Air Canada has confirmed it has taken a pilot “out of service” for vehement anti-Israel messaging displayed publicly and on social media amid escalating tensions related to Hamas’ attack on Israel which has left hundreds dead.
The airline announced on Tuesday that pilot Mostafa Ezzo was removed from service Oct. 9.
“We are aware of the unacceptable posts made by an Air Canada pilot. We are taking this matter very seriously, and he was taken out of service on Mon, Oct. 9. We firmly denounce violence in all forms,” posted Air Canada on X.
Among the posts that got Ezzo in trouble were a photograph shared on his Instagram account in which he holds a sign that reads “Israel, Hitler is proud of you.” The sign also called Israel a “terrorist state.”
Ezzo also posted on Instagram a poster for the anti-Israel protest in Montreal this weekend with the message “Fuck you Israel. Burn in hell.”
The message also featured a caricature of a dog urinating on the Israeli flag.
Other concerning posts shared on social media by the pilot included one of him holding a protest sign with a figure throwing the Israeli flag into the trash. The caption on the board reads, “Keep the world clean.”
The timing of Ezzo’s nationwide protests in Canada including major cities like including Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Montreal.
Hamas is a designated terrorist entity in Canada.
“Hamas, the Arabic acronym for the group Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya, is a radical Islamist-nationalist terrorist organization that emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987. It uses political and violent means to pursue its goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel,” writes Public Safety Canada.
