— Three airline trade unions representing flight crews, pilots, engineers and cabin attendants began a five-day strike today against a leading French air carrier which punished a Jewish pilot who had refused to fly his Boeing 747 to Libya last December with a cargo of arms, ammunition and spare parts.
The walkout was called in solidarity with Capt. Roger Dieleman who was suspended for 14 days without pay and reprimanded by the management of the Union Des Transports Aeronautique (UTA) which operates scheduled passenger and cargo service between France, Africa and the Pacific region. Dieleman, a veteran pilot, refused to take his plane to Sebbah Airport in Libya, claiming that because he is Jewish, flying to Libya would jeopardize his safety because of that country’s extreme anti-Jewish policies.
Dieleman argued that according to international conventions, all air crews flying to war zones or other danger zones must be voluntary. He was quoted as saying that his decision “was not political but a personal matter. “He said he would continue to refuse to fly war material to Libya if ordered to do so again.
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