The New Statesman has published a footling story with a rather exciting headline:
Exclusive: easyJet grounds in-flight magazine after Holocaust gaffe
What sort of terrible ‘gaffe’ could this be? Hold onto your hats! Apparently, easyjet published “a tasteless fashion shoot at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin”. Shock horror!
In a statement to the New Statesman, the airline said:
“easyJet profusely apologises to anyone who may be offended by the inappropriate fashion photo shoot at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin featured in this month’s issue of the in-flight magazine.”
“The magazine is produced by INK — an external publishing house, and easyJet were not aware of the images until they appeared in print. As a consequence we are now reviewing our relationship with the publisher and are withdrawing this month’s issue from all flights.”
“easyJet prides itself on bringing together a wide range of cultures and beliefs and is appalled by this insensitive and inconsiderate photo-shoot, the aim of which was to highlight some of Berlin’s iconic landmarks and certainly no offence was meant.”
It doesn’t sound like a particularly big deal to me, but evidently the New Statesman are very proud of themselves for their major scoop.
Here’s another scoop. The New Statesman recently published a sympathetic interview with Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal.
Meshal’s Hamas describes the Holocaust as “a lie invented by the Zionists“. Its Constitution is a litany of racist lies about Jews, many of them drawn from the Protocols. You’ll find no mention of this in the New Statesman article, even though the most recent instance of Hamas Holocaust denial had taken place only a couple of weeks previously.
New Statesman must be very proud that easyjet is ‘reviewing its relationship with the publisher’. I expect it is less pleased to see how many of its former readers are, ahem, reviewing their own relationship with the New Statesman.
