British Airways has delayed the airing of a sitcom with Jewish characters until after the end of the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization so as to remain "neutral," The Telegraph reported.
The show in question, "Hapless,” revolves around a journalist at a Jewish newspaper in the UK and touches on themes of Jewish life and antisemitism.
The airline had reached a £20,000 deal to air "Hapless" on its flights for six months beginning this month.
"Hapless" creator Gary Sinyor said that he was informed of the decision not to air the show during the war on October 13, less than a week after Hamas committed the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust in an attack which left 1,200 people dead and took 240 hostages.
The email to Sinyor states: “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."
The message continues: “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.”
Sinyor called the decision "shocking" and noted that the series is based in the UK and not in Israel, though the Jewish State is mentioned during the show. The synopsis for the first episode of season 2 mentions an activist who turns up at the main character's home demanding that the Jewish population of Israel be moved to the US. According to Sinyor, it is the fact that the series deals with Jewish themes and characters that made it seem "unneutral" in the airline's eyes.
“What’s so frustrating is I gave them [British Airways] fair warning to undo it. It could have been a quiet ‘error in communication’. But no joy. Now it appears more thought out – not less,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
“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," he added.