One of Britain’s biggest airports has launched an investigation after an Israeli author claimed he was subjected to anti-Semitism by staff.
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 poster emblazoned with the title of his book, Testimonies Without Boundaries: Israel: October 7th 2023.
Mr Penzel claimed that after passing through security checks without any problem, a security guard stopped him and told him 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 Oct 7 massacre, which killed 1,200 people.
‘Uncomfortable and intimidated’
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.”
Three other security guards and two police officers arrived on the scene and are understood to have taken Mr Penzel to one side, away from the departure gate, before asking him about the materials he was carrying.
Mr Penzel said he was detained in the airport for around 90 minutes and questioned before finally being allowed to catch his El Al flight. He said he was made to feel “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the incident, which took place on Nov 18.
“I felt like this was pure anti-Semitism,” he said. “I was telling them I was not a protester.
“They said they were reviewing CCTV footage of me because protests are not allowed in the airport. Eventually, they let me go. There was no apology, nothing.”
Legal action
Mr Penzel, who previously served in the Israeli military as a press spokesman and has spoken on behalf of Israel at international conferences, is now taking legal action over the incident.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which is representing Mr Penzel, claimed he was harassed and treated in an anti-Semitic manner and are demanding disciplinary action against the staff responsible.
In a letter to Luton Airport, UKFLI stated: “[The security guard] was trying to make his own political point that somehow the massacre on 7 October was Israel’s own fault and was a kind of payback for Israel’s historic wrongs.
“Moreover, he appeared to blame Mr Prenzel for the imagined actions of past Israeli governments. He appeared to be punishing Mr Penzel on the basis of his own anti-Semitic attitude, by detaining him.
“[The security guard] appears to have harassed Mr Penzel, and caused him to be detained for over an hour, on the basis that he was obviously Jewish and Israeli.”
The airport has now launched an investigation into the claims.
‘We will not condone intolerance’
In a letter to UKLFI, Mee-Ling Skeffington, general counsel for London Luton Airport, told the group: “An investigation has started and is ongoing. You will appreciate we cannot comment further on that process, however we can confirm it will be thorough and we will take appropriate action based on the findings. We will not condone intolerance, whether because of race or religion.”
Airport sources say Mr Penzel was initially stopped after security staff monitoring CCTV became concerned a protest over the Gaza conflict was being planned in the departure lounge.
An airport spokesman said: “Airport staff were alerted to the presence of a passenger who appeared to be carrying a placard at the boarding gate for a flight to Tel Aviv. To ensure the safety of passengers, police were asked to attend, before the man was allowed to board his flight and continue his journey.”
The incident is the latest in a series in which claims of anti-Semitism at British airports have been made.
In March, two Israeli survivors of the 7 October Hamas terror attacks were allegedly subjected to anti-Semitic comments by a Border Force officer on arrival at Manchester airport.
The following month security guards at Heathrow Airport were accused of wearing Palestinian badges which were said to have left Jewish passengers feeling unsafe.
Heathrow bosses later confirmed the Palestinian flag was a non-approved badge and that the policy would be enforced.