Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente called the French kids who were ejected from a Vueling plane last week “a couple of Israeli brats” in a X/Twitter post that was later deleted after sparking controversy.
The deleted post said: “Will the Patriots remain on the side of Vueling? The ones that follow the law and order to ensure air safety? The xenophobes will be with the Spanish company? Or will they all be chummy together, backing the Israeli brats?”
Yad Vashem's Spanish-speaking branch criticized the minister's comments, arguing that someone in his position should “manage himself with respect and not support hate speech.”
“They are French Jews. Europeans,” answered Yad Vashem, citing the deleted post of the Transport Minister.
“Mr. Oscar Puente, confusing their religious identity with a foreign nationality, is antisemitic. While thousands of Jewish families threatened to flee Europe each year, respect is expected from a public representative, and they should not encourage hatred,” the statement said.
What happened when Vueling kicked French Jewish kids from a flight?
A video emerged last week from Vueling kicking out a group of French Jewish teenagers who were returning from a summer camp in Valencia, under the argument that they were being "disruptive."
"Despite increasingly serious warnings from the crew, making clear the potential consequences, the inappropriate behaviour persisted. The safety demonstration was interrupted three times, affecting the other passengers' ability to hear the safety briefing," the official Vueling statement read.
The main video that went viral was the one that showed how the airport police fiscally restrained the director of the Kinneret Club Jewish summer camp and pinned her to the ground.