Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the pro-Israel rally in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, but not everyone who planned on attending made it to the National Mall. Hundreds of members of the Jewish Federation of Detroit were stuck at the airport after bus drivers who were scheduled to take them to the rally organized “mass sick calls.”
While roughly 600 of the passengers were able to eventually make their way to the rally, about 300 never made it.
“We have learned from the bus company that this was caused by a deliberate and malicious walk-off of drivers,” the Jewish Federation of Detroit said in a statement. “While we are deeply dismayed by this disgraceful action, our resolve to proudly stand in solidarity with the people of Israel, to condemn antisemitism and to demand the return of every hostage held by Hamas has never been greater.”
One of the Jewish Federation’s leaders later told reporters that the bus company said a “significant number” of drivers called out sick when they learned they would be taking hundreds of Jewish Americans to the pro-Israel rally.
“I thought it was nuts, I thought it was crazy that we’re blocked from getting to the rally,” one of the members, Jonathan Kaufman, told The Post.
The Jewish Federation has not publicly named the transportation company.
