Delta Airlines: the latest BDS hoax

There is such a paucity of real BDS victories, that anti-Israel activists often spread lies- pretending routine business decisions are politically motivated and are signs of the "momentum" of their movement.

Years ago, Code Pink issued the usual self congratulatory pats on the back when Costco discontinued its Ahava Holiday gift pack- in January.  Such a victory for them!

Our friend Jon did a wonderful job compiling BDS hoaxes at his Divest this website. Check them out.


Today there is a new BDS hoax to add to the list. Several days ago, anti-Israel activists triumphantly crowed their success in getting Delta Airline to discontinue serving Achva halva. An article in the Electronic Intifada was picked up by dozens of anti-Israel bloggers and social media sites. Trouble is, it wasn't true.


From Avi Mayer: (If you are in Israel , buy this man a beer for me, please).

Last week, hate site Electronic Intifada breathlessly reported that Delta Air Lines would be dropping a snack produced in the industrial area of Barkan, located over the Green Line The writers, Adri Nieuwhof and Ali Abunimah, presented the move as the result of a complaint filed by an individual associated with the radical "Coalition of Women for Peace). Abunimah, the site's editor, even went so far as to fabricate a claim that "Delta Air Lines lawyers ruled that Israeli settlement-made snacks should not be served" and to link the move to the bigoted Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement


Finding the hate site's reporting somewhat difficult to believe, I reached out to Delta myself and a rather different picture emerged.


The following is an email that I received a short time ago from Betsy Talton, General Manager of Corporate Communications for Delta Air Lines:

Good morning,

"We regret that a letter from an individual in our customer care department incorrectly suggested that Delta removed a vanilla halva bar because of its origin.

Like on many of our international flights, all food items on Delta flights exit Tel Aviv are sourced by our local caterer. This includes more than 1,000 local items. The item in question, a Vanilla Halva Bar, was recently removed as part of a normal catering cycle and review. In many cases products that are removed are later re-boarded. In addition, items are periodically rotated or changed in the course of our menu cycles.

The snack (fruit) that replaced the bar is grown locally in Israel. Delta makes a practice of sourcing local goods for catering in most international markets we serve.

Thanks,
Betsy

Thanks for following up on that, Avi.

BDS hoaxes:  Hampshire college. Blackrock. Harvard. Tiaa-Cref  Ahava. And now Delta joins the list of fabricated BDS victories straight from the fertile imagination of the anti-Israel cru.   Lets wish them many more such "victories"