UPDATE: British Airways has reversed its decision to cancel a “Jewish sitcom” from its in-flight-entertainment line-up and issued an apology.
After taking heat for canceling a UK-made sitcom featuring Jewish characters called Hapless out of a desire to “remain as neutral as possible” after war broke out in Gaza, British Airways has backtracked and issued the following apology:
“We understand that the decision to review the content has caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community, and we’re sorry – that was never our intention.
“We’re proud to offer a wide range of entertainment options for our customers to enjoy and constantly review these, taking into consideration current events. The series will appear on our aircraft early next year.”
Gary Sinyor, the writer and director of Hapless, was appreciative of the decision by British Airways, but felt the apology was misplaced:
“The apology whilst appreciated should not be to the Jewish Community. It’s not a Jewish sitcom. It’s a satirical British Sitcom with Jews and non-Jews in it. To those who speak on our behalf, I don’t think the decision was antisemitic but ill-thought out. Possibly out of fear of a reaction from Muslims who both star in it and love it as much as non-Muslims. We must all unite and stop the hatred, whatever paper you read. That is the absolute core of the series. Well, that and making people laugh.”
I'd like to publicly thank the @Telegraph for being brave enough to expose @British_Airways and the issue with my sitcom #Hapless. The apology whilst appreciated should not be to the Jewish Community. It's not a Jewish sitcom. It's a satirical British Sitcom with Jews and…
— Gary Sinyor (@garysinyor) December 18, 2023
The sitcom will be added to BA’s global IFE line-up in January 2024.
The original article, which appeared on December 18, 2023, is below.
I do understand that the conflict in Gaza is quite complicated. But removing an unrelated Jewish sitcom from its onboard in-flight-entertainment lineup, as British Airways under the guise of remaining “neutral” in the conflict, is not neutral. On the contrary, it is about as logical as removing removing Hollywood movies because the US attacked Iraq.
To Remain Neutral, British Airways Cancels Jewish Sitcom
Unlike View From The Wing, I probably would not go so far as to call the move anti-Jewish, but I do find it quite deplorable. As noted in The Telegraph, British Airways has opted to “pause” its planned addition of a comedy called Hapless from its onboard line-up:
The airline delayed plans to add the comedy series Hapless, which has been shown on Netflix and Amazon Prime, to its in-flight entertainment system to avoid any appearance of taking sides in the ongoing conflict.
The satire follows misadventures of a London-based cynical journalist for a fictional Jewish newspaper and has been called the British version of the US sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.
I have never heard of this program, but if it is anything like Curb Your Enthusiasm I will certainly check it out (it is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime).
Gary Sinyor, the director, has claimed that the contractor British Airways uses to gather IFE content approached him after the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023 to state that it would suspend plans to showcase his program until after the war because it did not want to “take sides” in the conflict. He shared an email, which explains the rationale:
“BA Press office have asked us to review content on board and being booked in relation to Israel/Palestine and the conflict currently happening. Their preference is to remain as neutral in these situations as possible.
“As a result we’ve been asked to remove Hapless from the December line-up but are very happy to book this once the conflict dies down.”
But Sinyor does not buy it:
“The series has nothing to do with Israel-Palestine. I mean, other than that the Jewish people live in Israel and that Israel is a Jewish state, it has nothing to do with it.
“I think what it shows is a fear of being perceived as being pro Israel just because it’s got Jewish characters in it.”
And I think he’s quite right on that last point and far from being neutral, that shows that British Airways is going way beyond the pale to not offend its (likely sizable) audience that is more sympathetic to the long-term plight of the Palestinians than Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism.
View From The Wing argues that it is shameful British Airways does not want to take the side against Hamas, and I quite agree, but with so much death and carnage in Gaza we can at least acknowledge that some people will take offense to anything Israel-related, which could translate to disturbance onboard.
But Sinyor is quite right to argue that this logic being applied to Muslim directors or sitcoms would be just as foolish:
“I think that the Muslim community would be concerned as well if they found that things that had Muslim humour in them, or Muslim content or were being made by Muslim filmmakers were being vetoed in this way, even if it’s a temporary veto.”
And the bottom line is that British citizens who are Jewish are being penalized because they are Jewish. That is nothing to be proud of.
I made an analogy to removing Hollywood movies because US attacked Iraq in my opening, but even that is a quite a stretch considering the US preemptively attacked Iraq unlike in Gaza, where Hamas attacked Israel first. The point is, there is a healthy degree of separation between a filmmakers and war.
CONCLUSION
British Airways delayed plans to feature a popular British Jewish comedy in onboard IFE lineup. It says that this is in order to remain “neutral” in the conflict in Gaza, but such an action is the opposite of neutrality. Far from remaining neutral, BA has bizarrely decided to punish a British filmmaker for being Jewish.
(Hat Tip: PYOK)
Hi – it looks like you missed part of your sentence/ didnt finish what you were writing in this paragraph:
View From The Wing argues that it is shameful British Airways does not want to take the side against Hamas, and I quite agree, but with so much death and carnage in Gaza we can at least acknowledge that some people (people ) .
You write some people (people) . Some people (people) do what?
Odd, that somehow got deleted (and so did Gary’s backlink), but I’ve updated it. Thanks Jason.
The series is supposed to be about a Jewish investigative journalist. Without watching it, I cannot say if it is a correct or incorrect decision. The fact that it is about an investigative journalist might lead one to the conclusion that it is not neutral to include it in the showing. BA is saying that showing it is being delayed, not permanently banned.
The war is very complex. There are not just 2 sides. There are more than 2 sides. There is at least Hamas, Israel, Gaza civilians, Fatah, etc. Israel definitely has been attacked but they are also very aggressive. Shoot first, ask questions later, which is why they killed 3 Israeli hostages then regretted it.
If the policy were ‘shoot first, ask questions later’, casualties would be in six figures rather than five. Does any army in the world NOT have friendly fire accidents?
Do they have Chinese-language stuff in their IFE? If so, it will all have been vetted by the PRC government which, funnily enough (not), is engaging in actual genocide against Muslims!
If I were BA , I would remain loyal to “Paddington Bear” , “Alice in Wonderland” , and (perhaps) “Harry Potter” .
And successful classic British films , including Michael Caine , and Peter Sellers . And classic British sports such as Rugby .
I would eliminate everything from any controversial nation or religion , particularly during a war . One never knows what type of moron hothead will be on the aircraft ..
Given how support for Israel is a support for occupation, genocide, and support for war crimes, all shows produced or owned by Zionists and supporters of Zionism should be removed. That means most shows but then we would have less mind control by 3% of the population who use their wealth and power to push evil while enjoying their fruit.
Please tell me you’re not a Nazi.
Stop asking – He just told you that he was.
You’re right. How could I have been so stupid?
Hoping for a troll I guess.
Too much Chinese movies in most IFE’s..
The world is way too PC. Next they’ll ban Seinfeld. Not to mention Blazing Saddles or anything starring Richard Pryor.
Matt, I understand BA have alreaady revsersed this decision.
Indeed they have. Good news.
“audience that is more sympathetic to the long-term plight of the Palestinians than Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism.”
Well, one is an occupying power and the other is an occupied group…maybe they’re also sympathetic to the Palestinian’s right to defend themselves from the IDF and settler terrorism in the West Bank?
Of course, in the same way that they were sympathetic to Al Qaeda’s right to defend itself against office workers in the Twin Towers on 9/11, Isis’ right to defend their religion against cartoonists in France, or Hezbollah’s right to defend itself from the perfidy of Argentine Jews in the Buenos Aires Synagogue they blew up on the other side of the world from their supposed dispute.
Not the same thing, but keep expressing your ignorance of the situation through your asinine comments.
@Mak … Very Well Said .
As BA is astutely avoiding the entire mess , next the “peaceful religion” and the Left will be against “Paddington Bear” and “bagpipes” .
I really really give up on the moron hotheads running about , and I hope none are on my next BA flight . So , cheers to BA for removing anything related to any of their religious quarrels . BA also walks a thin line between the India-Pakistan religious quarrel , the varied quarrels in Nigeria , and elsewhere .
This is why we need to bring back my Muslim ban!
If the terrorists laid down their arms today there would be peace in the Middle East. If the Jews did the same they would be decimated. The Jewish state of Israel has a right to exist in Palestine and the Arab world just needs to accept that and move on to more productive pursuits.
Nah Israel would be still be occupying the Palestinians if everyone laid down their weapons. Also Israel predates Hamas by decades.
Also a Palestinian state has every right to exist as Israel does. People like you need to accept that as well.
Yes, they are indeed occupied – by Hamas. But then the people of Gaza were stupid enough to vote Hamas into power in 2004, whose “struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps” (Hamas charter introduction. Note – not Israel but JEWS) and also “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” (Article 6, i.e. not just the West Bank and Gaza).
We shouldn’t be surprised as the controlling shareholder of British Airways parent company is the Government of Qatar, the largest supporter and sustainer of Hamas. But if nothing else episodes like this disprove the rationalization that anti-zionism is anything other than a slightly different manifestation of plain antisemitism. If you cause offense by showing a sitcom about British Jews living in England, it is perfect evidence that people aren’t merely offended by Jews living in Israel, but by Jews living anywhere in the world.
You mean the way people are offended by the Palestinian keffiyeh?
Although I don’t see anybody banning kefiyahs or removing those wearing them from in-flight entertainment, I’ll take that as a concession of my point.
@Mak … Let’s not have any controversy in any inflight entertainments . Some jazz , some classical , some pop , some oldies , some cartoons , some comedy . some animal documentary , and some “sound of the ocean” to put us to sleep .
I avoid any political arguments , any religious arguments , and any gamesmanship trickery .
No, they are just trying to ban them from wearing it on the street or at protests. No concession of your point because your points are nonsense.
I would be incredibly happy when humans decide to live and let live. But I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime.
@cairns … Unfortunately , religion , politics , territorial claims , tempers , impatience , and moronic stupidity , all get in the way of peaceful coexistence .
It’s all historical record in the Bible .
Cairins the geopolitical situation will improve. But it will require each and every one of us to put in the work. Involve yourself in local and national political issues. Travel where you are able and learn more about the world. At the moment we seem to be stalled in tribal politics. Choose your own path, don’t be dismayed and whine but chip away toward a better planet. All my best and I wish you well.
i think the big thing here is that conflating the presence of a british jewish person with the state of israel is incredibly antisemetic, regardless of your views on the ongoing conflict, glad they fixed it but making this conflation at all is a bad look
No surprise here,every historian knows Polish RAF fighters took out more nazi aircraft than the British themselves,yet Polish RAF fighters weren’t allowed to march in UK Victory parades until the soviet union disolved,for fear of offending the Russian mongol leaders in Moscow.