LONDON: Female passengers who were escorted off a Qatar Airways flight and made to undergo an intimate medical examination have yet to receive individual apologies from the airline.
The women have not been contacted by the airline or the Qatari government since the incident that sparked international outrage took place on October 2, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The lack of apologies come despite some passengers making a formal complaint to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian federal police (AFP) within 24 hours of arrival in Sydney.
Staff at Doha international airport violated standard procedure by demanding that 18 women, including 13 Australian citizens, disembark a plane and follow security staff to a private area of the airport, Qatari authorities have said.
The women were subject to intimate medical examinations in ambulances to see if they had recently given birth after a newborn baby was found abandoned at the airport.
Women from 10 other flights, which have yet to be publicly identified, were also examined.
The women, who have not been offered compensation for the distressing incident, have been contacted by the AFP and were interviewed by the law enforcement agency.
The AFP said it is committed to pursuing an investigation into their treatment and one of the passengers who was contacted by the agency said the AFP officer she spoke to was “genuinely committed” to supporting the welfare of passengers who were subjected to the disturbing examinations at Doha airport.
The group of passengers said they would be seeking individual written apologies and were considering the possibility of legal action.
They would also like a pledge from Qatari authorities that the safety of transit travelers at Doha airport be put ahead of other concerns in the future.
Australian women subjected to invasive examinations at Doha airport say Qatar has not contacted them
https://arab.news/yvb56
Australian women subjected to invasive examinations at Doha airport say Qatar has not contacted them
- Staff at Doha airport demanded 18 women disembark a plane and follow security staff to a private area
- The women were subject to intimate medical examinations in ambulances to see if they had recently given birth
Arab, Muslim countries slam US ambassador’s remarks on Israel’s right to Middle East land
- The backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic governments issued a joint statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and inflammatory”
JERUSALEM: Arab and Islamic countries issued a joint condemnation on Sunday of remarks by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel had a biblical right to a vast swath of the Middle East.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and a fervent Israel supporter, was speaking on the podcast of far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker Carlson.
In an episode released Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the land between the river Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq.
In response, Huckabee said: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
When pressed, however, he continued that Israel was “not asking to take all of that,” adding: “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.”
The backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic governments — alongside three major regional organizations — issued a joint statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and inflammatory.”
The statement, released by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry, was signed by the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and the State of Palestine, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
They said the comments contravene the UN Charter and efforts to de-escalate the Gaza war and advance a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement.
Iran joined the chorus with its foreign ministry accusing Huckabee on X of revealing “American active complicity” in what it called Israel’s “expansionist wars of aggression” against Palestinians.
Earlier, several Arab states had issued unilateral condemnations.
Saudi Arabia described the ambassador’s words as “reckless” and “irresponsible,” while Jordan said it was “an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region.”
Kuwait decried what it called a “flagrant violation of the principles of international law,” while Oman said the comments “threatened the prospects for peace” and stability in the region.
Egypt’s foreign ministry reaffirmed “that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or any other Arab lands.”
The Palestinian Authority said on X that Huckabee’s words “contradict US President Donald Trump’s rejection of (Israel) annexing the West Bank.”
On Saturday, Huckabee published two posts on X further clarifying his position on other topics touched upon in the interview, but did not address his remark about the biblical verse.
The speaker of the Israeli parliament, Amir Ohana, praised Huckabee on X for his general pro-Israel stance in the interview, and accused Carlson of “falsehoods and manipulations.”
Carlson has recently found himself facing accusations of antisemitism, particularly following a lengthy, uncritical interview with self-described white nationalist Nick Fuentes — a figure who has praised Hitler, denied the Holocaust and branded American Jews as disloyal.
