An Israeli was attacked at the airport in Europe

What was supposed to be a routine connection on the way to a vacation in Brazil, turned into a shocking and unexpected experience for an Israeli passenger. Inside one of the busiest airports in Europe, and in a space considered safe and prestigious, Michel, 35 years old from Tel Aviv, found himself in a violent confrontation over his identity.

Michel flew yesterday (Monday) from Israel together with his two friends to Madrid, where they had a connection of about four hours before the onward flight to Brazil. After arriving at the airport in Spain, they entered the private lounge area to shower and freshen up while waiting for their flight to Brazil. While staying in the complex, Michel went to the shower area and talked to one of the workers there, in order to enter one of the rooms. “While I was talking to her, I noticed that two men were looking at me strangely and suspiciously from the side, probably recognizing my accent,” says Michel now in a conversation with mako.

After he finished talking with the worker, he says that the two men approached him and demanded to know where he was from: “They were very large, and came with the utmost confidence and asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ in a very dismissive voice. I am a very Zionist person who loves the country and is never ashamed or afraid to say where I am from, so I answered loudly and proudly ‘Israel’.”

As soon as Michel told them this, the two men looked at each other and began to approach him aggressively. “They came at me with their shoulders, one of them grabbed me and shouted ‘Fruit of Palestine’, while the other said ‘Fuck Israel’. They tried to terrorize me and surrounded me. The fact that they were both very big did not deter me and I was not afraid even though I was alone, because my two friends were in another area of ​​the compound and did not know what was going on.”

Michel describes that the two spoke to him in a violent tone, when this incident was witnessed by several people who did not intervene. “Everyone saw it and simply didn’t think to approach or try to calm things down. Only towards the end did someone with an English accent come and try to help. I was very surprised that something like this happened to me specifically at the airport and in the lounge area, it’s the last place I thought something like this could happen. I stuck to my truth, I said proudly that I’m Israeli, it’s something I’m very proud of and it’s hard for me to be one of those who try to hide their identity. We’re in a large and active airport in Europe, it’s impossible that things Such things will happen,” he says.