Saudi airline under fire for discrimination against Israeli passengers
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio said on Monday that Saudi Arabian Airlines should be excluded from U.S. airports if it doesn’t stop discriminating against Israeli passengers.
“Saudi Arabian Airlines uses U.S. airports and yet bans Israeli citizens from being able to fly on their airline,” De Blasio was quoted as saying by The Algemeiner.
De Blasio, a Democrat and currently New York City’s Public Advocate, said if the airline doesn’t change its policy, “we will act to make sure they’re excluded from United States airports, starting with JFK [John F. Kennedy Airport in New York].”
According to a New York Post report, a member of de Blasio’s staff called Saudi Arabian Airlines pretending to be an Israeli citizen trying to book a ticket to fly from JFK to Mumbai, India via Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Airlines booking agent told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to travel on the airline due to his nationality.
“No city in the world has closer ties to Israel than we do, and yet Israeli citizens are being discriminated against right here at JFK,” De Blasio was quoted by the New York Post as saying. “It’s not only illegal; it’s an affront to who we are.”
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Ramadan mini-series on Arab TV networks employs anti-Semitic stereotypes
(JNS.org) The Anti-Defamation League has condemned a mini-series being broadcast around the Middle East during Ramadan that depicts Jews as the enemies of Islam and employs anti-Semitic stereotypes such as Jewish greediness and large-scale conspiracies.
The series—titled “Khaiber” and airing on the satellite network Dubai TV, the Algerian 3 station, and Dream TV—focuses on a conflict between Muslims and Jews in the city of Khaiber.
“With Syria, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East going through historical upheavals, it is absurd and outrageous that the entertainment of the Ramadan season promotes the Muslim subjugation of caricatured Jews… The uprisings in the Arab and Muslim world have revealed a hunger among much of the Middle East for democracy, accountability and the development of effective civil and pluralistic society. Khaiber and other productions of its ilk represent the old detrimental approach of promoting Muslim societal unity through focusing hatred on Jews and Israel,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
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Maccabiah athletes to be offered incentives to move to Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Around 9,000 Jewish athletes from 79 countries will take part in the 19th quadrennial Maccabiah Games that will get underway later this week. Most of the athletes will be visiting Israel for the first time, and Israel’s Immigrant Absorption Ministry will grant a unique benefits package to Maccabiah participants who immigrate to the Jewish state by December 31, 2014.
The package will include expanded financial grants, professional Hebrew courses and special assistance from the Immigrant Student Authority. The Immigrant Absorption Ministry will also encourage employers to hire immigrants and give preferential aid to immigrants who choose to live in national priority areas.
“The Maccabiah is an important impetus for aliyah [immigration to Israel],” Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver said. “We must not miss this opportunity to encourage young athletes and their families to move to Israel and settle down here.”
Additionally, around 300 Israeli high school students will meet with Maccabiah athletes while they are in Israel. “We’ll thus strengthen the connection between Israeli youth and Diaspora Jews and use the popularity of sport as part of the Education Ministry’s goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle,” Israeli Education Ministry Director-General Dalit Stauber said.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org