Outrage is growing after Spain’s Minister of Transportation, Óscar Puente, made a highly antisemitic statement about a group of French Jewish teenagers who were forcibly removed from a Vueling Airlines flight from Valencia to Paris.
The incident occurred earlier this week when approximately 50 Jewish teens, all French citizens, were taken off a flight bound for Paris. The teenagers were returning home from a summer program in Spain. Vueling, a low-cost Spanish airline, claimed the group had caused a disturbance, but details remain murky, and no clear evidence of wrongdoing has been released. Passengers claim the airline removed them after hearing one of the teenagers speaking and Hebrew, going on to ask them if they were Israeli and deleting footage from the phones of those who recorded the incident.
Rather than calling for a full investigation or expressing concern about the treatment of the minors, Minister Puente took to social media with a message that shockedd many in the Jewish community and beyond. He wrote:
“Will the patriots side with Vueling? Will the law-and-order crowd side with air safety? Will the xenophobes side with the Spanish airline? Or will they all band together in support of the Israeli brats?”
The message was immediately condemned by French lawmaker Stéphane Vojetta, who pointed out both the inaccuracy and offensiveness of Puente’s statement.
“Dear Oscar Puente, these children and teenagers (not brats) are French (not Israeli). This message should make you feel ashamed. Investigate what happened in Valencia once and for all, and while we await the conclusions, apologize for your message,” Vojetta posted in response. He then urged France’s Minister of Transportation, Philippe Tabarot, to reach out to his Spanish counterpart directly: “Your counterpart deserves a phone call.”
