Sekulow

Logan Sekulow: On today's show, we have the very latest update on the hijacked passenger plane bound for Tel Aviv.
Voiceover: Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
Logan Sekulow: That's right, Logan Sekulow here. We are live and we are reporting on this as it happens. You may have woken up to this story, or you may not have even seen it yet. Of course, I am talking about that flight that was attempted to be hijacked in what some are saying was going to be a 9/11-style attack. This was happening on a Fly Dubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. I have a lot of facts in front of me, so if you see me looking down, it is because I want to make sure I am getting them correctly to you. There were 174 passengers on board, and about 166 were Israelis. It ended up being diverted and landed after what they are calling an altercation in the cockpit, which included one of the pilots attacking brutally and nearly killing the other pilot. At this point, I believe the injured pilot is in critical condition. It was an attempt to hijack and take over the plane in what is being reported as potentially using that plane as a weapon. Again, a 9/11-style attack on Israel. Thankfully, these Israeli citizens on board, as well as others, were able to take control of the situation. Extra crew also heard the scuffle happening and were concerned. They got in there and got the pilot who had been injured out of the cockpit. They were able to then take control. This was after, by the way, the flight dropped over 14,000 feet. It was somewhere between 14,000 and 17,000 feet in 30 seconds. For context, on this sort of flight, a normal descent would take about five to ten minutes to do that length of a drop. So imagine that scenario. There happened to be two off-duty deadheading pilots on board who were able to take control. They have not been publicly named, and they landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia where, if you see some of the footage that is coming out of this, some of it is pretty disturbing. There is a lot of blood. There is a lot that happened, whether it was from the attacker who attacked that pilot who was nearly killed or from the other pilot who was probably also nearly killed by the passengers who took back control of the flight. I have a lot of things I am going to go over as it is still coming out right now. Again, they were headed to Tel Aviv, the major airport in Israel. Israel is not very big, and Tel Aviv is the only real hub you fly in and out of, especially if you are going to somewhere like Dubai. I think a lot of you may not understand the relationship with Dubai. You may hear that and think that it is an enemy of Israel. Maybe you think Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Israel. That is not really how it works there. Dubai and the UAE, specifically since the Abraham Accords, have been a very active tourist destination. They have Hanukkah celebrations and all the holiday celebrations where Israelis go in a way like an American would to Las Vegas. It is not a very long flight. Thankfully, this Israeli-bound flight was able to be taken control of by the Israeli citizens. There was a lot that happened on board. We will show that right now. Those passengers have now landed safely in Israel. They were concerned about getting on another flight, as you may assume, so there were some delays in that. It is about 7:00 at night in Israel right now in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. They are just now getting situated as they are being reunited with families. We are actually seeing the footage live right now. Maybe we can pull some of that at some point if there is anything worth showing. We will have some other clips and soundbites to show you, including statements from Ambassador Huckabee and so much more. When we get back, we might as well talk to someone who knows a lot about this region, the ACLJ head of ACLJ Jerusalem, Jeff Ballabon. Don't go anywhere. I want to hear from you when you hear about these kinds of experiences happening on board. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that this was able to be taken care of, but we have to remember that these kinds of threats and these kinds of terrorist activities are happening. If you want to call in and comment on it, I ask you not to comment about conspiracy theories or whatever you might have about this. I want to hear your thoughts on it in general. Be kind to the phone screener, and we will get you on the air at 1-800-684-3110. We also have an update on that homeschooler who wanted to be a firefighter. We will get to that a little bit later in the show, so stay tuned for that. There is some good news, but the ACLJ team is still fighting.
Voiceover: The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.
Voiceover: Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight big tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference, support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know. Breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.
Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand new app. It is completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's app store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.
Voiceover: The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.
Voiceover: Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight big tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference, support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know. Breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.
Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand new app. It is completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's app store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.
Voiceover: The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. Jeff Ballabon is joining us from ACLJ Jerusalem. Of course, we are covering the news. It is the top story right now around the world, as it should be. As of right now, the passengers are reuniting with their families at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Jeff, of course, we all woke up to this. I got up around 5:00 this morning, I opened my phone, and I saw this thwarted attack that they kept referring to as a 9/11-style terrorist attack. When you hear that initially, you're going to think that we stopped something early on. But no, that was not the situation. This happened mid-air where you had a pilot attack another pilot to allegedly hijack this plane filled with Israelis on the way to Tel Aviv. Thankfully, the crew and a lot of the other passengers took things into their own hands to not let this happen and have now flown to safety. As we know, we've seen some of the images. Some of these are bloody, by the way. I'm just going to give you a fair warning for those who are watching right now. You can see there was a lot of blood. There are videos and pictures that are way worse than this where I've seen blood splattered all over this flight because not only were they trying to help the pilot who had been stabbed and attacked by the other pilot, they also did what they needed to do to protect the flight against the pilot who was potentially hijacking this flight to do nefarious things. Of course, the press is being a little bit cautious in what they are calling this, but I think, Jeff, it is clear that we know the trajectory of where this is going.
Jeff Ballabon: Right. The press, as usual, is refraining from saying what's obvious for as long as they can refrain from saying what's obvious, but there are numerous reports that the co-pilot is Omani and that he was yelling "Allahu Akbar," which tends to tip the hand as to what the intentions of this attack are. The concerns were that not only could they have taken these Israeli and other passengers on the plane hostage, they could have used it to do a 9/11-style attack by crashing the plane into some site in Israel. There are many things that could have happened that, thank God, were averted. Across Israel, from the upper echelons politically and militarily to the people on the street, the reaction is one of gratitude. There is a belief that this is a genuine miracle and pride that the Israeli passengers really were able to overwhelm this attacker, to breach the cockpit door, and overwhelm the attacker. Thank God, the flight was safe. I don't know if you saw images, but the rudder was broken. Even being able to land the flight was extraordinary. My understanding is there were also maybe some Russian and Ukrainian passengers who were helpful in terms of landing the flight. So, thank God, this has a relatively happy ending in a terrible crisis averted. But it was obviously terrifying for the long minutes that the passengers had to endure.
Logan Sekulow: It should be a wake-up call. There were two pilots who happened to be on board deadheading. They were going to another airport, probably Tel Aviv, to be pilots for another flight. That happens all the time. They happened to be on board and were able to fly this to safety. Like you said, it is a miracle, but it is a miracle that we also have to take with a serious warning. When you see what's happening, this could have very easily gone the other way. We can all sigh a bit of relief and cheer on these passengers, as we should, for being heroes in this situation. Absolutely. But it doesn't mean the threat isn't there. Even in situations where you think it's hard to protect yourself from certain things, this wasn't someone overwhelming the pilot. This was the pilot deciding that he was going to take things into his own hands and cause this kind of chaos. Again, thank God there were other people on board who were able to overwhelm him, but this could have very easily gone the other way and we would have had a very different attitude today.
Jeff Ballabon: This problem is a very spectacular example of a problem that we see in America across the board also, where people with a particular ideology—I'm not saying all Muslims, I would never say that—but there's an Islamist violent jihadi ideology that is not unpopular. They become doctors and nurses and threaten to use their position to kill people they disagree with or people they consider infidels. We have pilots. In other words, there's a genuine problem of a strain of Islamism that is a proximate threat to a lot of us. This is a particularly spectacular example, but we at the ACLJ have dealt with this in terms of licensing medical professionals here in America who threaten to use their license to commit harm to patients who they disagree with.
Logan Sekulow: I thought this morning when we were discussing who would be on, I obviously wanted you on. I have a lot of friends that are currently in Israel or just made themselves back or they are in between travel days. Because of the seriousness of this, I was like, "No, I don't even know if I'm comfortable exposing that they're there," even though I don't know if they're talking about it because it's just weird what enters your mind right now. You had Prime Minister Netanyahu say the pilot tried to crash this plane, and this clearly was a terrorist activity. Then, of course, you have the American journalists who are, as you said, slow to report this. Fox has been fine; Fox has been very clear on it. But of course, you have The New York Times. I think we have some of their headlines that just say, "Breaking news: a plane flying from Israel was diverted after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot." It sounds like they were having a marital argument and we had to land the plane because they couldn't decide on something. Then you had the BBC putting "Israel-bound flight diverted after flight fight between pilots." Again, "fight between pilots." Sure, did that happen? Of course, it happened. They didn't put in there that he brutally stabbed him and had essentially done everything but kill him. Thankfully, as of right now, he is in critical condition but will hopefully survive.
Jeff Ballabon: The media plays this role in trying to create a narrative, but I think most people see through it at this point. They're doing what they see as their job, which is spinning a narrative, and it's hopelessly not related to actual reality. These things should matter to all of us because anybody who gets on public transportation needs to worry about these things and think about them. We'd like to know that our media is telling the truth. My favorite was the BBC actually repeatedly referring to Ben Gurion Airport, which is named for the first Prime Minister of Israel, as Ben-Gvir Airport, which is a current Israeli politician who the left likes to demonize in every way possible and turn into a caricature of evil. They called it Ben-Gvir Airport. You actually couldn't make that kind of garbage up.
Logan Sekulow: No. One of our team members just sent me a text and said it was a fiery but mostly peaceful hijacking that was going on. That is true because that is what we've seen the media play out here. It is this narrative again that they can't say anything when it comes to Israel without giving some sort of caveat to it not being somehow terrorist-related. I know I don't want to give any credence to it, but I know by the end of the day, where the media and where social media will be spinning this. But I think for this moment, we at least need to be relieved. We need to be thanking all these people who were involved because everyone who was on board, a lot of them have made statements already, said clearly this was an attempt at a terrorist attack. I don't care what the media is going to spin and how they may say things, or maybe someone on your social media page. Those are the people that lived it and were in the air. They experienced it firsthand. This plane nosedived 10,000 to 15,000 feet in a few seconds, and there was chaos ensuing around them.
Jeff Ballabon: The Israelis are rightfully grateful to God and also proud that their citizens were able to take control of the plane, especially because the same people we read about with the incredible operation with the pagers or Israel's ability to take over the airspace over Iran, this is a civilian army. It's an army, but it's drawn from its civilians because of its national draft. These are regular everyday people conducting business or coming back from vacation doing truly heroic things as if they're special forces because, who knows, many of them were at some point special forces.
Logan Sekulow: There is a very good chance of that. Right now we are actually seeing live the celebrations happening in Ben Gurion Airport as you have people arriving with balloons and Israeli flags. It's a hero's welcome for these passengers who are just making their way. What a day they have had. I think this is a day we need to make sure we don't forget because it's a happy ending, and I think that's easy to move on from very quickly. Jeff, I'll give you the last minute here just to wrap up. What do people need to take away from this? Of course, that is part of the reason the ACLJ team is there as well, to make sure that these things don't get forgotten and that we elevate what needs to be elevated.
Jeff Ballabon: Everything changed after October 7th, 2023. We're now in the middle of a holiday of Tabernacles, Sukkot, which culminates in the final day of Simchat Torah, rejoicing in the Torah, which was the day of the attack. It's very much on people's minds right now. Israel, with all of its power and strength, is still a very deeply traumatized country by that. To see this, thank God, as a miraculous and successful happy ending is a moment of blessing and something we all need to appreciate.
Logan Sekulow: It feels like a modern story from a Jewish holiday where this happened. It really genuinely does. So in many ways, it feels very appropriate. Jeff, thanks for joining us. I didn't even think about the fact that we are only a week away from the anniversary of October 7th. It'll be marked in one week. So, of course, that is on everyone's mind that's there. Jeff, thank you so much for being a part and popping on today. I know it wasn't in the plans, but I always appreciate it. That being said, I know a lot of you who are watching right now would love for you to call in with your thoughts on this at 1-800-684-3110. But you also know about that case, the homeschooler in Nebraska who wanted to be a firefighter and was told his high school diploma was not good enough. We have an update. In the next segment, we're going to be joined by one of our ACLJ attorneys, Nathan, from Washington, D.C. We're going to really go into some details with him. You're going to see why it's important for us and why it hits close to home for us. As a homeschooler, I know Will's a homeschooler. I have homeschooled children. This is something that's very important to all of us. We have an update and then later on we'll even have an update from that city council meeting that happened last night. Some good news is exciting; however, it doesn't stop the work at the ACLJ because the kid, who's 22 years old, still doesn't have a job and we want to make sure the wrongs are all fixed for him and every homeschooler out there. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow.
Voiceover: Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight big tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference, support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know. Breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.
Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand new app. It is completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's app store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.
Voiceover: The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.
Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. We did want to give you an update. Will's joining us and also ACLJ attorney Nathan Moelker is joining us right now from our studios in Washington, D.C. To reset a little bit, we are talking about the homeschool graduate who graduated a few years ago. All's good. He becomes an EMT and a volunteer firefighter. He decides he'd like to pursue a job as a career firefighter and applies for the job. He is clearly "Rookie of the Year," someone who is very well qualified. He found out that according to some interpretation of the rules and regulations, they don't believe his high school diploma makes him qualified to be a firefighter because he is a homeschooler, even though he has all of these other very specific qualifications met. Now, he was denied that job position. That is something that was thrown out. However, we decided we were going to jump in and help not only him because he was discriminated against, but also because it really needs to set a new precedent for homeschoolers in general. I'm talking to our audience, which is filled with homeschoolers, homeschool parents, and homeschool grandparents. I was a homeschooler. My kids are homeschoolers. Will was a homeschooler. And I believe the attorney joining us right now is as well. Nathan, welcome.
Nathan Moelker: Thank you so much for having me. I love all our cases, but this one is particularly special. In fact, I have a high school diploma very similar to the one our client has. So like many people here at the ACLJ, this case is very personal to me.