As of early this year, Kuwait
Airways no longer carries passengers between
New York City and London.
Stories in the New
York Times and other venues early in 2016 reported that the airline
was dropping its London-New York route after operating it since 1980. At the heart
of the matter was a situation in which an Israeli citizen was denied travel from JFK Airport to Heathrow Airport in 2013.
The airline’s rationale at the time was that Kuwaiti law forbids
domestic companies to do business with Israeli citizens. As for international protocol,
lawyers for the airline cited U.S. law on not doing business with North Koreans as a precedent. That didn’t
persuade the U.S. Department of Transportation, however; and Kuwait pulled out of JFK.
“An airline does not have the right to refuse to sell
tickets to and transport a person between the U.S. and any third country where
they are allowed to disembark based on the laws of that country,” Namrata Kolachalam,
a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said in a statement.
Oddly enough, the Kuwaiti airline can continue to operate
three weekly nonstop flights between JFK and Kuwait City because the Israelis
can’t enter Kuwait anyway, making the right of passage a moot point.
The news of the airline’s reaction to the controversy has many
people asking about the airline’s intentions. Why would a commercial business
choose to lose so many potential customers?
“Unfortunately, the strictly Islamic state does not respect
either Israelis or Jews.” William Palumbo — president of the Stop Qatar Now Coalition, told Gulf News Journal. “This
trumped the airline’s ability to operate a profitable route. It was a poor
business decision, but it displays how deep the anti-Jewish feelings are among
the average Muslim citizen in Kuwait.”
Palumbo said, however, that some Arab states
are moving toward recognizing Israel, which could thaw out a lot of these
diplomatic problems.
In April, independent
media reported remarks by Yousuf Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi, a Kuwaiti media
figure, who urged Arab states to recognize Israel and to stop using
exclusionary terms such as “The Zionist Entity.” He also pointed out that Arab nations are “under the same roof as the Israeli delegation” at
the United Nations and characterized efforts to exclude Israel in the world community
as a “political charade.”
Oddly enough, these remarks did not find their way to
most major news outlets in the U.S., but they do point to a move away from
unilateral rejection of Israel as a state.
Why the possible sea change?
One major motivator, Palumbo said, is related
to the rise of Iran, which has gained power in the wake of recent geopolitical
events.
“The emergence of Iran as a major regional power … has drawn
Iran’s foes closer.” Palumbo said. “This trend can also be observed in the
close relationship that Israel now enjoys with Egypt, Jordan and even Saudi
Arabia.”
