try to use more descriptive terms and/or take positions instead of these neutral / teenager expressions?
I missed "drama" in the title -- how about "threat" / "extortion" / "abuse" / "interference"?
Phew! Thank god the Lebanese have solved all of the important problems in their country, so they can focus on what decals are on planes landing at their airport.
Do I need to go back to Beirut and kick some more @$$ like I did 36 years ago?
You would think folks in the airline biz would have some sense of global sensitivities…
How did they know where to fly if they couldn't refer to the writing on the outside of the fuselage?
So can Air India fly one of their planes to Tel Aviv with a swastika? After all, the swastika has been used in Sanskrit since the 5th or 4th century BC.
Are you sure the name is the first destination? Lots of ET plane names in that rear position are not destinations (eg ET-AOV "Taj Mahal or ET-ANQ "Mount Kilimanjaro") or even people (eg. ET-AOP "Queen of Sheba")
The level of hate is unbelievable. Meanwhile TLV has tons of Lebanese restaurants.
Ask this question to the students of different universities in USA and not to entitled people who know nothing beyond their wHole
They should have just paid the bribe and continued on as normal, just like everyone else in Lebanon does.
"Authorities requested that the phrase “Tel Aviv” be removed from the aircraft before it could depart Beirut."
Are you sure this was just a request and not a demand? Certain sounds like the latter!
Some 50 years ago Beirut was still the Paris of Middle East, a place that celebrities and business people would flock to. Now it's among the world's poorest places and can't cope with a foreign aircraft having a foreign capital name written on it. Evolution has not simply gone backwards, but done so at an alarming rate in some parts of the world.
The naming convention has nothing to do with the first city the aircraft operates to. The aircraft are named in advance of delivery and the name applied at the factory before the aircraft even makes a test flight. You even posted a tweet showing this particular aircraft still at Boeing but with the name painted on.
If they were named after the first destination of a new aircraft, two-thirds of the Ethiopian fleet would be named either "Dubai" or "Nairobi"
My guess is they used Speedtape to cover it. It's authorized for use at every mechanic shop has it.
The problem with all of these initiatives is that there is no thought. Sometimes it is purposely done. Sometimes it is unintentional, but the important point is that people need to put some thought into this. You may not agree with the opinions and direction of the other country but you still need to be respectful about the situation of the other country and its people.
I would be shocked if Israel actually took any issue at all should something like that happen. This is a bit of a red herring.
And today, Paris is the Middle East of Europe. Oh, the times, they are a-changing.
I don’t see why that would be a problem at all. As an Indian cultural symbol there would be no reason to complain. Israelis know this - India is one of the most popular destinations for young Israeli tourists. They’ve seen the Indian version of the swastika plenty.
Nah, you don't. There's far too much hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about "sensitivity" these days. The reaction described in this post is childish, pathetic, and typically Lebanese. As we say in Australia, "drink a glass of concrete and toughen the **ck up".
Quickly forgotten the mini atomic that was sent to the heart of Beirut.
We all forget because we don't live there and didn't experience it, but the people on the ground don't forget stuff like that.
It is sad. But people get hurt and that pain lingers on. Ask a Vietnam Vet.
really?, 'Sad'? And 'trolling I approve of'? what's truly pathetic, Ben, is that you feign ignorance and pretend not to have the mental acuity to recognise that the name ’Tel Aviv’ is now synonymous with ‘genocidal’ baby killers. and, in the same breath, you cheer for the 'hypocritical trolling” that lectures the world about equality and diversity while simultaneously at home, suppressing, doxxing, arresting, and attempting to silence anyone daring to criticise the maniacy of the apartheid regime! Shame!
Imagine, just imagine, a Swiss airplane landing in London, in 1942, and with a name « Adolf » or « Berlin » or « Reich » painted on her sides.
Will she be welcome ?
I don’t think so.
In sensitive situations, we must behave with tact to not offend anyone.
At least the Lebanese don’t do what the Israelis do - inject Black Ethiopian women with birth control pills against their will.
Lufthansa never flew that Fanhansa aircraft to Qatar. Just to Oman.
Because they are all virtue signalling but no substance. I am not surprised Ben likes that ridiculous stance.
What is there to be embarrassed about? The fact that I am against white extremist Zionist behaviour against black Ethiopian women?
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/28/ethiopian-women-given-contraceptives-israel
Australia? An island of nice, hard working people in the Sea of Nowhere. Not sure you’re close enough to the action for proper analysis. Mate!
Allegations are not proof. You should withhold from making such declarative statements until the investigation is complete. Because you obviously hate Israel, you seem ready to accept without question that this occurred. I’m not saying it didn’t. I’m saying we don’t yet know and your comments only serve to inflame things.
If an Ethiopian Airlines plane named "Beirut" landed in Israel, there would be no issue. It shows you the difference between a peace seeking nation vs. religion-based hatred.
Sure there wasn’t ill intent but there was also no cultural sensitivity! Would Israel allow a plane named Hitler to land in Tel Aviv? Lebanon has every right to ban or welcome any vehicle into its territory. Also ironic to whine about this while ignoring the bigger context, that 10 million Palestinians are deprived of access to their homeland. Too much free time on the author’s hands, plus probably some racism at play here..
To equate the country of Israel and Hitler is an indication of your deep hatred of Jews. We see you for what you are.
That’s racism for ya. Cowards have in to Hezbollah. I guess if that’s what they gotta do to rein in the terrorists and prevent them from get Lebanese people killed in the crossfire. But Lebanon doesn’t generally give a shit about Israel anymore. Aside from Hezbollah, most Lebanese people just want to live their lives and do well for themselves. It’s a shame that the world is so tolerant of terrorist groups so long as they’re attacking Jews..
I doesn't sound like they *named* this plan, rather labeled. (Names would be unique, labels aren't.)
When you have a national -- and the only -- airport under the influence of Hizbullah....this happens. As if Tel Aviv does not exist....How does a world city name offend the airport authorities?
While Israel and Lebanon are technically at war, if an Ethiopian Plane landed in Israel with the word “Beirut” on its wing, I doubt that there would have been any problem which says a lot about the two sides.