Tel Aviv – El Al Pilots Refuse To Fly Deported African Refugees To Dangerous Country

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    FILE - The first of Israel's El Al Airlines order of 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Amir CohenTel Aviv – Ten days after a campaign was launched demanding that Israeli pilots refuse to fly deported Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to Rwanda, or any other dangerous African country, a group of El Al pilots stated they would not participate in the pending deportations.

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    The campaign, initiated by the NGO Zazim Community Action, comes amid growing reports that the government is planning to indefinitely imprison or deport tens of thousands of the 38,000 refugees in April.

    According to the NGO’s CEO, Raluca Gena, the online campaign is the first step toward a series of activities against what they, and many other human rights organizations and Jewish communities around the world, are deeming an immoral deportation.

    One of the El Al pilots, Ido Elad, wrote on Facebook: “I have joined many of my best friends by declaring that I will not fly refugees to their deaths. I will not be a partner to this barbarism.”

    Noting the similar dangers Jews faced throughout history, pilot Yoel Piterbarg posted a lengthy missive on Facebook detailing why he refuses to fly the refugees back to Africa.

    “The State of Israel is populated mainly by Jews who were in their distant and recent past refugees in countries [around] the world,” wrote Piterbarg. “Most of them went through the Holocaust, many were forcibly expelled from their countries, and many emigrated voluntarily to better their situation to better countries that agreed to accept and care for them.”

    Piterbarg continued: “It is precisely us, the Jews, who must be attentive, empathic, moral and public opinion leaders in the world to deal with the immigration of refugees who suffered and suffer in their countries of origin.”

    While the pilot conceded the necessity of controlling migration, which the country has succeeded at as of last year, he insisted the asylum-seekers who are now in Israel be treated with compassion.

    “The refugees should remain and be treated as human beings – just as the Jews used to be refugees and wanted to be treated like human beings and not thrown out,” he wrote. “Martin Luther King said that the terrible things in history happened not because of the bad people who committed them, but because of the ‘good people’ who were silent when it happened.”

    A third El Al pilot, Shaul Betzer, also declared on Facebook that he would not assist the government in the pending deportations.

    “There is no way that I, as part of a flight crew, will participate in taking refugees/asylum seekers to a destination where their chances of surviving are minuscule,” he wrote.

    Gena said that since the campaign began 10 days ago, over 7,500 concerned Israeli citizens have sent personal appeals to the Israel Aircraft Association, the Israeli Pilots Association and the companies that provide the ground services at Ben-Gurion Airport for international flights.

    “I am encouraged to see that the pilots have begun to respond to our call,” she said on Monday, noting she based the campaign on German pilots who recently refused to fly over 200 deported refugees to dangerous countries.

    “We believe that they have the power and the ability to refuse to take part in the brutal expulsion.”

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Interior Ministry continue to claim the vast majority of refugees are “infiltrators” and “economic migrants,” not victims of genocide.


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    13 Comments
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    triumphinwhitehouse
    triumphinwhitehouse
    6 years ago

    So ea pilots are now paid by soros?.

    czyrankevic
    czyrankevic
    6 years ago

    the jews were not criminals these africans are some places jews are afraid to pass through for fear of being attacked robbed aqnd molested so let them get the hell out of ther its enough to suffer everywhere else but not to be safe in your own country by foreigners is unacceptale fire those pilots

    yosher
    yosher
    6 years ago

    El AL pilots are hardly my favorite people. Skilled, yes; but rude and arrogant, beyond description, in my experience. It is not their role to define gov’t policy (when their paychecks include gov’t subsidized funding); they can only influence and participate in elections. The Gov’t of the State of Israel has been democratically elected. It is charged with deciding who are refugees and who are seeking better incomes WITHOUT permission to enter the country. My folks A’H were refugees but WITH visas that granted (albeit reluctantly) them permission to join the USA. El AL and the travelling public has suffered badly in recent years by these arrogant employees and their very disruptive labor actions. They have been elected by no one and represent only themselves. They have no right to use their positions to thwart government policy..They should be severely punished for taking advantage of their powered positions, positions made possible by the investment of many millions of dollars by the Israeli gov’t. The gov’t must find ways to control these irreverent and virtually treasonous bullies.

    yosher
    yosher
    6 years ago

    There is some irony, even humor, in hearing El Al pilots speak of morals and decency.

    Meloah
    Meloah
    6 years ago

    What if newly incoming Africans claim to be starving to death, or persecuted, should Israel allow all of them to come in? If it’s our OBLIGATION to help others, how can you reject them? Where is the “line”? Just because someone came in illegally does it give them the right to stay in the country when there are other African countries who could take them? Is is really so that other African countries represent a death certificate? Isn’t it the responsibility of the other African countries to provide them with a safe heaven? If the other African countries can’t provide a safe heaven, what does it mean about them? Is it our obligation to take on the burden of others when they can’t help themselves?