22 nov 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed his Indian counterpart on an “historic” visit in July, but despite the fanfare major arms deals did not materialize as expected. (via Facebook)
Palestinians are welcoming India’s decision to scrap a $500-million deal to buy anti-tank missiles from the Israeli weapons firm Rafael.
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign, called the move “a huge blow to the Israeli weapons industry.”
“It is also a major setback for Israel’s propaganda hubris that its technology is indispensable for India’s development and modernization,” Juma’, also affiliated with the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), added. “As many Indians are recognizing, Israel is marketing military and agricultural technologies in India and trying to cement Indian dependence on Israel.”
Signs of trouble
Israeli media had hailed the planned weapons purchase “as a flagship deal that cemented the budding Israeli-Indian security relationship.”
It appeared to be on course as recently as August when Rafael and India’s Kalyani Group announced a joint venture to open a factory in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to make the missiles.
On Monday, before it was confirmed by Indian sources, Israeli media expressed consternation at the nixing of a deal that had been years in the works.
Ishai David, a spokesperson for Rafael, told The Jerusalem Post his company had not been informed of any decision by India not to buy the missiles. “This activity will continue as planned,” he insisted.
In retrospect, there were already signs of trouble in July when Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
Though Israel hailed the visit as an historic warming of ties, contrary to expectations no arms deals were signed including the Rafael deal.
What appears to have torpedoed the agreement was the Indian defense ministry’s insistence – overruling other agencies – that the country could develop its own technology and did not need Israel’s.
Israel as India’s model
While hailing the cancellation, Palestinians note that India remains one of Israel’s biggest arms customers and the two countries have other military joint ventures in the works.
As the BNC said, “over the last two decades, Indo-Israeli military relations have continuously increased despite various corruption scandals and technical failures.”
India has also turned to Israel as a model for its brutal repression of resistance to its rule in Kashmir.
Indian government efforts to manipulate the demographics of Kashmir by moving Hindus into the state have even been described as “an Israel-style policy of creating settlements in occupied territory.”
India’s ascendant Hindu nationalist right has also embraced Zionism and made common cause with Israel, an affinity further cemented by shared, virulent Islamophobia.
Far-reaching negative effects
A big part of Modi’s nationalism is his “Make in India” campaign to promote homegrown industry, and that also seems to have hurt the Rafael deal in spite of ideological affinities with Israel.
Scrapping the Rafael purchase could have far-reaching negative effects on economic relations, according to David Keynan, vice-chair of the Federation of Indo-Israeli Chambers of Commerce.
“It is a very noteworthy deal. It will have an impact not only on defense trade, but on all trade,” Keynan told The Times of Israel.
According to Keynan, weapons sales are often a “catalyst” for further trade.
“We hope this is the beginning of the end of Indian complicity in Israel’s egregious violation of international law and Palestinian human rights,” Omar Barghouti, a founder of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, stated.
But Barghouti warned that as the BDS movement scores more successes in Europe and North America, “Israel has started dragging India into deals fraught with legal and political risks.”
Several Indian firms are bidding for drilling rights in Mediterranean waters claimed by Israel.
And earlier this year, India’s Adventz Group bid for work on Israel’s light rail system which connects settlements in the occupied West Bank in violation of international law. [PDF]
Solidarity and discontent
There are also signs of discontent with the relationship. Last week lawmakers in India’s Telangana state denounced the state government’s plan to send 1,000 public officials on “training” junkets to Israel, wasting public money that could be used to improve the conditions of local farmers.
Hyderabad, where the Rafael missile factory was to be located, is Telangana’s state capital.
And in October, the All India Kisan Sabha, the largest national organization representing farmers and agricultural workers in India, announced its support for the BDS movement.
Barghouti said: “As Palestinians we ask the Indian people to maintain their proud legacy of commitment to independence, to growing local knowledge and to respecting other people’s struggles for freedom from colonialism and apartheid.”
Palestinians are welcoming India’s decision to scrap a $500-million deal to buy anti-tank missiles from the Israeli weapons firm Rafael.
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign, called the move “a huge blow to the Israeli weapons industry.”
“It is also a major setback for Israel’s propaganda hubris that its technology is indispensable for India’s development and modernization,” Juma’, also affiliated with the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), added. “As many Indians are recognizing, Israel is marketing military and agricultural technologies in India and trying to cement Indian dependence on Israel.”
Signs of trouble
Israeli media had hailed the planned weapons purchase “as a flagship deal that cemented the budding Israeli-Indian security relationship.”
It appeared to be on course as recently as August when Rafael and India’s Kalyani Group announced a joint venture to open a factory in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to make the missiles.
On Monday, before it was confirmed by Indian sources, Israeli media expressed consternation at the nixing of a deal that had been years in the works.
Ishai David, a spokesperson for Rafael, told The Jerusalem Post his company had not been informed of any decision by India not to buy the missiles. “This activity will continue as planned,” he insisted.
In retrospect, there were already signs of trouble in July when Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
Though Israel hailed the visit as an historic warming of ties, contrary to expectations no arms deals were signed including the Rafael deal.
What appears to have torpedoed the agreement was the Indian defense ministry’s insistence – overruling other agencies – that the country could develop its own technology and did not need Israel’s.
Israel as India’s model
While hailing the cancellation, Palestinians note that India remains one of Israel’s biggest arms customers and the two countries have other military joint ventures in the works.
As the BNC said, “over the last two decades, Indo-Israeli military relations have continuously increased despite various corruption scandals and technical failures.”
India has also turned to Israel as a model for its brutal repression of resistance to its rule in Kashmir.
Indian government efforts to manipulate the demographics of Kashmir by moving Hindus into the state have even been described as “an Israel-style policy of creating settlements in occupied territory.”
India’s ascendant Hindu nationalist right has also embraced Zionism and made common cause with Israel, an affinity further cemented by shared, virulent Islamophobia.
Far-reaching negative effects
A big part of Modi’s nationalism is his “Make in India” campaign to promote homegrown industry, and that also seems to have hurt the Rafael deal in spite of ideological affinities with Israel.
Scrapping the Rafael purchase could have far-reaching negative effects on economic relations, according to David Keynan, vice-chair of the Federation of Indo-Israeli Chambers of Commerce.
“It is a very noteworthy deal. It will have an impact not only on defense trade, but on all trade,” Keynan told The Times of Israel.
According to Keynan, weapons sales are often a “catalyst” for further trade.
“We hope this is the beginning of the end of Indian complicity in Israel’s egregious violation of international law and Palestinian human rights,” Omar Barghouti, a founder of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, stated.
But Barghouti warned that as the BDS movement scores more successes in Europe and North America, “Israel has started dragging India into deals fraught with legal and political risks.”
Several Indian firms are bidding for drilling rights in Mediterranean waters claimed by Israel.
And earlier this year, India’s Adventz Group bid for work on Israel’s light rail system which connects settlements in the occupied West Bank in violation of international law. [PDF]
Solidarity and discontent
There are also signs of discontent with the relationship. Last week lawmakers in India’s Telangana state denounced the state government’s plan to send 1,000 public officials on “training” junkets to Israel, wasting public money that could be used to improve the conditions of local farmers.
Hyderabad, where the Rafael missile factory was to be located, is Telangana’s state capital.
And in October, the All India Kisan Sabha, the largest national organization representing farmers and agricultural workers in India, announced its support for the BDS movement.
Barghouti said: “As Palestinians we ask the Indian people to maintain their proud legacy of commitment to independence, to growing local knowledge and to respecting other people’s struggles for freedom from colonialism and apartheid.”
21 nov 2017
In anticipation of this deal to produce missile systems, Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems had entered into a joint venture with its in Indian partner. (Representative Image: Reuters)
Yesterday, media reported that the Indian Ministry of Defense scrapped the $500M deal with Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for its missile systems. Years in the making, the deal had been celebrated in international media and was finalized after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July.
In August, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and its Indian partner Kalyani Strategic Systems opened a facility in Hyderabad to manufacture the missile systems.
The deal was cancelled after India’s state-run Defense Research Development Organisation asserted that India should not import this Israeli technology.
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign and BNC secretariat member said:
India’s decision to scrap this massive arms deal with Israel is a huge blow to the Israeli weapons industry. This $500 million deal would have fueled Israel’s military industry, which is deeply implicated in war crimes against the Palestinian people.
It is also a major setback for Israel’s propaganda hubris that its technology is indispensable for India’s development and modernization. As many Indians are recognizing, Israel is marketing military and agricultural technologies in India and trying to cement Indian dependence on Israel.
Israel seeks a flow of Indian cash for it’s own profit and to help finance its criminal wars and apartheid regime.
India is by far the globe’s biggest importer of Israeli weapons, and Israel is enjoying almost unparalleled influence in the Indian military system. Israel is equipping the Indian army with Israeli guns, the Indian airforce and navy with Israeli airplanes and missiles, and is also providing communication systems and technology in all levels of the Indian military.
Over the last two decades, Indo-Israeli military relations have continuously increased despite various corruption scandals and technical failures.
Similar patterns have started to surface in other sectors as well. India’s 16 million-strong farmer’s union AIKS has endorsed the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) “in order to stand for the rights of the Palestinian people and to resist the corporate takeover of Indian agriculture sector by Israeli companies.”
Members of Telengana’s state assembly last week denounced state-sponsored trips of Indian farmers to Israel as “a wastage of money.”
Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BNC said:
We hope this is the beginning of the end of Indian complicity in Israel’s egregious violation of international law and Palestinian human rights.
As Palestinians we ask the Indian people to maintain their proud legacy of commitment to independence, to growing local knowledge and to respecting other people’s struggles for self-determination.
Israel’s regime of oppression can never be a model for the great Indian nation that once led the non-aligned movement and upheld the right of all nations to self determination and freedom. Israel exports to India what it knows best — technology that represses, militarizes and dispossesses people of their land and water rights. India is better off without that.
Last week it was announced that Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporations are bidding for drilling rights in gas fields claimed by Israel, despite the many controversies linked to territorial disputes in such fields.
In August, India’s Adventz group signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop Israel’s Jerusalem Light Rail [PDF], which serves Israel’s settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law.
Yesterday, media reported that the Indian Ministry of Defense scrapped the $500M deal with Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for its missile systems. Years in the making, the deal had been celebrated in international media and was finalized after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July.
In August, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and its Indian partner Kalyani Strategic Systems opened a facility in Hyderabad to manufacture the missile systems.
The deal was cancelled after India’s state-run Defense Research Development Organisation asserted that India should not import this Israeli technology.
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign and BNC secretariat member said:
India’s decision to scrap this massive arms deal with Israel is a huge blow to the Israeli weapons industry. This $500 million deal would have fueled Israel’s military industry, which is deeply implicated in war crimes against the Palestinian people.
It is also a major setback for Israel’s propaganda hubris that its technology is indispensable for India’s development and modernization. As many Indians are recognizing, Israel is marketing military and agricultural technologies in India and trying to cement Indian dependence on Israel.
Israel seeks a flow of Indian cash for it’s own profit and to help finance its criminal wars and apartheid regime.
India is by far the globe’s biggest importer of Israeli weapons, and Israel is enjoying almost unparalleled influence in the Indian military system. Israel is equipping the Indian army with Israeli guns, the Indian airforce and navy with Israeli airplanes and missiles, and is also providing communication systems and technology in all levels of the Indian military.
Over the last two decades, Indo-Israeli military relations have continuously increased despite various corruption scandals and technical failures.
Similar patterns have started to surface in other sectors as well. India’s 16 million-strong farmer’s union AIKS has endorsed the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) “in order to stand for the rights of the Palestinian people and to resist the corporate takeover of Indian agriculture sector by Israeli companies.”
Members of Telengana’s state assembly last week denounced state-sponsored trips of Indian farmers to Israel as “a wastage of money.”
Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BNC said:
We hope this is the beginning of the end of Indian complicity in Israel’s egregious violation of international law and Palestinian human rights.
As Palestinians we ask the Indian people to maintain their proud legacy of commitment to independence, to growing local knowledge and to respecting other people’s struggles for self-determination.
Israel’s regime of oppression can never be a model for the great Indian nation that once led the non-aligned movement and upheld the right of all nations to self determination and freedom. Israel exports to India what it knows best — technology that represses, militarizes and dispossesses people of their land and water rights. India is better off without that.
Last week it was announced that Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporations are bidding for drilling rights in gas fields claimed by Israel, despite the many controversies linked to territorial disputes in such fields.
In August, India’s Adventz group signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop Israel’s Jerusalem Light Rail [PDF], which serves Israel’s settlements in and around occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law.
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Omar Barghouti said:
As large multinationals increasingly abandon their illegal projects in Israel due to effective BDS pressure, Israel has started dragging India into deals fraught with legal and political problems. Indian companies would be well advised to avoid getting sucked into Israel’s human rights violations as more and more international corporations refuse to get involved in such complicity. The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) is the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society. It leads and supports the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for Palestinian rights. VIDEO — Omar Barghouti on BDS: How Effective Is It? |
8 nov 2017
Amir Sagie, Israel’s deputy consul general in New York, claimed that "The two sides in the conflict are conducting war crimes" in Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, in an attempt to justify Israel’s arms sales to the Southeast Asain country amid growing international concern over the ethnic cleansing campaign against the Muslim minority.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper reported that Sagie had met with six American rabbis who voiced concern about reports of Israeli arms sales to Myanmar.
“The rabbis were worried that Israeli businesses could be contributing to what the UN has termed ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, but Amir Sagie, Israel’s deputy consul general in New York, told the rabbis that to the best of Israel's knowledge, the current crisis began after the Muslims attacked the Myanmar army.”
Sagie charged that the current situation "started after Muslims attacked government positions in Myanmar" and that both sides in the conflict are "conducting war crimes."
His position is considered consistent with that of the Foreign Ministry regarding reports in the media regarding Israel's ties with Myanmar.
Sagie stated, "we deny totally any kind of relations or any connection to Israel with this tragedy. There is no direct or indirect connection with what is going on with the Rohingya people."
He added that Israel "applies a policy of non-intervention in Myanmar's domestic issues."
Sagie refused to give details about Israel’s arms trade with Myanmar, saying Israel "does not discuss publicly with our friends or our foes Israel's military or defense relationships." But he stressed that all weapons exports are "done with due diligence," and exports take "into consideration human rights violations, including existing sanctions from the UN or international organizations."
He also noted that the Israeli High Court of Justice had rejected a petition against the arms deals, but that verdict remains classified.
The meeting came amid growing violence in the Rakhine state where more than a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees have flooded into Bangladesh in just two weeks fleeing genocide.
The UN also estimates 1,000 people have died in the past 2 weeks, but this is likely to be an under estimate.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper reported that Sagie had met with six American rabbis who voiced concern about reports of Israeli arms sales to Myanmar.
“The rabbis were worried that Israeli businesses could be contributing to what the UN has termed ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, but Amir Sagie, Israel’s deputy consul general in New York, told the rabbis that to the best of Israel's knowledge, the current crisis began after the Muslims attacked the Myanmar army.”
Sagie charged that the current situation "started after Muslims attacked government positions in Myanmar" and that both sides in the conflict are "conducting war crimes."
His position is considered consistent with that of the Foreign Ministry regarding reports in the media regarding Israel's ties with Myanmar.
Sagie stated, "we deny totally any kind of relations or any connection to Israel with this tragedy. There is no direct or indirect connection with what is going on with the Rohingya people."
He added that Israel "applies a policy of non-intervention in Myanmar's domestic issues."
Sagie refused to give details about Israel’s arms trade with Myanmar, saying Israel "does not discuss publicly with our friends or our foes Israel's military or defense relationships." But he stressed that all weapons exports are "done with due diligence," and exports take "into consideration human rights violations, including existing sanctions from the UN or international organizations."
He also noted that the Israeli High Court of Justice had rejected a petition against the arms deals, but that verdict remains classified.
The meeting came amid growing violence in the Rakhine state where more than a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees have flooded into Bangladesh in just two weeks fleeing genocide.
The UN also estimates 1,000 people have died in the past 2 weeks, but this is likely to be an under estimate.
6 nov 2017
Air Canada’s Boeing 767 aircraft will no longer be maintained by the weapons maker Israel Aerospace Industries.
Air Canada has ended a maintenance contract with the arms maker Israel Aerospace Industries, activist groups have announced.
The Canadian BDS Coalition, which supports the Palestinian-led campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions, said on Sunday it had been informed by Air Canada management “that the five-year, multi-million dollar contract with Israel Aerospace Industries Bedek Group for heavy maintenance on Air Canada Boeing 767 jets was terminated in ‘early 2017,’ with two years remaining.”
The contract, signed in 2014, was reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars.
Air Canada told the activist groups that the work is being transferred to “another provider in North America,” which it did not name.
In September, Illinois-based AAR announced that it had signed a five-year contract to maintain the Canadian airline’s 34 Boeing 767s at its facility in Miami.
Air Canada provided activists with no reason for its termination of the Israeli contract.
But the coalition pointed out that Air Canada had released the information only “after our #AirCanadaComplicity campaign was taking off and receiving increasing support both from within Canada and internationally.”
The campaign garnered support from trade unions and solidarity groups in Canada and around the world.
Air Canada said in its letter to activists that it still maintains one small contract with the Israeli company, to perform mandatory inspection of aircraft prior to the departure of regularly scheduled return flights to Canada. But if problems are found during those checks, repairs are performed by Air Canada’s own personnel.
“The Canadian BDS Coalition is pleased that the largest and most significant element of Air Canada’s involvement with Israel Aerospace Industries has been terminated,” the activists said. “Given the recent publicity [Israel Aerospace Industries] has received in the international press in the last months, it is not surprising that any company would want to distance themselves from such a partner.”
The Canadian BDS Coalition noted that Israel Aerospace Industries was recently named in media reports as one of more than 100 firms likely to appear on a UN list of companies that are profiting from Israel’s occupation and illegal colonization of Palestinian land.
In September, the US government picked Elta North America, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, to build a prototype of President Donald Trump’s planned wall on the US-Mexico border.
Activists are now pushing Air Canada to stop serving Sabra brand hummus aboard its flights. Sabra is made by the Strauss group, which gives active support to the Israeli army.
Israel in AustraliaIsraeli weapons firms have been pushing into civil aviation in other countries as well.
Last month, activists in Australia welcomed a decision by the storied Royal Flying Doctor Service to pull out of a multi-million dollar joint venture with Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest arms maker.
Nonetheless, Australia remains a major market for Israeli arms companies including Elbit and missile maker Rafael, which just announced it is opening a subsidiary in Melbourne.
Rafael is hoping to capture a big slice of a multi-billion dollar spending spree by Australia to expand its military.
“We haven’t had any substantial activity in Australia in recent years,” Rafael executive vice-president Giora Katz told Israel’s Globes business publication. “Now we’re returning to this market in full force.”
Last month Rafael announced a partnership with Australia’s Bisalloy Steels to supply materials to be used in manufacturing weapons systems.
Punishing opinions
In another sign of Israel’s distress over the effects of BDS, a cabinet committee on Sunday approved a draft law that allows Israeli companies to sue individual activists for up to $28,500 without having to prove any damages.
The new bill would expand Israel’s 2011 anti-boycott law. Israel’s high court upheld that law in 2015, but invalidated one provision which would have allowed anyone to sue for boycott-related damages without showing proof they were harmed.
If adopted, the law would effectively impose heavy financial penalties on individuals for expressing opinions contrary to the policies of the Israeli government.
The new legislation is backed by Gilad Erdan, Israel’s strategic affairs minister who has been spearheading a campaign of censorship and repression against the BDS movement that has reportedly involved the use of clandestine “black ops.”
Israel is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for the services of a US law firm as part of what human rights activists see as an effort to take this campaign of repression global.
Air Canada has ended a maintenance contract with the arms maker Israel Aerospace Industries, activist groups have announced.
The Canadian BDS Coalition, which supports the Palestinian-led campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions, said on Sunday it had been informed by Air Canada management “that the five-year, multi-million dollar contract with Israel Aerospace Industries Bedek Group for heavy maintenance on Air Canada Boeing 767 jets was terminated in ‘early 2017,’ with two years remaining.”
The contract, signed in 2014, was reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars.
Air Canada told the activist groups that the work is being transferred to “another provider in North America,” which it did not name.
In September, Illinois-based AAR announced that it had signed a five-year contract to maintain the Canadian airline’s 34 Boeing 767s at its facility in Miami.
Air Canada provided activists with no reason for its termination of the Israeli contract.
But the coalition pointed out that Air Canada had released the information only “after our #AirCanadaComplicity campaign was taking off and receiving increasing support both from within Canada and internationally.”
The campaign garnered support from trade unions and solidarity groups in Canada and around the world.
Air Canada said in its letter to activists that it still maintains one small contract with the Israeli company, to perform mandatory inspection of aircraft prior to the departure of regularly scheduled return flights to Canada. But if problems are found during those checks, repairs are performed by Air Canada’s own personnel.
“The Canadian BDS Coalition is pleased that the largest and most significant element of Air Canada’s involvement with Israel Aerospace Industries has been terminated,” the activists said. “Given the recent publicity [Israel Aerospace Industries] has received in the international press in the last months, it is not surprising that any company would want to distance themselves from such a partner.”
The Canadian BDS Coalition noted that Israel Aerospace Industries was recently named in media reports as one of more than 100 firms likely to appear on a UN list of companies that are profiting from Israel’s occupation and illegal colonization of Palestinian land.
In September, the US government picked Elta North America, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, to build a prototype of President Donald Trump’s planned wall on the US-Mexico border.
Activists are now pushing Air Canada to stop serving Sabra brand hummus aboard its flights. Sabra is made by the Strauss group, which gives active support to the Israeli army.
Israel in AustraliaIsraeli weapons firms have been pushing into civil aviation in other countries as well.
Last month, activists in Australia welcomed a decision by the storied Royal Flying Doctor Service to pull out of a multi-million dollar joint venture with Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest arms maker.
Nonetheless, Australia remains a major market for Israeli arms companies including Elbit and missile maker Rafael, which just announced it is opening a subsidiary in Melbourne.
Rafael is hoping to capture a big slice of a multi-billion dollar spending spree by Australia to expand its military.
“We haven’t had any substantial activity in Australia in recent years,” Rafael executive vice-president Giora Katz told Israel’s Globes business publication. “Now we’re returning to this market in full force.”
Last month Rafael announced a partnership with Australia’s Bisalloy Steels to supply materials to be used in manufacturing weapons systems.
Punishing opinions
In another sign of Israel’s distress over the effects of BDS, a cabinet committee on Sunday approved a draft law that allows Israeli companies to sue individual activists for up to $28,500 without having to prove any damages.
The new bill would expand Israel’s 2011 anti-boycott law. Israel’s high court upheld that law in 2015, but invalidated one provision which would have allowed anyone to sue for boycott-related damages without showing proof they were harmed.
If adopted, the law would effectively impose heavy financial penalties on individuals for expressing opinions contrary to the policies of the Israeli government.
The new legislation is backed by Gilad Erdan, Israel’s strategic affairs minister who has been spearheading a campaign of censorship and repression against the BDS movement that has reportedly involved the use of clandestine “black ops.”
Israel is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for the services of a US law firm as part of what human rights activists see as an effort to take this campaign of repression global.
31 oct 2017
Spokesman for Health Ministry in Gaza Ashraf Qudra has said that the victims reported during the Israeli strike on a Gaza tunnel inhaled poisonous gas during the attack.
Most of the reported victims were killed or injured from inhaling poisonous gas reportedly fired by the Israeli air force at the tunnel, he said.
Qudra stressed the urgent need to reveal the kind of weapons used in the assault.
The Israeli occupation army on Monday struck a Palestinian resistance site east of Khan Younis, south of the besieged Gaza Strip, leaving at least seven Palestinians killed and nine others injured.
Most of the reported victims were killed or injured from inhaling poisonous gas reportedly fired by the Israeli air force at the tunnel, he said.
Qudra stressed the urgent need to reveal the kind of weapons used in the assault.
The Israeli occupation army on Monday struck a Palestinian resistance site east of Khan Younis, south of the besieged Gaza Strip, leaving at least seven Palestinians killed and nine others injured.
23 oct 2017
The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz on Monday revealed that the Israeli government continues to supply the Myanmar army with advanced weapons even during the ethnic cleansing campaign waged against the Muslim minority of Rohingya.
Haaretz said that weapons sales to Myanmar did not stop even after the declaration about ethnic cleansing being carried out against the Muslim minority.
The newspaper added that the Myanmar Navy posted a photo on its Facebook page of the Israeli patrol boat Super-Dvora MK III upon its arrival at Myanmar's shore half a year ago when the Myanmar (Burmese) army was already being accused of committing genocides.
According to Haaretz, the picture of the two boats on the Facebook page reveal the weapons installed on them that are made by Israel. The boats also allow the installation of 30-millimeter artillery guns.
In the past, Myanmar purchased Israeli air-to-air missiles and artilleries, while an Israeli company called TAR Ideal Concepts has noted on its website that it has trained military forces in Myanmar.
The Hebrew newspaper added that the two governments have signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating bilateral cooperation in military fields. According to official reports, the agreement includes military training and improving security relations between the two sides.
Despite the international embargo declared on weapons sales to Myanmar, arms deals between Israel and that country are in full swing.
Haaretz said that weapons sales to Myanmar did not stop even after the declaration about ethnic cleansing being carried out against the Muslim minority.
The newspaper added that the Myanmar Navy posted a photo on its Facebook page of the Israeli patrol boat Super-Dvora MK III upon its arrival at Myanmar's shore half a year ago when the Myanmar (Burmese) army was already being accused of committing genocides.
According to Haaretz, the picture of the two boats on the Facebook page reveal the weapons installed on them that are made by Israel. The boats also allow the installation of 30-millimeter artillery guns.
In the past, Myanmar purchased Israeli air-to-air missiles and artilleries, while an Israeli company called TAR Ideal Concepts has noted on its website that it has trained military forces in Myanmar.
The Hebrew newspaper added that the two governments have signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating bilateral cooperation in military fields. According to official reports, the agreement includes military training and improving security relations between the two sides.
Despite the international embargo declared on weapons sales to Myanmar, arms deals between Israel and that country are in full swing.
4 oct 2017
On Wednesday, 4th October, 2017, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign presented the Irish Government with over 23,000 signatures to a petition demanding an end to bilateral arms trade between Israel and Ireland.
PNN reports that human rights campaigners were joined by TDs and Senators from the Oireachtas [Irish parliament], and Dublin City Councillors, outside the parliament gates where a ‘die in’ was staged. The activists then marched to the Office of the Taoiseach [Irish Prime Minister] and IPSC Chairperson Fatin Al Tamimi and Vie-Chair John Dorman delivered the two boxes of petitions.
Speaking prior to delivering IPSC Chairperson, Ms. Fatin Al Tamimi, a Palestinian-Irish citizen, said: “The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has collected over 23,000 signatures to a petition calling for an end to the bilateral arms trade between Ireland and Israel – a trade worth some €22m over the past decade or so.
“This Wednesday 4th October we will hand the petition in to the Irish government to make them aware that this profiteering from the oppression and murder of Palestinians and colonisation of their land is unacceptable to the people of Ireland.”
Ms. Tamimi concluded: “Our aim is highlight the Irish state’s shameful complicity in the oppression of Palestinians that arises from this trade in death. Ultimately we wish for Irish an arms embargo on this colonial apartheid state that kills, oppresses, tortures, and steals land and liberty from my people on a daily basis.
“Concrete actions are needed at the governmental level to ensure that Israel’s system of apartheid, occupation and colonisation ends once and for all so that we Palestinians can enjoy freedom, justice, equality and a true peace.”
PNN reports that human rights campaigners were joined by TDs and Senators from the Oireachtas [Irish parliament], and Dublin City Councillors, outside the parliament gates where a ‘die in’ was staged. The activists then marched to the Office of the Taoiseach [Irish Prime Minister] and IPSC Chairperson Fatin Al Tamimi and Vie-Chair John Dorman delivered the two boxes of petitions.
Speaking prior to delivering IPSC Chairperson, Ms. Fatin Al Tamimi, a Palestinian-Irish citizen, said: “The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has collected over 23,000 signatures to a petition calling for an end to the bilateral arms trade between Ireland and Israel – a trade worth some €22m over the past decade or so.
“This Wednesday 4th October we will hand the petition in to the Irish government to make them aware that this profiteering from the oppression and murder of Palestinians and colonisation of their land is unacceptable to the people of Ireland.”
Ms. Tamimi concluded: “Our aim is highlight the Irish state’s shameful complicity in the oppression of Palestinians that arises from this trade in death. Ultimately we wish for Irish an arms embargo on this colonial apartheid state that kills, oppresses, tortures, and steals land and liberty from my people on a daily basis.
“Concrete actions are needed at the governmental level to ensure that Israel’s system of apartheid, occupation and colonisation ends once and for all so that we Palestinians can enjoy freedom, justice, equality and a true peace.”