Responding to a complaint about security staff wearing Palestinian flag badges, Heathrow officials claimed staff wear them to let passengers know they speak Arabic.
During the trip on May 26, a Jewish passenger questioned why a member of staff was allowed to wear a divisive badge after having his bag pulled through a second security check by a female employee wearing a Palestinian flag badge.
Despite being told that staff were not allowed to wear religious or political items, the passenger was informed that the Palestinian flag was not in breach of the rules as it was issued to “show that the staff member speaks a particular language or dialect from a particular region”.
Heathrow Airport’s passenger customer support department responded to the passenger’s complaint, saying: “We can confirm that no Heathrow staff can wear any items relating to nationality, religion or political life while on duty as part of our uniform standards.”
“The exception is that if a person speaks a language or dialect from a particular region as a secondary/tertiary language, a flag representing the region or country served by Heathrow will be present.
“Providing this information is not a mandatory requirement and is at the employee’s discretion so that foreign travelers know who to contact if it is easier to communicate in their own language. The flag is used to make it easier to identify from a distance than to put the language in writing.”
Caroline Turner, director of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), said the explanation “defies belief”, adding that people would assume the staff were Palestinian supporters amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.
Ms Turner said: “This explanation defies belief. Any passenger who saw a member of the security staff carrying a Palestinian flag would assume that she was there to express her support for the state of the Palestinians or the action of Hamas, and it may also indicate his antipathy towards Jews and Israelis.
She added: “The effect of security personnel carrying the flag creates an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment for Jews and supporters of Israel.”
The explanation also contradicts that of Heathrow’s Director of Services, who previously wrote to UKLFI that “the wearing of any unapproved badges was not part of our standards/policy”. UKLFI wrote a request for this clarification.
Unlawful under the Equality Act
At Stansted Airport, an Israeli passenger traveling to Greece on January 17 noticed a female security staff wearing a Palestinian flag badge.
When he asked to speak to a manager about the badge, he was told “they are a private company and can wear whatever they like”.
UKLFI said it had written to Stansted Airport to inquire about the policy. According to UKLFI, this policy constitutes harassment of Israeli and Jewish passengers and is illegal under the Equality Act 2010. UKLFI received no response.
It comes after the Home Office’s professional standards unit launched an investigation into a complaint that Heathrow Border Force staff were “harassing” Israeli passengers arriving in the UK.
Passengers on an El Al flight from Ben Gurion to London’s Heathrow Airport on June 9 were asked to undergo special checks after a customs officer discovered that one of the passengers was carrying an Israeli flag, UKLFI reports.
It is claimed that a customs official noticed an Israeli flag on the passengers’ luggage and the entire group was taken to a separate room where their luggage was scanned.
These passengers complained that they felt “harassed” and were subjected to “humiliating treatment” because they were Jewish or Israeli.
UKLFI complained in writing to the Home Office that the treatment was in breach of the Equality Act.
In response, the Home Office responded that it was taking the complaint “seriously” and had ordered a review of the incident.
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said: “Everyone should feel safe and welcome at Heathrow. We have guidelines on what colleagues can wear to work and if these guidelines are not followed we will ensure that these items are removed immediately.”
Stansted Airport has been contacted by The Telegraph for comment.