Flight attendants of the Australian airline Qantas caused controversy after they were seen wearing pins with the Palestinian flag on their uniforms on a flight from Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania, according to several news reports on Wednesday.
The decision to wear the pins provoked angry reactions from Jewish passengers on the plane.
"Political activism has no place on vacation flights," said Robert Gregory, a Jewish community leader in Australia.
"The employees who participated in this should be fired," added the CEO of the Australian Jewish Association. Qantas Airways responded by saying that wearing flags and pins does not comply with the uniform guidelines. "Flight crew members are only allowed to wear badges that match the official flight uniforms."
Palestinian activism has been seen on flights before
This is not the first case where Qantas employees have expressed political opinions on flights. Last December, a passenger on a Jetstar flight (a subsidiary of Qantas) claimed that one of the flight attendants shouted "Free Palestine" at the end of reading the instructions.
Another passenger said that in November, a Qantas employee on a return flight to Israel asked her if she "hears the bombs your government is dropping in Gaza," referring to the ongoing Operation Swords of Iron, and added: "What your government is doing is terrible."