{"id":298456,"date":"2026-02-19T03:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/298456\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T03:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:08:17","slug":"free-palestine-stickers-placed-on-140-el-al-passengers-suitcases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/298456\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Free Palestine’ stickers placed on 140 El Al passengers\u2019 suitcases"},"content":{"rendered":"

An El Al<\/a> flight from Los Angeles to Israel was delayed by about two hours Monday after 140 passengers\u2019 suitcases were removed from the aircraft when \u201cFree Palestine<\/a>\u201d stickers were found attached to them, prompting a security concern.<\/p>\n

According to passengers, the incident occurred on a regularly scheduled afternoon flight that was set to depart at 2 p.m. The flight was largely filled with Israeli travelers returning home after attending the NBA All-Star weekend events to see Israeli player Deni Avdija.<\/p>\n

Passengers said they were initially informed of a 25-minute delay. Shortly afterward, airline staff announced a longer delay due to an issue involving luggage. The aircraft ultimately departed at approximately 3:45 p.m.<\/p>\n

One passenger described mounting frustration onboard as the delay stretched on. \u201cIt was a regular El Al flight on Monday afternoon from Los Angeles, full of Israelis who had gone to the All-Star to see Deni Avdija and were heading home,\u201d the passenger said. \u201cWe checked our suitcases as usual and were supposed to take off at 2 p.m. At first they said there would be a 25-minute delay, then they said there was a bigger delay because of an issue with luggage. Only around a quarter to four did we take off.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the delay, a passenger shouted in frustration, according to those on board. The captain and the head purser later explained that 140 suitcases had not been loaded onto the aircraft after \u201cFree Palestine\u201d stickers were found on them. Security officials were required to inspect each suitcase individually to ensure there were no explosives, passengers said.<\/p>\n

Because the inspection process was taking longer than expected, the airline ultimately decided not to load the luggage onto the flight and departed without the 140 suitcases.<\/p>\n

One passenger who protested the delay said his wife\u2019s suitcase contained a dress for their daughter\u2019s wedding. The head purser responded that \u201cit\u2019s better to arrive safely without the suitcase than the alternative,\u201d according to passengers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e1\u05d8\u05d9\u05e7\u05e8<\/a>\"\u05e1\u05d8\u05d9\u05e7\u05e8<\/p>\n

‘Free Palestine’ sticker <\/p>\n

(Photo: Anzz Media \/ shutterstock)<\/p>\n

After landing in Israel, travelers received notification from El Al that their luggage had not been sent on the flight. The suitcases are expected to be placed on the next direct flight from Los Angeles to Israel.<\/p>\n

Passengers described the incident as a scandal and questioned how an airport worker had been able to place the stickers on the luggage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did they allow this employee to put the stickers on?\u201d passengers said. \u201cIf they allowed him to do that, how can they ensure that next time something won\u2019t be put inside the suitcases?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An El Al flight from Los Angeles to Israel was delayed by about two hours Monday after 140…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-298456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}