A group of 50 French students returning from a Jewish summer camp were kicked off a Vueling flight in Spain. The group claims anti-Semitism is to blame, with one crewmember reportedly calling Israel a “terrorist state” once the children began singing. Vueling says the kids were simply being disruptive and disregarding crewmember instructions.

Were 50 Jewish Students Really Removed From A Vueling Flight Just For Singing?

50 students between ages 10 and 15 were traveling from Valencia, Spain (VLC) to Paris (ORY) on Vueling, the Spanish budget carrier owned by IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia.

The children told Spanish media that the crew became hostile after they began singing in Hebrew, with one crewmember reportedly calling Israel a “terrorist state.” The kids were asked to stop singing and did not, so the crew called the police to have them removed from the aircraft.

Here’s a video of the camp director being arrested:

Could this have been anti-Semitism? Of course. Disgustingly, police demanded that the teens hand over their mobile phones so the video above and others like it could be deleted (they declined).

But in fairness, it could have been the singing, which was inappropriate and uncalled for in a metal tube in which folks who just want peace and quiet cannot tune it out. The flight attendants asked the kids to stop and they refused.

But in further fairness, if you respond to the singing by saying, “Israel is a terrorist state,” as has been alleged, then it seems to me the issue was not actually the singing but the singers...

Another passenger, not related to the group or Jewish, defended the teens:

“I was returning from Valencia with my daughter and no one on the plane understood what was happening, because the group got on the plane normally, without shouting – which is rare in teenagers. I insist that they behaved well for teenagers. During the security instructions, they called the police because they mentioned a security problem on the plane… and finally they made the children disembark and took off two and a half hours late for nothing. I mean the kids stayed polite and left the plane calmly.”

Listen to what a counselor later said to the students who were placed on a bus:

I don’t think that was speech staged for the cameras…

I’m wading into political waters here, of course, but perhaps the biggest takeaway beyond this incident is the disappointment at what a double standard Israel is held to, often by smug Europeans. Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? Definitely not. I can understand why people grieve for the carnage in Gaza (I do too…) or oppose the Netanyahu government, but calling Israel a “terrorist state” when it is the government of neighboring Gaza that continues to use its own people as human shields and brazenly attacked Israel in a stated genocidal mission…what cognitive dissonance.

Vueling Responds, Condemnds Kids

Vueling later issued a statement saying the youth were acting in a “highly combative attitude that was putting the safety of the flight at risk.” It added that the kids “mishandled emergency equipment and were confrontational during the mandatory safety demonstration, ignoring cabin crew safety instructions.”

If that occurred, it becomes harder to blame Vueling for removing the group, even if a flight attendant made the inappropriate comment against Israel.

CONCLUSION

Here, it may be that any group of school children who sang would have been silenced and any group that did not follow crewmember instructions would have been removed. But the Jewish part of the story matters and I think there’s a strong correlation likely. The video of the camp counselor being arrested and Spanish authorities trying to intimidate students not to record is quite sad, no matter how you slice it. Mark this story as developing…if more evidence emerges that the kids were acting unruly, I’d be much more likely to side with Vueling.

Hat Tip: View From The Wing