A passenger on a JetBlue flight from Miami to San Diego has told Israeli news outlet N12 she had noticed the “borders were incorrect” on the in-flight map, not including the Golan Heights region in the territory of Israel.
Additionally, Hodaya Knafo, an Israeli woman studying in the United States, told the outlet the words “Palestinian Territory” appeared larger on the screen than the “Israel” label. “The label was prominently displayed in a way that didn’t seem innocent”, she said.
1. What is the Golan Heights?
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Golan Heights is a “hilly area overlooking the upper Jordan River valley on the west. The area was part of extreme southwestern Syria until 1967, when it came under Israeli military occupation, and in December 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the part of the Golan it held.”
The UN Security Council Resolution 497, adopted in December 1981, deemed the Israeli occupation illegal, calling “the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights null and void and without international legal effect.” Moreover, the Council demanded that “Israel, the occupying Power, should rescind forthwith its decision.”
Since then, negotiations between Syria and Israel over the territory have failed to lead to any resolution. Meanwhile, in 2019, the United States became the only country in the world to recognise the annexation.
Recently, an attack on Golan Heights carried out by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on 28 July prompted Israel to fire drone and jet attacks in the south of Lebanon and close to the Bekaa Valley. Tensions have escalated since, leading to airlines not only suspending flights to Israel and Lebanon, but also avoiding Middle Eastern air space altogether.
2. Changing map vendors
Since the US recognised the annexation, official map guidelines, which American airlines have to follow, dictate that Golan Heights has to be included in Israel’s territory. Responding to the criticism, JetBlue has told Simple Flying that “it has decided to switch to a new map vendor. While our content provider works on making this transition, we have also asked the current vendor to adjust our onboard map so that it aligns with the US government’s map guidance for the region.”
The airline has also said that it was not aware of the map before it was flagged by Knafo, apologised for any concern caused by the issue and stressed that no direct employees of the carrier were involved in the drawing or labelling of the map.
