The French Jewish camp counselor who was handcuffed at a Spanish airport after a group of teens were removed from a Vueling flight for singing in Hebrew continues to suffer from bruises and anxiety.
Speaking to France’s CNews, the counselor—whose name was not released—described the airline crew as hostile from the beginning. She said one child briefly sang but stopped when asked, and insisted the group’s removal was unjustified, attributing the incident to antisemitism.
Forty-four minors and eight adult French passengers were kicked off the July 23 Vueling flight from Valencia to Paris.
The Spanish airline claimed the group was removed due to unruly behavior onboard the aircraft.
The counselor said she was pushed to the ground and handcuffed in the jetway by a security official after advising the group not to hand over their phones as instructed.
She added that 10 days after the incident, she is still experiencing physical pain from bruises as well as anxiety attacks, which triggered a flare-up of her chronic asthma.
Israel’s minister for combating Jew-hatred called the development “one of the most serious antisemitic incidents to have occurred in recent times,” highlighting growing concerns over the treatment of Jewish travelers in Europe.
The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has called for an independent investigation into the incident.
