Approaching 90 days and there has been no response to the following letter send to Air Canada CEO, Calin Rovinescu. Seems the silence of Rovinescu and his senior team support are not prepared to talk about the export of Canadian jobs to the Israeli government owned military company Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI).
The BNC (BDS National Committee) is putting more focus on Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI )with their statement on IAI’s involvement in militarizing the US-Mexico border.
We are still waiting Mr. Rovinescu to hear from you, and you can expect you will be hearing more the majority of Canadians who support sanctions against Israel war crimes (EKOS 2017).\
July 3, 2017
Mr. Calin Rovinescu
President and CEO
Air Canada
P.O. Box 14000, Station Airport
Dorval, QC H4Y 1H4
Dear Mr. Rovinescu
We wish to bring to your attention our concerns about Air Canada’s partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries for maintenance on the Air Canada fleet of Boeing 787 and 767 jets.
Israel Aerospace Industries [IAI] is the subject of boycotts across Europe for its deadly drone technology and production. Corporate Watch from the UK says “IAI was one of the earliest developers of drone technology and launched its first surveillance drone in 1979. IAI’s website boasts that its drones have an “unsurpassed track record of over 1,200,000 operational flight hours for over 50 users on five continents.”
A 2014 study entitled ‘Sleepless in Gaza’ by Dr. Atef Abu Saif details the terrifying impact of drone attacks on the Gaza Strip, especially on children, “Since their first use in 2000, drones have led to the death of hundreds of Palestinians and have injured thousands more. In addition, they have directly impacted Palestinian psychological and social life, as well as causing a grossly negative impact on education.”
By partnering with IAI, Air Canada becomes complicit in the war crimes of IAI. This is fundamentally wrong.
In having the maintenance of the Boeing 787 and 767 jets performed in Israel, you send valuable Canadian jobs out of the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. Again, this is fundamentally wrong.
In addition to partnering with Israel Aerospace Industries, Air Canada also sells Sabra Hummus as part of the onboard canteen service. Sabra is a partner with the Strauss Group. Strauss is the second largest Israeli food and beverage company and is known for supporting two Israeli military units implicated in human rights abuses, the Golani and Givati brigades.
This is the petition organized by the Canada Palestine Association Vancouver which provides additional background to the reaction of the Canadian public to the complicity of Air Canada in the war crimes of Israel Aerospace Industries and Sabra Hummus.
With the establishment of the Canadian BDS Coalition, Air Canada will become a significant target for action based upon the foregoing. Perhaps you would be willing to meet with a small representative group from the Coalition to further discuss this matter and devise a way forward for Air Canada to extricate itself from complicity with the war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories?
The previous attempt by the Canada Palestine Association Vancouver to engage you in discussion was met by silence which was taken as a message Air Canada did not wish to change behaviour. We shall take a similar message if we receive no response from this letter.
Sincerely,
on behalf of the Canadian BDS Coalition
Bruce Katz, Hanna Kawas, Tom Beckett, Karen Rodman
cc Richard Steer, Vice-President, Air Canada Maintenance and Engineering
David J. Shapiro, Senior Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer
Yves Dufresne Vice-President, Alliances and Regulatory Affairs
Renee Smith-Valade, Vice-President, In-Flight Service
Join in the global campaign to tell Air Canada to end its complicity with Israeli war crimes by signing this petition.
Learn more about the Air Canada End Your Complicity With Israeli War Crimes here.
#AirCanadaComplicity
This is a global call to join Canadians in this petition. Air Canada flies to 1300 airports in 200+ cities on six continents.