Airbus A320 Vueling. (Photo: By FlightReal, via Wikimedia Commons)
The airline said that the teenage passengers “engaged in highly disruptive behavior, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight.”
The Spanish airline Vueling “categorically denied” allegations of antisemitism on Thursday after removing a group of French students and a teacher from one of its flights.
Around 50 Jewish “campers” and their 21-year-old summer camp director were booted from a flight from Valencia to Paris on Wednesday, according to Israeli media..
“The actions of the on-board staff were solely in response to behaviour that compromised the integrity of the flight, as well as the safety of the passengers and the operation as a whole,” Vueling said in a statement on Thursday.
The airline said that the teenage passengers “engaged in highly disruptive behavior, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight.”
It stated that the group mishandled emergency equipment and “actively disrupted” the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring cabin crew instructions.
“Despite multiple warnings, this inappropriate behaviour persisted, which forced the crew to activate established safety protocols,” the airline said, adding that the crew then, acting “in accordance with Vueling procedures,” requested the intervention of the Spanish police.
After assessing the situation, the police “decided to disembark” the group from the aircraft “to prioritize the safety of the other passengers.”
‘Violent Attitude’
Once at the terminal, “the group’s behaviour continued to be aggressive,” with some individuals displaying “a violent attitude” toward authorities, “which even led to the arrest of one of the group’s members,” Vueling added.
Media reports and social media posts claimed the group was removed after Jewish students aged 10 to 15 were heard singing songs in Hebrew on the plane, the Anadolu news agency reported.
Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli echoed these reports, alleging the camp director was arrested in a “serious” antisemitic incident, the report stated.
“The Vueling airline crew said that Israel is a terrorist state,” he reportedly claimed, suggesting the incident was triggered by “Hamas’s campaign of lies.”
“We categorically deny any claims linking the crew’s decision to the religious expression of the passengers involved, which we fully respect,” the airline stated.“ At Vueling, we categorically reject any form of discrimination without exception.”
The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli Foreign Ministry “has intervened in several other incidents that caused concern for Israeli and Jewish safety abroad this week, including an Israeli-owned cruise ship that was blocked by anti-Israel protesters from docking a Greek island.”
Ongoing Genocidal Campaign
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Thursday that the number of Palestinians who have died from famine and malnutrition has risen to 122, including 83 children. In the past 24 hours alone, hospitals across the Gaza Strip recorded nine additional deaths from starvation. https://palestinechronicle.com/gaza-famine-death-toll-rises-to-122-including-83-children/
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 59,000, wounding more than 142,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, Anadolu)
