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2013 article
7/22/2013, "Saudi Arabian Airlines, Gulf Air And Kuwait Airways Must End Ban On Israeli Passengers, NYC Public Advocate Warns," Int. Business Times, Mark Johanson
"Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate, a role that
functions as an ombudsman, has threatened to force Saudi Arabian
Airlines out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after
it was revealed last week that the Middle Eastern carrier denies tickets
to passengers with Israeli passports.
Saudi Arabian Airlines’ dropdown box for a passenger’s nationality on
its booking engine includes options like Dutch Antillean, Reunionese
and Tuvaluan, but not the more common Israeli nationality. A phone sting
conducted by Public Advocate and mayoral hopeful de Blasio confirmed
that Israeli passport-holders could not even fly out of JFK or
Washington Dulles, not even on transit flights where Saudi visas are not
required.
“No city in the world has closer ties to Israel than [New York], and
yet, Israeli citizens are being discriminated against right here on our
doorstep," de Blasio said in a statement. "It is not only illegal, it’s
an affront to who we are. We won’t stop with just exposing these
practices. We’ll pursue this with authorities in Albany and in
Washington until Israeli nationals’ rights are respected.”
In a letter to Khalid Abdullah Almolhem, the director general of
Saudi Arabian Airlines, de Blasio said that because the carrier flies
out of the State of New York, it is subject to all relevant local, state
and federal laws, which claim an “air carrier or foreign air carrier
may not subject a person in air transportation to discrimination on the
basis of race, color, national origin, sex or ancestry.”
De Blasio issued similar letters last week to the CEOs of Gulf Air
and Kuwait Airways, which he said also banned Israeli passport-holders.
His main target so far, however, has been Almolhem, who defended his
airline on Friday with a statement delivered to Saudi newspaper
Al-Watan. His statement explained why the company does not allow Israeli
passengers on its aircraft.
“If there is an absence of political relations between [Saudi Arabia]
and any other country, we will not allow that country’s citizens into
the Kingdom,” Almolhem said. “[Diplomatic relations] also apply to
transit passengers…in case the plane is delayed, the passenger will
have to enter the country; and to that point, it would be very difficult
to let him into the country if there are no diplomatic relations.”
De Blasio said this response was unacceptable. He renewed his vow to
fight the alleged discrimination on Monday, telling Fox News he would
work to “see Saudi Airlines’ lease at JFK pulled until it respects the
rights of Israeli nationals.”
This is not the first time Saudi Arabian Airlines’ policy toward
passengers from Israel, the United States’ closest ally in the Middle
East, has caused anger in the American Jewish community. In 2011,
protesters fought against an alliance between the airline and Delta Air
Lines due to its rumored policy not to allow Israeli passport-holders on
board. De Blasio said that while the policy was only a rumor in 2011,
it is now official."
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