Groups to Demonstrate Against Japan Air Lines’ Boycott of Israel

The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith announced today that demonstrations protesting Japan Air Lines’ participation in the Arab economic boycott of Israel will be held from Dec. 3-8 at JAL’s New York offices. B’nai B’rith and the Jewish War Veterans will join in the demonstrations. Lawrence Peirez, chairman of ADL’s national civil rights committee, and Arnold Forster, the ADL’s general counsel, said the airline has refused during repeated meetings and discussions with the ADL since 1970 to end its participation in the Arab boycott.

Peirez said that “meetings and exchanges of correspondence with Japan Air Lines over a period of nearly five years have been totally non-productive. JAL has used stalling tactics with El Al, while offering ADL patently false excuses and double-talk. The only thing it has really made abundantly clear is its refusal to change its position.” The purpose of the demonstrations, Peirez said, “is informational only; to make the general public aware of the facts.” He added that the New York protests will be repeated in major American cities.

Noting that Japan is one of the 76 countries, including the United States and Israel, that are members of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), Peirez said that JAL’s submission to the boycott is “in violation of GATT regulations. The traditional practice in international commercial aviation, Forster said, is for national airlines to recommend to their respective governments that they enter into treaty agreements on landing rights. He stated that JAL has consistently refused to make such a recommendation in relation to Israel.