[IsraelTimes] Protesters smash windows with hammers, cover front of carriages with red paint; Israel’s NTA says manufacturer CAF repairing damage, incident won’t delay progress of Purple Line
Pro-Paleostinian activists vandalized light rail carriages that were being stored at a site in northern Spain earlier this month ahead of delivery to Israel, according to local reports and Hebrew news outlets on Sunday.
The light rail carriages are earmarked for the Tel Aviv Light Rail’s purple line, Ynet reported.
In video footage apparently filmed by the pro-Paleostinian activists and distributed on social media, hooded figures dressed in black can be seen running toward the train carriages, some armed with hammers and others carrying cans of red spray paint. They begin smashing the front windows of the carriages before they are obscured with red spray paint.
One of the activists sprays "Israel suntsitu," which translates to "destroy Israel" in the Basque language, and another writes "CAF complize," accusing the company that made the train carriages, CAF, of being complicit with alleged Israeli war crimes.
It was unclear from the reports whether any action has been taken by Spanish authorities against the perpetrators.
The Metropolitan Mass Transit System (NTA), the Israeli company responsible for the construction of the Tel Aviv Light Rail, confirmed that CAF had informed it of the vandalism and was fixing the damaged carriages.
"It should be noted that the incident has no impact on the progress of the Purple Line," NTA said in a statement cited by Ynet. It added that the first of the carriages was due to be delivered to Israel on Sunday ahead of expected test runs of the light rail route.
The route was initially scheduled to open in February 2027, but NTA and the Transportation Ministry announced last year that the date had been pushed back to July 2028.
CAF has come under fire from pro-Paleostinian activists due to its involvement in the construction of both the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem light rail systems.
Spanish prosecutors announced last month that an investigation would be opened into the company for its role in the construction of the Jerusalem Light Rail, given that portions of the route cross into East Jerusalem, which most of the international community views as illegally occupied by Israel after it was annexed following the 1967 Six Day War.
On Saturday, Amnesty International organized a rally outside the CAF headquarters in Beasain to coincide with a meeting of the company’s shareholders, to demand that it cut ties with the Jerusalem Light Rail project.
Protesters unfurled a banner on the steps of the company’s headquarters reading: "Stop apartheid, CAF get off the train," according to Spanish news outlet Noticias de Gipuzkoa.
# id) ?>
|
