Air Canada has confirmed that it has suspended a pilot who allegedly made antisemitic threats on social media in the wake of the deadly terrorism attacks perpetrated by Hamas in Israel, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 1,000 civilians and maimed and injured thousands more.
The pilot allegedly posted a series of photos on Instagram, which included a photo of him holding a placard which reads: “Israel – Hitler is proud of you – terrorist state”. Another photo shared on Instagram was captioned: “Fuck you Israel. Burn in hell”.
In a third photo, the pilot is seen holding up a placard depicting a person putting an Israeli flag in a bin. The placard reads: “Keep the world clean”. The final photo shows the pilot in his Air Canada uniform with a Palestinian flag scarf draped around his neck.
The photos were shared under the Instagram handle Mostafa.ezzo.7, but this account has now been deleted.
The pilot was, however, identified by the NYC-based Stop Antisemitism charity as Mostafa Ezzo, who is believed to be an Air Canada First Officer working on the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
“This individual’s opinions and publications on social media do not represent Air Canada’s views in any way,” a spokesperson for Air Canada told us in a statement.
“This person has never been authorized to speak publicly while identifying themselves as an Air Canada employee, and he was taken out of service on Monday,” the statement continued.
Air Canada said it “firmly denounces violence in all forms and takes this matter very seriously.”
Up until the horrific events of the weekend, Air Canada was operating non-stop flights to Tel Aviv from Toronto and Montreal. The Star Alliance carrier has suspended its operations in Israel, citing government restrictions.
