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Israel businessman sues Kuwait Airways for 'discrimination'

May 15, 2019 at 4:23 am

A Kuwait Airways Boeing B777 aircraft prepares to land at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City on 13 March 2019 [Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/ Getty]

An Israeli businessman has sued Kuwait Airways over the airline’s “anti-Semitic discrimination policy.”

The Israel Broadcasting Authority yesterday reported that a Frankfurt-based Israeli businessman, identified as Shmuel M., had booked a ticket on a Kuwait Airways flight from Munich to Sri Lanka in November, but was banned from boarding after he had inquired about the availability of Kosher food aboard.

The Gulf state’s national airline had asked whether he was holding an Israeli passport. After confirming that he did, the company informed him that he was unable to travel and that he would need to speak to the airline’s lawyers for further information.

The lawsuit was filed by Israel’s The Lawfare Project, which advocates against anti-Semitism.

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The complainant’s German lawyer, Nathan Gelbart, said that there should be “no discrimination against Jews on German soil.”

“As long as we [Germany] permit an airline to advertise flights for everyone except Israelis, it is a stain on the moral fabric of our country,” Gelbart added. Kuwait Airways is yet to comment on the allegations.

In recent months, the Kuwaiti carrier agreed to pay compensation to an Israeli citizen after she had refused to cancel her flight ticket, which was leaving from the British capital of London. In 2017, the company banned an Israeli student to board a flight that was leaving from the German city of Frankfurt for Thailand.