Kuwait Airways 'within its rights' to ban Israeli - German court

kind of a misleading title. The German court has to rule based on existing laws. It sounds like the problem is Kuwait's law, which allows for this discrimination.

 

Israel has every right to exist - it is an actual country.

Israel has a right to not be ganged up on by a massive coalition of Arab-Muslim states seeking to destroy it for no other purpose than to rid the Middle East of its Jewish state.

 

kudos to Kuwait airline and to the German court for doing the right thing...,
cool to see how ... they treat Israelis the same way Israel treats Palestinians

 

what a sad post.

lose your hate

 

LOL, uncharacteristicly sensitive....sands in the panties?
I don't think I hate them to the extent of your hate to Democrats...not even close

 

Does Islam teach you to hate Jews?

 

Did Jesus teach you to build a wall against other Christian ! help exterminates ME Christians..!

just if you're curious to know , Palestinians Christian are more determined to take their land back...cuz they know their Bible very well...



ask someone for translatiton, it's awesome

 

You are blinded by hate.

 

If Western countries started banning discriminatory airlines from their airports, their policies would change in a hurry.

 

You mean discriminatory nations, right?

 

meh , I would rather call it a :geopolitical affairs where emotion isn't a factor, it's for their own good to make peace based on Justice with some pressure, i don't have guilt syndrome toward'em so that I need to divert past crimes history against them to someone else expenses to redeem myself like what some here may do. also for the sake of enlightenment :an Israeli doesn't necessarily means all Jews, many won't like it

 

If American airport administrators banned travelers of every nationality that discriminates from using their terminals, the airports themselves would have to change back their tune because enough American citizens, non-airport officials and airport tenant vendors would protest and criticize it.

 

This was one idiotic lower court judge. His verdict is wrong.

 

This actually came up in the US. Kuwait Airways used to operate a 5th freedom route from JFK to London Heathrow. A woman was denied boarding onto the flight because she was Israeli. She sued in New York which has its own state non-discrimination laws in addition to federal civil rights protections. And both the Obama Administration and the New York AG threatened to sue Kuwait Airways over its policy. Kuwait Airways ended up cancelling the route as a result and switching to direct flights between JFK and Kuwait.

The US case, however, involved flights between two nations that Israeli nationals could legally enter. The German case involves Kuwait which legally does not allow Israeli nationals to enter. And that's the problem. Airlines always check if you're legally allowed to enter a country. If I, for example, do not have a visa to enter China, the airline I'm flying on will deny boarding.

This situation in Germany is no different. Kuwait Airways can't board an Israeli because an Israeli is legally not allowed to enter Kuwait. The passenger would be stateless upon arrival. This is a problem with Kuwaiti immigration law.

Now its important to note that Kuwait doesn't require transit visas so I think its fair to argue that this is a bs excuse since there's no immigration check in Kuwait. In fact, Emirates, for example, will allow Israelis to transit in Dubai since there is no passport check during transit. But I dont see how a German court can overturn Kuwaiti immigration law. Unlike the US case which didn't actually involve travel to Kuwait, the German case seems to be more complicated.

 

Long story short: The Gulf states are anti-semitic and have highly discriminatory laws. The US handled it correctly. The idiot German judge did not. Kuwait (Airways) rather canceled the route than abolish their hateful policies.

 

What if the US enacted some sort of travel ban against countries which have a travel ban against Israel - due to their non-recognition of the state of Israel?

Oh, that's right - that's not part of our "core values". So much for sticking up for the little guy. Sorry Israel. Sorry Taiwan.

 

I agree that the bans on Israeli citizens are pretty stupid but even the US had very limited scope in its actions. The US case had two very unique elements at the time.

1. It involved a 5th freedom route. At the time, Kuwait Airways flew JFK-LHR-KWI. Since Kuwait Airways secured 5th freedom rights at LHR, they were able to sell segments independently so a passenger could buy JFK-LHR by itself without continuing to Kuwait.

2. The flight was being marketed by Air India so you could purchase it on a travel agency with the Air India marketing code and flight number. In the US case, an Israeli citizen bought a JFK-LHR ticket as an Air India flight even though it was operated by Kuwait Airways.

In the US case, the DOJ argued that US law prohibited discrimination in offering air transport so Kuwait Airways had no right to deny boarding. This was only applicable because the flight never touched Kuwait. The itinerary was simply JFK-LHR. The DOJ argued that Kuwait couldn't enforce its immigration laws on a flight that never departed or arrived at Kuwait. And Kuwait really had no leg to stand on. They cancelled the route and switched it to a direct flight from JFK to KWI.

The issue with the German case is that IATA rules governing denial of boarding explicitly call out compliance with the laws of both the origin and destination countries. If Kuwait Airways can cite compliance requirements at either end, it is in its rights to deny boarding. There is a ratified IATA governing resolution on this. This is also the same reason why the DOJ allows Kuwait Airways and Saudia to continue to deny boarding to Israeli citizens on flights departing the US. By the way, even though I'm a US citizen, these rules technically apply to me too because I have an Israeli passport stamp currently. I am not allowed on either airline currently as you cannot enter either country if you have been to Israel. This has actually been a problem for me because I have clients in both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, unlike Israelis, I just need a new passport and I'll be fine. But then again, I'm not sure why anyone is traveling to either of those countries unless its for work or family.

Now its worth noting that other Middle Eastern carriers that don't recognize Israel do not follow this policy. One can transit in Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, etc.. with an Israeli passport as long as you are only transiting. They won't let you leave the airport. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are the only ones to have a policy of actively preventing Israelis from boarding.

Now I know nothing about German law but I am very familiar with IATA governing resolutions which most national governments recognize and defer to when crafting rules around aviation and I can assure you that Kuwait Airways is within its rights to deny boarding to Israelis as long as Kuwait is either the origin or destination.

 

Can Air Langhi ban DaDakota from flying.