'Israeli airport took away our guitar,' complains Palestinian band

Lead singer of Apo and the Apostles scrambles to find replacement guitar for UK tour.

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: AUGUST 26, 2017 03:19
Apo and the Apostles (photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Apo and the Apostles
(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
A Palestinian band hailing from east Jerusalem and Bethlehem says Ben-Gurion Airport security has sabotaged its UK tour by detaining an electric guitar.
Apo Sahagian, the lead singer of Apo and the Apostles, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that airport authorities have been holding his guitar for days without releasing it.
“The B-G security detained my electric guitar for further ‘security’ checks’ due to ‘security’ reasons,” Sahagian wrote via email from London. “They said it would be on the next flight.”
But more than 48 hours later, the musician has not seen his guitar, and nobody will admit they are holding it.
“I’ve been calling easyJet and they’ve been saying that the guitar is still in Israeli security and has not been released,” Sahagian said. He said that some of his friends who have been looking into the situation told him Ben-Gurion staff insist they passed it on to easy- Jet, and the airline insists it doesn’t have it.
Ofer Lefler, the spokesman for the Airports Authority, said the guitar was taken for additional screening, "but was then immediately turned over to the airline." Lefler said according to the Israeli ground handling services, the guitar has been transferred to London."
Apo and the Apostles have been around since 2013, and produce folk-rock hits in Arabic and English, including “Lina” and “Baji Wenek.”
The band is set to perform Thursday night in London, Friday night at the Greenbelt Festival in Kettering and Sunday night in Guernsey.
While Sahagian managed to find a spare guitar, he said that Ben-Gurion security “curtailed the UK tour.”
“They treat us east Jerusalemites as a virus with all the extra security checks,” he said.