Lawfare Project to Commerce Department: Kuwait, Saudi Airlines Still Breaking the Law

Press Release – For Immediate Release
September 16, 2019

Media Contact:
David Pasch
202-854-1179
dpasch@targetedvictory.com

Civil rights group demands action to address illegal discrimination

New York, NY – Last week, The Lawfare Project sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross regarding Saudi Arabian Airlines' and Kuwait Airways' illegal, discriminatory policies. These airlines refuse to sell tickets to or transport Israeli passport holders on the basis of their citizenship in the Jewish State. Both carriers market and operate connecting flights from the United States to countries that welcome Israeli passport holders, yet the carriers refuse to do business with Israelis, a clear violation of U.S. law. This policy is in accordance with the anti-Semitic Arab League boycott that targets the world's only Jewish State for unique treatment among the nations.

In the letter, The Lawfare Project wrote:

"We emphatically urge the Department to take swift, concrete, and effective steps to address these discriminatory and unlawful practices."

"While we understand that [the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)] will not confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing potential investigation into Saudia and/or KAC, it appears that both airlines have simply been left to continue operating in (and economically benefiting from) the United States while brazenly flouting the nation's laws. Nearly two years after our last communication with BIS, we have yet to see any progress towards thwarting this implementation of the Arab League boycott on our own soil and protecting Israelis within our country from such discrimination.”

Read the full letter here.

In recent years, The Lawfare Project has worked to combat Kuwait Airways' discriminatory practices in the United States, Switzerland, and throughout the European Union. As a result of these efforts, Kuwait Airways was forced to cancel its New York-JFK to London-Heathrow flight route and abandon its entire inter-European route network.

* * *

The Lawfare Project is a global network of legal professionals that contribute their skills, time, and expertise to defending the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and pro-Israel community, and fighting discrimination wherever they see it.