At least two families were denied reimbursement by their travel insurance company when their trips to Israel were canceled due to the attacks by Hamas. AIG Travel Guard Insurance representatives told the would-be travelers that its policy didn’t cover war, or acts of war, only “acts of terror.” Arizona’s Family On Your Side (AFOYS) interviewed the families and aired coverage of a video showing that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken referred to the violence as a terrorist attack, specifically distinguishing it from war. However, AIG will not backtrack on what it told the families, even after AFOYS contacted the company.
Sheri Hathaway, who was denied reimbursement along with her husband and children, told The Arizona Sun Times that she would never use AIG again. They spent nearly $12,000, excluding airfare. “Hamas is a terrorist organization,” she said. “This happened as a terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas and clearly states in their policy that they do cover terrorist incidents, which this clearly was.”
AIG’s policy states, “Terrorist Incident means an act of violence that is deemed terrorism by the U.S. Department of State, or that is committed by any person acting on behalf of, or in connection with, any organization that is classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Department of State.” Hamas was placed on that list in 1997. The policy said “an act of war (declared or undeclared)” is excluded.
During an appearance on CNN one day after Hamas launched the attack, Blinken said, “This is the worst attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur war on Israel in 1973, 50 years ago. But there’s a big difference. That was a conventional war between countries, between armies. This, a massive terrorist attack, on Israeli civilians.”
The Hathaways’ travel agency, Adventure Bible Tours (ABT), told her on Monday that the airlines had agreed to refund travelers so that they will get back the cost of the plane tickets, but they’re still out the premium for the insurance. ABT and its partners in Israel are refunding the families everything except $250 per person, which they cannot recoup, which means $1,000 for the four Hathaways. ABT said its partners usually only provide vouchers when there are cancellations, not refunds, but due to the extraordinary circumstances in Israel, it would make an exception. After finding out that AIG refused to approve the claims, ABT said it would ask AIG to refund the premiums. The Hathaways paid $1,292.84 for theirs.
AFOYS said other travel insurance companies are providing refunds, unlike AIG.
A resolution was proposed at the United Nations in 2018 to condemn Hamas for “acts of terror.” It failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority to pass. On October 27, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution ES-10/21 calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce and cessation of hostilities and condemned “all acts of violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including all acts of terror and indiscriminate attacks.”
CNN world affairs columnist Frida Ghitis, who is also a former CNN producer and correspondent, labeled Hamas’s offensive “an indisputable act of terrorism.“ In an article published on CNN after the attack, she said, “[T]here’s no denying that what happened on Saturday was an act of terrorism, one that deserves clear, unequivocal condemnation.”
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, considered an expert on Middle East affairs, explained why there was some confusion over whether to refer to the conflict as a war or terrorism in an article on November 28. He said it is because there are both taking place in his column, “The reason the Hamas-Israel war can be hard for outsiders to understand is that three wars are going on at the same time: a war between Israeli Jews and the Palestinians exacerbated by a terrorist group, a war within Israeli and Palestinian societies over the future and a war between Iran and its proxies and America and its allies.”
Federal law applicable to the Department of State defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” Federal law applicable to the Department of Justice defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” The FBI defines terrorism as violent acts or acts dangerous to human life “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping.”
A class action lawsuit was filed against AIG last year for failing to refund customers who canceled their trips in advance. It was dismissed in February, with the judge finding there was no deception by the company.
Hathaway said she filed complaints with the Arizona Department of Insurance and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. The Sun Times asked AIG for comment but did not receive a response by the time this went to publication.
– – –
Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
I find it amazing that Jews continue to be a part of the Democrat Party. The Party that hates Jews. Same eith Catholics. They hate Catholics & yet Catholics still vote Democrat.
They hate Black’s, but it seems Black men are waking up to the fraud of the Democrat Party. So the Democrats are importing their future ignorant voters illegally coming across our border by the millions.
The party of the KKK; the Party of the Jim Crow Laws; the Party that assasinated Abraham Lincoln (R) who Freed the Slaves; the Party that voted against the Civil Rights Bill in 1964; the Party that thinks its ok to teach our children that they can be any sex they want; the Party that insists on allowing Porn be a part of our children’s education ; the Party that wants minors to have their sexual organs removed & mutilated; the Party that wants boys to compete in girls sports & use their bathrooms.
This is a Country founded on Judea-Christian Morals & Principles. Do they sound like a Party with Morals or Principles?
Recall one of Obama’s first acts as POTUS, was to travel the the Middle East & tell them that AMERICA was NOT a Christian nation. He was allowed by the Media to SEAL HIS PAST. No Public Servant should be allowed to SEAL their Past, I don’t care what color they are. LEARN FROM HISTORY, OR AMERICA DIES.