“What if the next time the same person puts an explosive in a suitcase,” asked the StopAntisemitism NGO.
By: Etgar Lefkovits – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org
A passenger who flew from Seattle to Tel Aviv found a handwritten note inside her checked luggage reading “F*** Israel.”
Los Angeles native Noa Sabar Dvoskin, 48, who traveled last weekend with her three children on Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Los Angeles and then connected to an El Al flight to Tel Aviv, discovered the note inside her suitcase while unpacking on Monday.
“I felt really scared and uneasy,” she told JNS on Thursday.
Dvoskin went through her luggage to make sure nothing had been damaged and then took a picture of the expletive-laden note, which was written in all capital letters.
“I had a feeling of disgust,” she said. “It felt like something filthy.”
Alaska Airlines said Friday that the incident was under review.
“All passengers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and we take allegations involving the security and handling of checked baggage seriously. Furthermore, Alaska condemns acts of discrimination, harassment, and hate in all forms,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement sent to JNS. “We are reviewing the matter and working to understand the relevant facts. Because the passenger’s journey involved multiple flights on different airlines and the bag passed through multiple points of custody during the journey, we are working with the appropriate parties to understand when and where it could have been accessed.”
Dvoskin, who moved to Israel two years ago and was vacationing in Seattle with her family, said she did not want her children, aged 9 to 16, to see the note.