The removing of a French group of Jewish youngsters from a flight in Spain final week has prompted a diplomatic row, after their group chief was handcuffed by police and a Spanish minister known as them “Israeli brats”.
French authorities ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad have given a strongly worded assertion condemning Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente’s remarks and the actions of police.
The youngsters and their counsellor have been among the many group of 44 kids and eight adults who have been taken off Vueling flight V8166 from Valencia to Paris on 23 July whereas on their method dwelling from a summer time camp.
Vueling says the French group was faraway from the flight due to “disruptive behaviour”.
The airline has mentioned it goals “to supply a rigorous and clear account of the details”.
Nevertheless, accounts of what occurred earlier than the incident differ dramatically, and have led to allegations of antisemitism, which have been vehemently rejected by each the airline and Spanish police.
Movies on social media confirmed police holding the feminine counsellor down on the bottom in a hall whereas they handcuffed her.
The 2 French ministers, who’ve each since spoken to the girl, mentioned she had been signed off work for 15 days due to “momentary incapacity”.
“No act justifies the disembarkation and the extreme and brutal use of pressure by the Guardia Civil in opposition to the younger lady,” mentioned Bergé and Haddad.
Though Óscar Puente later deleted his submit describing the youngsters as “Israeli brats”, the French ministers mentioned they strongly condemned his assertion for “equating French kids who have been Jewish with Israeli residents, as if this in any method justified the therapy they have been subjected to”.
“We are going to by no means settle for the trivialisation of anti-Semitism,” the ministers added.
Police mentioned the captain had ordered the removing of the group from the Vueling airplane after they’d ignored directions from the crew.
The airline has given two statements for the reason that occasions unfolded every week in the past.
It alleged that the group had “mishandled emergency gear and actively disrupted the obligatory security demonstration, repeatedly ignoring directions from cabin crew”.
Vueling mentioned that as a part of its inside inquiry it had taken witness statements from different passengers who had backed up its account and that of the police.
It accused a number of the kids of adopting “confrontational behaviour”… equivalent to “making an attempt to loosen life jackets, tampering with overhead oxygen masks and eradicating a high-pressure oxygen cylinder”, violating air security legal guidelines.
An nameless passenger gave an announcement to Spain’s La Sexta TV showing to again up Vueling’s assertion, saying that a number of the kids had pulled life jackets out and pressed the crew-call buttons.
Nevertheless, different accounts have disputed the airline’s model of occasions.
One passenger known as Damien, who was on the entrance of the airplane and never a part of the younger group, advised Europe 1 radio that the youngsters had been “very calm, particularly for youngsters… there was one who known as to his pal for 2 seconds however all the pieces was completely wonderful”.
Karine Lamy, the mom of a teenage boy within the group, advised i24 TV that “one youngster sang a music in Hebrew, then he started shouting and the workers on board got here as much as him and the group chief and warned him instantly that if he carried on singing or making a noise they’d name the police”.
She mentioned the youngsters then calmed down and 5 minutes later the police boarded the airplane and advised the chief and the entire group to disembark.
In line with Damien, a flight attendant mentioned in the course of the security demonstration that there was a safety challenge and that they have been going to name police.
“There was no shouting, no violence,” he insisted, including that he had no concept whether or not there had been any interruption to the security demonstration as everybody was taking note of it on the time.
A lawyer for the Membership Kineret summer time camp group, Murielle Ouknine-Melki, advised French TV that a number of the kids wore a kippah (Jewish skullcap) and he or she had no different rationalization for what occurred aside from that they have been Jewish.
Vueling mentioned it categorically denied that its crew’s behaviour associated to the faith of the passengers. The Guardia Civil mentioned its officers too weren’t conscious they have been Jewish.
On the weekend, France’s overseas minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted Vueling’s chief govt, Carolina Martinoli, to precise his “deep concern” at what had occurred.
