CAF out of Calgary

CAF is a Basque/Spanish multinational company known primarily for its transportation vehicles and technology.  In April 2019, Trans Jerusalem J-Net Ltd consortium, formed by the CAF Group and the Israeli construction company Shapir Engineering and Industry was awarded a $2.5 billion CDN contract for trams and infrastructure to expand the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR) network, extending its Red Line, and constructing its Green Line.  Under the contract, the consortium will operate the tramlines for 15 years.  CAF also has a 50% stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) company that will manage operations and maintenance works on the two lines during this period.[ii]

CAF’s contract for the JLR intersects with a long history of Israeli human rights abuses against the Palestinians.  In 1967, Israel invaded and militarily occupied the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza – territories slated to form a future Palestinian state.  Since 1967, Israel has never withdrawn its effective military control of these territories, and commits human rights violations against the Palestinians in these territories on a daily basis.[iii]  In fact, according to a February 2022 report by Amnesty International, Israel has instituted a form of apartheid in these territories to ensure Jewish racial dominance over Palestinians.[iv] 

Today, one of the most obvious outward features of Israel’s illegal regime of apartheid is its Jewish-only “settlements.”  International law prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into territories it controls militarily,[v] and the international community has repeatedly condemned these Israeli settlements.[vi]  Legal experts point out that Israel’s settlements even constitute a “war crime” under international law.[vii]

The West Bank areas to the east and south of Jerusalem have been a focal point for Israel’s illegal settlements.  Since 1967, Israel has illegally moved 700,000 Jewish-Israelis into dozens of these de facto colonizes.[viii]  In the Jerusalem area, the JLR serves to connect the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank to Jerusalem-proper, entrenching the settlements’ illegal presence, and further dispossessing and marginalizing Palestinians and their communities.  In fact, the JLR itself is a showcase of Israeli apartheid: of the JLR Red Line’s 23 stops, only three are located in predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods; and of the JLR Green Line’s 40 stops, only one will be located in a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood.[ix] [x] 

In February 2020, CAF’s consortium partner Shapir Engineering and Industry was listed as one of 112 companies which, through its involvement in Israel’s illegal settlements, unlawfully profits from the infringement of Palestinian human rights.[xi]  In December, 2020, 31 organisations formally requested that CAF also be included in this same UN list of shame,[xii] and there is growing global momentum for such a move.  

The City of Calgary has defended itself by asserting that it had a rigorous procurement process which involved a “fairness monitor.” It is hard to believe that a truly objective “fairness monitor” would award a contract to a company involved with projects in a country deemed to be an apartheid society by both Israeli[xiii] and international human rights organizations.[xiv] [xv]  The City of Calgary has also argued that CAF considers itself compliant with UN and OECD guidelines for multinational corporations.  Yet one can hardly expect CAF to self-regulate objectively on such a matter, and there is currently an active complaint before the OECD concerning breaches of the organization’s guidelines with CAF’s JLR project.[xvi] 

The City of Calgary has suggested that CAF is not in breach of international law with its JLR project.  Such an assertion comes across as legal “cherry picking,” especially when the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights call on businesses to respect human rights, especially when operating in conflict-affected areas.  Among other precepts, the Guidelines state, “Business enterprises should respect human rights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved.”[xvii]  Surely the City of Calgary is able to recognize that CAF’s JLR project cements and exacerbates a horrific set of Israeli laws, policies and practices designed to dominate and oppress the Palestinian people. 

The international public outcry against CAF’s unethical involvement in the JLR is widespread and overwhelming,[xviii] even including unions representing CAF’s Basque/Spanish workers.[xix]  We echo this cry, and refuse to condone CAF’s complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses by awarding it a contract for Calgary’s Green Line.  As such, we demand that the City of Calgary cancel its contract for LRVs for Calgary’s new Green Line with CAF.