Three hundred Jewish marchers never made it to Tuesday's "March for Israel" in Washington, D.C., in what is being described as the "deliberate and malicious" actions of some bus drivers. Instead, they were left stranded on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport and had to return home without even exiting the plane. 

Here's what happened. It's not good.

The Jewish Federation of Detroit and the Jewish Community Relations Council had chartered planes to fly hundreds of Jewish protesters into D.C. to attend the rally in support of Israel. Upon their arrival at Dulles, they chartered several buses to transport them to and from the rally. But, some of the bus drivers are alleged to have walked off the job once they found out who they were transporting and where they were going.

David Kurzmann, senior director of community affairs at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, said they were told Monday night that the bus company was having troubles due to a number of drivers calling in sick. It was too late at that point for the group to cancel their chartered flights, so they continued with their travels to D.C. 

"They informed us ... that they had drivers, who, when they were aware of the assignment today, called in, more than a few, a number of drivers called in sick," Kurzmann said. The bus company "committed to fulfilling the obligations for our group and we had all expectation that they would they demonstrated a desire and full intention to do, and today they seemed to encounter some challenge."

Sources told Kurzmann that some drivers refused to drive the marchers "because they are Jewish." He declined to name the bus company involved.

Michigan State Sen. Jeremy Moss was part of the group that arrived in D.C. in Tuesday morning. He recounted that his group had to wait three hours on the tarmac before being able to board their bus. They sat on the bus for an additional 30 minutes before having to reboard the plane since there was no one to drive the bus. Which begs the question: Did the bus drive itself to the Dulles tarmac? 

Some of the marchers that arrived on the chartered planes were able to squeeze onto the buses with drivers and make to D.C. in time for the rally. Moss' group never made it to the rally and had to return to Detroit without ever leaving the airport. 

Groups arriving at Dulles on chartered planes are responsible for arranging their own bus transportation and must be picked up on the tarmac. The reason the stranded passengers weren't able to deplane and hop into Ubers or taxis was due to airport regulations that prevented that many people walking around the tarmac at the same time. So, they sat and sat and then returned home.

One of the stranded passengers captured the moment a statement was read to the stranded passengers:

Friend shares the video of the official statement that was made to the passengers from Detroit:

"The busses that were hired to take over 900 participants from Dulles International Airport to the site of the March failed to appear, delaying the arrival of many or most in our… https://t.co/GPXgt4wkmd pic.twitter.com/9llhC2TFDB

— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 15, 2023

Here's the transcript of that announcement:

"The busses that were hired to take over 900 participants from Dulles International Airport to the site of the March failed to appear, delaying the arrival of many or most in our group. We have learned that this was caused by a deliberate and malicious walk-off of drivers. Fortunately, many were able to travel to the march and we are grateful to the drivers of those buses that arrived. While we are deeply dismayed by the disgraceful action, our resolve to proudly stand with the people of Israel to condemn anti-Semitism and to demand the return of every hostage held by Hamas has never been greater. This has been confirmed by the bus company of their bus drivers and what has happened."

It goes without saying that this is completely unacceptable. Imagine, if you will, if drivers refused to transport a group of pro-Hamas protesters. The outcry would be deafening. Teeth would be gnashed. Pitchforks acquired. Hordes of agitators would fill the streets. Monuments would be defaced. Fake blood might even be smeared on the White House gates. That bus company would definitely have to close its doors. 

But, because it was Jewish visitors involved and antisemitism was the sentiment, it was somehow allowed to happen. 

Luckily, the Jewish Federation of Detroit was not cowed by the actions of these bus drivers, saying, "While we are deeply dismayed by this disgraceful action, our resolve to proudly stand in solidarity with the people of Israel, to condemn antisemitism and to demand the return of every hostage held by Hamas has never been greater."