Tell CAF to get off Israel’s apartheid train! -- Portuguese

CAF is being challenged far and wide for its complicity in Israeli apartheid. Eight trade unions in Norway are calling for the boycott of CAF, while over 15 human rights organisations in the Spanish state are calling for CAF and companies listed in the UN database to be excluded from public tenders. Well-known figures, such as the runner Javi Dominguez and the journalist Amparo Lasheras, are also calling for mobilisation in the Basque Country on November 28th, and campaigners in the UK are calling for CAF to be ruled out for the bid to provide rolling stock for the UK’s new high-speed railway, HS2.

Even though CAF ended 2019 with record sales, it is threatening to close down its factory in Trenasa, Spain, which means that 118 workers would lose their jobs. We stand in solidarity with these workers. It is clear that CAF doesn’t respect its workers’ rights. Why else would it plan lay-offs despite record sales? And why else would it participate in an illegal project that puts the whole company at risk?

The Jerusalem Light Rail (JRL) is part of the ongoing process of entrenchment of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise and its theft of Palestinian land in and around occupied East Jerusalem. The JRL links illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian land, considered war crimes under international law, to West Jerusalem.

Shapir, CAF's Israeli partner in the JLR project, is named in the UN database of complicit companies with which economic relations should be terminated due to their violation of international law and human rights of the Palestinian people. If CAF doesn’t withdraw from business with the JRL, it will be included in this database as well.

In 2007, a similar campaign against Veolia’s involvement in the JLR project was launched in Bilbao. Due to that campaign, Veolia lost more than $20 billion in contracts globally and eventually withdrew from the illegal project.

Join this international day of action so that the Basque company CAF will also end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.

On November 20, we want to make a lot of noise! Use your networks to mobilize and raise awareness. Please do the following:

1. Action on social media

1. Print this image 2. Take a photo of yourself holding the image 3. Share the photo on social media with this text: CAF is being challenged far and wide for its complicity in Israeli apartheid. CAF, listen to us: Stop developing Israel’s illegal Jerusalem Light Rail and settlements on stolen Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem! #CAFGetOffIsraelsApartheidTrain https://bit.ly/3lIulSs Use the following hashtag: #CAFGetOffIsraelsApartheidTrain and tag the CAF campaign on twitter: @eaudecaf

Share these tweets as well:

Tell CAF to get off Israel’s apartheid train

Tell your government and elected officials to exclude CAF from public contracts due to its complicity in illegal Israeli settlements

Spread the word about CAF’s role in helping Israel’s annexation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Jerusalem

2. Email jam

Send an email to CAF’s CEO ahead of the UN Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian people demanding that the company quit the illegal Israeli Jerusalem Light Rail project and stop supporting Israel’s military occupation, annexation and apartheid.

Use the form on the right side of this page.

3. Call CAF

Contact the company by phone to request that CAF stop participating in the Jerusalem tram project. You can either call CAF’s headquarters at +34 943 88 01 00 or their local office listed here.

Simply follow the main points below, and please remember that the customer service helper is not responsible for CAF’s policy. Always be polite but firm in asking that our message is passed on to management.

Here are the main points to bear in mind when making this call:

The person you will talk to is not responsible for this contract, but you can ask them to make a note and to pass this message to CAF’s supervisory board
The UN has called for ending the illegal Israeli Jerusalem Light Rail project
The aim of the Jerusalem Light Rail is to connect Israel’s settlements, which are war crimes under international law, with West Jerusalem
CAF is violating international law and fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people through its involvement in the Jerusalem Light Rail
CAF’s partner for this project, Shapir, is on the UN list of complicit companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlements with which business should end.
Protests and outrage over CAF’s involvement in Israel’s military occupation will continue until CAF leaves the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail project
CAF should listen to its workers: CAF’s main workers committee has called on the company to abandon this illegal project

After calling, please fill out this form to let us know how the call went.

If no one answers your call please use the script to leave a short message requesting a call back. You can say: "I'm ringing to register my complaint about CAF maintaining and operating the Jerusalem Light Rail. I need an urgent call back on this matter to discuss this with CAF's management."
You can also try calling another office if no one picks up.

Dear Mr. Arizkorreta,

I’m writing ahead of the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people to demand that CAF end its participation in the development and maintenance of the illegal Israeli Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR) project.

CAF is being challenged far and wide for its complicity with israeli apartheid. Eight trade unions in Norway are calling for the boycott of CAF, over 15 human rights organisations in the Spanish state are calling for CAF and companies listed in the UN database to be excluded from public tenders and Campaigners in the UK call for CAF to be ruled out for the provision of rolling stock for the HS2, the UKs new high speed railway. The second largest party in Euskadi, EH Bildu, is also calling CAF to abandon the LJR, so is Amnesty International Spain.
Unless CAF changes its mind, most likely it will end up in the UN’s list published of complicit companies involved in activities in the illegal Israeli settlements with which business relations should end. Shapir, CAF’s partner, is already on this list.

The JLR project is a key element in the Israeli authorities’ strategy to formalize the ongoing annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory and to deny the Palestinian people their basic rights under international law.

In 2016, the UN Human Rights Council called for the cessation of “the operation by Israel of a tramway linking the settlements with West Jerusalem, which is in clear violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions”.

The JLR itself represents a tool of Israeli apartheid since its construction entails the forced expropriation of land and the destruction of Palestinian property. Its operation will benefit mainly the Israeli population, especially illegal settlers.

CAF’s own code of conduct states that “all actions by CAF and those who represent it will scrupulously respect the law, human rights and public freedoms”. The code adds that “any entity or person who works for or has dealings with CAF should carefully observe current legal obligations, the code of conduct and CAF’s internal regulations”.

In keeping with this code, the workers committee in the Beasain and Irun CAF factories publicly requested that the company withdraw from the illegal JLR contract.

The French company Veolia abandoned all its works for the JLR in 2015 after losing an estimated €20 billion in contracts and tenders following civil society campaigns aimed at pressuring the company to end its participation in this project.

International pressure and protests will continue until CAF stops profiting from Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. We therefore ask CAF to immediately rescind its contract for the Jerusalem Light Rail.

Sincerely,