26 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019
STEFANI CHUDNOW SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Jews in the D
S
ome people, you can
tell, were put on this
Earth for a specific rea-
son. Farmington Hills native
Benjamin Ryberg is one of these
people.
After graduating from the
University of Michigan, Ryberg
attended Cardozo Law School
at Yeshiva University and was
then invited to join the Lawfare
Project. As an attorney and
the chief operating officer at
this New York-based nonprof-
it think tank and litigation
fund, Ryberg and his team
aim to protect and uphold the
rights of Jewish and pro-Israel
communities worldwide. The
Lawfare Project has more than
400 attorneys worldwide who
are ready to take on cases at any
given moment.
“Unfortunately, our commu-
nity is facing a lot of problems.
But there’
s a lot that can be
done about it using existing
laws and legal systems, and
that’
s what we’
re here to do,”
Ryberg said. “Because of the
network we’
ve built, we’
re able
to operate on a global scale. We
are vigorously confronting the
most pressing problems facing
the Jewish people wherever they
arise.”
DISCRIMINATION AT
KUWAIT AIRWAYS
Recently, the Lawfare Project
took on two major cases.
The first was against Kuwait
Airways, which refuses to allow
Israeli passport holders to fly
with them despite being sued
by the Lawfare Project several
times.
“We were shocked to learn
of this because Kuwait Airways
has been operating at JFK
for decades,” Ryberg said.
“Somehow, this flagrant dis-
crimination has been left to
continue for years. Our goal
is to force Kuwait Airways to
discontinue its discriminatory
practice or to fly anybody with
a valid travel document and not
subject Israelis to disparate treat-
ment. Alternatively, if the airline
continues to deny transport to
Israelis, the Lawfare Project will
keep suing them, and they will
have to pay.”
After conducting extensive
legal analysis and communicat-
ing with the U.S. Department
of Transportation, which ini-
tially sided with the airline, the
Lawfare Project prompted the
department to reverse course
and release a new determination
saying that Kuwait Airways
was violating federal aviation
law. While a positive step, the
Lawfare Project wanted to
ensure that the airline adhered
to the determination and oper-
ated in compliance with the law.
Unfortunately, that wasn’
t the
case. Ryberg and a colleague
accompanied an Israeli woman
to JFK airport to purchase a
ticket on Kuwait Airways’
pop-
ular flight route from JFK to
London Heathrow. At the ticket
counter, they were informed
that this route had been indef-
initely suspended. Essentially,
the airline chose to continue
discriminating and lose signifi-
cant revenue rather than allow
Israeli passengers to fly with
their airline.
The Lawfare Project subse-
quently filed suit against the
airline in Switzerland, resulting
in the stoppage of all Kuwait
Airways’
inter-European flights
(which continues to this day).
Several other lawsuits are pend-
ing in Germany and elsewhere.
“There is no place for dis-
crimination against anybody
s in the D
Upholding the Law
New York-based nonprofi
t protects Jewish rights worldwide.
CO
UR
TE
SY OF
BEN
J
A
MI
N R
YBERG
continued on page 28