After an antisemitic incident, request to conceal Jewish identities: The 52 Jewish children and adolescents, who were removed from a flight Wednesday at Valencia airport, returned to France on a different plane. Before boarding, one of the group leaders asked them to remove their yarmulkes, tuck their tzitzit into their pants, and place their tefillin in a suitcase that was loaded into the aircraft hold. Meanwhile, the airline strongly denied the claims made by the Jewish passengers.
According to a report by Enfoque Judío, the children and teens were removed from the flight yesterday after singing traditional Jewish songs while boarding and waiting for takeoff. After the crew demanded that they stop singing, local police were called and the youths were taken off the aircraft.
The group’s director was detained and handcuffed. Her personal phone was also confiscated, and she was released after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Simultaneously, a photo was shared on social media showing a Palestinian flag allegedly placed in the cockpit of the Vueling Airlines plane carrying the children.
Enfoque Judío reported that several dozen of the children were flown back to Paris, while others had to travel by bus. In a video shared on social media, a group leader is seen addressing the children before their second flight. He says: “The rules are clear. Anything that is a religious symbol—tzitzit, yarmulkes—must be removed. Tuck your tzitzit into your pants. Put your tefillin in your suitcase. Don’t leave any religious item visible.”
He continued: “On the plane, you do not say a word, you do not make noise. You sit down and fasten your seatbelt. No one gets up without my permission, not even to go to the bathroom. We will not give those antisemites the opportunity to throw us off the plane. We’re all returning to Paris today. I trust your maturity to follow the rules.” One child is then heard saying he has a yarmulke in his bag, and the guide responds: “Yarmulkes can go in your pants pocket.”
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The incident was described with outrage by Enfoque Judío: “The scene of children hiding their religious symbols out of fear of being ejected from the flight is a chilling testament to the reality this group experienced in Spain.”
Vueling Airlines strongly denied the passengers’ allegations. “The group tampered with emergency equipment and actively disrupted the safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring crew instructions. Despite multiple warnings, the inappropriate behavior continued, prompting the crew to implement pre-defined security protocols. The crew, acting in accordance with Vueling procedures, requested the intervention of the Guardia Civil, which, after assessing the situation, decided to remove the group to ensure the safety of all passengers,” the airline said in a statement.
The airline added: “Once at the terminal, the group’s behavior continued to be aggressive. Some individuals acted violently toward authorities, which led to the arrest of one member. We firmly reject any claim that our crew’s decision was based on the passengers’ religion. The decision was made solely to protect passenger safety. At Vueling, we categorically reject all forms of discrimination. We deeply regret the incident and appreciate the support and understanding of affected passengers.”