25 june 2019
British government continued to sign off on licences for weapons despite concerns raised by prime minister and MPs
The British government licensed arms deals worth over £14m ($17.8m) to Israel last year even as Israeli soldiers were accused of intentionally firing on Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border in what the UN says may be potential war crimes.
Weapons approved for sale included ammunition, components for assault rifles, and other types of arms which could be used for repression, according to newly released details from the Department of International Trade (DIT), compiled by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT).
Revelations of the sales to Israel come after a UK court ordered the British government last week to stop approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia because it failed to fully assess whether the equipment might be used in breach of international humanitarian law in the war in Yemen.
One sale for more than $125,000-worth of military training equipment was approved on 18 May last year, four days after 68 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops on the most deadly day in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli offensive.
The DIT declined to give MEE more details about the equipment and how it could be used.
The sale was approved the same week Prime Minister Theresa May called the Palestinian killings "extremely concerning," and said there was an urgent need to find out why Israeli forces had used live fire.
The British government licensed arms deals worth over £14m ($17.8m) to Israel last year even as Israeli soldiers were accused of intentionally firing on Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border in what the UN says may be potential war crimes.
Weapons approved for sale included ammunition, components for assault rifles, and other types of arms which could be used for repression, according to newly released details from the Department of International Trade (DIT), compiled by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT).
Revelations of the sales to Israel come after a UK court ordered the British government last week to stop approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia because it failed to fully assess whether the equipment might be used in breach of international humanitarian law in the war in Yemen.
One sale for more than $125,000-worth of military training equipment was approved on 18 May last year, four days after 68 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops on the most deadly day in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli offensive.
The DIT declined to give MEE more details about the equipment and how it could be used.
The sale was approved the same week Prime Minister Theresa May called the Palestinian killings "extremely concerning," and said there was an urgent need to find out why Israeli forces had used live fire.
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"While we do not question the right of Israel to defend its borders, the use of live fire and the resulting loss of life is deeply troubling," May said in a 15 May press conference. "We urge Israel to show restraint."
The violence at the border was debated in parliament on the same day, with seven MPs calling for greater scrutiny of arms sales to Israel and some calling for an outright ban. But the approval of licences continued, including military radar equipment, missile technology and night-vision gear, totalling about $18m between 30 March until the end of the year. That figure does not include sales that were approved through what are |
called open licences, whereby UK firms are not required to publicly disclose the values of arms or quantities sold.
Use of these opaque licences to sell arms to states in the Middle East and North Africa rose by 22 percent between 2013 and 2017, MEE has reported.
MEE understands that the DIT reviewed export licenses for Israel following the events at the border in May 2018 but found nothing to indicate that UK-supplied equipment had been used in a way that violated licensing criteria.
It would, however, revoke licences if that assessment changed.
A DIT spokesperson told MEE: "All export licence applications are considered on a case-by-case basis against international criteria, including respect for human rights. We will revoke any licences found to be no longer consistent with these standards.
"We keep all defence exports under careful and continual review."
'The message it sends'But CAAT spokesperson Andrew Smith said that while it's not clear whether UK-made weapons were specifically used on protesters, it is the symbolism of the UK sales, which have continued through Israeli offensives on Gaza in 2008 and 2014, that matters.
"If shooting on the border didn't stop the arms sales, if the bombardment in 2014 and 2008 didn't stop them, what more will it take?" Smith said.
"The message it sends is that, no matter what atrocities are inflicted on the Palestinian people, arms sales will continue."
By continuing to arm and support the Israeli military, he added, the UK is "only making it more likely that UK-made weapons will play a devastating role in the future".
Asked about the figures, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot told MEE it is the sole responsibility of the British government to ensure that its arms sales are lawful, but he said there was a wider legal context to consider beyond the arms trade.
"The UK government can only say if it has done its due process. We are not aware of such a process to ensure that these weapons do not harm innocent Palestinians and they do not end up aiding Israel in its illegal occupation and colonisation of the land and people of Palestine," he said.
"It's not just about a direct specific incident only, but it's also about the overall macro picture of the entire illegal situation of a state that has been in control of another and in daily violations of basic UK and international law."
Shortly before the mass killing on 18 May, the UK parliament's Committee on Arms Export Controls, the government's arms export watchdog, wrote to Trade Secretary Liam Fox [pdf], asking whether he had any information about how sniper rifles and their components approved for sale to Israel in January 2017 had been used.
Fox responded that the company which exported the rifles and components used them to test ammunition in the company's own firing range.
"We were satisfied that there was not a clear risk that these items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law," he wrote.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, an MP and member of the committee, said the answer had been "rather dissatisfactory" and called for end-use auditing that was more far-sighted.
"There is no good sending Israel arms in relative peace assuming the risk of it using them is low only to realise it is too late when it launches another disproportionate assault on their neighbours," he said.
According to Palestinian Ministry of Health figures released on Sunday, 306 people have been killed and 35,529 injured in what have been called the Great March of Return protests.
The ongoing initiative began in March 2018 after a call from local civil society actors urged Palestinians to engage in a mass march towards the Gaza fence in opposition to Israel's 11-year-old siege on Gaza.
A United Nations inquiry released earlier this year found that Israeli soldiers intentionally shot civilians and may have committed war crimes in their heavy-handed response to the protests.
Use of these opaque licences to sell arms to states in the Middle East and North Africa rose by 22 percent between 2013 and 2017, MEE has reported.
MEE understands that the DIT reviewed export licenses for Israel following the events at the border in May 2018 but found nothing to indicate that UK-supplied equipment had been used in a way that violated licensing criteria.
It would, however, revoke licences if that assessment changed.
A DIT spokesperson told MEE: "All export licence applications are considered on a case-by-case basis against international criteria, including respect for human rights. We will revoke any licences found to be no longer consistent with these standards.
"We keep all defence exports under careful and continual review."
'The message it sends'But CAAT spokesperson Andrew Smith said that while it's not clear whether UK-made weapons were specifically used on protesters, it is the symbolism of the UK sales, which have continued through Israeli offensives on Gaza in 2008 and 2014, that matters.
"If shooting on the border didn't stop the arms sales, if the bombardment in 2014 and 2008 didn't stop them, what more will it take?" Smith said.
"The message it sends is that, no matter what atrocities are inflicted on the Palestinian people, arms sales will continue."
By continuing to arm and support the Israeli military, he added, the UK is "only making it more likely that UK-made weapons will play a devastating role in the future".
Asked about the figures, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot told MEE it is the sole responsibility of the British government to ensure that its arms sales are lawful, but he said there was a wider legal context to consider beyond the arms trade.
"The UK government can only say if it has done its due process. We are not aware of such a process to ensure that these weapons do not harm innocent Palestinians and they do not end up aiding Israel in its illegal occupation and colonisation of the land and people of Palestine," he said.
"It's not just about a direct specific incident only, but it's also about the overall macro picture of the entire illegal situation of a state that has been in control of another and in daily violations of basic UK and international law."
Shortly before the mass killing on 18 May, the UK parliament's Committee on Arms Export Controls, the government's arms export watchdog, wrote to Trade Secretary Liam Fox [pdf], asking whether he had any information about how sniper rifles and their components approved for sale to Israel in January 2017 had been used.
Fox responded that the company which exported the rifles and components used them to test ammunition in the company's own firing range.
"We were satisfied that there was not a clear risk that these items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law," he wrote.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, an MP and member of the committee, said the answer had been "rather dissatisfactory" and called for end-use auditing that was more far-sighted.
"There is no good sending Israel arms in relative peace assuming the risk of it using them is low only to realise it is too late when it launches another disproportionate assault on their neighbours," he said.
According to Palestinian Ministry of Health figures released on Sunday, 306 people have been killed and 35,529 injured in what have been called the Great March of Return protests.
The ongoing initiative began in March 2018 after a call from local civil society actors urged Palestinians to engage in a mass march towards the Gaza fence in opposition to Israel's 11-year-old siege on Gaza.
A United Nations inquiry released earlier this year found that Israeli soldiers intentionally shot civilians and may have committed war crimes in their heavy-handed response to the protests.
20 june 2019
Saudi Arabia has reportedly purchased $300 million worth of spy software from Israel as Riyadh presses ahead with its crackdown against dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Arabic-language al-Khaleej Online news website, citing unnamed senior Arab sources, reported that representatives from the Riyadh regime and Israeli firms met and struck a deal without a mediator in the British capital city of London at the end of last May.
Tel Aviv and Riyadh have no diplomatic ties as Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel. But the two sides have increased backchannel cooperation in recent years.
According to the sources, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are aware of the deal, which they described as “major and fairly lucrative.” They said the first phase of the accord includes the delivery of 1,000 small but sophisticated tracking devices, which can be placed in the target’s mobile phone to fully monitor the movements of their owners both in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
Israeli representatives have received full payment for the deal before handing over the devices.
The second part of the deal will be implemented by 2020, under which another 2,000 devices will be handed over to Saudi officials.
Last November, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz revealed that Saudi Arabia had negotiated the purchase of a system that hacks into cellphones with a secretive Israeli technology firm.
The report exposed Riyadh’s behind-the-scenes attempts to buy Israeli cyber attack software, citing a complaint filed with the Israeli police by a European businessman, who said representatives of Israel’s NSO Group Technologies had offered their Pegasus 3 technology to high-profile Saudi officials during talks in Vienna, Austria, in 2017.
The report identified the Saudi officials as Abdullah al-Malihi, a close associate of Prince Turki al-Faisal – a former Saudi spy chief – and another top Saudi official, Nasser al-Qahtani, who presented himself as the deputy of the current spy chief.
During their meeting, NSO representatives showed a PowerPoint presentation of the system’s capabilities.
Back then, NSO was promoting its Pegasus 3 software, a sophisticated espionage tool that does not depend on the victim clicking on a link before the phone is hacked, as defined by Haaretz.
The spyware needs only a phone number to ensnare a device. As soon as a phone is breached, the speaker and camera can be used for recording conversations. Even encoded applications like WhatsApp can be monitored via the spying software, according to the report.
Last week, American financial and business news website Business Insider reported that authorities in Saudi Arabia are reportedly resorting to military-grade technology and making use of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number in a bid to track down the cellphones of women who are fleeing the repressive and male-dominated system in the country.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissidents and human rights campaigners.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
Arabic-language al-Khaleej Online news website, citing unnamed senior Arab sources, reported that representatives from the Riyadh regime and Israeli firms met and struck a deal without a mediator in the British capital city of London at the end of last May.
Tel Aviv and Riyadh have no diplomatic ties as Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel. But the two sides have increased backchannel cooperation in recent years.
According to the sources, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are aware of the deal, which they described as “major and fairly lucrative.” They said the first phase of the accord includes the delivery of 1,000 small but sophisticated tracking devices, which can be placed in the target’s mobile phone to fully monitor the movements of their owners both in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
Israeli representatives have received full payment for the deal before handing over the devices.
The second part of the deal will be implemented by 2020, under which another 2,000 devices will be handed over to Saudi officials.
Last November, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz revealed that Saudi Arabia had negotiated the purchase of a system that hacks into cellphones with a secretive Israeli technology firm.
The report exposed Riyadh’s behind-the-scenes attempts to buy Israeli cyber attack software, citing a complaint filed with the Israeli police by a European businessman, who said representatives of Israel’s NSO Group Technologies had offered their Pegasus 3 technology to high-profile Saudi officials during talks in Vienna, Austria, in 2017.
The report identified the Saudi officials as Abdullah al-Malihi, a close associate of Prince Turki al-Faisal – a former Saudi spy chief – and another top Saudi official, Nasser al-Qahtani, who presented himself as the deputy of the current spy chief.
During their meeting, NSO representatives showed a PowerPoint presentation of the system’s capabilities.
Back then, NSO was promoting its Pegasus 3 software, a sophisticated espionage tool that does not depend on the victim clicking on a link before the phone is hacked, as defined by Haaretz.
The spyware needs only a phone number to ensnare a device. As soon as a phone is breached, the speaker and camera can be used for recording conversations. Even encoded applications like WhatsApp can be monitored via the spying software, according to the report.
Last week, American financial and business news website Business Insider reported that authorities in Saudi Arabia are reportedly resorting to military-grade technology and making use of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number in a bid to track down the cellphones of women who are fleeing the repressive and male-dominated system in the country.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissidents and human rights campaigners.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
7 june 2019
Civilians inspect the damage at a factory after an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, on January 20, 2019
The administration of US President Donald Trump has reportedly permitted the construction of US high-tech bomb and missile parts in Saudi Arabia, a move that could give the kingdom the green light to ramp up the use of modern weaponry in its protracted aggression on impoverished Yemen.
According to a report published by the New York Times on Friday, the Trump administration allowed Raytheon, a US military defense contractor, to “team up” with the Saudis to build and assemble components of Paveway smart bombs in the kingdom.
The components included control systems, circuit cards and guidance electronics.
The authorization came as a result of the national emergency declaration the White House officials issued last month to bypass Congress for 22 separate arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates totaling $8.1 billion.
The United States, despite selling smart bombs and other weapons to Riyadh, has so far protected the high-tech development process “for national security reasons,” the according to the Times.
The provision, as to the American paper said, immediately "raised concerns that the Saudis could gain access to technology that would let them produce their own versions of American precision-guided bombs—weapons they have used in strikes on civilians since they began fighting a war in Yemen four years ago."
William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, warned that handing the Saudis the capacity to develop high-tech bombs could have disastrous consequences for the people of Yemen, who are already suffering from the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"If Saudi Arabia is able to develop an indigenous bomb-making capability as a result of this deal," Hartung said, "it will undermine US leverage to prevent them from engaging in indiscriminate strikes of the kind it has carried out in Yemen."
In a detailed investigation published last month, the Times revealed that Saudi Arabia has "ordered more than 27,000 missiles worth at least $1.8 billion from Raytheon alone," and that, "about $650 million of those Raytheon orders came after the Saudi war in Yemen began."
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the former Saudi-sponsored government back to power. Riyadh has failed to fulfill its objectives.
The US along with some Western countries are complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.
According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of about 56,000 Yemenis.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.
The UN has warned that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the worst global famine in more than 100 years.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has reportedly permitted the construction of US high-tech bomb and missile parts in Saudi Arabia, a move that could give the kingdom the green light to ramp up the use of modern weaponry in its protracted aggression on impoverished Yemen.
According to a report published by the New York Times on Friday, the Trump administration allowed Raytheon, a US military defense contractor, to “team up” with the Saudis to build and assemble components of Paveway smart bombs in the kingdom.
The components included control systems, circuit cards and guidance electronics.
The authorization came as a result of the national emergency declaration the White House officials issued last month to bypass Congress for 22 separate arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates totaling $8.1 billion.
The United States, despite selling smart bombs and other weapons to Riyadh, has so far protected the high-tech development process “for national security reasons,” the according to the Times.
The provision, as to the American paper said, immediately "raised concerns that the Saudis could gain access to technology that would let them produce their own versions of American precision-guided bombs—weapons they have used in strikes on civilians since they began fighting a war in Yemen four years ago."
William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, warned that handing the Saudis the capacity to develop high-tech bombs could have disastrous consequences for the people of Yemen, who are already suffering from the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"If Saudi Arabia is able to develop an indigenous bomb-making capability as a result of this deal," Hartung said, "it will undermine US leverage to prevent them from engaging in indiscriminate strikes of the kind it has carried out in Yemen."
In a detailed investigation published last month, the Times revealed that Saudi Arabia has "ordered more than 27,000 missiles worth at least $1.8 billion from Raytheon alone," and that, "about $650 million of those Raytheon orders came after the Saudi war in Yemen began."
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the former Saudi-sponsored government back to power. Riyadh has failed to fulfill its objectives.
The US along with some Western countries are complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.
According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of about 56,000 Yemenis.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.
The UN has warned that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the worst global famine in more than 100 years.
5 june 2019
US President Donald Trump’s closeness with Saudi Arabia is harming American national security, says a top senator, slamming the commander in chief’s seven-time approval of nuclear tech transfer to the kingdom, twice in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
American Senator Tim Kaine made the comments in a statement released Tuesday, Politico reported.
“President Trump’s eagerness to give the Saudis anything they want, over bipartisan congressional objection, harms American national security interests and is one of many steps the administration is taking that is fueling a dangerous escalation of tension in the region,” said the Virginia Democrat.
Only 16 days after the dissident Saudi journalist was brutally murdered inside the monarchy’s consulate in Istanbul, the US president made one of the approvals on October 18, 2018. A second one was made on February 18 of the same year.
Despite the heinous murder and dismembering of the Washington Post journalist, which the CIA believes was directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump bypassed Congress last month to sell even more arms to Saudi Arabia.
The Trump administration has remained a staunch supporter of Riyadh even as a humanitarian crisis is underway in Yemen, under aggression from the neighboring kingdom.
Trump has also disregarded the CIA’s assessment about the role the Saudi de facto ruler, bin Salman, played in the murder at the Saudi consulate.
Khashoggi was killed and his body was dismembered by a Saudi hit squad after being lured into the consulate on October 2, 2018.
American Senator Tim Kaine made the comments in a statement released Tuesday, Politico reported.
“President Trump’s eagerness to give the Saudis anything they want, over bipartisan congressional objection, harms American national security interests and is one of many steps the administration is taking that is fueling a dangerous escalation of tension in the region,” said the Virginia Democrat.
Only 16 days after the dissident Saudi journalist was brutally murdered inside the monarchy’s consulate in Istanbul, the US president made one of the approvals on October 18, 2018. A second one was made on February 18 of the same year.
Despite the heinous murder and dismembering of the Washington Post journalist, which the CIA believes was directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump bypassed Congress last month to sell even more arms to Saudi Arabia.
The Trump administration has remained a staunch supporter of Riyadh even as a humanitarian crisis is underway in Yemen, under aggression from the neighboring kingdom.
Trump has also disregarded the CIA’s assessment about the role the Saudi de facto ruler, bin Salman, played in the murder at the Saudi consulate.
Khashoggi was killed and his body was dismembered by a Saudi hit squad after being lured into the consulate on October 2, 2018.
2 may 2019
Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamed has described Israel as a terrorist nation and the root cause of instability in the world.
Addressing youths at Al Sharq Annual Conference 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian leader stressed that the time had come for the international community to stand together and end Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“Apartheid, genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and all the evil that mankind can inflict on others can be compiled in Palestine — courtesy of the barbaric, arrogant, terrorist nation called Israel.”
“Until and unless the international community is committed to finding a solution to bring an end to the occupation of the land belonging to the Palestinians, the region and the rest of the world will not have much of a chance for stability and order,” he said in his keynote address before opening the conference, held the first time in Malaysia.
His remarks received overwhelming applause from the participants.
Mahathir also said the senseless murder of innocent people continued in the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US-led coalition in 2001 and 2003 which had seen more tumult than stability in the region before the Arab Springs came about.
“Nations like Syria, Libya and Yemen today provide images of a human tragedy while the rest of the world watch helplessly.”
“Their sufferings did not originate from internal strife but rather interference and interventions from external powers which obviously were doing it out of self-interest, disguised under the veil of democracy and human rights,” he said.
The premier underlined that ancient civilizations or rather these cradles of civilization were pummeled to pulp by present day powers that have styled themselves as the leaders of modern-day civilization.
“There is nothing civilized in their actions or behavior. The only thing they can showcase is technology capable of producing weaponry that are extremely efficient in maiming, killing and murdering people by the thousands,” he stressed.
Addressing youths at Al Sharq Annual Conference 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian leader stressed that the time had come for the international community to stand together and end Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“Apartheid, genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and all the evil that mankind can inflict on others can be compiled in Palestine — courtesy of the barbaric, arrogant, terrorist nation called Israel.”
“Until and unless the international community is committed to finding a solution to bring an end to the occupation of the land belonging to the Palestinians, the region and the rest of the world will not have much of a chance for stability and order,” he said in his keynote address before opening the conference, held the first time in Malaysia.
His remarks received overwhelming applause from the participants.
Mahathir also said the senseless murder of innocent people continued in the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US-led coalition in 2001 and 2003 which had seen more tumult than stability in the region before the Arab Springs came about.
“Nations like Syria, Libya and Yemen today provide images of a human tragedy while the rest of the world watch helplessly.”
“Their sufferings did not originate from internal strife but rather interference and interventions from external powers which obviously were doing it out of self-interest, disguised under the veil of democracy and human rights,” he said.
The premier underlined that ancient civilizations or rather these cradles of civilization were pummeled to pulp by present day powers that have styled themselves as the leaders of modern-day civilization.
“There is nothing civilized in their actions or behavior. The only thing they can showcase is technology capable of producing weaponry that are extremely efficient in maiming, killing and murdering people by the thousands,” he stressed.