In shockingly disgraceful conduct and due to its own error, a Moldovan airline on Sunday removed all the passengers, mostly frum Jews, from a flight to Israel and forcibly expelled them from the airport. The incident occurred due to an error by Air Moldova, which registered two passengers with the same name as one person. As a result, when the passengers boarded the plane, one was left without a seat. Arguments began and in the ensuing chaos, the pilot decided he was quitting and canceled the flight. At that point, all the passengers, most of them Israelis who had spent Shabbos Chanukah in Uman, were removed from the flight and then expelled from the airport. One of the passengers told B’Chadrei Chareidim: “They treated us like dogs. Police officers used a stun gun on one of the passengers. I don’t have any pictures to show you because whoever took out a phone was immediately pounced upon by officers. The police officers then began physically removing us from the terminal.” The Israelis were stranded in Kishinev and apparently will remain there until Thursday when the next flight to Israel is scheduled. Barach Hashem for Chabad, which as usual stepped up to the plate. Chabad Moldova, led by Rav Zushe Abelsky, is assisting the group, providing them with accommodations and food. “It was clear to us this year that in light of the war and the difficult situation in the area, we must add light,” Rav Abelsky said on Monday. “Indeed, we added lots of light and joy to the Jews of Moldova with 30 different Chanukah events around the country. But we didn’t expect this 31st event…it is a still-unfolding event that will probably last for several more days. Last night [Sunday, the eighth night of Chanukah], in the wee hours of the night, a flood of messages began to flood the phones of the Chabad Shluchim in Moldova from askanim all over the world who were involved in the incident and asked for the intervention of the Shluchim.” “They told us about the group of 150 frum Jews stuck at the airport without food. For Chabad of Moldova, it went without saying that we would assist the group. Rav Gotzel and Rav Axelrod – who haven’t been feeling well for the past few days and could barely get out of bed – despite the late hour and freezing cold, got dressed and ran to the kehilla’s warehouses and emptied the shelves of everything possible in order to satisfy the hungry group.” On Monday morning, Rav Abelsky was also called by Moldovan government officials and airport officials requesting that he assist the stranded passengers. He invited them to the Great Synagogue of Kishinev – whose renovation was completed in recent weeks – to eat hot meals, daven in the minyan and receive any assistance they need. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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