A former Hamas hostage was harassed and shamed by a Dutch security guard on Friday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, the Israeli embassy to the Netherlands said, confirming a Sunday Ynet report.
Dutch politicians and Jewish organizations have demanded action after the Israeli ex-hostage and another Dutch-Israeli woman that accompanied her on an advocacy trip were singled out and detained repeatedly by the same guard.
According to Ynet, the Israelis were sent to an expedited security checkpoint by the local El Al station crew during check-in, but the security guard looked through the hostage's passport and insisted they were not eligible.
The Israelis moved to the regular line, but the guard moved them back, but warned them they could be fined if they were indeed not eligible to use the track. At another point, the same guard of Pakistani extraction pulled them out of line during hand luggage screening, and allegedly humiliated them by loudly accusing them of fraud and said that they were being detained. Ynet said they were repeatedly and vocally identified as Israelis.
The Israelis were only released and sent on their way after they called the Israeli embassy, Ynet reported.
"What has happened is unacceptable," said the Israeli embassy. "All Israelis should be treated normally when travelling in or out via the airport, especially in a friendly country such as the Netherlands. Considering that the former hostage has been through so much trauma, what happened is especially worrying."
The Israeli embassy said that it had spoken to the CEO of the airport who apologized for the incident. Schiphol Airport said in a statement on Monday that it had investigated the incident and had been in contact with the travelers.
"It is clear that the two travelers did not feel treated well," said the airport. 'We regret this and we apologize for that. We will ensure that situations like this do not occur again in the future.'
Freedom Party Chairman Geert Wilders and Israeli-Dutch fellow party member Gideon Markuszower demanded that Prime Minister Mark Rutte address the incident and fire the guard.
The Center for Information and Documentation Israel said that it was not the first such incident at the airport.
"Shocking that Israelis visiting our country now apparently have to fear security checks," said CIDI. "A next step in the ever increasing hate."
Similar incident alleged at Manchester Airport in UK
In a similar incident, two survivors of the October 7 Supernova festival massacre were detained, berated, and treated with suspicion by UK Border Force Officers at Manchester Airport on March 25.
Neria Sharabi and his brother Daniel were allegedly detained by the Border Force after the officers saw their Israeli passports and the pair had explained that they had come to the UK to speak to the Manchester Jewish community about their experiences as survivors of the slaughter in which over 260 partygoers were murdered.
The officers allegedly said that they had to detain and interrogate the survivors for two hours because "they had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over there."
The Sharabi brothers were interrogated for two hours about what they were going to talk about and about their past mandatory IDF service. They were grilled about how long they served in the army, and what roles they served in.
UK Home Secretary James Cleverly assured that the incident was being investigated, and that they would not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination. This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures.”