Two men who had survived the Hamas October 7 massacre said they were verbally abused and detained by UK Border Force Officers at Manchester Airport on Sunday.
Neria Sharabi and his brother Daniel, whom Channel 12 reported saved dozens of lives during the massacre, were reportedly held by border officers after the officers saw their Israeli passports. The two men told The Jerusalem Post that they informed the police they had come to Great Britain to speak to the Manchester Jewish community about the massacre in order to raise funds for their non-profit aiding victims of the massacre.
Neria Sharabi claimed the officers told them that they “had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over there.”
“We kept asking the officials why they had stopped us – was it because we are Israeli or because we are Jewish,” Daniel Sharabi told The Daily Mail. “Of course they never admitted it, but it was obvious to us it was the only reason. We were shocked at the way we were treated. When someone comes to your country from overseas, you expect to be welcomed and treated in a friendly way, not like this.”
“They just started asking us what we came to do here, and I said to them that I survived the October 7 massacres and I’m here to share my stories,” Neria Sharabi added. “And the second I said it, he just flipped. From that moment he just started to interrogate us. He told us to ‘sit over there, don’t move, we need to interrogate you.’ They just started asking us a lot of weird questions, if we’re still with the army, how long we served, what we do. In the end, they didn’t find anything, and the cops started to get angry and mad because they got nowhere.”
“The Sharabi brothers were interrogated for two hours about what they were going to talk about and about their past mandatory IDF service,” The Jerusalem Post reported. “They were grilled about how long they served in the army, and what roles they served in.”
Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region chief executive Marc Levy wrote the Manchester Airport Group a letter in which he stated, “For clarity, the individuals were attending the music festival when terrorists attacked, murdering hundreds of innocent 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.”
We have been made aware that survivors of the 7th October terrorist attack on the Re’Im Music Festival were discriminated against by @UKBorder when arriving @manairport.
We have requested an urgent investigation is commenced and assurances are received to ensure passengers with… pic.twitter.com/NC0LC0lPAm
— Jewish Representative Council of GM & Region (@JewishMCR) March 25, 2024
“This is another shocking incident where UK government employees target Jews and discriminate against them because they oppose Israel’s actions in defending itself in Gaza,” said North West Friends of Israel co-chair Raphi Bloom. “In this case it was a border control officer and last week it was nurses at one of Manchester’s largest hospitals. Jews are increasingly scared to identify themselves in public places. The UK government has promised to act on extremism and Jew hate but so far these are empty words. These civil servants need to be sacked and the police investigate them for antisemitism immediately.”
“We are investigating this,” UK Home Secretary James Cleverly tweeted. “We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination. This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures.”
We are investigating this.
We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination.
This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) March 25, 2024