Passengers on a Blue Bird Airways flight from Barcelona to Tel Aviv were stunned this week when one traveler discovered the word “Palestine” scrawled on their suitcase by ground staff at Barcelona Airport.

Blue Bird, an Israeli-owned carrier that continued flying to Israel throughout the war, condemned the act as “a serious incident” and said it had filed a formal complaint with the Spanish ground services company responsible. “We wish to express our sincere apologies to the passengers and emphasize our commitment to Israeli customers,” the airline said in a statement.

The episode follows a string of recent antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish travelers. In August, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism reported that a Jewish passenger on a JetBlue flight received a kosher meal labeled “Zionazi,” a slur combining “Zionist” and “Nazi.” On another flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires, kosher meals arrived bearing handwritten “Free Palestine” messages.

Jewish organizations have urged airlines and airports to tighten oversight of catering and baggage handling, warning that such incidents risk normalizing open hostility toward Israeli and Jewish passengers.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)