File this one in the "hard to believe, but it's true" folder.
Delta Air Lines is currently working on adding Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam of partnering companies, which already includes (amongst others) such foreign airlines as Aeroflot, AeroMexico, AirEuropa, Air France, Alitalia, China Southern, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines. As a routine matter - and an obviously necessary one at that, any airline is required to comply with all applicable laws in every country in which it does business, and indeed to enforce those laws in granting passage to its customers on travel to those countries. Should a passenger arrive at his foreign destination without the proper documentation (such as a valid passport and visa), that passenger may not merely be denied entry but Delta itself may be fined or even, ultimately, forbidden from doing business there. Thus Delta (like other airlines) takes upon itself the responsibility of ensuring that every boarding passenger is in full compliance with the laws of the country of destination.
All that is well and good, except for one thing in this case: the Saudi Arabian government prohibits entry into the country for those who hold Israeli passports, those whose passports have an Israeli arrival or departure stamp, or those who were born in Israel. Delta's partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines will thus put it in the unenviable position of respecting and enforcing these restrictions, and thus discriminating against anyone brazen enough to have traveled to or from Israel, whatever the occasion.
But if this isn't problematic enough for you, consider a few other implications. Saudi Arabia is, as is well-known, a country in which Islamic law is rigidly enforced, and there are a number of aspects of these laws which will now fall into Delta's purview to respect and enforce. Although you are permitted to practice your own religion privately there, the public practice of any religion other than Islam is illegal; this means you can bring a Bible into the country but you better not bring more than one, or any quantity of religious literature, lest you be thought to be proselytizing. Homosexual behavior and adultery are illegal and can carry the death penalty. And in general, women, think twice about traveling there: women visitors are required to be met by an appropriate male sponsor, if you are married to a Saudi man (even if you are an American citizen) you will require his explicit permission to leave the country, if you are unmarried you will require the permission of your father or male guardian, and if you have a child you will not be able to leave the country with him or her without the father's written agreement.
In this age of multiculturalism and relativism and tolerance, all that is well and good, perhaps; let the Saudis discriminate as they please. But what is troubling is that a large American corporation such as Delta, for the sake of its profits, would be willing to endorse these restrictions.
Think about what this means.
If you have been to Israel, Delta must now refuse you passage on flights to Saudi Arabia. They will have to pat you down and remove any excessive quantity of non-Muslim religious literature. You better not act too obviously gay, or express affection for your same-sex partner, lest you be removed from the plane. And, ladies, be sure to bring your permission slip from your guardian.
It's understandable that an airline must comply with the laws of the countries in which it does business.
But what is not understandable is that an airline would voluntarily choose to do business with countries which discriminate in the ways mentioned above - particularly when the laws of the country from which Delta does business in many contexts prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender.
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Rabbi Jason Miller: An Analysis of the Delta-Saudi Controversy
The only way they keep the attention off themselves and their own disgraceful conduct is by (proverbially) throwing honey into their adversary (Israel) in hopes of keeping the proverbial insects off themselves.
If there were no Jews involved in the Palestine conflict, the Saudis and most of their national neighbors would have little if any concern for the events occurring in and around Jerusalem. As if Arab nations are generally so conscientious to their suffering neighbors. Ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is how a sort of alliance has developed (mainly in EU but also here) between Islamic fundamentalist groups and certain factions of leftist/feminist women.
If most Islamaphobic "Christian" Americans had it their way the reverse would be in effect for Arab countries to the United States.
Israel doesn't want that. They want endless occupation of Palestine and full military and economic control from the river to the sea.
Now Israel supporters are complaining about poor diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and blaming Delta airlines instead of the Israeli government.
Too rich.
The Arab Peace Initiative falls into the proverbial category of the attacker who stabbed one, being kind and considerate enough to remove the knife from one's back.
The 5+ million Pal/Arabs who consider themselves "refugees" are really manufactured refugees. They exist as such, in the form of a 'proxy army' to agitate and ultimately upset Israel and for no other reason. Jerusalem has no business being anyone's capitol but Israel's. Those are the core issues. Israel is not budging and I say damn jiffy.
They are obliged to follow them or stop trading.
More countries should boycott Israel until they end their brutal occupation, theft of land and apartheid.
Furthermore, it is not the responsibility of privately owned US companies to provide legitimacy to random countries around the world.
I support boycotts of Israel and will continue to do so until they end the occupation and their disgusting treatment of Palestinian civilians living under their occupation.
http://gawker.com/5809775/delta-charges-2800-baggage-fee-to-soldiers-returning-from-afghanistan
This partnership makes absolutely zero changes to Delta's fly/no-fly policies. Saudi Arabia is one of a dozen middle eastern/near eastern countries that forbid entry to Israeli passports, such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and probably more, many of which are ALREADY SERVED by Skyteam airlines and the Israeli passport bans are alive and well in all of them.
Anyone traveling from, to or a citizen of Israel traveling on Delta airlines will see exactly NO changes to how they can travel on Delta. This isn't just a tempest in a teapot, it is grossly factually inerrant and borderline libelous(by implying a corporate policy of discrimination based on race).
I'd feel like I had egg on my face if I were editing at Huff and if I were Andrew Pessin I would be severely embarrassed this had my name on it as it stands.
"we do not currently offer service into Saudi Arabia ourselves"
You should start looking for another job soon, before the reduction in force notices are sent out.
The Israel ban also applies to Israeli Arabs. So nice cup of fail for you there. It applies to Israeli Muslims. Enjoy another nice hot cup of fail. Yum.
Your argument seems to be falling apart.
Umm, you might want to read Susan E's answer again. Specifically:
"we do not currently offer service into Saudi Arabia ourselves"