1949 earliest date American airmail cover Israel misrouted via Suria & returned

Description: 1948-49 War Surian airlink with Palestine: 7 JAN 1949 airletter from LONG ISLAND CITY to addressee at the [Israeli] Rechavia neighborhood in JERUSALEM "Palestine", with imprinted 10c franking per postage period rate & tied by local machine cancel; the cover was subsequently backstamped [unclear] 1949 DAMAS CUS transit where marked by rare Surian 3-line French language "Return to Origin | Communication with Palestine | Interrupted" instructional marking handstamp K-Type-I & returned to sender (using American 'pointing hand' cachet). As per the postal markings the cover was likely carried by either Pan American Airways or Trans World Airways (TWA), both of whom had stopped their direct services to Lydda in 1948 but serviced Damas cus, from where - until recently - mail to Palestine could be forwarded via BEIRUT (on Lebanese Middle East Airlines), via AMMAN via the Trans-Jordanian Arab Airways Association, or Surian Airways: Surian Airways ceased operations from 1948-1951 owing to financial difficulties, and with the transfer of Haifa airport (the gateway for the other two airlines) to Israel in May 1948, the Arabian transport link to Israeli-Palestine was effectively lost. As such, in light of Daryl Kibble's research in this field, the Surian air link to Palestine was indeed lost at this time and the cover so marked - not as an indication of refusal of service but rather interrupted ongoing service. Ordinarily "Israel"-bound mail would have been left to Jordan to handle, as the last transit point before the destination. Less than 5 covers are known such marked by Kibble (none censored by Suria) - this being the earliest known date of use per postmark date (estimated Damas cus arrival 12 Jan). --- Most of our merchandise ships out from Israel | orders are combined | additional items are charged 75c: DOMESTIC services available are Registered mail (default) and courier mail. Please contact us if you desire courier mail. BUYERS IN ISRAEL: eBay does not recognize Israel as being a "domestic" mailing destination - please contact us to be invoiced and charged $5 for registered mail. --- OVERSEAS services available are Priority ECO Post registered airmail (default - $15 flat fee) and express EMS mail (3-day / 5-day to-door delivery - $40 flat fee). These options can be selected on check-out. We recognize that the shipping overseas is expensive - only ECO Post shows tracking up to delivery; for less expensive purchases on the understanding of the customer that tracking is not available we can user $5 standard registered mail overseas - please contact us so we can invoice you at this rate. --- Prospective buyers in countries without postal relations with Israel can receive orders via a third country. Please contact us for this option. --- To see higher end specialized philatelic items + materials from countries which cannot be displayed on ebay, add d o t com to our our handle name

Price: 249 USD

Location: Jerusalem Israel

End Time: 2024-12-03T07:21:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12 USD