A German court concluded on Tuesday that Kuwait Airways can continue its practice of barring Israelis from flying on their airlines.
The German appeals court upheld a Frankfurt state court’s ruling on the matter, arguing that while the airlines’ policy is “unacceptable,” any Israelis who boarded the plane would be unable leave the plane once it landed in Kuwait.
Therefore, the court ruled that Kuwait Airways’ policy should be allowed to continue.
“This is a tragic day for German law. Rather than be held accountable before the law, the court has rewarded Kuwait Airways for its anti-Semitism. If, as the court says, the execution of the contract is impossible, the fault for that lies with the racist policy of the airline, not with the nationality of our client,” Lawfare Project Executive Director Brooke Goldstein said in a statement. “It is sickening that in 2018, in Germany of all places, a court has legitimized hatred and discrimination against Jews. We are exploring the options to appeal this decision but in the meantime, the authorities cannot simply stand by in the face of this blatant racism and injustice.”
Richard Grenell, the United States Ambassador to Germany, said, “It is 2018. No airline should be allowed to categorically reject Israelis.”
The case in question involved an Israeli man, identified as Adar M., being denied from boarding a Kuwait Airways flight in 2016 from Frankfurt to Bangkok just because he’s Israeli. The United States concluded in 2015 that such a practice was illegal.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.