Jewish and Israeli passengers passing through Heathrow Airport claim they were harassed and intimidated by a group of security officers who were wearing Palestinian flag pins on their uniform while screening passengers for a flight to Israel.
The group of five security officers were in charge of the Fast Track security lane at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 from where the Israeli flag carrier El Al flies, and two of the guards were also wearing watermelon pin badges, which have come to symbolise Palestinian solidarity.
The UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) group has slammed Heathrow Airport for the “highly offensive, divisive and political badges” which left Jewish and Israeli passengers passing through Terminal 4 on Sunday, 16th June, feeling harassed.
“It is obvious that if staff wear these badges, it would make most Jewish, Israeli, and Israel-supporting passengers feel uncomfortable and unsafe, particularly in the area of security checking at Heathrow,” a spokesperson for the UKLFI said.
“We would like to know why so many security officers were allowed to wear highly offensive, divisive and political badges attached to their Heathrow uniform, when it was a breach of Heathrow’s uniform policy.”
The UKLFI claims that not only were the security officers breaking Heathrow’s uniform policy, but they may have also breached British law under the Equality Act 2010 for engaging in ‘unwanted conduct’ relevant to a protected characteristic.
One of the passengers on last Sunday’s flight said it was worrying that “the people responsible for making sure terrorists don’t blow up aeroplanes were wearing badges that identify with terrorists”.
In a second incident, the UKLFI complained that a week earlier, every single passenger arriving at Heathrow on an El Al flight was taken to one side as they passed through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ customs channel and were made to have their luggage scanned.
The UKLFI said the incident made the passengers “feel as if they were being called out as Jews.”
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport confirmed that some staff passengers were wearing Palestinian pin badges, explaining in a statement: “Everyone should feel safe and welcome at Heathrow. We have guidance on what colleagues can wear at work, if that guidance is not followed, we will ensure those items are removed immediately, as was the case in this instance.”
Matt’s take
This certainly isn’t the first time that Palestine pin badges have caused discomfort for Jewish and Israeli airline passengers in recent months. In fact, last month, US carrier JetBlue barred its flight attendants from wearing ‘Free Palestine’ pin badges following a controversial incident in which crew members called the cops on a Jewish passenger.
Paul Faust, 54, was barred from getting on his return flight after he complained about a flight attendant wearing a Palestinian pin badge on her service apron, prompting the airline to update its uniform policy.
And earlier this year, Australian flag carrier Qantas refused calls from some Jewish groups to sack several flight attendants who wore Palestinian flag pins on their uniforms, in breach of the airline’s grooming standards.
