So the original USA Today story has been scrapped. They’ve posted this instead dealing with the “Jewish rumor” (great headline writing there, guys). My original post has sparked a lot of interesting debate. Many say it’s a non-story. Lots of airlines fly to Saudi Arabia and conform to Saudi Arabia’s laws. What’s the big deal? This is basically Delta’s position. The Saudi government sets the visa rules, we follow the visa rules. Story over. Meh. I don’t really buy that. Saudi Arabia discriminates against Jews and Christians (while at the same time it often bleats about the treatment of Muslims in the West). Its airline discriminates against Jews and Christians. And now that Delta has partnered with Saudi Arabian Air, Delta will comply with those policies, where it is required. That seems worth noting. If a country banned black people, you can be sure that if Delta partnered with its national airline, a lot more people would object.
I’m not calling for boycotts or divestment or anything like that. But a little shaming is nice.
Anyway, I’m writing about this at length in the G-File this morning, and there’s still time to sign up.