Jewish customers have been forced to leave Currys stores after they objected to staff wearing Palestine flags on their name badges.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote letters to Currys highlighting the incidents in its Cambridge and Hemel Hempstead branches, pointing out that Currys had breached Equality Law by creating a hostile and intimidating atmosphere for Jewish and Israeli customers.

As a result, Currys is reviewing its policy of kitting its staff out with Palestine flags on their badges to indicate they can speak Arabic.

An Israeli customer had visited Currys in Cambridge to purchase a TV on 8 February 2025. This was the day when three malnourished and mistreated hostages were released and forced to thank their captors, surrounded by gun-wielding Hamas terrorists. Palestinian flags were prominently displayed in media coverage of the event.

When approached by a staff member wearing a Palestinian flag on his name tag, the Israeli customer said: “I’m sorry, it’s not personal, but I’d like to continue on my own. It’s hard for me because of the flag.” Another employee offered assistance, but the manager intervened, telling her staff member not to serve him because “he was rude.” As a result he had to leave the store and purchase a £1500 television elsewhere.

The Israeli customer commented: “The incident has certainly left me feeling insecure and unwelcome. I felt that my right to professional and unbiased treatment was compromised.”

Another Jewish customer in Currys store in Hemel Hempstead was shocked at seeing the Palestine flag being worn by a staff member, and did not want to be served by him. The customer photographed the badge, and was strongly reprimanded by other staff for doing so. He was thrown out of the shop and followed out of the store by the staff member wearing the Palestinian badge, who took photos of the customer’s family, their car and its registration number.

This customer commented: “The badge made me uncomfortable because it was unnecessary and was clearly there to make a political statement. It was the treatment after that which shocked my children and I. We were effectively refused service because we were Jewish. I never expected to be treated that way in Britain.”

UKLFI was approached by the customers for help, following these incidents. UKLFI wrote to Currys describing the events and pointing out that they had created a hostile and intimidating atmosphere in the shop for them. Therefore UKLFI believed that Currys was in breach of Section 29(3) of the Equalities Act 2010.

Furthermore, UKLFI explained that Currys may have committed criminal offences of recklessly misinforming its staff contrary to Sections 110 and 112 of the Act.

In response to UKLFI’s letter Currys said: “We take the matters you have raised very seriously and have considered your comments. At Currys, we put great focus on having a culture of inclusion for all our colleagues and customers and respecting their diversity. This commitment to inclusion was reflected by the use of world flags on store colleague name badges to signal languages spoken. Having carried out a review, we agree that there may be a more effective way visually to denote this and we are therefore exploring alternative ways to communicate languages spoken. We remain committed to having an inclusive Currys where everyone feels they belong.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “We are pleased that Currys says it is now reviewing its policy. We have asked Currys when they will be removing the flag badges, and until they do, there may well be similar incidents, as Jewish customers are likely to be intimidated and offended by them. Currys is not behaving in an inclusive manner by sanctioning these badges and excluding its Jewish and Israeli customers.”