Air Canada Fires Antisemitic Boeing 787 Pilot

Something tells me a "Give em hell Netanyahu" or a "we are dealing with animals" tweet wouldn't have lost anyone a job. And it shouldn't. Criticism of Israel as a government or a country is not criticism of Jewish peoples existence, and the continuous attempts by pundits to conflate the two is to shield that country from any form of legitimate criticism of policy.

We all have seen how horrific and barbaric the attack was last weekend. In short, he is totally supportive of this - how in the world could you allow him to represent your brand with such deplorable views? Not to mention potential safety issues if he is sent on the YYZ or YUL to TLV route. Kudos to AC for being so transparent. Canada is a very tolerant country (am originally from Canada but have lived o/s most of my life) but there are some bad apples everywhere unfortunately.

under other circumstances I would be worried about the livelihood of his family. However, fostering hate and having control of a wide-body jet that flies to a country which experienced the largest massacre to its people since the holocaust-I hope he never flies again.

Vile hate should have indelible consequences. Good on AC.

I think 'give em hell' is referencing Hamas, not the Palestinian people. There are millions of perfectly peaceful Palestinians who do not want this, are not supportive of the attacks and who just want to live a free life. Hamas has wrecked sheer hell on their lives now. This is going to continue to be awful for a long time, I fear.

Both sides are affected and the majority of Palestinians just want to get on with their lives. That said, despite what Israel has done against the latter they don’t kidnap families, separate children and behead them.

Politics aside, did this guy really think his posts were not going to catch up with him? Still blows my mind how people don’t get how the internet works.

Israel just obliterates them by airstrike instead. Let's just agree all war crimes are bad, regardless of actor.

I hope he never captain a commercial plane again. I can’t imagine sitting in any airplane with him at the helm. When something goes wrong on a plane, I want my captain to be cool and collected. Judging from his posts, I’m pretty sure being cool and collected isn’t his strong suit.

@Speedbird - I think if someone pointed at a sign akin to the one the pilot pointed to, but addressed to Netanyahu, it would have cost said person their job. Stop trying to make a false equivalency. The pilot posted a picture of himself pointing to a sign “Israel, Hitler is proud of you.”

Agreed.

Probably, but also in the current climate many different insane fringe groups and individuals feel emboldened to speak like this. Loom at the NBA players saying antisemitic statements, new anchors spreading false "facts", reality and social stars being openly antisemitic as well. If it isn't shut down everytime, it gets worse.

Why is it “pretty wild to think that Air Canada actually flies Boeing 787s to Tel Aviv.” ?

Glad Air Canada took immediate action but Canada is unwilling to punish Khalistani supporters when they openly put up floats killing of Indian PM and wanted to harm diplomats from India and the PM for want of votes claimed it to be freedom of speech.

Ezra Levant? Umm ok.

There is nothing anti-semitic about what he said, nor anti-Jewish. He was critical of Israel and it's politicians. You shouldn't conflate Israel with Judaism; a large minority of people who live in 1948 Israel are not Jewish. Anti-semitic, by the way, pertains to Jews and Arabs, they are both semitic peoples. Apparently the pilot is not allowed free speech. If the pilot had publicly said he supported dropping bombs on apartment buildings full of families in Gaza, would he have been fired? One can be critical of Palestinian fighters killing Israeli civilians AND critical of the Israeli military killing over 1000 Palestinian civilians and shutting off power and water to over 2 million people. In the end, Palestinian people in Gaza (most refugees from villages stolen by Israel previously) are virtually imprisoned by Israel and have a right to resist according to international law and the U.N. charter.

Neither do Palestinians, seeinf asthe beheading story is entirely made up

exactly right. We've entered an era where folks of a certain political inclination can become successful and wealthy off of saying/doing bigoted things, and that is driving a lot of unacceptable behavior from them (and individuals who want to be like them). It's important to shut this stuff down every time, immediately, by any means necessary, or else you get the situation we find ourselves in today.

where are all the freeze peach warriors at?

You're not the only one pondering this odd statement. Maybe Ben didn't have a wake-up coffee before hitting the laptop?

Well thank heavens we know now they only killed them. Such a relief to know.

Why are you defending this, you absolute monster?

The majority of Palestinians seem to agree with the leadership they elected, Hamas.

If you're going to use your real name and photograph on your social media profiles, let alone mentioning your employer, your job, and appearing in uniform, them you'd better make damn sure that every single post you send is carefully considered, and worded in an anodyne and inoffensive way as humanly possible.

Apart from being a giant asshat, the guy is an idiot.

I'm sure that Qatar Airways will offer him a job, since the Government of Qatar, presumably with the approval of the Emir, since he is an absolute monarch, is harbouring a number of Hamas officials, including one of the architects of Saturday's massacre, the odious Ismail Haniyeh.

I can't understand why Qatar Airways are still flying to destinations in the West. They should have been banned from the skies days ago.

Babies has their heads detached from the bodies by AK-47 rounds. An AR-15 will do similar damage, which is why victims of mass shootings with high-powered weapons frequently require their bodies and/or heads reconstructed by skilled morticians before they can have an open casket.

I guess, speedbird, we should all feel better the beheading hasn't yet been proven and they only just killed them

Hamas believe they represent Palestinians and that slaughtering innocent people will help their cause. They are no better than Nazis and Isis.

As for the beheading, it’s a fact it’s happened as confirmed by various official groups.

As for those people who supported the incidents and demonstrated in western cities, they should all be placed on a watch list as who knows what they could do.

There’s a right to free speech but no right to spread hate violence and xenophobia. So many Americans always defend racist and violent comments as being free speech.

I can assure you QR wouldn’t. I’ve many Muslim friends including some working for QR who absolutely abhor what happened in Israel. You’ll find “bad apples” ( to put it mildly) in many big companies. If it’s found out they are openly racist, homophobic misogynistic, misandrist etc they don’t deserve jobs.

There is horrible tragedy going on in Israel, yes, but there is also horrible tragedy going on in Palestine, no? Spreading hatred should not be tolerated, but is "a picture of himself in his Air Canada uniform with a Palestinian flag necktie" itself a problem? If yes, would it be a problem if it were a French flag necktie?

I don't tolerate violence but I do feel that the north America is very biased against Palestine. It can be felt from a lot of writings and stances online. Another thing, a lot of people give too much credit to pilots. But remember there are not highly educated individuals, never needed a uni degree etc so we see a lot of "surprisingly" stupid behaviours from them....

You have to be highly qualified to be a pilot including a knowledge of physics. I deal with plenty of clients daily who are university educated and are complete idiots.

Any religious or political zealotry is a scary trait, more so in a pilot who has a 400-passenger missile in his hands. Religion and politics are the two things that make people act absolutely insane, and they are only amplified when they are combined. This goes for ANY religion and ANY brand of politics.

He wasn’t just wearing a necktie. He was carrying a poster supporting hitler’s extermination of Jews

Moreover wtf would you go to a demonstration wearing a company uniform ? You only wear uniform during work hours. He was representing AC

At no point should employees of companies show there political beliefs etc to customers. Not only should he be sacked but should be prosecuted for a hate crime.

Imagine what he might have done crewing a TLV flight.

As a Jew, it is quite outrageous and antisemitic to call criticism of Israel antisemitic. You are saying that even though I have absolutely no relation to Israel, just because I am Jewish, I am responsible for the atrocities their government commits. I don't understand why so many people seem to think this occurs in a vacuum. As JFK said, 'Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.' When Hamas targets civilians, they are animals and terrorists. When Israel kills civilians, children and critical journalists, they are heroes. It is a vile double standard and it is absolutely responsible for much of the growing antisemitism in the world.

Unfortunately, it is those same Palestinians - over 440,000 voters - who wilfully elected Hamas in the 2006 elections in Gaza. Their manifesto is freely available in their 1988 charter; it makes 'interesting' reading.

Who is calling Israel 'heroes' for killing civilians, which is inevitable in a war?

Biased against Palestine?! Sure, maybe the government. But please then explain why we’re seeing major cities and college campuses hosting pro-Hamas events, chanting “gas the Jews”?!? BLM coming out with graphics celebrating the parachuting terrorists? The public perception has changed in the west, and that isn’t a good thing. Antisemitism has no place in society yet major cities and institutions are openly supporting it

Ben, please don't retweet Ezra Levant. I don't expect you to have intimate knowledge of the Canadian political scene, so please just believe me, if you knew about him you wouldn't give him exposure on your platform. Yuck

What a moron.

I am the son of a Holocaust survivor having lost about 50 people being killed 10 on grandma's side and 40 on grandpa's side AND ISRAEL HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF, all governments have done bad things or whatever, maybe you should go and join the Iranian or another Arab countries army. Or go back in time and put your jackboots. On.

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, which the pilot should win. Criticism of Israel is not anti Semitic. Israel is a country, not a religion. In the same way as someone can criticize Saudi Arabia...does not mean it is a criticism of Islam. A country is not the same as religion.

How about the video of a naked girl being paraded through the streets of Gaza with innocent civilians cheering on the terrorists? Also made up?

Can we please bury the bodies of the babies murdered by your friends before you get to clutch your pearls?

Why do you hate Jews? Does your employer know you celebrate terrorism?

>but there is also horrible tragedy going on in Palestine, no?

Not really. It's completely self-inflicted.

A losing lawsuit. Regardless of whether he is criticizing a country or a religion, Israel or Judaism. AC is almost certainly well within its rights to fire someone who posts (in an AC uniform) on social media “f*ck you Israel, burn in hell”.

Looks like bigotry is offensive to you. Welcome. Glad you could join us. Now, your homework: read about the bigot Ezra Levant.

Sounds like you have a problem with people outing antisemites. Because you are one.

I'd stop being a racist while using my own picture. Oh and I'd definitely refrain from naming the picture file my name, racist.

This is one of those argh moments for me - a mixed race (Jamaican dad white brit mum) gay male who is also Jewish.

Fact -nearly everyone will have their personal view on things. Israel/Palestine, Russia/Ukraine, Trump/Biden whatever. That doesn't make them bad people. They are usually intelligent enough however to keep their opinions to themselves - only an idiot would go posting them on social media.

I think what happened in Israel is evil and atrocious. And I wish for those responsible to be brought to justice. However, I also find it disgusting to cut off food, water and electricity supplies to the general Gaza population. A disgrace.

And I agree with others - antisemitism and a dislike for the Israeli state or government are two very different things and I actually think it is dangerous and disingenious to use the word 'antisemetic' in this context because it is a little bit like the term 'racist' which is just thrown out there often when there is no racism.

It is this sh*t that is causing division in the world. Racism, antisemitism, homophobia are all very real. Yet labelling something with those terms when it isn't just reduces the power of those labels when they really are valid.

I will give another example:
Here in the UK there is a very well respected long serving news reader on the BBC that hosts an evening debate show with a live audience that ask comments. Last week she came under fire for when selecting an audience member to speak and trying to direct the microphone crew member to the correct audience member referred to him as 'the black guy'. She explained later that usually she can identify someone by an item of clothing or such but in this case her view was obscured and she wanted this guys voice heard. And good lord. She came under fire for it. The 'offensive words' were removed from the 'on demand' version of the show. I am just like......REALLY???

Is this pilot an idiot for posting on his social media in not too kind words his opinion? YES. Is he evil for having an opinion? NO.

A lawsuit would unlikely be success from his side. Nearly all major companies have Social Media Guidelines that this post will definitely fall foul of. Or there's that catch all clause in most employment contracts 'bringing the company into disrepute'.

How is it within their rights? I mean the guy is an idiot for posting it publicly, but still...

woah, easy there - i'm taking joy in seeing a bigot get canned and not having a wave of other bigots tripping all over themselves to defend him, for once.

One could argue the Palestinians also have the right to defend themselves against your cruel and vicious apartheid occupation as well, no?

Canada is really in a roll what with harbouring terrorist leaders to racist airline captains. Next we will find out that Trudeau is a Neo-Nazi in disguise!

I’ve always been concerned about…ALL… these ME airlines. Since 9/11 I have NEVER understood why people are so Ga,Ga over ME societies and their castles built in the sand.

This is such an unfortunate story. Shocking and horrible. Glad Air Canada dealt with it well, overall.

One comment for Ben : I would respectfully suggest you avoid amplifying or reposting social media messages from Ezra Levant. I realize you were looking to illustrate this post, but he is a right-wing extremist here in Canada who often shares dangerous, racist, homophobic and misogynist content.

A private company can fire an employee for just about anything, as long as it is not discriminatory, i.e. firing someone for being male or female, pregnant or not, black or white. But posting on social media? I'm sure AC has a social media policy, and he almost certainly violated that. And Air Canada can simply that he was tarnishing its reputation by posting the photos.

@Julia - let me add - AC can't fire him for being pro-Palestinian - but they can fire him for violating its social media policy - and I'd be willing to bet that's what they will say if it is sued (and the suit will be dismissed).

@Julia - so killing civilians is OK? Let's be clear - that is what happened. Are you OK with that?

Every company I have worked for on my first day had me sign a document that pretty much says I will not engage in controversial activities and simultaneously represent the company. He would have signed something similar. There is no case here but seeing how dumb his actions were and what poor judgement was exercised I'm sure he can try and fork over lots of lawyer cash for nothing. Maybe he can beg for cash on go fund me.

So you're going to cherry pick the argument and profile him as "just" wearing an innocent tie AND did nothing else? So did you decide today you were going to read every 4th paragraph of articles or be super selective and hope nobody notices?

Americans are not biased against Palestine. They are attracted towards money. Any thing to maintain instability in the region and prevent organisation for a stab at the resources is a win for Americans. Won’t be surprised if money to Hamas is fuelled through the West.

If that's true, then why hasn't the Emir ordered that Ismail Haniyeh, et al, be turned-over to Israel?

Actions speak louder than words. Individual Qataris may be shocked by what has transpired, but the Emir and his lackies have done nothing to disprove a single word of my post. They are harbouring terrorists. They must be punished.

I found it odd. Why wouldn't Air Canada service the market between Tel Aviv and the Canadian commercial capital, particularly when they are the only nonstop service?

The pilot in question drove a freight train through AC's social media policy and that in itself for many global organisations (including the one I work for) is an absolute no-no and a firing offence.

AC is a global airline and will have the full spectrum of political, social and religious views amongst its passengers each and every day. This simply means all employees especially front-line staff, cabin crew and flight crew need to be fully aware of fall-out over anything they post online.

As this AC ex-employee has found out, the consequences can be dire.

Ezra Levant....Uh...does Ben know who he is behind that Twitter account?

Someone should give him the news...