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Jewish passengers arriving at London Luton Airport from Tel Aviv have complained they were singled out for additional “security checks”, prompting Border Force to insist religion and ethnicity play no part in deciding who is searched.
Travellers on Wizz Air UK 5302 flight from Ben Gurion on Sunday September arrived in the UK at 10.22pm.
According to widely shared online reports, including from advocacy group LeedsLeadsAgainstAntisemitism, passengers who arrived from Israel were asked to wait in a separate queue, prompting one passenger to ask: “Is this our future, singled out in a UK airport just for being Jewish?”
A concerned family member of one of the travellers told Jewish News that after collecting their luggage and heading towards arrivals, passengers were halted by officers and told their bags needed to undergo additional “security checks”. This included putting their luggage through an X-ray machine.
The source, who has submitted a formal complaint, added: “According to what passengers were told, the entire flight arriving from Tel Aviv was subjected to the additional screening.”
In response, a Home Office spokesperson told Jewish News: “Border Force officers carry out searches based on intelligence, evidence, and operational requirements. An individual’s ethnicity, religion, or other protected characteristics will never be the reason for a search.”
London Luton airport told Jewish News it was “a matter for UK Border Force to respond to. All processes operated within Immigration are solely carried out by UK Border Force and therefore outside the Airport’s authority.”
The allegations come after Dutch authorities at Amsterdam Schiphol airport forced El Al passengers through customs checks for West Bank products. A new Dutch law bans the import, sale or purchase of settlement products, with penalties of up to six years in prison. The new legislation allows Dutch customs to inspect personal luggage for products made in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, which the Netherlands define as “illegal settlements”.
Jewish News has also contacted Wizz Air for comment.
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