Jewish schoolchildren kicked off plane after singing Hebrew songs

Telegraph

24-07-2025

A group of Jewish children returning to France from summer camp in Spain were escorted off a flight to Paris after at least one child sang a Hebrew song.
Spanish airline Vueling allegedly removed the director of a Jewish summer camp and approximately 50 children forcibly from the flight, according to footage shared on social media on Wednesday.
The airline said they had 'compromised passenger safety'.
Israel's diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism minister, Amichai Chikli, said the children, aged between 10 and 15, were singing songs in Hebrew on the plane.
Mr Chikli alleged that the camp director was arrested in what he called a 'serious' anti-Semitic incident. The children, all from France, are currently in Valencia, awaiting return to France, Ms Chikli claimed.
Many of the children were reportedly wearing religious items, including Star of David jewellery, when the incident occurred. The group had been travelling home from their vacation program when the disruption unfolded.
Vueling responded to the incident on Thursday, claiming that a group of teenagers mishandled emergency equipment and were confrontational during the mandatory safety demonstration, ignoring cabin crew safety instructions.
The airline noted that actions by on-board staff were 'solely in response' to behaviour that compromised passenger safety.
The crew requested the intervention of the Guardia Civil, who decided to disembark the group to prioritise passenger safety.
According to the airline, the group continued to act aggressively towards authorities at the terminal, leading to one of the group members being arrested.
Vueling denied that the crew's decision was related to the passenger's religion.
But parents expressed outrage after Spanish police forcibly removed the group of children and handcuffed and detained their 21-year-old supervisor, who insisted they had done nothing wrong.
Karine Lamy, whose child was among the ejected passengers, told i24NEWS that crew members had warned: 'If you continue, we will call the police,' after a young passenger started singing in Hebrew.
She said that despite the child immediately stopping, police officers boarded the aircraft minutes later and ordered the group supervisor and all children to exit the plane before takeoff.
Once removed from the aircraft, law enforcement officers demanded the children place their mobile phones on the ground to check no one had recorded the incident, according to the mother's testimony.
The group supervisor intervened, telling officers their actions were illegal, which prompted police to physically restrain her.
Officers pushed the 21-year-old woman to the ground and handcuffed her before taking her away, leaving the children aged 13-15 with their counsellors. The remaining officers then instructed the children to retrieve their luggage, and they made it clear they would no longer be permitted to board the flight.
Police cited the noise created by the child's singing as justification for barring the entire group from travel, according to the account shared with i24NEWS. The children and their supervisors remained stranded at Valencia airport, searching for alternative flights to return to France.
The parent expressed outrage at Vueling Airlines' response to the situation. 'The Vueling company they were travelling with didn't even offer them an alternative solution; they abandoned them. We are panicking for them,' she told i24NEWS.
'A 21-year-old woman was handcuffed because a child sang - we have returned to the worst hours of World War II. And I'm not even talking about the moral damage caused to our children,' she alleged.
The incident follows a series of alleged anti-Semitic incidents involving Israeli tourists in Greece.
Earlier this week, a large pro-Palestinian protest prevented an Israeli-owned cruiseliner from docking on the island of Syros, forcing the vessel and its 1,600 passengers to reroute to Cyprus.
Photographs showed a large crowd on the dock waving Palestinian and Greek flags and brandishing a banner saying 'stop the genocide'.
The incident prompted Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis to condemn the protest as 'outrageous'.
'Antisemitism and any form of fascism and racism will not be tolerated in Greece,' he told Parapolitika Radio.
Meanwhile, on Rhodes, a popular holiday destination for Israelis, a group of Israeli teenagers were allegedly attacked by a mob armed with knives as they left a nightclub.
It followed a reported shouting match between Israelis and pro-Palestinians outside the club, which is known to be frequented by Israelis.
The group of 17 to 18-year-olds decided not to get involved, but were allegedly pursued by dozens of assailants.