So yes, most of these gulf countries are frankly, and sadly, all talk when it comes down to boycotting Israel."
A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
A reporter in the Gulf sent me this (he/she does not want to be identified)
"On the point of Israelis visiting Qatar, I would like to share with you (and this probably is not surprising to you) this fact about Kuwait. Just a small background, I currently work for an English newspaper as the local editor and occasional journalist. I've heard from a family friend who used to be involved in the UN, that a number of Israelis (with Bulgarian passports) had come to Kuwait a year ago, as part of a delegation in regards to water development in Kuwait. This is not the only time I've heard of Israelis in the country. A few weeks ago, I was in Singapore covering an event of a hotel opening, and I met this India-Israeli (she had the Israeli passport but dropped it when she got married to a Singaporean, because you cannot have dual citizenship). She told me that she has visited Kuwait before (with her Israeli passport) and is planning to visit soon, and when I inquired on how this is possible, she smiled and said she had "connection" with someone higher up. I figure most of the Israelis come on another citizenship, especially since, in Kuwait, one can get a visa immediately if they are from a certain list of countries (North American, European, and those of "the coalition of the willing")."