El Al Hasbarah story and its possible outcome (see under Lisa Goldman)

As your typical Elder, owner of a black and shriveled heart, I would much prefer to write about the latest shenanigans of the Turkish PM Erdogan, our local yokel. However, a task is a task, and here it is, put on my table by my own careless surfing habits.

Inbar Chomsky of Rehovot, Israel, planned to attend Camp Simcha in Glen Spey, New York for children who suffer from cancer and other hematologic illnesses. The camp program is offered by Chai Lifetime, a non-profit international organization.

On August 8, all 36 children excitedly boarded the El Al flight for their two-week trip to the United States. After they underwent a pre-flight medical examination and were seated, the flight crew began collecting passports, while the plane prepared for takeoff. However, during the process, a flight attendant realized that Chomsky’s passport was missing.

Read the rest of the story at the link above, suffice to say that after the girl was already out of the plane and the plane was taxiing to the runway, the passport was found - on the plane, and here comes the happy ending:

The plane had almost reached the runway when someone located Chomsky’s passport in the backpack of a fellow camper. Immediately, the pilot alerted the control tower, ground crew, and El Al’s offices to see if he could retrieve Chomsky. After 30 minutes of negotiations, the pilot turned the plane around and picked her up, to the cheers of the other passengers.

The important additional point to make about the story as published is that it wasn't written by an Hasbarah employee, just by one Elise Solé, a US Yahoo News writer (it appeared in a few Israeli sources as well later).

So why does this crusty old Elder rehash this story? Just because he expects that in a few days a protest, signed by some uber-progressive elements will appear, nailing the Zionist Hasbarah masters to the wall of shame. And uncovering a Zionist Hasbarah plot, conceived in some sinister government office. Like it has already happened to that story about Israeli hospitals treating wounded Syrians, remember?

If you don't remember, this post by Elder of Ziyon will remind you. I wouldn't agree with Elder only on one point, where he says that Lisa Goldman is a bad reporter. Not true, she has all the right instincts and habits, the proof is in this part of her article:

My friend Gal Beckerman read the comment and decided to look into the matter, emailing Isabel Kershner, who wrote the article, and the New York Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, Jodi Rudoren. And it turns out that I was wrong. They discovered the story on their own, and in fact the army tried to prevent them from covering it.

Lisa Goldman proved time and again that there is nothing wrong with her reporting instincts. The main and unfortunate fact is that the political blinkers Lisa decided to put on a few years ago, joining the selected club of strictly anti-Zionist +972, almost physically prevent her from using common sense and step back from bashing Israel, even in cases when it (the bashing) is clearly misdirected and morally wrong. As if there were not enough true reasons...

In short: according to Lisa of today, it is politically incorrect to see them Israelis as people who may do good - even when they do. Because - but read that post by Elder of Ziyon.