Dozens of Jewish children are removed from flight for being 'unruly' with summer camp teacher arrested - as airline denies anti-semitism claims
Some 44 French-Jewish students aged between 10 and 15 and several adults were escorted off Vueling flight V8166 as it waited on the tarmac at Valencia airport yesterday ahead of its return to Paris.
Footage shared to social media appeared to show one adult member of the group being detained by Spanish civil guard officers in the walkway shortly after she was removed from the jet.
It was later revealed that the passengers were members of the Kineret Club, a Jewish summer camp group, and were returning to France after a week-long excursion in Spain.
A statement released by the club alleged that the captain of the flight ordered the removal of the group 'without a valid explanation', adding: 'The use of a few words in Hebrew was clearly enough to trigger an extremely serious, collective, humiliating, and discriminatory measure.
'No other circumstance could explain the treatment inflicted on this group of children.'
The statement, signed by the club's lawyer Julie Jacob, went on to say it would launch a formal complaint and legal action, claiming that the passengers 'were seated, respecting the rules and the staff... they did not pose any disturbance to public order or flight safety'.
This triggered outcry in Israel, with Minister of Diaspora Amichai Chikli accusing Vueling and Spanish law enforcement of antisemitism, saying the kids were removed after 'singing Hebrew songs on the plane' and accusing Vueling staff of declaring Israel a 'terrorist state', without providing evidence.
In response, a Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration.
'A group of passengers engaged in highly disruptive behaviour and adopted a very confrontational attitude, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight.
'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's behaviour was related to the religion of the passengers involved.'
'This group mishandled emergency equipment and actively disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring instructions from cabin crew.
'Despite multiple warnings, this inappropriate behaviour persisted, which forced the crew to activate established security protocols,' the statement read, adding that Spain's civil guard took the decision to remove the passengers after being notified by the captain.
'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's decision related to the religion of the passengers involved. This decision was taken solely to ensure the safety of all passengers,' it said.
Spain's Civil Guard confirmed all the passengers removed from the plane were French nationals.
A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved in the removal operation and the arrest of one member of the party were not aware of the group's religious affiliation.
The woman arrested following her removal from the aircraft was said to be one of the directors of the club, according to Israeli media, but that has not been confirmed.
Vueling shared a lengthy statement rejecting allegations of anti-Semitism
Club Kineret alleged in its statement that it had collected written statements from other passengers on the plane 'confirming that the children did not pose a threat to public order or flight safety'.
It also said that the group was expelled from the flight 'without care, escort, accommodation or food'.
The Civil Guard said 23 minors and two adults from the group boarded a flight belonging to another airline, while the rest spent Wednesday night at a hotel.
A spokesperson said arrangements were being made for them to leave Valencia later on Thursday.
The Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain today expressed concern about the incident, calling on Vueling to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane.
'The various accounts circulating on social media and in the media to which we have had access do not clarify the cause of the incident,' the organisation said.
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