I know several people who were on that flight who are not Haredi and yet completely contradict EL AL's media spin.
As for why religious people are on that flight to begin with - BESIDES for those who were bumped to begin with, everyone on FT knows you can't always plan the perfect flight. Work obligation, family obligations, etc. That's the reason many of them specifically chose to fly EL AL over any other carrier who wouldn't take Shabbat into consideration.
The fact that the flight crew arrived hours late is a disgrace. Had the crew been on time, they likely would've made it before shabbat.
By the time they left the gate, the staff knew 100% they wouldn't make it in time. So they should have never departed.
Major Issues- Flight crew came extremely late
- They knew they wouldn't make it and departed anyways
- They lied, claiming they were heading back to the gate and just took off (which is ALSO a major safety issue, as people, rightfully or not, weren't buckled - yes, a big problem anyways - because they assumed plane was returning to gate, not heading to runway)
Had I bee on the flight, I wouldn't have been violent. But I'd be pissed. Because given the opportunity, I would've not gone on the flight. And many asked for the opportunity to deplane once it became clear they wouldn't make it. (Keep in mind that when they boarded, there was still a great chance of making it on time - the issue was that they boarded long before the full crew arrived.) So I can't even fault for them boarding. Once the issue was made clear, they asked to deplane (and for the most part, didn't even make an issue of the plane itself flying on Shabbat - just that they didn't want to be there), and they were refused. So I would've been pissed at the crew - yes, this is one of those time's it's the crew's fault, not "weather" or "management" or some other one to shift the blame.