Heathrow staff are allowed to wear Palestine flag badges because it tells travellers they can speak Arabic, airport bosses tell angry Jewish passenger
Heathrow staff are allowed to wear Palestine flag badges because it illustrates that they can speak Arabic, the airport bosses have told an angry Jewish passenger.
On May 26, a Jewish passenger had his bag pulled for an extra security check by a female worker wearing one of the badges.
And while staff at the airport aren't allowed to wear political or religious items, the passenger was told the badge was an exception to this rule.
This is because it was used to 'indicate an employee speaks a particular language or dialect from a certain region', according to The Telegraph.
This comes after the Home Office professional standards unit began an investigation into a complaint that Heathrow Border Force staff 'harassed' Israeli passengers arriving in the UK.
Passengers complained that they were targeted after staff noticed the Israeli flag on their luggage and were 'shunted' into a separate room.
When passengers asked why they were being treated differently, staff reportedly told them that as customs officials they could do whatever they wanted.
After the passenger complained about the flag badge, Heathrow's passenger customer support department replied: 'If a person speaks a language or dialect from a certain region as a secondary/tertiary language, a flag representing the region or country would be present which is provided by Heathrow.'
The Telegraph reported the letter as saying: 'The flag is used to be more easily identifiable from a distance.'
But a spokesperson from UK Lawyers for Israel told the newspaper that passengers would assume staff were Palestine supporters amid the conflict in Gaza.
They said it creates an 'intimidating, hostile, and offensive environment for Jews and Israel supporters'.
It follows Israeli passengers claiming they were subjected to 'degrading treatment'.
The passengers arrived at Heathrow on an El Al flight from Ben Gurion airport and were passing through the airport at 10.30pm when a customs official noticed the Israeli flags on their bags.
The officers ushered the whole group into a separate room for checks and the travellers said their luggage was scanned The Times reported.
One passenger told the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) they were walking towards the exit when a customs officer appeared and demanded one of the passengers explain what was on his suitcase.
When the man replied that it was an Israeli flag, the customs officer reportedly told all those on the flight to move to a separate room.
One traveller said that the customs officers had told them they could do whatever they wanted.
They added: 'It was a horrible feeling to be shunted into another room.'
The Home Office is now investigating the incident as staff wearing political badges is in contravention of both the airport's uniform policy and the Equality Act 2010.
According to UKLFI, the security staff engaged in 'unwanted conduct' relevant to a protected characteristic - being Jewish and Israeli and as a result those people were intimidated.
This comes after two survivors of the October 7 attacks were dealt with aggressively by UK Border Force after they had travelled to the UK to raise awareness for a not-for-profit organisation they established to help survivors of the terror attacks.
A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Complaints regarding Border Force are dealt with in accordance with the Home Office's formal complaint procedures.
'Any complaint about the way in which Home Office staff or contractors' staff carry out their duties is viewed seriously.'
A Heathrow spokesperson said: '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.'
