Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons A group of economically disadvantaged Israeli children were given the opportunity to travel to Germany to see German soccer club Borussia Dortmund play at their home stadium. Unfortunately for them, the group was harassed by staff onboard a bus to an Amsterdam airport because of their Israeli passports. Itamar Eli, the group’s tour guide, said that “when the bus driver saw our Israeli passports, they immediately became aggressive and humiliated us.” The driver, who was reportedly “very aggressive and angry,” refused to allow the Israeli group to bring food onto the bus even though the bus company’s policy allowed for passengers to bring their own food onboard. Non-Israeli passengers were allowed to bring their own food onto the bus, thereby showing that the Israelis were singled out. Additionally, another bus staffer pretended that he could not speak English when confronted by Eli. As Adam Lahav, head of Borussia Dortmund’s Israel fan club, said, “It’s very sad that something like this can happen. The group had such a great weekend – and then it ends with this humiliation.” The German Bus Company, Flixbus, denied the accusation, saying “We regret if there were any communication difficulties, due to the language barrier,” a company spokesperson said. “We take discrimination of all kinds very seriously and promote people regardless of their origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation.” Daniel Poensgen, a spokesperson for the German government’s Research and Information Center on Antisemitism (RIAS) said that this is not an isolated incident, saying “The report of the Israeli travel group corresponds with a pattern of incidents that we observe more frequently. Israel-related antisemitism as a manifestation of antisemitism is something we record in many incidents.” A prime example includes a violent assault against an Israeli woman who was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground by a man on a bus after he heard her speaking in Hebrew. Israeli flags and photographs placed around Germany in memory of Dalia Elyakim, a victim of the 2016 terrorist attack in Berlin, have been defaced or removed. In a recent study by social anthropologist Dr. Dany Kranz, it was discovered that more than 20% of Israelis in Germany have experienced anti-Semitism based on their nationality. While anti-Semitism has become increasingly common in Europe, this incident is an example of what could become a worrying trend of people with Israeli passports being harassed.