An anti-Israel lawyer has been jailed for six months following a racist rant on an Air India flight after she was refused a bottle of wine.
Simone O’Broin was arrested after being filmed on an Air India flight from Mumbai to London Heathrow last November, O’Broin was filmed racially abusing staff members and boasting of herself being a “leader of the ****ing boycott movement”. She spat in the face of a cabin crew member and screamed that she was “an international criminal lawyer for the ****ing Palestinian people”.
O’Broin is a former lawyer for the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Right who has previously accused Israel of genocide, posted social media images of Palestinian terrorists and honoured them as “shaheeds” or “Islamic martyrs” and made racist comments online about Jews.
At her hearing last month, a magistrate had told her that she “clearly put the safety of the aircraft in jeopardy by smoking.
“You were disruptive to other passengers who must have found the whole experience quite shocking. The disruption was clearly over a long period of time, the level of racist abuse was prolonged and unwarranted – there’s no excuse for that.”
He also said that her “spitting in the face must have been one of the most awful things that can happen to anybody, given the transmission of diseases”.
The magistrates court had referred her case to the High Court after concluding that her offences deserved a more serious sentence than that which they were able to hand down.
The prominent anti-Israel barrister has been jailed for six months
Simone O'Broin, former @BADIL_Center lawyer who accuses Israel of genocide, arrested for drunken rant on Air India flight after they denied her more alcohol. "I'm a leader of the f***ing boycott movement! If I say 'Boycot f***ing Air India'—done!" https://t.co/ghSx0Nvg8B
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 15, 2018
The video footage shows O’Broin, who was travelling business class, hurling abuse at a crew member who is believed to be one of the pilots, shouting “I work for you ****ing people.”
“The ****ing Rohinyas, the ****ing people of all Asia, for you, I’m an international criminal lawyer.”
“I don’t get any money for it by the way. But you won’t give a ****ing glass of wine, is that correct?”
She also said she was a ‘leader of the ****ing boycott movement’, clapping in the air in front of the crewmember, before adding: ‘If I say “boycott” – ****ing Air India, done.
“Do you understand me? You can’t give me a wee bottle of wine?”
O’Broin appeared to be drunk in the video.
WARNING: The video below contains strong language.
Irish lady behaves in such an abusive, racist way with @airindiain crew for being refused extra drinks. Very decent AI crew behaviour. Arrested on landing. Wonder if she should have been controlled onboard with handcuffs. @JitiBhargava @Mohan_Rngnathan pic.twitter.com/kSTDmGOEm5
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) November 13, 2018
The Israellycool blog managed to find Facebook posts from the boycott leader which showed her honouring Palestinian terrorists and having an anti-Semitic rant.
O’Broin is also friends with former Liberal Democrat MP and current member of the House of Lords, Baroness Jenny Tonge.
She has since deleted her Facebook account.
