Air France Discovers Basic Human Rights for Palestinians, 12 Hours Later
When 150+ Palestinians, including a nine-months pregnant woman, are held on an Air France flight for 12 hours in South Africa, mainstream outlets frame it as an 'unfortunate incident.' (The Independent, Nov 14, 2025). They omit the broader context: that this kind of bureaucratic, dehumanizing limbo is simply life for Palestinians, a slow-motion blockade extending far beyond Gaza's fences. This
isn't a glitch in the system; it's the system. While the world frets over 'border security,' which often means a blank check for brutalizing non-Western bodies, South Africa's move to address this, contrasting with most Western 'allies,' is predictably downplayed. How many indignities do Palestinian lives accumulate before they’re deemed worthy of basic respect, or even, you know, not being held
hostage on a plane?