Delta, Saudis deny accusations of discrimination

The Saudi government wants you to know: It doesn’t ban visits by Jews.

Whether the Saudis make travel difficult for Jews, particularly when it comes to those who have Israeli stamps on their passports or come carrying religious items like tefillin, is another question entirely.

The issue of Saudi policy vis-a-vis Jews emerged in late June after World Net Daily, a conservative website, reported that Delta Airlines was enforcing a Saudi ban on Jewish visitors by partnering with Saudi Arabian Airlines. The report sparked a round of angry demands directed at Delta and at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

“Rumors being circulated via the Internet regarding passenger flight restrictions on Saudi Arabian Airlines are completely false,” the Saudi Embassy said in a two-sentence statement sent to JTA and other news agencies. “The government of Saudi Arabia does not deny visas to U.S. citizens based on their religion.”

Delta Airlines recently landed in the midst of a controversy over Jews traveling to Saudi Arabia.

The Delta flap began when a Jewish passenger, Washington attorney Jeffrey Lovitky, asked Delta what the implications were for Jewish passengers of Saudi Arabian Airlines joining the Sky Team Alliance (which includes Delta) on Jan. 10.

Delta’s response touched a nerve when the airline appeared to shuck off any responsibility for Saudi Arabia’s allegedly discriminatory policies.

“While we fully understand and sympathize with your concerns, Delta has no control over the actions of the United States or any foreign country,” Kathy Johnston, a customer care staffer, wrote to Lovitky in an April 28 letter. “If the government of Saudi Arabia engages in discriminatory practices in the issuance of travel documents to U.S. citizens, this is a matter which must be addressed with a local embassy as appropriate or with the U.S. State Department.”

Jewish organizations wondered whether that meant Delta staffers were asking passengers with Jewish-sounding names if they had properly obtained visas to visit the country.

“They’ve joined in this policy of discrimination,” Kenneth Bandler, a spokesman for the American Jewish Committee, said.

Rabbi Jason Miller of Detroit excoriated the airline for attempting to pass the buck.

“No, it’s not Delta’s fault that the Saudi government is anti-Semitic, but it doesn’t have to go along with it,” he wrote on the Huffington Post. “It’s as if the Saudis are telling Delta that when it comes to Jewish passengers, its name should become an acronym: “Don’t Even Let Them Aboard.”

As other media, including Religion News Service, picked up the story, Delta tried to do damage control.

“We, like all international airlines, are required to comply with all applicable laws governing entry into every country we serve,” Trebor Banstetter, a Delta spokesman, wrote in a blog post. “You as passengers are responsible for obtaining the necessary travel documents.”

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) asked the Federal Aviation Authority to investigate, and then Delta came out with its third statement, this time noting that its arrangement with the Saudi airline was commonplace.

“Delta’s only agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines is a standard industry interline agreement, which allows passengers to book tickets on multiple carriers, similar to the standard interline agreements American Airlines, US Airways and Alaska Airlines have with Saudi Arabian Airlines,” it said. “All of the three global airline alliances — Star, which includes United Airlines; Oneworld, which includes American Airlines, and SkyTeam, which includes Delta — have members that fly to Saudi Arabia and are subject to that country’s rules governing entry.”

Religion News Service subsequently retracted much of its earlier story, noting that it is not Saudi policy to deny entry to travelers with an Israeli stamp in their passports.

The State Department’s travel advisory for Saudi Arabia warns that reports of such denials persist.