18 American Orthodox Jewish girls kick off Delta flight amid COVID-19 protocol dispute, reports show

• A group of Orthodox Jewish teens made a stopover in Amsterdam on their way back to New York from Kiev.

• On the flight from Kiev, they were reprimanded for eating their own food outside of designated meal times.

• 18 were reportedly banned from boarding the Amsterdam-New York flight after the food dispute.

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Eighteen Orthodox Jewish girls were banned from entering a Delta-KLM flight from Amsterdam to New York on Friday due to a dispute over COVID-19 protocols, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The girls were among a group of around 55 Jewish teenagers who had spent two weeks visiting religious sites in Kiev, Ukraine, their rabbi told Fox News.

During the first leg of their trip – a flight operated by Delta, in partnership with KLM, from Kiev to Amsterdam – flight attendants allegedly disciplined the girls for not following coronavirus safety measures.

The passengers violated protocols by removing their masks to eat their own food outside of designated meal times, the Jerusalem Post reported. The girls ate religion-approved kosher food provided to them by a rabbi that was not available on the flight, the newspaper added.

Witnesses told Fox News that a KLM security guard “mocked” the girls and made some of them cry.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Dutch police were later called to remove the girls from the flight after refusing requests to put away their food, but Fox News said a lawyer advised the girls not to leave their seats.

In response, Delta ordered all passengers to leave the plane and refused to allow 18 of the girls to re-board their flight to New York, Fox News reported.

The flight was delayed for two hours.

The girls were booked for a flight later that day, but refused to travel, the Jerusalem Post said. Indeed, it would have involved returning home after the start of Shabbat – the Jewish day of rest when observant Jews are not allowed to travel by car or plane.

The story continues

Instead, the girls have been transferred to Antwerp, Belgium, and will return home on Sunday, their Rabbi Yisroel Kahan told Fox News.

Delta told Insider, in a statement, “We apologize to our customers on Delta flight 47, Amsterdam to New York-JFK, who were delayed and inconvenienced in removing a group of passengers who refused to go. comply with the crew. ” instructions.”.

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