Israel, Mecca … no difference to British BMI

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Passengers headed to Israel on a British BMI flight were alarmed to find their destination was Mecca, according to the in-flight map. The airline, it seems, isn’t terribly aware that the Middle East is know for a tiny amount of tension that’s lasted for decades (the most recent iteration, at least).

Pick your joke about “wiping Israel off the map” – the Sydney Morning Herald did.

BMI, of course, denies an anti-Israel bias and cites a technical screw-up. The carrier, which has operated low-cost flights to Israel for more than a year, says it bought two plans from a bankrupt charter company that focused on Muslim destinations. The in-filght systems were programmed to highlight Islamic holy places.

It’s not discrimination. Instead, it’s a careful blend, of laziness, stupidity and poor planning – all of which are excusable in the airline industry, right?

Wrong switch, gets Delta fighter jet escort

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Don’t slip!

A Delta Airlines pilot accidentally activated a hijacking alert on a flight from New York to Tel Aviv. As a result, Israeli fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane “safely” to Ben Gurion Airport.

The fighter jets lingered briefly over the airliner and its 100 passengers … ultimately for no reason. Then, they escorted the plane – and probably a confused flight crew – into Tel Aviv. A technical malfunction, apparently, kept the pilot from communicating with the airport’s tower.

Nobody was hurt in this bizarre event, according to Israeli transportation ministry official Dani Shenar, and an investigation will be launched.

Gadling Take FIVE Week of March – April 3

by Jamie Rhein on

Perhaps you noticed our annual April Fool’s offerings. Although there are some odd TRUE stories here at Gadling every once in awhile–sometimes daily, nothing this past Wednesday was true. At least, I don’t think China is planning to put an escalator up Mt. Everest.

Here is a sampling of what has been true this week.

  • Annie has happily continued to sample jerky. This week’s post on Oberto Beef Jerky made me hungry and itching for a road trip.
  • If you have not taken the time yet to watch the video in Jeffrey’s post “Afghanistan, an accordion, ‘Elvis’ and Johnny Cash,” do. It’s a wonderful example of an unexpected cross cultural-exchange.
  • For anyone 30 years or younger, Allison has news about a way you can win a trip through STA. There is a free trip being given away every day this month. With several days left, you might get lucky.
  • The golden arches of McDonald’s are almost a world-wide icon, although every country has its own version of some menu items. Aaron names some of them like Israel’s The McShawarma. He didn’t say if he tried some on his trip there.
  • In his post on tourism’s effect on the Amazon, Kraig talks about his upcoming trip to Peru where he’ll be traveling on the Amazon in a riverboat. We’re looking forward to what he discovers on this venture and shares with us here at Gadling.

And here’s one more. In case you missed this bit of news, our favorite pilot Kent Wien and his wife Linda won the Competitours race in Europe. Set up like an Amazing Race challenge, Competitours is offering a unique way to travel that Kent and Linda were happy to try. We’re certainly proud!!!

Heathen in the Holy Land: How I became an Israeli pseudo-celebrity

by Aaron Hotfelder on

To read part one of Gadling’s new “Heathen in the Holy Land” series, go here.

When I told a friend of mine I was headed to Israel for a week, he advised me, only half-jokingly, to look out for car-bombs. A fellow member of my fantasy baseball league suggested that if the worst should happen to me on this trip, we could re-name our league “The Aaron Hotfelder That’s-Why-You-Don’t-Take-a-Trip-to-a-War-Zone Memorial League.”

These reactions, and many others like them, reinforced what I already knew: that my friends are shit-heads. But more importantly for the purposes of this article, that Israel has a definite image problem.

Indeed, most people only ever hear of the country on TV news reports accompanied by stock footage of soldiers launching M-16s or in articles with headlines like “Israeli Soldiers Allege Indiscriminate Killing in Gaza,” or “Israel Hunts West Bank Attackers.”

The Ministry of Tourism for Israel is not blind to the country’s war-torn reputation. Last week, it sponsored a trip for a group of seven travel bloggers (myself included) aimed at improving the country’s public standing. The Ministry showed us the country’s swankiest hotels, most impressive ruins, and most breathtaking landscapes in the hopes that we’d give the country some positive coverage in the blogosphere as a result.

Press trips, those paid-for junkets that have been called travel writing’s “dirty little secret,” are actually relatively common in the print media. But a press trip for bloggers? Isn’t that a waste of money?

That’s what reporters from two different Israeli news programs wanted to know, along with one other important question: “Just what is a blogger?” To answer these questions, one of the reporters followed us around for several hours during our walking tour of Tel Aviv, while the other reporter accompanied us to Jerusalem’s Old Town. Both were followed by a man wielding a giant TV camera and another man carrying a boom mic. Needless to say, our group of seven felt a little like celebrities as we strolled to places like the “Last Supper Room” in Jerusalem and the historic Neve Tzedek neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

We got the the same look from each native Israeli who saw the camera crew following us around– a look which seemed to say, “Who the hell are these people?” To be sure, we did not look like movie stars. Our ragtag group mostly had faces for radio, if you catch my drift.

But these were my fifteen minutes of fame, dammit, and I was going to enjoy them. At a local wine shop in Tel Aviv, I could tell that our group, tired from the brutal schedule which is a staple of most press trips, wasn’t giving the cameraman much material. So with the camera rolling, I ventured a question to the rest of the group:

“So, do you think many people will decide to come to Israel after reading about it on our blogs?” I asked. “Because I do. I’ll bet people flock to Israel in droves after reading our glowing reviews!” The rest of the group stifled laughs and nodded their heads, aware that this contrived conversation was being made for the benefit of the reporter and camera man. Sure, it was a blatant attempt at getting on TV, but I didn’t get care.

In the end, that reporter’s segment on our group– and more importantly, my Israeli TV debut– was pre-empted for a three-hour press conference in which the country’s former president denied a rape charge. (This only served to reinforce my long-standing opposition to rape.) Thankfully, our group’s TV premiere came a couple days later in a two-minute segment on Channel 10. (Brush up on your Hebrew and watch it here.)

While my speaking parts were all cut out of the segment, I was featured quite prominently in several shots (see top photo, striped sweater), proving once again, as if any more proof is needed, that Andy Warhol was right about that fifteen minutes thing.

Disclosure: This week-long trip to Israel was sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Tourism. Unlike the trip, my opinions were not paid for because, dammit, my integrity is not for sale. That is not to say I wouldn’t entertain the right offer.

Heathen in the Holy Land: Is Israel even safe to visit?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

“Heathen in the Holy Land” is a new Gadling feature which will consist of posts all this week about my recent trip to Israel, a country you may have heard discussed once or twice on the news.

Over the course of this week, I’ll discuss a whole host of topics about the Holy Land, like what a leader of Kabbalah really thinks about Madonna, why Israel is not just a country for religious pilgrims and history nerds, how I became an Israeli pseudo-celebrity, and why you should really learn the Hebrew alphabet before you go.

But in this first post, I’ll answer the question posed to me by (among others) my mom, my friends, my mom’s friends, my barber, my sommelier, my waiter, my Lamaze coach, and my mechanic before I left on this trip: “Is Israel even safe to visit?”

Lots of people assume (wrongly) that Israel is not a safe place to go because, well, it’s on the news so much. Others assume the opposite– that Israel must be a safe country because, hey, people live there! I tend to fall into the latter category.

But here’s the important thing to remember: Both groups are wrong. Why? Because both groups are making assumptions. If you really want to know whether a country is safe, you have to do some actual research. This means more than simply reading the US State Department’s “Travel Warning” website, where the current entry on Israel warns travelers to look out for, among other things, short-range rockets, Molotov Cocktails, and “bulldozer attacks.” It’s enough to make even the most intrepid traveler want to spend the rest of his life at home eating Pop Tarts inside a pillow fort.

But the State Department, as the travel writer Cynthia Barnes has pointed out, is mostly made up of well-intentioned ninnies who, “like the father of a luscious 16-year-old” are “happiest when we’re at home.” Because of that, a more realistic portrait of a country’s security situation will come from our fellow travelers at places like Lonely Planet’s Thorntree forum or the Bootsnall forum. Most travelers on those sites warn, as I do, to stay the hell out of the Gaza Strip and be very careful when visiting the West Bank, which was the site of some violent protests only a couple months ago. (Note: When a person writes that they were “stoned in Bethlehem”, which is located in the West Bank, they’re talking about actual stones.)

So is Israel safe to visit? With the exception of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, yes. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are no more dangerous than similarly-sized cities in the US or Europe, and violent crime in smaller towns is almost unheard of. As for the risk of terrorist activities or other large-scale violence– the reason most people feel trepidation about visiting the Middle East– most of the risk in Israel is confined to Gaza and the West Bank. Still, several years ago both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were the victims of small-scale suicide attacks, which is proof that in Israel, just as in any country, nowhere is entirely safe.

Bottom line: Do your homework before you go. Read the news, the travel forums, and yes, even the State Department’s website, to stay up-to-date on which parts of Israel are safe and which aren’t. Don’t let a general feeling that Israel might be unsafe prevent you from exploring this dynamic, fascinating country.

Disclosure: This week-long trip to Israel was sponsored by the country’s Ministry of Tourism. Unlike the trip, my opinions were not paid for because, dammit, my integrity is not for sale. That is not to say I wouldn’t entertain the right offer.

Thanks to Jordan Chark for contributing the background for our “Heathen in the Holy Land” graphic to the Gadling Flickr pool.