An Israeli author wearing an “End Jew Hatred” T-shirt was detained at Luton Airport after staff claimed his book poster was “offensive” – now he’s suing for antisemitism. The Telegraph has the story.
One of Britain’s biggest airports has launched an investigation after an Israeli author claimed he was subjected to antisemitism by staff over a poster promoting a talk on the October 7th attacks.
Alon Penzel said he was challenged by an airport security guard while on his way to the departure gate to catch a flight from Luton Airport to Tel Aviv.
At the time he was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “End Jew Hatred” and carrying an A3-size black and white promotional sign emblazoned with the title of his book, Testimonies Without Boundaries: Israel: October 7th 2023.
Mr. Penzel claims that after passing through security checks without any problem a security guard stopped him and told him that his sign was “offensive”.
The 23 year-old campaigner and journalist had spent a week in London promoting his book, featuring first-hand accounts from Hamas hostages and survivors of the October 7th massacre, which killed 1,200 people.
He had also been invited to speak at a House of Lords event by historian Andrew Roberts, who described the incident as “utterly disgraceful”.
Mr. Penzel said: “I had already been through security and I was walking to the gate when a security man came up to me, and asked me if I was a protester.
“I was puzzled. I said ‘no, I’m just trying to catch my flight’. He pointed at my sign and said that some people may find it offensive. I asked why and he said it was offensive because there has been an illegal occupation since 1948. It was then that I realised something else was going on.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Sign up here to join the 2024 March Against Antisemitism, gathering at 12:00 for a 13:00 start on Sunday, December 8th, outside the Royal Courts of Justice.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.