Air Canada Pilot Fired After Anti-Israel Social Media Rants

Air Canada said Wednesday that it had fired a pilot who’d made a series of disturbing anti-Israel posts on social media following the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attacks over the weekend. The air carrier tweeted, “We can confirm the pilot in question no longer works for Air Canada, following the process initiated on Monday.” The employee, identified as Montreal-based First Officer Mostafa Ezzo, was grounded on Tuesday after StopAntiSemitism.org shared a number of screenshots of his Instagram account. In one of the posts, a man who appeared to be Ezzo was pictured holding a sign at a Montreal demonstration that read “Israel, Hitler is proud of you.” Another image appeared to show him at a demonstration carrying a sign of an Israeli flag being dumped in a trash can alongside the words: “Keep the world clean.” On his Instagram Story, he allegedly wrote, “Fuck you Israel. Burn in hell.” Air Canada denounced the posts earlier this week as “unacceptable.”