Congressman Ritchie Torres (D – NY) is at it again, this time accusing United Airlines of a “thinly-veiled boycott” against Israel for the oddest of reasons.
Congressman Torres Claims United Airlines Is Boycotting Israel Because It Flies Over Israel, But Not To Israel
Last week, I wrote about Torres’ claim that US carriers like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines were “effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State” by suspending commercial service to Tel Aviv.
His charge was not only baseless but absurd, for reasons I outlined, but of course, he does have an interest in keeping his constituents happy by encouraging more frequent service to Israel, which will put downward pressure on ticket prices. Right now, only Israeli flag carrier El Al offers nonstop service between the USA and Israel.
Now Torres is wondering why United is willing to fly over Israel but not fly to Israel…
“United is willing to fly through Israel but not fly to Israel? Why is it safe to do the former but too dangerous to do the latter? Could it be that United’s selective security concerns are little more than a pretext for a thinly veiled boycott?”
United is willing to fly through Israel but not fly to Israel? Why is it safe to do the former but too dangerous to do the latter? Could it be that United’s selective security concerns are little more than a pretext for a thinly veiled boycott? pic.twitter.com/HGolXBKY0W
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) August 30, 2024
First, there’s a BIG difference between flying over a nation and flying to a nation…again making me wonder how imbecilic Torres is…or whether he is just pandering to the interest groups that line his pockets in full knowledge of the absurdity of his statement.
Is flying over a nation 100% safe? Of course not…just ask the families of the passengers on Korean Airlines 007. But flying at 40,000 feet at almost the speed of sound is quite different than takeoff and landing at an airport that has been the previous target of attacks and that Iran has promised to destroy unexpectedly (good luck with that, Ali Khamenei…).
But wait, there’s more.
United does not even fly over Israel anymore. Take a closer look at a recent Newark – Dubai flight:
As you can see, the flight avoids Israeli airspace, traveling via Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
Here again, is UA164 (EWR-DXB) currently in the air. It avoided Jordan altogether as well:
So not only is Torres’ statement an illogical false equivalency, it is also factually inaccurate…United does not even fly over Israel right now.
Dear Ritchie, stop pandering.
> Read More: Imbecilic Congressman Accuses US Airlines Of “Boycotting” Israel
They’re using a screen capture of FlightAware without knowing what a “white line” in FlightAware means? Come on!
This is just a textbook case of political pandering. I don’t think Torres cares to know all the facts you’ve laid out. In fact, I bet you he doesn’t really care whether or not U.S. carriers fly to Israel at all. Torres represents the South Bronx in NYC which is known for having a high Jewish population. Saying thinks like this not only affirms support for Israel to his constituents (at a time when fellow younger members of the Democratic Party are known for heavily leaning pro-Palestine), but is also a rather scandalous accusation that gets your name in headlines. Remember, “no such thing as bad publicity.” Headlines like this make your name known to people beyond your constituency, and given our national elections in the United States are basically just nation-wide popularity contests, that can be hugely beneficial. So yeah, this is nothing more than political pandering.
His district, with a medium income of $42,000 is largely Hispanic. The main issues revolve around affordable housing and staggering unemployment. It seems unlikely his constituents are screaming for affordable travel to Israel. This is just my opinion.
@Maryland … districts will enlarge with the hoards of illegal aliens , even though not actual constituents ; districts will be re-drawn to include all of the population , whether legal or not .
Oh geez not that nonsense again.
He has both voters and donors who are supporters of AIPAC. And the bigger donors really do count for him. And those bigger campaign donors tend to be less likely to be “largely Hispanic” than his district is.
By playing the cards as Torres is playing them, he is less likely to be primaried out by big donor money in what is a very reliably Democratic district. Torres knows exactly what he is trying to do with this: grab headlines and grow campaign war chests and reduce the chances of being primaried out.
@Maryland
Agreed.
@Jay … just two thoughts : Israel doesn’t need airline employees wearing their hamas flag pins , or any other pins ;
and what an airline does is the airline’s business – Israel could care less .
Nobody is wearing Hamas pins.
With all due respect, I have lingering doubts that you would know a Hamas pin isn’t the Palestinian national flag pin even if a Hamas pin were pinned to your forehead as part of a game of pin the tail to the donkey.
Surely Mr. Torres has more important issues to manage than United’s flying to Israel or not. Mr. Torres represents NY, and United flies from New Jersey, why does he even bother to have an opinion.
This what I question. When there is so much work to be done for those that elected you, why dwell on something irrelevant?
When the vast majority of your voting constituents have no real interest in a certain policy matter/arena, the politician can be king of and more sovereign over the issue for their own personal reasons. It’s sort of like why and how Presidents are more like kings in foreign policy matters than in domestic policy matters. And foreign policy matters really are a lot about money from donors and the revolving door opportunities and kickback favors it provides to senior politicians and other senior government/military officials and their own favorites.
Maybe he has the hots for sort of right of center guys, despite his complaints before that he can’t find (male) dates because of his politics on some issues. I haven’t cared to find out his personal dating history or other personal affiliations beyond his putting on the moves for donors and a small segment of his constituents, but his antics in this regard aren’t a surprise. He doesn’t plan to be Bowman-ed or (C) Bush-ed.
This must be hard for Matthew. His two loves—united and Israel—bickering
Lol. United isn’t bickering – United can’t wait to bring back service, but does not see sufficient or union support in the face of safety concerns to profitably sustain such flying.
I know, I had to stretch facts to make my mildly sarcastic comment work, glad you didn’t take it seriously.
Anyone wondering if he’s one of the next one or two people to become a moderator on the United forum on FT? If one or both of the invited become moderators on his pet forum there, that would mean something like 80 moderators on the site.
Is Adam1222 still posting here? Word was also received that he’s got some moderators gunning for him as of late. And it seems like some of the same old folks are again making an issue of MSPeconomist’s posts.
I would never be a moderator on FlyerTalk unless I could ban Marty (good person, bad moderator) and WineCountryUA with immediate effect.
Adam1222 is not anything I would even wipe with my left hand and is not welcome on this blog.
Once upon a time — a few years ago — I half-jokingly informed SanDiego1k/Carol that I would volunteer to moderate the SAS forum if they needed someone. Why? Because I already knew a substantial segment of the moderators and the IB Admin — the one who got Beltway suspended — would throw a hissy fit if I were to be included like that, and so I would never really be considered.
I am looking forward to hearing more about the Mod Do in LA in November, even as there is said to be reduced interest in showing up this time. A few days later, we will know how Torres performed in his district. Torres is going to win, and it’s just a matter of how huge the margin.
NY has long had a lot of clown politicians elected to federal office, and Torres is just another one who will do D’Amato proud even absent chasing the potholes. On a more serious note, I wouldn’t be surprised if Torres thinks (shirtless and pants-free) Weiner — the ex-husband of the Muslim wife of George Soros’s successor in political activism — is hot. It’s just how he flies.
What a stupid imbecilic man. It really is true that empty vessels make the most noise.
Nothing to do with his constituency – it has everything to do with his political donors. Politicians like him are not public servants seeing as they have their donor’s interests at heart.
OpenSecrets says his top industry for 2o23-2034 was the Pro-Israel lobby at $1.4 million, while AIPAC was his largest single donor at $571,000.
He is working for both those groups by making these comments.
His congressional district is the poorest in the United States – folks in his district are paying absolutely no mind to the issue of Israel/Palestine.
With more donor money to more easily avoid losing primary challenges, he becomes more certain that he can retain his US House seat in a very reliably Democratic district. It’s his ticket to his idea of the good life regardless of how little AIPAC’s chose issues matter to his district.