The French government has condemned remarks by ‘s transport minister who referred to a group of French Jewish teenagers removed from a flight as “Israeli kids,” calling the comment unacceptable and discriminatory.
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente reportedly made the comment in a now-deleted post on X, accusing the political right of siding with the teens, who had been in the country for a summer camp, instead of defending the Spanish airline.
What has Paris said so far?
In a joint statement on Wednesday, French ministers Aurore Berge and Benjamin Haddad said: “We firmly condemn the Spanish minister’s statement equating French children of Jewish faith with Israeli citizens, as if that somehow justified the treatment they endured.”
The French ministers also criticized the use of force by Spain’s Guardia Civil against one of the trip’s counselors, who they say suffered injuries resulting in a 15-day medical leave.
“No action justified the disembarkation or the excessive and brutal use of force,” the statement said.
The incident took place on July 23 at Valencia airport, when 44 French teenagers and their counselors were removed from a flight to Paris.
has said the teens displayed “inappropriate behavior” and endangered safety by tampering with oxygen masks and life vests. Airline Vueling said in statements that the adolescents had behaved inappropriately and posed a safety risk by manipulating emergency equipment.
The company has opened an internal investigation. There are conflicting reports from fellow passengers to various news outlets, with some claiming the group were disruptive, to others who say they didn’t appear to be unruly at all.
What did the Spanish transport minister say?
According to several media outlets, Oscar Puente, Minister of Transport in Pedro Sanchez’s left-wing government, published a post on X on Friday criticizing the right and accusing it of not defending the Spanish airline in favor of “teaming up with Israeli kids.”
He deleted his post on Saturday, according to the newspaper La Razon.
What has the airline said?
Vueling stated that “the group of teenagers tampered with passenger safety equipment, posing a high risk to the aircraft, passengers, and crew.”
According to the airline, they attempted to “take life jackets, tamper with the overhead oxygen masks, and remove the high-pressure oxygen cylinder,” as well as disrupt the safety demonstration. This “inappropriate behavior” continued “despite increasingly strong warnings from the crew,” and ultimately “the captain was forced to request the intervention of the Civil Guard,” Vueling explained.
“We reiterate that the passengers were disembarked exclusively for safety reasons,” it stressed.
However, the camp organizer claimed that the teenagers were disembarked “without a valid reason.” The Club Kineret association, which organized the summer camp, announced its intention to file a complaint against the airline “for physical and psychological violence and discrimination based on religion.”
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
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