Paris: Air traffic controller suspended for saying "Free Palestine" to Israeli airline crew

Two words too many. The Ministry of Transport has suspended an air traffic controller who, in a radio exchange, said "Free Palestine" to the crew of the Israeli airline El Al. The sanction was imposed on Tuesday, August 12, announced by the Minister of Transport himself. "Analysis of the recordings proves that the facts are true," Philippe Tabarot wrote on X on Tuesday, specifying that the controller has "been deprived of all possibility of practicing until further notice."

The comments were made during a flight on Monday departing from Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, the Ministry of Transport told AFP, adding that the controller in question was from the North Air Navigation Route Center (CRNA) in Athis-Mons (Essonne), which had just taken over from the control tower at Paris-CDG airport after leaving the runway. "Disciplinary proceedings were immediately initiated. The sanction must be commensurate with the seriousness of the facts," Philippe Tabarot said.

For the minister, these facts contravene "the rules of radiocommunications, which must be limited to the safety and regularity of air traffic" and demonstrate "a failure to respect the duty of confidentiality of civil servants" , the status of air traffic controllers in France. An administrative investigation had been opened earlier in the day, following a report by Israel's flag carrier, El Al.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF) of France then denounced an "unacceptable incident" , which "contravenes both the imperative of political neutrality but also the security protocols which govern exchanges between a control tower and an aircraft during take-off".

The October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Israeli reprisals in Gaza left 61,599 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.