An advertisement sponsored by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) informing women that they are not required to give up their seats to accommodate Ultra Orthodox Jewish men was rejected by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
However, the New York Times reported that the Port Authority was reviewing its ad guidelines and would likely approve the public service announcement to appear at a local airport in the future.
IRAC, the public and legal advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, published an ad that read, "Ladies, please take your seat... and keep it," while explaining that requiring passengers to change seats because of gender is illegal.
https://t.co/tePcGGrHsf We attempted to take our #Rights_On_Flights campaign to the next level and hit a wall… Read all about it! pic.twitter.com/hjIqfzPtmt
— IRAC (@Israel_RAC) October 9, 2016
The Port Authority likely rejected the ad because advertisements in airports are, according to current guidelines, only supposed to promote goods or services, not promote a political or religious message.
There have been an increasing number of complaints from women made to change seats on Israel-bound flights to avoid offending Ultra Orthodox men who refuse to sit next to women.
Most recently, Renee Rabinowitz, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor, was the victim of gender discrimination on a flight to Israel, and promptly sued El Al airlines for damages.
