Kuwait Airways has stopped taking bookings for flights between London and NY to avoid having to sell tickets to Israelis.
Advertisement
Therefore, Kuwait Airways argued, its policy “isn’t discriminatory because it will sell tickets to passengers regardless of race, national origin or religion – so long as they hold a passport valid in Kuwait”. Mr Gatt said he had tried to buy a ticket for a flight from JFK to Heathrow but had been prevented from doing so because of his Israeli passport.
Disgusting airline. Forgetting this instance of racism, its pilots allow young models into the cockpit – implying they really don’t care for the safety of their own passengers.
Jeffrey Lovitky, a lawyer representing Gatt, told CNN that Kuwait Airways’ move to cease the New York-London service failed to address the issue.
American officials threatened to pull the airline’s permit to fly to the United States if they continued discriminating against Israelis, so the airline nixed the flight altogether. “This demonstrates Kuwait’s stubborn refusal to give up its boycott of Israeli citizens”.
The airline didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In its appeal of the new ruling, Kuwait Airways said in court papers that it could not sell Gatt a seat because it would then be in violation of Kuwaiti law.
This is not a problem on flights that land in Kuwait, because Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter the country; the issue comes up only when an Israel-passport holder wants to travel on a Kuwait Airways flight that lands in a different country, like the leg between NYC and London.
Advertisement
The airline filed a counter suit against the department on November 24, which it has not yet withdrawn. “Period. I know how important protections against discriminations are, and our department will stand firmly against it. Today, we are saying “no” to discrimination against Israeli citizens on flights between the USA and the U.K.”, Foxx said in a statement in October.
