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‘Degrading Treatment’: Israeli Travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport Harassed Over Israeli Flag: Report
Heathrow Airport Customs. Travelers on an El Al flight faced additional screening by pro-Palestinian customs officials. (Photo: Screenshot)
Travelers on an El Al flight to Tel Aviv faced harassment after checking-in at London’s Heathrow Airport by local customs officials, following an uptick in antisemitic incidents with Jewish travelers in the wake of Hamas’s October 7th massacres.
According to UK Lawyers for Israel, the airport officials – who were seen by passengers sporting lanyards with Palestinian symbols including a watermelon – selected all Israeli passengers for extra screening after seeing an Israeli flag in a passenger’s bag.
The watermelon symbol became a symbol for Palestinian terrorism and resistance. After the Six Day War, Israeli officials banned the display of the Palestinian flag, and as an act of resistance beginning in 1980s Ramallah, the watermelon was adopted as a symbol by the Palestinian movement because it shares similar colors to the Palestinian flag. Recently, the watermelon symbol has become a mainstay in college campuses and pro-Palestinian protests.
Protestors in Melbourne unfurl a watermelon banner in solidarity with Palestinian ‘resistance.’ (Photo: Screenshot)
“The people responsible for making sure terrorists don’t blow up airplanes were wearing badges that identify with terrorists,” said a passenger on the flight.
In response to the antisemitic incident, UK Lawyers for Israel filed a complaint to Heathrow Airport alleging a violation of the Equality Act of 2010 which protects against discrimination and harassment. According to a spokesperson for the group, “It is obvious that if staff wear these badges it would make most Jewish, Israeli, and Israel supporting passengers feel uncomfortable and unsafe, particularly in the area of security checking at Heathrow.”
UK Lawyers for Israel decried Heathrow Airport’s “degrading treatment [of El Al passengers] simply because they are Jewish”
In another recent incident at Heathrow Airport, passengers deplaning an El Al flight were placed in a special screening line at customs and received extra scrutiny for arriving from the Jewish state. According to a passenger, who asked a customs official why Israeli and Jewish travelers were singled out for extra screening, the official responded, “I am a customs officer and I can do whatever I want.”
A spokesperson for Heathrow commented to The Standard, ““Everyone should feel safe and welcome at Heathrow. We have guidance on what colleagues can wear at work, if that guidance is not followed, we will ensure those items are removed immediately, as was the case in this instance.”
Globally, Jewish travelers have faced an uptick in antisemitic incidents with border officials since October 7th. In Australia, border authorities “intervened” to question three Jewish travelers who had departed “for Israel after October 7th” and were suspected of serving in the IDF, according to a press release from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs. There is no Australian law forbidding its citizens from serving in the IDF.
The post ‘Degrading Treatment’: Israeli Travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport Harassed Over Israeli Flag: Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.