Attacked In-Flight: Passenger Survives Anti-Semitic Assault
Jeff Edwards November 05, 2015
An inflight assault on an Israeli flyer is thought to be inspired by hate.
When a fellow passenger on Arik Zenouda’s Ethiopian Airlines flight from N’Djamena International Airport (NDJ) in Chad to Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) in Ethiopia learned that Zenouda was an Israeli citizen, the stranger violently attacked the 54-year-old Jewish man. Zenouda told reporters he was making his way home to Israel when the assault occurred.
Zenouda says his attacker, identified as Sudanese national Ahmed Mohamed in media accounts, first attempted to strangle him from behind and then began to beat him with a metal serving tray.
“He came up behind my seat and started to choke me with a lot of force and at first I couldn’t get my voice out and call for help,” Zenouda told Ynet News. “He hit me over the head with a metal tray and shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ and ‘I will slaughter the Jew.’ Only after a few seconds, just before I was about to lose consciousness, did I manage to call out and a flight attendant who saw what was happening summoned her colleagues.”
While the crew struggled to control the attacker, Zenouda says only one other passenger, a Lebanese man, attempted to help to stop the attack. The cabin crew and good Samaritan were eventually able to restrain the violent passenger and guarded the injured victim near the back of the plane for the remainder of the flight. The attacker reportedly spent the last moments of the trip attempting to convince his fellow passengers to help lynch the Jewish flyer, repeatedly shouting, “Let’s finish him off.”
In a statement to the media, Ethiopian Airlines officials said the violent passenger remains in police custody and added, “The attacker, who has been identified as Ahmed Mohamed, showed no signs of violence as he was boarding the flight.”
[Photo: Getty Images]
I'm going to boycott Ethiopian airlines all together. Flyer talk, thank you for posting this article.
What's missing? Side curls, tefillin, yarmulka? or possibly noticed his passport?
I hate it when politically correct lecturers are scandalized that nobody helped (except one). I was not in that plane. I don't know what was the exact situation. If a wacko is attacking someone for stupid reasons, I admit I won't help, as he may do more stupid things. I'm old, with some light physical disabilities and I never learned martial arts (as I'm against any form of brutality). I will help within my capabilities : testimony to police etc. I can assist if someone is wounded from my past EMS experience. But restrain someone ? Sorry, can't do that.
I hate these crazy stories cut short. So the whacko - showing no signs of violence - learned that one of his fellow passengers lives in Israel, conflates that with the man being a Jew and uses this as license to terminate him? I have never learned the nationalities of my fellow passengers - let alone their specific race - unless they explicitly told me .. so what's missing?
and probably like most in-plane incidents, he will be let off with a slap, what is wrong with people today that they cant respect someone elses beliefs or points of view