Electronic Intifada broke the story on May 9, 2019
The following letter has been sent to Bombardier thanking them for standing with international humanitarian law and war crimes, and also asking for clarification on the contract signed earlier for equipment.
The Jerusalem light rail which links Israel’s illegal West Bank colonies is a symbol of oppression to Palestinians.Faiz Abu RmelehActiveStills
May 10, 2019
Dear Mr. Di Pema and Mr. Bellemare, and Senior Management & Board of Directors at Bombardier & Bombardier-Transportation
We are delighted to hear that Bombardier has pulled out of a bid to expand and operate an Israeli tramway linking settlements in the occupied West Bank.
As Canadians we are pleased that Bombardier as a Canadian firm has joined Australia’s Macquarie and Germany’s Siemens to drop out of the tender to build the next phase of the Jerusalem light rail. The light rail system links settlements to each other and to Jerusalem, thus entrenching and further facilitate Israel’s colonial expansion in the occupied territory – this is in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention and thus a war crime. We are pleased you have decided to not aid or abet in this project, and to rather stand with international humanitarian law and against war crimes.
We do ask you to respond in regard to the status of the contract in place to provide light rail transit equipment for the Jerusalem light rail, and ask if the withdraw from the next phase of tender includes cancelling any contracts currently in place to provide equipment and/or other services from Bombardier. If it does not, we urge to you take this step, recognizing that not doing so is complicity with violations of international law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention,. In Canada the Rome Statues are tied to the Criminal Code through the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
We again thank you for standing on the right side of history in regard to the next phase of the Jerusalem light rail, and expect this is a sign that Bombardier will not continue to enter into engagement with projects that aid and abet war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as look forward to information in regard to the status of any current contracts. We would also welcome a meeting with you in your Montreal office at your convenience.
Sincerely
Karen Rodman, Voluntary Executive Director, Just Peace Advocates.
Sent to:
- Alain Bellemare, CEO/President, Bombardier
- Pierre Beaudoin, Chair of the Board, Bombardier
- Danny Di Pema, President, Transportation, Bombardier
- Daniel Perlzweig, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bombardier Transportation
- Steeve Robitaille, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bombardier
- Mike Nadolski, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Bombardier
We will keep you posted on response and more detail.
Monday, 18 February 2019
Al-Haq Sends Letters to Bombardier International, warning that Bombardier International runs the Risk of Aiding and Abetting the Commission of War Crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
On 20 January 2019, Al-Haq emailed and posted registered letters to the President and CEO of Bombardier, Quebec, Canada, and the President of Bombardier Transportation, Berlin, Germany, putting them on notice of Bombardier’s potential complicity in war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). In January 2018, Bombardier Transportation concluded an agreement for $126 million to supply 54 Twindexx Vario double-deck coaches to Israel Railways, which will be used for transport on the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem rail link expected to come into operation in 2020.
The planned Tel Aviv – Jerusalem rail link will connect the cities by cutting through the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip since 1967. During this period, it has built settlements throughout the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law. It has further imposed a discriminatory ID system on the occupied Palestinian population, and established a Wall deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, alongside countless checkpoints and other barriers, restricting Palestinian freedom of movement. The Israeli railway serves to entrench this fragmentation of Palestinian land and movement limitations.
The planned railway will cut through the West Bank lands of Latroun and Beit Sourik. These areas were immediately targeted by Israel after the start of the occupation, due to their proximity to Jerusalem. Palestinian residents of the Latroun area were forcibly transferred from their homes, some were killed or detained, and the village was destroyed by Israel. Over 50-years later, the residents have yet to be allowed to return to their lands. The tragic history of the Latroun has been recorded by Israeli and Palestinian organizations- including via a documentary and the publication of a memoir of a French monk who witnessed the events.[1]
Al-Haq warns that by supplying goods and services that may be utilized in the commission of international crimes, Bombardier International runs the risk of aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes. In conducting enhanced due diligence in regards to its operations in Israel and the OPT, and its business relationship with Israel Railways, Bombardier should note:
- the extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity in occupied territory- such as that used for the train- is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention;
- the forcible transfer of Palestinians is in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a grave breach;
- the transfer of its own civilians into the occupied territory in violation of Article 49, to establish settlements that are recognized by the international community to be unlawful; and
- other adverse human rights impacts of the project.[2]
Criminal liability under Canadian domestic law may also be incurred. In fulfilling its own policies and in order to respect human rights and international law, Bombardier must differentiate between its business activities in the territory of the West Bank and the territory of Israel, and further ensure that its business operations and relationships do not adversely impact human rights. If it is impossible to do so based on the project, it should terminate its activities.
To Read the Letters Please Click Here and Click Here
Actions you can take:
- Be in touch with Chair Beaudoin and/or President/CEO Bellemare, and copy the Attorney General.
Contact Chair of the Board, Bombardier, Pierre Beaudoin by email: pierre.beaudoin@bombardier.com and be sure to copy
patrica.grenier@bombardier.com and ask Patrica to share with Mr. Beaudoin and all his Board.
Contact President/CEO of Bombardier in Montreal. Alain Bellemare email alain.bellemare@bombardier.com, and copy his assistant lisa.plamondon@bombardier.com;
Or call them at 1 514 861 9481, and ask to be transferred to Patrica Grenier for Mr. Beaudoin OR Lisa Plamondon for Mr. Bellemare
OR write to them at 800 boulevard René-Lévesque West, Montréal, Québec H3B 1Y8.
Use the letter SENT for the base to call for his action to withdraw Bombardier from the Al-Quds Light Rail Project.
Specifically remind them that
Criminal liability under Canadian domestic law may also be incurred. In fulfilling its own policies and in order to respect human rights and international law, Bombardier must differentiate between its business activities in the territory of the West Bank and the territory of Israel, and further ensure that its business operations and relationships do not adversely impact human rights. If it is impossible to do so based on the project, it should terminate its activities.
Copy correspondence to:
The Honourable David Lametti
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Email:
David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca
2. Tweet this article, and/or the original article from Al-Haq found HERE.
Be sure to include@Bombardier @Bombardier Rail #BizHumanRights; and tag the Attorney General @MinJusticeEn, Ambassador Lyons @lyonsinisrael, PM Trudeau @justintrudeau, @alhaq_org and the Canadian BDS Coalition @BDS_Coalition, along with Media.
3. Share information on Facebook including this item or other related posts on the Canadian BDS Coalition FB @BDSCoaliton
4. Stay tuned for next steps!
[1] See: “Memory of the Cactus” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ_LjknRHVA; Brother Guy Khoury: A French monk’s private memoirs of Israel’s destruction of the Palestinian villages of Latroun, 1967, available at https://zochrot.org/en/testimony/56362
[2] See for example a letter by the village council of Beit Sourik to an Italian company linked to the project, available at: https://www.stopthewall.org/2011/12/16/beit-surik-and-stop-wall-thank-rho-city-council-condeming-pizzarotti-complicity-israeli-a