The UK is investigating claims that two survivors from the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel were discriminated against by Border Force staff when they arrived at Manchester Airport.
Home Secretary James Cleverly confirmed the probe on Monday following calls from a Jewish group which had been made aware that two men had been detained, interrogated, and spoken to in a demeaning way, allegedly for being Israeli nationals.
Mr. Cleverly, who as home secretary oversees the Border Force, wrote on social media platform X: “We are investigating this.
Detained ‘Because They Are Israeli’
On Monday, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region (JRC) detailed in a letter posted to X that two brothers who were survivors of the Re'im Music Festival—also referred to as the Nova Music Festival—in Israel had arrived from Brussels at Manchester Airport on Sunday.They had been invited to share their stories with the Jewish community and to raise awareness for a charity they had established to support survivors of terror attacks.
“Upon arrival, when Border Patrol noticed they were travelling with Israeli passports, they were asked why they had come to Manchester,” the JRC said. When the brothers told authorities they had been invited to discuss their experiences, “they were informed that they would need to be questioned.”
“The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli,” the JRC said.
The Jewish group said they were in possession of a video showing a male Border Force officer “speaking in aggressive terms” to the two Israelis.
‘Motivated by Antisemitic Intent’
The group said the men were detained for two hours and when released, the same officer allegedly said, “They had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here.”“The comment upon their release proves beyond any doubt that this individual was motivated by antisemitic intent,” the JRC said.
During last year’s attack instead of fleeing, the brothers stayed to treat the wounded and combat terrorists from the Gaza Strip who had murdered hundreds of concert goers. The two men had been responsible for the rescue of other survivors, the JRC said. As a result of their experiences, they now suffer from PTSD.
“We have requested an urgent investigation is commenced and assurances are received to ensure passengers with Israeli passports are able to travel without discrimination,” the JRC posted to X.
It added, “Thank you to the team at Manchester Airport, as we are aware they have immediately acknowledged and recognised the severity of the allegations contained within our correspondence.”
Rising Anti-Semitism
Last month, the Community Security Trust (CST) revealed it had recorded its highest levels of reports of anti-Jewish hatred in its 40-year history as a result of the large volume of volume of anti-Semitic incidents perpetrated following Hamas’s terror attack.“The record total of anti-Jewish hate incidents in 2023 is a result of the unparallelled volume of antisemitism perpetrated following the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October,” the report authors said, noting out of 4,103 instances, 2,699 (66 percent) occurred on or after Oct. 7, 2023.
The CST noted that while it normally observes a spike in anti-Semitism reporting when Israel is at war, “there is one key difference: this time, antisemitic incidents skyrocketed in the immediate aftermath of a terror attack responsible for the highest Jewish death toll on any day since the Holocaust, before Israel had coordinated any substantive military response.”
