Jewish women mocked by Virgin Atlantic at JFK, denied permission to fly

Virgin Atlantic staff members at the gate began mocking the women and making blatant antisemitic statements directed towards them. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Two Jewish women reported antisemitic treatment by Virgin Atlantic staff at JFK airport.

They have filed a complaint about the June 17 incident, when they were denied permission to fly for no stated reason.

The women had planned to travel from JFK airport to Tel Aviv with a layover in London.

After they had received their boarding passes and were waiting at the gate for their 11:59 flight, at 10:50 pm, when they presented their passports, a Virgin Atlantic staff member who they said had dark skin and was wearing a cross took them aside and explained that they were denied permission to fly, that they were taken off the passenger’s list, and that their luggage was removed from the plane.

The women reported that they felt their removal from the flight was motivated by antisemitism.

In addition, other Virgin Atlantic staff members at the gate began mocking them and making blatant antisemitic statements directed towards them.

El Al staff witnessed the incident, were shocked by what occurred, and agreed that the actions seemed discriminatory.

The two women were forced to pay an additional $800 for new tickets at the El Al counter and have filed a complaint with Virgin Atlantic.

The airline acknowledged the receipt of the complaint and said it is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

Since October 7th, there have been increasing reports of Jews being denied service by companies and subjected to antisemitic harassment.

A French hotel refused to honor a reservation made by an Israeli family last week, leaving the family of three out on the street in the middle of the night.

The incident occurred last Wednesday at the Novotel Porte de Versailles hotel in Paris when Mahmoud Omri, an Arab-Israeli, and his wife and three-year-old child were checking in to the hotel.

Omri had secured a reservation ahead of time, with the price set beforehand.

During the sign-in process, however, the receptionist saw that the three were carrying Israeli passports.

At that point, the receptionist became hostile, and informed Omri that the price for the room had now increased and that the original reservation could not be honored.

His demeanor changed when he saw our Israeli passports,” Omri told La Parisien Monday. “He suddenly said we would have to pay 1,219 euro for the room and that our reservation was invalid.”