The Guardian reported that Israel has forced the low-cost airline Jet2.com to revoke the tickets of three women from Manchester who were on their way to Bethlehem via Ben Gurion airport this weekend to participate in an assembly of anti-Iaraeli activists.
The three women received emails from Jet2.com informing them that the airline will not carry them and there will be no refund. Israel has been pressuring airlines to ban “known activists,” according to the Guardian.
One of the women, retired nurse Norma Turner, told the Guardian, “It never crossed my mind that Israel could stop people with British passports leaving British airports.”
Israel says it will block the hundreds of activists who are expected at Tel Aviv airport on Sunday, on their way to a week of “educational and cultural activities” in the PA controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
As many as 2,000 European activists were planning to participate in the “flytilla,” a reference to the boat flotillas that have tried to reach Gaza in the past.
The German airline Lufthansa has also cancelled the tickets of many activists, on Thursday, in compliance with Israeli demands, and other airlines are expected to follow suit.