UK Border Force has been slammed for ‘demeaning’ two Israeli survivors of the Nova Music Festival who were ‘detained for two hours’ at Manchester Airport after flying over to speak about their experience.
Footage shows a male Border Force officer speaking in ‘aggressive terms’ to the two men who had travelled to the UK to raise awareness for a not-for-profit organisation they established to help survivors of the terror attacks.
The pair are said to be suffering from PTSD after Hamas invaded the music festival in Israel on October 7 last year, leading to the rape, torture and murder of more than 1,000 civilians.
In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says: ‘Knock the attitude off. We’ve made the decision that you’re coming in, so just let us do the checks we need to do, and keep quiet.
‘Look at me. Are you clear with that? Good. We’re the bosses not you.’
Home Secretary James Cleverley has announced on X that the incident is being handled, adding: ‘We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination.’
The two Israeli men ‘do not appear to have been argumentative’ towards the officer, according to Marc Levy, the Chief Executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region.
Footage shows a male Border Force officer (right) speaking in ‘aggressive terms’ to two Israeli men who had travelled to the UK to raise awareness about terrorism
In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says ‘Knock the attitude off’ before adding ‘We’re the bosses not you’
James Cleverly has since put a statement up on X saying the incident is being handled
Hamas invaded Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7 last year (pictured), leading to the rape, torture and murder of more than 1,000 civilians
People are seen fleeing music festival after Hamas’s attack in Israel on October 7 last year
A man holding a weapon grabs another man next to a car during an attack by Hamas militants on October 7
Mr Levy added that the officer’s tone was ‘unnecessary and demeaning’ towards the two men.
The men – said to be brothers – were allegedly detained for two hours, before the same Border Police officer reportedly said ‘they had to make sure you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here’.
In a letter to Manchester Airport Group, Mr Levy wrote: ‘We unequivocally condemn the fact that Israeli nationals were detained and subjected to abuse by a Border Police Officer.
‘The comment beyond their release proves beyond any doubt that this individual was motivated by antisemitic intent.’
He added: ‘The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli.’
According to Mr Levy, the two men were attending the music festival when terrorists started murdering civilians.
‘Instead of fleeing, the brothers, one of whom is a medic, remained at the festival site to save others, combat the terrorists and treat the wounded,’ Mr Levy wrote.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of the complaint made against Border Force staff at Manchester Airport and are investigating these claims.
‘While the facts and circumstances are being established, it must be reiterated that we do not tolerate antisemitism, in any forms, anywhere.’
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
Hamas has called for a complete removal of troops from Israel as well as the return of displaced Palestinians.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages taken during taken during the October 7 attacks
A view of destruction after Israeli attack on Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on February 17, 2024
A group of young boys inspecting a demolished building which belonged to the Palestinian Darduna family, following Israeli attacks at Jabaliya Refugee Camp
As one of the council’s five permanent members – along with the UK, France, China and Russia – the US could have vetoed the resolution, as it has done on three earlier occasions.
But the US’ abstention prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his visit to the White House to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter.
Mr Netanyahu said that Washington’s failure to veto the resolution was a ‘clear retreat’ from its previous position, and would hurt war efforts against Hamas, as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages.
Mr Netanyahu said that Washington’s failure to veto the resolution was a ‘clear retreat’ from its previous position
The US abstention prompted Mr Netanyahu to cancel this week’s delegation to Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah
The Israeli prime minister said: ‘Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages’.
He added: ‘This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security council since the beginning of the war’.
The White House denied that the abstention reflected a change in American policy.
Its national security spokesman John Kirby said it was ‘disappointing’ the Israeli delegates would not be coming ‘to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah’.
A Palestinian boy has his arm measured for malnutrition at a medical tent set up by MedGlobal in cooperation with UNICEF, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 14, 2024
A man is comforted by another man as people inspect the damage to their homes following Israeli air strikes on February 18, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza
US Vice President Kamala Harris warned on behalf of the Biden Administration that an Israeli military offensive in Rafah would be a ‘huge mistake’ that may yield consequences.
She told ABC on Sunday that the White House had ‘been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.’
The second-in-command said that she is ‘ruling out nothing’ in terms of potential consequences for the Jewish state should it aggressively invade Rafah – Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.
The US has openly opposed an Israeli ground offensive into Rafah, where three-quarters of the displaced Palestinian population has fled.
The war, started by the October 7 attack on Israel, has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, where vast swathes have been reduced to a bombed-out wasteland.
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