A social media post by the Frankfurt branch of the Left Party’s youth wing has caused outrage after it mocked the removal of Jewish teenagers from a plane in Spain.
Reacting to news that 52 Jewish youths were taken off a Vueling flight in Valencia in late July, the group wrote:
We regret to disappoint: The expulsion did not take place while the plane was in the air.
The message was swiftly condemned as antisemitic. Following backlash, the post was deleted and the organisation issued a statement on X, admitting it had received “legitimate criticism” and insisting the deletion was not to cover up what had been written, but to prevent “further harm.” It apologised “to all who were hurt” but stopped short of disowning the original post. The group also announced internal investigations and suspended its account.
The controversy stems from the July incident in Spain, when 52 mostly Jewish French teenagers were prevented from boarding a Vueling flight. The youths said they were expelled for singing Hebrew songs. Vueling and Spanish police denied this, claiming the group had repeatedly disrupted safety instructions and tampered with emergency equipment, forcing the captain to call in the Guardia Civil.
The removal sparked an international outcry. French ministers demanded an investigation, while Jewish organisations condemned the incident as a grave act of antisemitism. Spain’s transport minister added fuel to the fire by referring to the group of teenagers as “Israeli brats” in a social media post.
The scandal has also renewed scrutiny of Linksjugend solid, the official youth wing of the German Left Party. Parts of the organisation are monitored by domestic intelligence services for extremist tendencies. The Left Party itself has faced repeated criticism over antisemitic positions and links with groups sympathetic to Hamas.
