An Israeli delegation from the Galilee village of Kfar Kama, in northern occupied Palestine, was blocked from attending a UN tourism event in Saudi Arabia starting on 12 March after the kingdom denied them visas.
The occupied village was among 32 sites the UN chose as “top rural tourism destinations … for their cultural and natural assets,” US media outlet Bloomberg reported.
Villagers from the ethnically Circassian town of Kfar Kama and Israeli officials were invited to the event in the ancient Saudi village of Al-Ula by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Still, according to sources informed on the matter, the Israelis were never given visas.
“In the spirit of assuring equal rights to all members of the organization, UNWTO, as the UN specialized agency, is seeking the kind support of the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in facilitating the visa issuance for the Israeli delegation,” UNWTO Secretary-General wrote in a letter, obtained by Bloomberg, to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism.
The Saudi ministry and the UNWTO have yet to respond to requests for comment. In an emailed statement, Israel’s Tourism Ministry expressed frustration over the denied visas.
“Israel calls on the UNWTO and UN organizations to uphold the guiding principles of the UN, including equal treatment in ensuring the possibility of countries participating in the organization’s meetings … In this case, the UNWTO did not meet these standards, and we regret this,” the Israeli statement read.
Last year, the kingdom relaxed its entry rules for Israeli passport holders as part of a US-sponsored push for normalization.
Reports suggest dozens of Israeli businesspeople representing Tel Aviv traveled to Saudi Arabia over the past year. Hebrew media also revealed last year that several senior security and political figures from Israel have visited the kingdom over the past decade.
In July 2022, an Israeli journalist visiting Saudi Arabia for a regional conference sparked widespread criticism and condemnation after he snuck into the holy city of Mecca, which non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering. The journalist was seen taking selfies and was featured in an Israeli Channel 13 report pointing out sites and landmarks. Not long after, the kingdom detained the Saudi national who had helped him sneak in.
Israeli tourists have also been spotted in the planned futuristic megacity of NEOM in Saudi Arabia, which is still under construction.
The UN tourism event comes just a few days after a Chinese-sponsored resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran was announced.
The restoration of ties has been seen as a massive blow to Israeli ambitions for an anti-Iran alliance between Riyadh, Tel Aviv, and Washington and “a blow to Israel’s diplomatic agenda,” as Bloomberg called it.
In January of this year, the kingdom vowed that it would not normalize ties with Israel until a two-state solution is agreed upon, which has been seen by many as an unrealistic and unattainable goal.