Gulliver | Paranoid passengers

Arab-Jewish tensions force two passengers off an Aegean Airlines flight

By M.R.

IT STARTED with a flickering of paranoia in the mind of one Jewish passenger; perhaps justifiable, given the recent surge of terrorist attacks in Israel; perhaps prejudicial, emblematic of the deep distrust between Arabs and Jews, who both see a homeland in the Holy Land. It ended with two entirely innocent customers being hauled off a commercial flight, and with senior Palestinian officials accusing their Greek counterparts of reviving "the worst years of the South African apartheid".

The debacle unfolded on a routine Aegean Airlines flight from Athens to Tel Aviv. Before the aircraft could take off, an "initially small group" of Israeli Jews "vocally and persistently" demanded that two Arab passengers undergo additional checks—purportedly because they were acting suspiciously. The pilot called airport security to verify the suspects' travel documents, no doubt reluctantly, aware that word-of-mouth alone had condemned them. Both men were given the all-clear, but not before paranoia swept through the cabin, compelling dozens of bystanders to conclude that the unexpected delay must be proof positive of an imminent threat to life and limb. "It started with three or four people and by the end there were 60-70 people standing up, demanding that the pair disembark," an Aegean spokesperson recalled.

Confronted with an on-board mutiny, cabin crew took the fateful decision to ask the two Arab passengers—who were not accused of any wrongdoing by the airline—if they would mind taking a later flight. They didn't. Aegean paid for their overnight stay and sent them packing the following morning. Neither passenger has come forward publicly to give his side of the story, suggesting that they have little desire to score political or financial points from the unhappy experience. That is commendable.

But others have readily taken up the cause. Saeb Erekat, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, issued a scathing statement about the "unjust and disgraceful" treatment of the Arab passengers. He called on the Greek government to "take strong action against this racist act", likening it to South African apartheid. Responding, Dimitris Gerogiannis, the airline's chief executive, published an open letter expressing his "greatest regrets" but stopping short of apologising for the crew's actions. "Yes there was unwarranted and indeed unfair continued reaction by a large group of passengers," he wrote, "but also the two affected passengers did not feel comfortable to fly." Mr Gerogiannis suggested that offloading the two men was a pragmatic solution to a difficult situation.

As is usually the case with such incidents, it is difficult for commentators like Gulliver to know where the blame lies. Perhaps the airline's staff could have defused the situation better, or been firmer with those initial instigators; perhaps they performed impeccably, averting a still-worse quarrel. Perhaps the Jewish complainants acted with spiteful malice; perhaps they genuinely feared for their lives. Perhaps, indeed, the two Arabs really were acting suspiciously.

Perhaps. But I have to wonder when reading the account of one Jewish passenger, identified only as Nissim, who justified his mistrust by stating that one of the Arabs "had a penetrating and scary look". That, we can say categorically, is no reason to accuse someone of being a terrorist. If strapped into a small seat and encircled by angry men who profess him to be a mass-murderer—men who must logically be contemplating an offensive defence—I daresay Nissim, too, would have penetrating eyes and a scary look.

What happened aboard this Aegean flight made headlines because of its extraordinary outcome—both for the unfortunate Arab pair and for the Palestinian reaction. In many ways, though, these were unremarkable events. This is not the first time that a group of passengers has retreated into a mob-like mentality after picking up the vaguest scent of danger. In a similar incident in 2006, two Asian-looking men were apparently forced off a British flight by their fellow travellers for no greater crime than speaking Arabic. Israelis seem especially susceptible to hysteria: a flight marketed by Arkia, an Israeli airline, was grounded in October when customers belatedly realised that it was being operated by a Czech partner carrier. "I can only feel safe flying with an Israeli company," one traveller said. Arkia said it was "astounded at the exaggerated response from some of the passengers". Mutinies over maintenance issues are still more common. In July, for example, holidaymakers grounded a flight from Spain after the pilot casually acknowledged that a minor technical fault had caused its late departure.

Paranoia, in short, is a contagious condition. Bouncing around in the mind of one jittery passenger, it can usually be contained. But when the anxiety spreads, and when dozens of people look to each other for reassurance—something that will not be forthcoming from the mind of a fellow paranoiac—a tipping point is reached. The effect is only amplified in the pressure-cooker environment of an aircraft, where irrational fears find fertile ground. The best solution is proper crew training to avert collective lapses of rationality before they take hold.

Earlier this month, Ruti Tehrani, an Israeli bus driver, also faced calls from her passengers to eject a suspicious looking Arab customer. After establishing that the threat was imaginary, she refused, and instead told the complainants to disembark if they felt unsafe. Several of them did. They had time to contemplate their prejudices on the long walk home.

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