Spanish airline denies antisemitism in Jewish group removal

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 children and their 21-year-old summer camp director were removed from a flight from Valencia to Paris on Wednesday, Israeli media reported.

Vueling said in a statement that the teenage passengers displayed "highly disruptive behavior, putting the safe conduct of the flight at risk."

The airline said the group tampered with emergency equipment and disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring cabin crew instructions.

"Despite several warnings, the inappropriate conduct persisted, which forced the immediate activation of established safety protocols," the airline said, adding that the crew then, acting with "complete professionalism and in accordance with Vueling procedures," requested the intervention of the Spanish police.

Security forces later removed the group from the aircraft "to prioritize the safety of the other passengers."

Once at the terminal, some members of the group "remained aggressive," with certain individuals displaying "violent behavior" toward authorities, leading to one arrest, 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.

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 Vueling airline crew said that Israel is a terrorist state," he 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," said the airline." At Vueling, we categorically reject any form of discrimination without exception."