El Al Israel airlines, has terminated its association with tours that feature the Oberammergau, Germany, Passion Play in their itinerary. The decision was made after the play’s anti-Semitic content was stressed by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith in a protest to El Al for its involvement. In a letter to Arnold Forster. General Counsel of the League. Mordechai Ben Ari, President of El Al, said he was “deeply grateful,” to the agency “for bringing this matter to our attention.” El Al, he declared, regretted its “unwitting and implied support of the Oberammergau Passion Play.” The airline had cooperated with Orient tours of London, in an extension tour to Israel offered to Christian tourists attending the Passion Play. Mr. Ben Ari said that El Al’s association with a tour folder on “Oberammergau and the Holy Land” resulted from “the standard partnership between tour operators and commercial airlines.” Mr. Forster said that the script of the Oberammergau play, which is used by some groups in this country too, maintains that the Jews as a people are guilty of decide.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
