EL AL - Slán Go Fóill

It is imperative that we take action now before Ireland becomes further entangled with the apartheid regime.

The persistence of Israel's cruel regime is dependent on continued positive relationships, particularly with its main trading partner - the EU.

A successful BDS campaign closing this flight route can have a massive domino effect for other BDS campaigns across Europe and the rest of the World.

"Goodbye for Now" to the flight route until apartheid is dismantled.

Together we can shut down flight route Dublin-Tel Aviv operated by EL AL, Israel's national airline.

This is a Coalition Campaign, so far consisting of People Before Profit & UWP.

"The direct flights will contribute to strengthening the economic, cultural, tourism, and academic ties between the two nations, and to improving the relationship between the governments"

At the launch of the new route in 2023, Israel's Transport Minister Miri Regev, standing alongside Irish Ambassador Kyle O'Sullivan, summarized the routes mission;

Implications of the Flight Route

Some Background

Palestinians (except those from East Jerusalem) are prohibited from using Tel Aviv airport, and therefore flying this route. Like most things associated with Israel, this flight route is embedded in apartheid.

In 2001 Israel destroyed Palestine's two only airports - one in the West Bank, another in Gaza. They continue to prohibit the Palestinians from building a new airport.

Palestinians from the West Bank must fly through Jordan’s international airport – but can only do so if with the approval of Israeli soldiers at the Jordanian border. Every year, Israel denies thousands of requests to cross this border without explanation. Palestinians from Gaza must go through Egyptian-controlled Rafah Crossing and from there undertake the long journey through Egypt.

Like much of Israel, the land Tel Aviv airport was built upon falls on the ruins of ethnically cleaned Palestinian neighbourhoods. Lydda was a city of ~70,000 Palestinians - all of whom were expelled and ~450 massacred. Under the 1948 UN Partition Plan, Lydda was designated to remain part of Palestine, yet it was colonized by Israel during the 1948 Nakba.

Strip Searching by EL AL in Dublin Airport

Racial & ethnic profiling, illegal under international law, is regularly practised by Israeli air travel security.

There have been incidences of Palestinians being singled out and strip searched at Dublin Airport by EL AL personnel. Without the presence of a Garda, or authorization from Interpol, this is illegal.

The Dublin Airport Authority enables this practise, and provides EL AL with special rooms to perform these illegal strip searches - facilitating Israel’s humiliation of Palestinians on Irish soil. Such is the new extent of Irish complicity to the Apartheid Regime.