In response to “urgent requests” by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, four international airlines rejected invitations to send delegations to the official opening today of the new $45 million jetport in Damascus, Syria, the largest in the Mideast.
Yehuda Hellman, executive director of the Presidents Conference, said that Air France, Alitalia, BOAC and Lufthansa had agreed not to send missions to take part in the ceremonies. In urging the airlines to refuse invitations to attend the event in Damascus, the Presidents Conference had charged the Syrian Government with being “an active accomplice to air piracy.”
Any airline that participated in the ceremonies would be “condoning” the Syrian Government’s action in refusing to release two Israeli passengers from a TWA plane hijacked to Damascus by Arab terrorists last month, the Presidents Conference told the airlines.
An Alitalia spokesman, in explaining why his company would not send a delegation to the ceremonies, said, “Alitalia along with the entire air transport industry is on record in the strongest possible terms deploring any interference with lawful air commerce. Because of unique and fortuitous diplomatic circumstances, Alitalia has been able to complement the Italian Foreign Office in effecting the release of persons and property victimized by the hijacking of an El Al aircraft to Algeria, and more recently the TWA plane. Alitalia will continue to cooperate to the fullest with all governments and international bodies working toward a means of preventing interference with the free transport of persons and property between all nations of the world. At the same time, we pledge our resources in assisting any sister company, regardless of nationality, in the release of aircraft or passengers illegally diverted or held in restraint.”
The Alitalia statement said “We fervently hope that channels of communication can be kept open so that we may be of further assistance in returning the persons from Syria.”
Alitalia officials disclosed that they had received more than 300 messages here from Jewish organizations in all parts of the country urging the airline to shun the Damascus ceremonies. They said the line would handle the situation “entirely as a local matter,” meaning that a delegation would not be sent to Damascus from Rome but that the Damascus Alitalia staff would attend.
One of the messages protesting the planned participation of the airlines in the jetport ceremonies had been sent to each of them by the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, signed by its chairman Jordan C. Band of Cleveland.
The airport, begun in 1965, has been handling international jet traffic for several weeks. American and British planes have not used Syrian airspace since the 1967 war, but aviation authorities in Damascus recently invited Western airlines to route their flights through the Syrian capital. The new jetport, together with related facilities, is expected to lead to a campaign for tourism.
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