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Rabat – On Friday, July 12, two British women were removed by police from a Thomas Cook flight from Turkey to London’s Gatwick Airport after they had a racist meltdown.
The two women were objecting to three Muslim men wearing traditional white robes being on board. The women called the Muslim passengers “terrorists“, “disgusting,” and a “threat” to the plane, according to other passengers.
One passenger, Mario Van Poppel, said all the passengers were “united in anger against this crazy racist woman.”
a passenger on our Thomas Cook flight #MT105 from Dalaman to Gatwick refuses to board the plane because three bearded men in white prayer robes are on board. All passengers are united in anger against this crazy #racist woman. It’s 2am #fedup
— Mario Van Poppel (@poppelmario) 11 juillet 2019
“What she was saying was appalling. She was screaming saying they were a ‘threat.’ Kids were crying. An elderly woman behind me was reduced to tears. The Muslim men were offended but they kept their cool,” Van Poppel later said.
Another passenger, Shanea Kerry, said when she leapt to the defense of the three men, the woman called her “a fat bitch.”
*THREAD*
So today my flight was delayed 2/3 hours cause 2 racist white women refused to fly with 3 Asian Muslim men. When confronted for their disgusting behaviour 1 went on to scream abuse & call me a ‘fat bitch’a thread&footage is coming
twitter get ready to do your thing?— YT : SHANEA KERRY ? (@shaneakerry) 12 juillet 2019
“I called her out for her racism & highlighted her stupidity in flying to a country rooted in Islamic values then discriminating against Muslims. She then responded with verbal abuse? calling me a ‘fat bitch‘ as mentioned above,” Kerry said on Twitter.
Kerry also complained of Thomas Cook’s handling of the situation, saying the three men who were subjected to racial abuse were not given enough support by the airline.
once they left the plane or were apparently removed, @TCAirlinesUK apologised only for the delay of the flight & the ‘ scene ‘ & failed to apologise to the victims of the racist abuse.
— YT : SHANEA KERRY ? (@shaneakerry) 12 juillet 2019
I don’t believe there was any support offered to the distressed victims of her racist abuse or any sanctions given to her. One air hostess was even laughing & joking about the situation.
— YT : SHANEA KERRY ? (@shaneakerry) 12 juillet 2019
The plane was reportedly delayed for 70 minutes before the women were escorted off the plane. The moment was captured on film by a passenger, who uploaded it to YouTube.
The video shows one of the women removing her bags from overhead lockers while swearing and calling staff “disgusting,” before being taken off the plane by Turkish police.
Read also: UN Special Rapporteur Calls on Morocco to Take Action Against Racism
In a statement to British paper the Daily Mirror, a Thomas Cook spokesperson said: “Two passengers on flight MT105 from Dalaman to London Gatwick were removed from the aircraft by police following offensive behavior onboard.”
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and we do not accept this kind of behavior on our aircraft. We are sorry to our customers for the delay this caused to their flight,” the statement added.
