Airline Fined for Kicking Non-Jewish Flyer Off Plane

A French court has fined Air France nearly $13,000 for removing a pro-Palestinian activist from a flight headed for Tel Aviv, Israel, UPI reports. The airline was also ordered to pay about $3,900 to the passenger, 30-year-old Horia Ankour, who was trying to attend a "Welcome to Palestine" event in the Palestinian territories. It all started when an employee on the flight last April asked Ankour whether she had an Israeli passport.

Ankour said no, and said no again when asked whether she was Jewish. At that point she was escorted from the plane. French prosecutors argued that Air France had discriminated against Ankour, and the court agreed. Following pressure from Israel, Europe's major airlines canceled about 300 tickets surrounding the pro-Palestinian campaign, AFP reports. (More Israel and Palestinians stories.)