A study by a field examiner of the New York State Commission for Human Rights has established that the Arabian-American Oil Company, Aramco, is complying “in good faith” with the order issued by the Commission to discontinue discrimination against Jewish Job applicants, it was reported last night by the American Jewish Congress, the organization which had filed an anti-bias suit against the oil firm more than six years ago.
The compliance check established that Aramco now offers jobs to Jewish applicants, and that applicants for Jobs requiring travel to Saudi Arabia are no longer asked whether they are Jews. If the applicant is approved, he receives a letter stating that he is “qualified for employment.” He is then told to obtain a visa from the local Saudi Arabian consulate. No applicant has been refused a visa under this system, although there is no indication that any of the applicants have been Jewish.
Aramco has informed the State Commission that Saudi Arabia no longer requires that visa applicants be “sponsored.” While the case was pending, Aramco took the position that the King of Saudi Arabia required every visa applicant to have a “sponsor,” and that Aramco was required to vouch for the fact that the visa applicant was eligible for admission to Saudi Arabia — that is, that the person was not Jewish.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
