I would avoid Aeroflot & Connecting in Moscow. Would you?

[mmgfarb]

HT the one and only @Chaikel

Alol

[Yammer]

I will never understand why people are willing to stop over in Russia or Turkey to save a few $. One should definitely consult their Rav before doing so.

Because of once in a lifetime story?

HT the one and only @Chaikel

[KSMH]

Because of once in a lifetime story?

As of late I've not heard of stories where ordinary US citizens were arrested in Turkey. Russia is a different story and any informed person is to take extra measures to make sure he is in full compliance with the law. There was a yeshiva boy with a white shirt sitting in jail there over having a bullet as a souvenir as a transit passenger. Scary.

[chff]

HT the one and only @Chaikel

If she thinks her daughter is doing drugs, any airline/route might be initial

[Proisrael]

Who would believe flying with RJ/QR/EK/EY would be safer then flying with Aeroflot....

[jose34]

The issue is here that Jews are Jews and when push comes to shove and the price is cheap people will fly Aeroflot especially when its few dollars cheaper and your flying with a family and an extra $75 per ticket is comes to out a few hundred dollars cheaper.

The only to stop people from flying Aeroflot is someone like @Dan to make a big huge deal about it and start posting constantly how people should stop flying it; an incident or two will won't be big deal for people.

[Kobe Bryant]

The issue is here that Jews are Jews and when push comes to shove and the price is cheap people will fly Aeroflot especially when its few dollars cheaper and your flying with a family and an extra $75 per ticket is comes to out a few hundred dollars cheaper.

The only to stop people from flying Aeroflot is someone like @Dan to make a big huge deal about it and start posting constantly how people should stop flying it; an incident or two will won't be big deal for people.

Honestly not sure how this is relevant to US passport holders?
One incident involving an IL passport holder shouldn't affect how US Passport holders fly.

[shapsam]

https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/is-it-time-to-boycottaeroflot/

[jose34]

https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/is-it-time-to-boycottaeroflot/

Oh nice! Its a start!

[Kobe Bryant]

Oh nice! Its a start!

I think this is fair, and a good start.
But in terms of safety don't see an issue for a US passport holder to connect via Russia or visit.

[jose34]

I think this is fair, and a good start.
But in terms of safety don't see an issue for a US passport holder to connect via Russia or visit.

Why not? The Russians can retain anyone for no reason.
 Its more about the airline then what happened. Aeroflot treats people like garbage.
On Dans post the comments were more about how this lady got imprisoned and how the Russians sentenced her to 7.5 years ( it should be Kol Hakovod to everyone for caring about a fellow Jew!) and it means a a lot and  I do not want to take away from that at all.

However on a much lower scale, people have stories where have had Aeroflot mess them up connection wise and they would not compensate.
So putting everything together I think something to be done to get Aeroflot/ Russians to stop playing games and behave.

[Moshe123]

Why fly through Russia at all?

Did you see the reports last week of them randomly holding up Israeli citizens for hours, in retaliation for Israel stopping shady Russian visitors?

[Abe100]

Honestly not sure how this is relevant to US passport holders?
One incident involving an IL passport holder shouldn't affect how US Passport holders fly.

If you believe your US Passport will provide you more protection you are wrong. She has dual citizenship, US & IL.

Of course my point wasn't that flying thru Russia is equivalent to flying thru Iran. If I will have the need or will to visit Russia I may do that. It's just very disturbing that a country acts like a state terror group. Ruining an innocent life for cold political calculations. I will therefore think twice and a few more times before taking the Russian route.

In addition there is the solidarity of standing with a fellow Jew. I was following this story in the media over the last months, and when I saw the appeal verdict I felt so angry. 

Kol Hakovod for Dan for calling to boycott Russia on DDMS. Some commentator above stated that in the end we are Jews and we will always choose the cheapest option. I disagree, We are Jews and we always stand with our brothers and sisters!

There was an article posted by a Russian court blogger, who followed her trial and was surprised about the proceedings.
See the link to an article about his report(Hebrew). if you have any doubt that this was a routine drug arrest, this may change your view

https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5607867,00.html

In that blog he calls for international travelers to avoid flying thru Russia, based on this story!

[ad120]

Here is a template we can  all use to contacts our politicians.
I did a cut and paste job from Dan's blog post. I also took some info from the linked articles and added some of my own words.

Good Morning Mr. Senator;

Thank you for your service and attention to this matter.

Naama Issachar, a 25 year old dual US-Israeli citizen. Naama has been alleged by Russian authorities to have flown with 0.33 ounces of marijuana in her checked luggage as she flew from India to Israel via Moscow. A tourist with that amount of cannabis in Russia would normally get a month’s detention. She was tried as a distributor and then sentenced to 7.5 years in a Russian prison. For Naama to be considered a distributor is nonsensical given the quantity of the marijuana and that it was in her checked luggage during a connection in Moscow to get back home. These facts clearly establish that her stash was for personal use. Naama Issachar has maintained innocence and says she did not know that the drugs were in her luggage. She claims that she was coerced into signing confession. Naama's final appeal was denied after a 20 minute deliberation in a one sentence statement by the judges.

There’s little doubt that she’s a political pawn. In this case Russia wanted to extract concessions from Israel in order to bring back hacker Alexei Burkov. From 2009 to 2013 Burkov ran an online criminal marketplace, known as CardPlanet, that sold stolen credit card numbers. Mr. Burkov was being detained in Israel. The Russians were looking for a scapegoat and found Naama. They tried her on trumped up charges and hoped for a trade. Russia isn’t even trying to hide this fact. Ultimately, Israel refused to trade and Mr. Burkov was extradited to the US where he was indicted on five counts related his role in his illicit marketplace.

I’m not going to speculate about whether this was or wasn’t her marijuana and I’m certainly not here to excuse her actions. But this case is egregious. Her crimes simply don’t merit spending the next 7 years in a Russian prison and I feel the need to stand up for Naama. This is why I am reaching out to you for your help Mr. Senator. As you are freedom loving american and as a pursuer of justice, I kindly urge you to please exercise all of your power to ensure that Naama, our fellow american, is returned home safely and quickly.

Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season.

Best,
ad120

[jose34]

If you believe your US Passport will provide you more protection you are wrong. She has dual citizenship, US & IL.

Of course my point wasn't that flying thru Russia is equivalent to flying thru Iran. If I will have the need or will to visit Russia I may do that. It's just very disturbing that a country acts like a state terror group. Ruining an innocent life for cold political calculations. I will therefore think twice and a few more times before taking the Russian route.

In addition there is the solidarity of standing with a fellow Jew. I was following this story in the media over the last months, and when I saw the appeal verdict I felt so angry. 

Kol Hakovod for Dan for calling to boycott Russia on DDMS. Some commentator above stated that in the end we are Jews and we will always choose the cheapest option. I disagree, We are Jews and we always stand with our brothers and sisters!

There was an article posted by a Russian court blogger, who followed her trial and was surprised about the proceedings.
See the link to an article about his report(Hebrew). if you have any doubt that this was a routine drug arrest, this may change your view

https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5607867,00.html

In that blog he calls for international travelers to avoid flying thru Russia, based on this story!

Very true! Actually two issues over here: Russia has no normal political system and second of all the actual airline Aeroflot has no issue turning a blind eye when something goes wrong.

[Kobe Bryant]

Why fly through Russia at all?

Did you see the reports last week of them randomly holding up Israeli citizens for hours, in retaliation for Israel stopping shady Russian visitors?

Why fly through Russia at all?
Maybe cause one wants to see the Kremlin and red square, or visit the beautiful city of St. Petersburg?!
My point is a US passport holder ( not flying with an Israeli passport) has no real concern from a safety prospective.
If one wants to boycott visiting Russia to stand in solidarity with our fellow sister , kudos to you.

[Kobe Bryant]

Here is a template we can  all use to contacts our politicians.
I did a cut and paste job from Dan's blog post. I also took some info from the linked articles and added some of my own words.

Good Morning Mr. Senator;

Thank you for your service and attention to this matter.

Naama Issachar, a 25 year old dual US-Israeli citizen. Naama has been alleged by Russian authorities to have flown with 0.33 ounces of marijuana in her checked luggage as she flew from India to Israel via Moscow. A tourist with that amount of cannabis in Russia would normally get a month’s detention. She was tried as a distributor and then sentenced to 7.5 years in a Russian prison. For Naama to be considered a distributor is nonsensical given the quantity of the marijuana and that it was in her checked luggage during a connection in Moscow to get back home. These facts clearly establish that her stash was for personal use. Naama Issachar has maintained innocence and says she did not know that the drugs were in her luggage. She claims that she was coerced into signing confession. Naama's final appeal was denied after a 20 minute deliberation in a one sentence statement by the judges.

There’s little doubt that she’s a political pawn. In this case Russia wanted to extract concessions from Israel in order to bring back hacker Alexei Burkov. From 2009 to 2013 Burkov ran an online criminal marketplace, known as CardPlanet, that sold stolen credit card numbers. Mr. Burkov was being detained in Israel. The Russians were looking for a scapegoat and found Naama. They tried her on trumped up charges and hoped for a trade. Russia isn’t even trying to hide this fact. Ultimately, Israel refused to trade and Mr. Burkov was extradited to the US where he was indicted on five counts related his role in his illicit marketplace.

I’m not going to speculate about whether this was or wasn’t her marijuana and I’m certainly not here to excuse her actions. But this case is egregious. Her crimes simply don’t merit spending the next 7 years in a Russian prison and I feel the need to stand up for Naama. This is why I am reaching out to you for your help Mr. Senator. As you are freedom loving american and as a pursuer of justice, I kindly urge you to please exercise all of your power to ensure that Naama, our fellow american, is returned home safely and quickly.

Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season.

Best,
ad120

Very well put.
With enough political pressure we might be able to do something.
I recall how instrumental Congressman Chris Smith was in the Jacob Ostreicher case.

[ExGingi]

I am not sure a boycott or call for one would do any good.

Certain regimes just operate that way. One can choose to avoid contact with them or not.  They are not likely to change their ways, and will definitely not cave in due to this insignificant boycott. They have their interests, and don't like others interfering with them.

I would much faster boycott companies whose profits fund policies that in my opinion undermine society or present an existential threat on my nation. But even there, those are simply too big to be affected.

[Dan]

A boycott isn't just about making a difference (though SU killing some TLV frequencies would be a win), it's about taking a principled stand for what's right.

[CountValentine]

...it's about taking a principled stand for what's right.

Not enough time in the day for that.