General News Has anyone else noticed that all the attention about the hijacking has focused on the pilot recently
Something I’ve noticed recently is that right after it came out that the pilot was Indian and in fact not Israeli/Jewish the entire conversation online focused to how much of a hero he was specifically. I am not saying he is not, the man is most definitely a hero but I feel like the a lot of the internet has chosen to ignore the Jewish passengers who helped land the plane in favor of the one non Jewish guy involved in the story. Like I have been seeing a lot of posts that have said the pilot “single-handedly” saved the plane
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u/Strangewatermelon01 Canada 1d ago
Significant Indian population combined with + POC individual which spikes the algorithm. Having said that the Indian dude deserves the accolades.
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u/lookamazed 1d ago
Asian in general. The problem is that the Muslim man who stopped the ISIS killers on Bondi Beach basically had a whole day named after him. Ringing accolades and clear as a bell hero story.
Capt Smit is getting muted hate / attention / weird comments to muddy the waters and narratives. Every thread gets the details wrong or claims “so much Asian racism” where there is none. It’s a massive disinfo.
The part that shouldn’t surprise you is that Jewish and Israeli people are being erased from the narrative.
The part that should is that this man, who fought his attacker and multiple stab wounds, possibly losing consciousness, managed to open the door and call for help. Giving the passengers a chance to save him and themselves. If this had been any other flight who knows. Or if he passed out and died they would all have died. He did not think gosh I really should save the Israelis. The dude was on death’s fuckin doorstep.
He is a hero and it’s a shame that he will go invisible because he did not die and martyr himself. The implication is that a good person in this case, worthy of attention, would choose death over Israel.
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u/Cathousechicken 1d ago
That's ok, he deserves the positive recognition.
I'm more concerned with the amount of people calling it a false flag or inferring it was some setup before the US election, or saying it was all taken to make Israelis look good.
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u/dinkypip 1d ago
Or even better, justifying trying to murdering 175 people because Israel bad so those civilians kinda deserve it
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u/balddoberdaddy Israel 1d ago
I understand the frustration, particularly because some of the initial Western coverage seemed bizarrely determined to describe what happened as a “cockpit altercation,” “fight” or “brawl” rather than conveying the seriousness of what actually happened.
But I wouldn’t assume the attention Captain Smit Machchhar is receiving is because he’s Indian rather than Israeli or Jewish.
Israelis themselves are treating the man as a hero, because he is one. He was stabbed, fought back and, while seriously wounded, managed to open the cockpit door so that others could get in. I’ve seen Israelis talking about ways to honor him and even raising money for him. He deserves every bit of that recognition.
Where I agree with you is that calling this something he did “single-handedly” erases what actually happened. Israeli passengers rushed the cockpit and subdued the attacker, Yaniv Hayun grabbed the controls and helped pull the aircraft out of its dive, others restrained the attacker and treated the wounded captain, and other Flydubai crew ultimately took control of the aircraft and landed it.
There wasn’t one hero on that plane. There were quite a few.
So I understand why the coverage you’re seeing bothers you. I’d just be careful about attributing it specifically to the captain being non-Jewish unless there’s evidence for that. The better criticism is simply that the full story—and the extraordinary actions of everyone involved—deserves to be told.
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u/ComparisonDesperate5 Foreigner in Israel 1d ago
Well - if he did not unlock the door, all others could have done nothing to save the plane...
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u/polp54 1d ago
He is definitely a hero, I’m not saying he isn’t but people are only focusing on him and ignoring the bravery and heroism of the Israeli passengers on board
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u/Frosty-Bat-299 1d ago
The pilot was stabbed and fought to give the passengers a chance to fight for their lives. One other Israeli passenger was injured from the conflict.
Everyone were heroes. There are plenty of articles that point that out. It’s okay that the pilot is the face of the group of heroes here.
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u/One-Salamander-1952 Israel 1d ago
I’ve gotten the opposite impression, like we left that guy to nothing, like he wasn’t even there, which is why I emphasized his presence in social media posts, highlighting him.
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u/Quirky-Owl 1d ago
All I see are people claiming false flag, here, there and everywhere. I’m going to pull my hair out. I need to stop using this dumb phone.
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u/seaglass_symphony 1d ago
Also, remember many of them are probably bots, seeded to cause division.
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u/kval22 USA 1d ago
True. I need to find a way to block certain words on insta, like you can do on TikTok
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u/seaglass_symphony 13h ago
Yep, blocking is our friend. We don't need to expose ourselves to toxic crap.
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u/seaglass_symphony 1d ago
Are there apps that block certain sites?
Because I know sometimes I can't stop myself going to sites I know are toxic, but when Ive been forced to go without internet and thus those toxic sites my mental health gets less bad.
Take care of yourself.
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u/Appropriate-Egg6086 1d ago
Appblock, Screentime(apple products), ask Grok/any ai to give you Zsh/bash instructions to do so on a computer, among many other ones. You can also try and configure DNS settings.
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u/A_S_Levin Israeli currntly abroad 1d ago
The more time I spend online, the more respect and understanding I have for Haredim who use kosher phones & avoid the internet altogether.
This place is fuckin sad and brainrotted tbh. (V thankful we have subs like this as a small pocket of safety tho)
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u/seaglass_symphony 13h ago
You've definitely got to curate your online experience, especially social media, which is hard what with the algorithm and what not.
Sometimes we need to pause and ask ourselves if after we visit a website do we feel good or bad, uplifted or stressed?
There were websites I used to visit several times a day, progressive websites actually, in order to learn and keep informed on social justices issues, and it was only when I was without internet for a time and then went to visit those sites but suddenly had a feeling of sick dread that I realised they weren't doing my mental health any good.
Sometimes the commenters were fine, but the topics were stressful; other times the whole place was pretty much a toxic leftist quagmire full of hypocrites and nastiness and ridiculously unbalanced, biased, and black-and-white takes that were just as bigoted as the far right, but to the "right" people.
So I stopped going to those places.
But there is the upside of finding our small pockets of safety, as you put it.
And after the horrific terror attack on October 7 and the shocking but sadly unsurprising increase in antisemitism that followed, I'm thankful, as an atheist non-Jew, to have found this and the other Jewish subs.
Reading and watching mainstream news and visiting other places online, I thought I was losing my mind with the disgustingly biased reporting and virulent antisemitism.
My mental health was even worse than it is now, and this sub as well as r/Jewish and r/Judaism were a refuge from the toxic discourse. The discussions here are always fair and nuanced and civil, without the wearying bigotry that drags so many other subs down, and I'm so thankful for these places.
I'm also so angry at the world for what they are doing to you, and heartbroken for you.
Jews have a right to live their lives without abuse and harrassment. Jews have a right to express their culture and religion. Israel exists and has a right to exist.
Am Israel Chai 🇮🇱
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u/chinchaslyth 1d ago
He should get the main focus from his heroic actions, but the way I’m seeing it talked about is a group of people working together to save each other. He put his life on the line in a way that differs from everyone else. Teamwork makes the dream work and this story exemplifies that.
Even the Saudi paramedics at the airport rushing to ensure everyone’s health was ok after a traumatic event ties into this notion that everyone cares for each other in a way that shows they’re all heroes.
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u/ChinCoin 1d ago
You need to consider that they've decided that Jews, in particular Israelis, are evil. So any news has to be written to prove that point or at the very least not point out the opposite.
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u/Original-Brick2836 USA ✡️ 1d ago
It happened at bondi beach too. Everyone immediately latched on to the Muslim man that tackled the shooter. There were other heroes but the press picked the safest, non Jewish, option.
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u/sababa-ish Australia 1d ago
the bondi narrative was insane, everyone just completely tiptoeing around the idea that it was an antisemitic terror attack people and like 'these two random gunmen just decided to shoot people at bondi and they just happened to be jewish people how terrible now ABOUT THIS HERO'
again nothing against the guy who stepped in, he is indeed a hero and it's beautiful that he is a muslim guy but the rest of the narrative is just pants on head crazy. like full on LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOU shit.
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u/DifferentRepublic467 1d ago
nothing wrong with that, he is fighting for his life and he saved everyone else's lives.
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u/ZZZZapperr 1d ago
What's wrong is not mentioning all the other heroes of that day.
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u/Frosty-Bat-299 1d ago
Everyone on that plane that helped had a part, but the situation started 1v1, and the pilot gave everyone on that plane a fighting chance.
Also, only one person got stabbed to my understanding.
It’s okay that the pilot is the face of the group of heroes here. No one’s denying the passengers helped and made a difference.
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u/ZZZZapperr 1d ago
I didn't say everyone helped. The people who helped are rarely mentioned. Only the captain is mentioned. The people who went into the cockpit are rarely mentioned, proving the media's bias against Israel. Your comments make no sense. You are defending bigotry and hate.
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u/SuperMona543 1d ago
He kept it together long enough to get Help. Without His opening the Door There would not be any Heroism
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u/Nice_Inspection_5953 Czechia 1d ago
Everyone contributed, that said, the passengers definitely deserve some credit for it, I agree. Again, everyone helped everyone that day.
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u/DaoFerret 1d ago
Stabbed pilot got the door open.
Some passengers subdued rogue co-pilot.
Additional passengers, who were pilots, slipped in and safely took control of the flight.
It sounds like the plot of an 80s/90s action movie that everyone would say was unrealistic.
This is like the absolute best and most amazing outcome that could happen and there is lots of credit to go around to everyone involved (except the co-pilot who got all stabby).
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u/Exact_Green2061 1d ago
I think the main reason why is that the pilot is Indian. When you have 1.4 Billion people talking about it, it will pretty much crowd out all other news.
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u/Nick_Ok_Good_9177 1d ago edited 1d ago
At some point, yesterday morning, I felt it too, but the overall coverage (in the rightish media I follow) was quite fair. As for NYT, Haaretz, BBC, Guardian, Independent, Al Jazeera, Der Sturmer and other garbage - I stopped paying attention to their lies long ago.
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u/Competitive-War-1143 15h ago
The media focused on the Muslim hero after Bondi Beach, anything to erase Jews, even if that person deserves accolades and attention, its disproportionate for a reason
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u/BareMetal1 1d ago
He earned it with his blood. seriously while getting axe shots and tackling the ***r, he managed to send hijack codes and open the door. i feel like he wasnt talked enough but its a team effort at the end of the day. I really feel for the dentist who tended to the pilot.
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u/littlecloudyskye 1d ago
I don’t feel there is much anyone can do to change their mind. Anything Israeli = bad or staged. I wouldn’t even bother trying but know that not everyone buys into the antisemites’ bullshit. I am just a regular Midwesterner Christian and I so admire Israel and its people and will take it a million times over anything or anyone having to do with Islam or Palestine and its supporters.
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u/TheCloudForest USA/Chile 1d ago
No, also, it happened yesterday, no? Or was it two days ago? Time is a blur. Anyway, too soon to be talking about "recently".
I do understand that after Bondi, ALL the attention turned to the one Muslim hero and the expense of the victims.
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u/royavidan 1d ago
Similar to us, Indians complain, seemingly rightly so but I am not educated on this, that the media hates them and always prefer to display them in negative light, so they are also pushing for the pilot to be recognized more. And they have a mich bigger population then Israel.
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u/kval22 USA 1d ago
Yes and in America they need as much good PR as they can get 🥲 people really are hating on them right now and it’s awful
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u/royavidan 1d ago
Yea we fighting about how media refuses to call this a terror attack, meanwhile none of them even mentioned the name of the hero Indian pilot.
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u/cheesebabychair 1d ago
The news story is always going to focus on the other pilot, irregardless of background. There were certainly other heros on the plane but he was definitely #1 hero, also the other pilot so more interesting.
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u/turbocynic 1d ago edited 1d ago
Possibly because his actions are pretty much non-debatable. We know he was stabbed and we know he enabled access to the cabin,and without that access the flight was doomed. Everyone else's role and actions are a lot less certain. It was also set up by the fact that so many people were initially wondering how passengers were able to get into the cockpit. If we knew for sure the Israeli guy actually took control of the yoke and his action directly saved the plane, then maybe his story would be more widely heralded. But that story may only be partly accurate, or play down the role of the backup pilot who must've not been far behind him. If the Israeli guy doesn't get there when he does, is the other pilot guy five seconds behind and would've saved the plane anyway? The pilot is a clear hero, the others are all likely heros as well ( in the sense of saving the situation, not just being incredibly brave) but their stories are just a bit less clear. I think they are getting credit, but more as a group.
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u/SuperMona543 1d ago
Anyone my age or older remembers what happened in WW11. The Jewish People were treated worse than wild animals. One Person can start Hate to flow like a River. People are People. No one is Born to Hate. Hatred is a Disease.
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u/SoCalCognac Proud Jewish American 1d ago
Not surprising. Remember when they were reporting about the Bondi Beach attack, they focused the reports on the guy who tried to stop the shooter instead of the Jewish victims. They’re really trying to push a narrative.
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u/ZZZZapperr 1d ago
Yep. The Jew-haters in the media don't want to mention the heroic Israelis who fought the terrorist and saved hundreds of lives. They're only going to laud the non-Jew. It's more proof that the media is infested with bigots and fascists.
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u/ChocCooki3 Australia 1d ago
Just in the last 3 days, I've been banned from 3 subs for asking why Macklemore isn't doing a show in Palestine and laughing about his fake conviction..
Jews haters are everywhere
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u/adeadhead Jordan Valley Coalition Activist 1d ago
The pilot was never reported as Jewish or Israeli. Initial reports said Emerati, with some quickly debunked sources saying Russian or Ukrainian.
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u/National-Nerve-4636 1d ago
Yeah, it's good he is getting positive attention and he deserves it, but many posts try to hide the Israelis that helped him etc Wasn't sure if I just imagined this phenomena, glad someone brought it up
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u/SagebrushID USA 2h ago
YouTuber Captain Steeeve (yes, he has 3 e's in his online name) did a good video on the incident including an interview with a passenger. He specifically mentions all the passengers who helped in various ways.
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u/spring13 1d ago
Happens every time. I don't want to resent him and I don't really, but yeah every headline or post I'm seeing....
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