NOVANEWS
By Mahmoud El-Yousseph
The Jewish main stream media have had a hay day with the Kuwaiti Airways and when you find out why, you will be amazed.
The Kuwaiti airways refusal to fly an Israeli citizen has caused outrage among New York city Jewish community who accused the airlines of discrimination, anti-Semitism, Jew hater, ungrateful nation and have since demanded of New York and New Jersey Governors to cancel the Kuwaiti airways lease at JFK airport.
The story began when a couple of Queens, New York tried to catch a Kuwaiti Airways flight from JKF airport to London. The husband who holds a US passport was allowed to board the flight but not his 26-years old wife who has an Israeli passport. The airlines told her that flying Israeli passport holders would violate the Kuwaiti laws of boycotting Israel. The airways booked her flight to London with another carrier. That was not good enough!
Shortly after, Iris Eliazarov hired a Jewish attorney and filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Transportation. At first the DOT did not find sufficient evidence of discrimination by the Kuwaiti Airways. After that, the woman and her Jewish attorney enlisted the support of Israeli firster, City Councilman Roy Lancman (D-Queens) who is also Jewish. The Councilman demanded the airlines recognize the right of the Israeli passport holder or he would have the KA out of JFK. Never mind Mrs. Eliazarov was a foreign national and not a U.S. citizen and or one of the Councilman’s constituents.
When the K A refused to budge, Zionist troll Roy Lancman rallied his troops at New York House of Representatives and drafted a letter to JKF port authority asking for the agreement with KA be cancelled. They then flexed some political muscles on the Governors of New York and New Jersey, so did Jewish U.S. Senator Max Bluemanthal (D-CT) to punish the KA. On September 30, 2015 the DOT reversed its decision, and ruled that KA was in defiance of anti BDS law. On December 15th, Kuwait Airways informed the United States Department of Transportation that it has eliminated its service between JFK and London Heathrow.
Why was this fuss all of a sudden about the Kuwaiti Airways? Kuwait Airways has been flying into the U.S. since 1979 and the US government have known about it all along that the carrier does not do business with Israeli citizens. This policy is mandated by the Kuwaiti government and is not dependent on the airline’s choosing.
PIA Pakistan also has had a similar policy on its flights between New York and various European airport before the carrier start using nonstop flights began between Pakistan and the USA. There is no record that shows any US officials, Jewish media outlets have complained or expressed interest about this policy. Would it be possibly fair to say that this complaint now submitted is only about trying to get K A to maybe pay them off in the manner of making some money through restitution, otherwise for a policy that’s long been in effect, knowingly so, and where nothing was said or done before. [1]
After invoking the holocaust, New York Jewish news media compared Mrs. Eliazarov to Rosa Park. Why cheapen the memories of American heroine Rosa Park? Miss Park stood up against systemic racism where as this Jewess was hunting for cheap airfare or to get rich quickly. By suddenly ganging against KA, Jewish Americans remind me of the movie, “The Lion King” when a pack of hungry hyenas encircled cub Simba and wanted to make a cub sandwich out of him.
You will be accurate to refer to this as the case of Kuwaiti Airways vs. Jewish bullies. This is not about bias and civil rights violation, it is about seeking headlines. This is not discrimination against Jews, since Jews with European and American passport holders are allowed to fly Kuwait Airways. Even Muslims with Israeli passports are not allowed to fly. This is clearly a sob story created to induce tears in order to combat the boycott, divestments and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel; which calls for an end to the occupation, the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and to lift the illegal and inhumane siege imposed on Gaza.
Queens Councilman Roy Lancman marches with his family in the Celebrate Israel parade in 2010
Councilman Lancman confounded me even more when he denounced Kuwait for not responding in kind to the sacrifices made by Jewish American who served in US military during the Liberation of Kuwait in 1990. This is absolutely poppycock for this Israeli lover to even make such claim! The only Jewish American sacrifices I am aware of is of a 22 year-old Micheal Levin of Philadelphia who was killed in Lebanon during 2006 Israeli war with Hezbollah. Instead of joining the U.S. armed forces, he joined the (Israeli Occupation Forces), referred to by Israelis as IDF. There are at least 50,000 Jewish Americans like Micheal Levin in the IOF. The exact number is highly guarded. Many joined after 9/11 terrorist attacks, even though under US laws, serving in the armed forces of a foreign country is grounds to revoke your citizenship. For some odd reason, this US law does not apply to Jewish Americans! [2]
Where was the Jewish Americans outrage when two Jewish American intellectuals, Dr Norman Finkelstein and Professor Noam Chomsky who both were detained at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and were denied entry permit to the Palestinian territories. In 2008 and 2010, both Finkelstein and Chomsky respectively received a ten year ban from entering the Israeli occupied West Bank and Israel, which was in clear violation of 1951 Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty. Both are fierce critics of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, Finkelstein and Chomsly have been vilified as “self-hating Jews.” By contrast, Mrs. Eliazarov received preferential treatment by KA.
Last July, leading American writer, Susan Abulhawa was denied entry to her native homeland in Palestine by Israel. Miss Abulhawa was forced to wait over seven hours and have endured six different interrogations before she was told she was “uncooperative” and was put on the next flight leaving to the US. There was no peep from our Jewish cousins in the US or our US State Department. Following similar entry denial in the past, to US citizens by Israel, the State Department immediate response was: ” we do not interfere in the internal affairs of foreign government.” [3]
On September, 2013, Yara Karmalawy, a Palestinian-American citizen was denied entry to Israel after she was told” there is no such thing as Palestine“. Miss Karmalawy holds a B.A. in Political Science and Legal Studies with a focus on the Middle East from UC Santa Cruz and is currently pursuing an international law degree. [4]
Few days ago, a 35-year old German journalis Martin Lejeune was deported by Israel and was told by Israel he is banned for 10 years. Mr. Lejeune was a free lance writer who lived and reported from Gaza during the Israeli 2014 war on Gaza.
In 2014 Israel banned Norwegian Doctor and human rights activist, Dr. Mads Gilbert from entering Gaza for life. Dr. Gilbert has worked in Gaza Al-Shafa hospitals during every Israeli military assault on Gaza since 2008. Israel considers him a “security risk”. He said, “I document what I see and that makes me trouble for Israel.” His other famous quote, ” no siege no tunnels, no occupation no rocks.”
Looks like Israel starts to feel the heat created by the BDS ( Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) which Israel considers anti-Semitic. Last month the European Union has labeled products made in the Israeli settlement on land it captured in the 1967 war to be subject for BDS. The US opposes the BDS movement and hands Israel $3.5 million dollars annually in military and economic aid.
On April, 2012, nearly 1,500 activists from Europe and North America (including US citizens) who had been planning to travel to Israel have been prevented from doing so, They had planned to go straight from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, and then on to Bethlehem in Palestine, for a week-long program of educational and cultural activities under the banner of ” Welcome to Palestine”. But no, Israel regarded this as a “threat to peace” and stopped them showing their sympathy for the Palestinians.
At that time, the Israeli military has deployed 600 soldiers at the airport near Tel Aviv and turned it into a military compound, with one section of the airport set up as a prison camp. Israel has also submitted a “black list” to various airlines of 342 participants from the ages of 9 to 83 to prevent them from boarding planes, thus sparking huge protests in several international airports. During that time, I do recall 50 French peace activists and 9 Israeli citizens were put behind bars. Sadly there was no protest by The Anti Defamation League ( ADL) or any other major Jewish American organizations about Israel’s hysterical behavior of denying people entry and detaining some other people who have committed no crime. [5]
If Jewish Americans feel the Arab boycott imposed against Israel is unfair, then why have they said nothing about past and current US embargos, sanctions and or travel bans against Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq Libya and Lebanon as inhumane act?
Before Jewish Americans demand of KA to comply with US anti BDS law, they should first call upon Israel to respect and comply with United Nations Resolutions 164 and 242 which order Israel to withdraw from occupied Arab land, allow the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and pay compensation for those who do not wish to return.
Following all this bullying and blackmail against KA by Jewish Americans, don’t expect the KA to start carrying Israeli citizens anytime soon.
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