Activists thrown out of airport by police
MEMBERS OF a new group which opposes Israel’s occupation of the West Bank were escorted away from an airport by police after trying to speak to fellow Jewish youngsters who were about to take off on a Birthright trip.
Seven activists from Na’amod said they had received a “positive response” as they discussed how “Palestinians are denied basic human rights every day through the occupation” with the participants at Luton airport on Sunday.
But they claimed officials from UJIA — which runs the Birthright trip — told them to stop talking to the youngsters, and “stood at our shoulders and interjected” in the conversations.
A Na’amod spokesman said: “The Birthright leadership did not directly forbid us from talking to participants, but their actions fell just short of this.
“They put down lots of conditions for them to allow us to talk to the participants, such as not while they were going towards the meeting point, waiting in a group or before they had checked in.
“We were told at one point that we would be allowed to talk to them in an hour and a half, which would have been when they were going through security.”
UJIA denied this, saying staff “did not prevent Na’amod from engaging with participants”. It also denied its officials had called the police, as had been claimed by Na’amod.
The JC understands the Na’amod activists fell foul of laws prohibiting political activity and leafleting on airport premises without permits.
A Jewish member of staff at Luton Airport, who wished to remain anonymous, said officials were “super sensitive about security, especially around the El Al check-in desk.
“The basis of why they were asked to leave is that, technically, the airport is private property. You can be asked to leave if you are not a member of staff, or if you’re not flying. Some of the practices in other airports can be quite draconian.
“There are police officers and dogs. What they were doing was a peaceful thing but it might be the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Na’amod was established earlier this month in response to sustained online harassment of a group of young Jews who participated in the “Kaddish for Gaza” event, which continues to fuel anger among British Jews.
Five American Jews walked off a Birthright tour last month, calling it “one sided” and visited the West Bank instead.
Security is super sensitive around the El Al desk’