An investigation has been launched by a Spanish airline after a passenger who requested a kosher meal claimed to have "Free Palestine" written on the food tray.
According to Argentinian Jewish community group, the DAIA, the incident took place on an Iberia flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid.
The DAIA posted included a photo showing a meal tray with a handwritten white label marked "Free Palestine" in black letters.
Other Jewish passengers claimed to have received meal trays marked with the initials "FP", which The DAIA called a "serious act of antisemitism."
A spokesman from Iberia confirmed that some passengers on the flight reported "handwritten pro-Palestinian messages" on their meal packaging.
The statement said: "The Iberia crew documented the incident and took action to assist those affected. The captain personally approached them to apologise on behalf of the airline.”
The airline said it was conducting an internal investigation and working with its catering providers to determine how the labels were added.
DAIA
|The food tray on the Iberia flight
An Iberia spokesman said it: "Categorically rejects any form of discrimination, incitement to hatred, or behavior that undermines the dignity of individuals."
Last year, Argentina experienced a 44 per cent increase in reported antisemitic incidents in 2023 following the October 7 Hamas terror attack in southern Israel.
According to DAIA, 57 per cent of all antisemitic incidents in 2023 took place in the three months after the Hamas assault.
In 2022, about 11 per cent of antisemitic incidents in Argentina related to Israel. A year later, that proportion had gone up to 40 per cent.
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|Free Palestine graffiti on a fence near the Pyramid Stage, on the first day of the Glastonbury Festival
According to a report published earlier this year by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, 2024 was a "peak year" for antisemitism.
The report claimed there was a a 340 per cent increase in total antisemitic incidents worldwide compared to 2022.
In the United Kingdom, there was a 450 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents, with almost 2,000 incidents in the first half of 2024 alone.
Raheli Baratz, head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism, said the rise: "Poses a real threat to the foundations of Western democracy, where the new antisemitic discourse erodes the fundamental values of democratic society and creates cracks in the wall of pluralism and tolerance."
It comes comes as the Israeli cabinet is set to meet on Thursday as Israel considers a full Gaza takeover.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior security officials to finalise a new strategy, with media reporting he preferred a complete military takeover of the heavily bombarded enclave.
Despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave, efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have collapsed.
Eight more people died of starvation or malnutrition in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said, while another 79 died in the latest Israeli firing.
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|Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu
The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing 251 hostages.
Israel's military response has devastated the crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel's campaign has forced nearly all of Gaza's more than two million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine.
An Israeli security official, in a briefing to international reporters, acknowledged there may be hunger in some parts of Gaza but rejected reports of famine or starvation.