On Tuesday, November 14th hundreds of members of The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit along with their supporters were left stranded on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington D.C. Their chartered bus drivers had conspired to call in sick, with the goal of thwarting their customers' plans to join the March for Israel – a peaceful protest organized to show solidarity with over 300,000 people gathered at the National Mall to call attention to hostages still held by Hamas.

The (unnamed) bus company had been booked well in advance but starting Monday, drivers began calling in “sick” in a de facto act of protest. This was a clear act of hate and a statement of anti-Semitism, and sadly just the latest example of a persistent and expansive brand of American anti-Semitism. According to FBI statistics from 2019, "hate crimes against Jewish people account for more than half of all religious hate crimes in America.”  

This petition seeks to compel local authorities and relevant regulatory bodies to thoroughly investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable.

Hate crimes must be flagged and uniformly prosecuted. This “sick-out” by an organized group of anti-Semitic bus drivers is a particularly important example that must be highlighted in spite of, and especially due to the bloodless nature of the crime.  By marginalizing this story, a precedent is set – one that cannot reasonably coexist in a country established on the principles of universal human rights, and with a guarantee of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all. Hate crimes cannot be characterized or otherwise qualified solely based on perceived levels of physical violence or the threat thereof. In a country subject only to the “rule of law,” Americans should be particularly sensitive to the power of words, gestures, and symbols as catalysts for actions. Condoning any form of Hate speech condones all forms of it. This must be acknowledged and enforced.
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According to the Detroit Free Press, three planes were chartered from metro Detroit to Washington, D.C. where they were to be met by a private bus company to be transferred 26 miles to the National Mall to join the protest. 

“We sat, and sat, and sat...There were three planes and only one plane got to go to the protest,” according to one passenger. “First they said the buses were held up by TSA, then we heard it was a walkout by the drivers. We heard it was deliberate and malicious. Many, many hours went into the planning of this trip. Honestly, I think everybody on the plane was heartsick about this.” 

This kind of passive aggression traditionally pales in contrast to those of a more overtly violent nature: defacing Jewish homes and institutions with swastikas and hateful phrases, physical harassment, bullying in schools, incalculable rants on social and mainstream media, and the heartless and wanton ripping down of “missing” posters. Nevertheless, reported anti-Semitic incidents have seen a 400 percent increase in the weeks immediately following the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas and its sponsors (stats from ADL).

This disgusting act of targeted bias has no relation to any legitimate form of protest or free speech. One needn't be a legal historian to recall the story of Rosa Parks, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and ultimately The Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These drivers were in violation of federal law, as well as Washington D.C. public accommodation law* by way of the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977, and D.C. Official Code Section 2-1401.01. 

Our country is experiencing a historic lack of civility beyond this issue, at all levels of society.  Anything you can do to safely, ethically, and reasonably identify and report any instances of Hate will help to raise the standards of accountability and conduct for all Americans. Please sign this petition in the name of civil discourse, the rule of law, and toward a future where fear of reprisal does not freeze the Democratic engine of truly free speech that powers this once great Union.

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*As defined by D.C.'s Office of Human Rights “‘Place of public accommodation’ means any person or place that provides, to a person in the District, access to an accommodation, service, or good, whether or not that person or place maintains a physical location in the District or charges for those goods or services . . .”