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")."
So yes, most of these gulf countries are frankly, and sadly, all talk when it comes down to boycotting Israel."