Claim:   Article claims UPS will not deliver packages to some parts of Israel.

Status:   Multiple — see below.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

Package Apartheid: UPS is Official Delivery Service of the Jihad (DHL, FedEx Much Better) With the Judeo-Christian holidays upon us, now is one of the biggest package shipping times of the year. And given that, I hope you, dear readers, will reject UPS in favor of DHL for your package deliveries. Apparently, UPS is the official package delivery service of the jihad and practices delivery apartheid against Jews. I thought the "P" stood for Parcel, but I was wrong — it's the United Palestinian Service. Yesterday, I received this e-mail from reader Ruth G.: Dear Debbie: A friend of mine has a son learning in the Gush in Israel. She wanted to send him a package. She called UPS about shipping her package to Gush Yeshiva [DS: A yeshiva is a Jewish academy] in the Gush EtZion. UPS told her they do not deliver packages beyond the green line. He would have to go the Jerusalem to pick it up. My friend asked if they deliver packages to Ramala. The reply was yes. After further research for a delivery service she called DHL, they had no problem taking her package and delivering it to her son. Are you aware of this? Why won't UPS deliver in all areas of the State of Israel? Sincerely, Ruth G. Baltimore, MD [Rest of article here.]

Origins:   This item about UPS' supposedly not delivering packages to certain parts of Israel (e.g., Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Jewish areas of the Golan Heights) originated with a column on debbieschlussel.com, written in response to a query from a reader who had heard second-hand that UPS would not deliver items "beyond the green line" (thereby forcing recipients to travel to Jerusalem to claim their packages). Ms. Schlussel's column noted she had confirmed this information with UPS.

Part of the confusion over this issue apparently stems from the fact that deliveries of parcels sent to Israel via UPS are not handled by UPS directly, but by O.P.S.I., an authorized service contractor for UPS, and from a distinction between packages shipped abroad and packages shipped domestically.

When we contacted O.P.S.I. directly, they acknowledged that a UPS customer service representative may have given out the information cited above, but that the information was incorrect:

Regrettably, information provided recently by UPS customer service representatives regarding UPS's service territory in Israel was incorrect. This is currently being resolved.

Through O.P.S.I., UPS covers 99% of the population in Israel outside the West Bank, except for a few remote areas in the Golan Heights and the Negev Desert, where it would be cost prohibitive to provide service. Only remote areas in the West Bank with very low population density are not covered — on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. In the West Bank, UPS's service reaches over 80% of the population and covers approximately 60% of the territory, including the Gush EtZion area.

All packages coming from abroad are delivered into all areas of Yehuda and Shomron. This includes Gush EtZion. Customers residing in this area DO NOT have to go to Jerusalem to pick up their shipments.

UPS does not tolerate any type of discrimination and would not associate with any parties who did not embrace UPS's concern for fairness and equality.

Note that this response refers to "all packages coming from abroad." Correspondents within Israel have informed us that while UPS will deliver packages mailed from abroad to all areas of Yehuda and Shomron (including Gush EtZion), they do not necessarily perform domestic deliveries within those areas.

Last updated:   13 December 2006

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