General

Links that Kill: International military cooperation with Israel




Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
اللجنة الوطنية الفلسطينية لمقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات


“I
endorse this call for an arms embargo because we desire peace and
justice for Palestinians and Israelis through non-violent ways.” 
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“This much-deserved military embargo is a crucial step towards ending Israel’s impunity.”

– Naomi Klein, best-selling author and journalist

Tens of thousands of mostly young Palestinians have participated
since the beginning of October in protests against Israel’s intensifying
repression, forcible displacement of communities, particularly in
Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and Naqab (Negev), and ongoing attempts to
colonize occupied East Jerusalem, especially the Old City. The tools of
repression, whether drones, vehicles, surveillance systems, teargas, IT
systems, bullets, “skunk water” or other creations are all produced or
imported from other countries by a vast Israeli military-industrial
complex that is at the heart of Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
The functioning of this system depends on the willingness of
governments and companies around the world to cooperate with Israel’s
military, weapons industry and military research institutions.
Campaigns aimed at ending all military ties with Israel are vital
for ending violence and are a key component of the international,
Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A
military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on apartheid South
Africa, is not just a vital form of solidarity with Palestinian popular
resistance; it is a legal obligation. All states and
the United Nations are obligated to hold Israel to account by adopting
measures that will bring to an end its serious breaches of international
law and by counteracting the effects of these breaches.
Military embargo campaigning is gradually starting to take off. Leading Israeli military companies have recently complained of decreasing export figures amid what one industry insider called “less desire for Israeli-made products”.
Military trade at the heart of Israel’s system of oppression
Israel’s military companies, military research facilities and
complicit international corporations, such as G4S and HP, are the key
enablers and beneficiaries of Israel’s militarism, violence and
oppression of the Palestinian people.
Israel’s policy of “disproportionate force”
Israel’s military forces have officially adopted a doctrine of disproportionate force, otherwise known as the “Dahiya Doctrine,”
which calls for deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian
infrastructure as the most “effective” means of deterring resistance.
The UN and human rights organizations have documented how Israel has carried out war crimes, including during its 2014 assault on Gaza, condemned as a “massacre” by Brazil’s president and France’s foreign ministerMore than 2,168 Palestinians, including over 500 children, were killed; entire families were annihilated in their homes, and all what remains of them are the official records documenting that they ever existed.
Israel’s military has been accused by leading human rights
organizations of using “excessive” and “arbitrary” force to suppress
popular resistance and mass demonstrations. Israel has recently adopted new “rules of engagement” that allow its occupation forces to “shoot to kill” Palestinian child and youth protestors.
The following forms of military technology are particularly
important to the ongoing repression of the current mass Palestinian
protests by the Israeli police and military:
  • Sniper rifles: Since mid-September 2015, Israel has re-introduced sniping methods and rifles to several injure or kill Palestinian youth protesters, including in occupied East Jerusalem.
  • Teargas: used to attack and disperse protests and can also be lethal. On October 21, Hashem al Azzah died after inhaling Israeli tear gas.
  • UAVs (‘drones’): used over the Old City and other Palestinian
    neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem to monitor every aspect of
    Palestinian life.
The infrastructure of apartheid
Israel uses a variety of physical infrastructure and military
technologies in order to maintain its system of occupation and
apartheid. This includes:
  • Walls, watchtowers and checkpoints to enforce racial segregation
    and deny Palestinians in the OPT access to their most fertile lands and
    water resources for the benefit of Israel and its illegal settlements
    and as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing. Examples include the
    illegal Israeli wall in the occupied West Bank, the “border” wall that
    enforces the illegal siege on Gaza, the new checkpoints recently created
    around Jerusalem, (picture) and the temporary walls recently erected in
    Jabal al Mukaber, a Jerusalem neighbourhood. These walls and
    checkpoints use high-tech sensors, camera technology and specialized
    software systems.
  • centralized population database and
    complex ID card system that enforces racial segregation between
    Jewish-Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as between
    Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the OPT. This segregation system,
    which resembles the “pass” laws enacted
    in apartheid South Africa, aims at fragmenting Palestinian communities
    and enabling the allocation of different rights to different categories
    of people, identified by their race, religion and place of residence.
  • Surveillance technology along the route of Israel’s wall, in and
    surrounding illegal settlements, and in the Old City of occupied East
    Jerusalem.
  • High-tech mass incarceration prisons in which thousands of
    Palestinians are detained, often without trial, and often subjected to torture, as admitted even by the US Department of State. Since the start of October, 942 Palestinians have been arrested, often simply for taking part in demonstrations against the occupation.
  • Cyber intelligence gathering technology used to monitor communication by Palestinians.
Key Israeli military companies
Israel’s largest military companies are key players in the
maintenance of the infrastructure of Israel’s regime of oppression
against the Palestinian people. 
Protester-hangs-_Elbit-Arms-Israel-Kills_-at-shutdown-Elbit-factory-in-Birmingham.-The-factory-produces-drone-engines-which-are-exported-to-Israel-and-used-over-Gaza-copy
Israeli arms factories across the world have been blockaded and occupied – Elbit Systems
  • Supplies and maintains surveillance systems for Israel’s illegal wall and settlements.
  • Elbit drones have been extensively used and field tested during each of Israel’s three recent assaults on Gaza.
  • Produces white
    phosphorous ammunition for mortars. Israel’s illegal use of this agent
    in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza was condemned by Amnesty International as a war crime.
  • Has a 20-year contract to provide helicopters to the Israeli police.
  • Supplies and maintains computer systems for the Israeli border control system.
Israeli Military Industries (IMI)
 Rafael 
  • Another Israeli state-owned arms company that provides a range
    of weapons to the Israeli military and for export. Manufactures and
    exports the Spike missile system, among numerous other weapons and
    technologies.
  • Currently using a contract with the Organizing Olympic Committee for the 2016 Olympic Games to showcase its technology and whitewash its image.
  • Widely accused of
    having trained death squads in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and
    Nicaragua and allegedly involved in the coups and attempted coups in
    Honduras and Venezuela
  • Founded by former Mossad agents and deeply connected with the Israeli Defense Ministry’s international interests and unofficial operations.
  • Provides training for military and police forces from around the
    world that includes “shooting in the face” and “in the back of the
    neck”, openly advocating for extrajudicial killings, specially in
    Brazilian favelas. Watch video here.
Some of the world’s largest corporations act as sub-contractors for
Israel’s system of oppression, reaping enormous profits by providing
“field tested” technologies that are essential to the ongoing denial of
Palestinian rights.
  • Provides and maintains cameras,
    access control systems and control rooms to Israeli prisons in which
    Palestinian political prisoners are held, often without trial, and
    subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
  • Provides scanners and other security equipment and maintenance services to Israeli checkpoints, illegal settlements and the Erez checkpoint in Gaza.
  • Provides various equipment and services to the Israeli military
    and police, including the construction, operation and maintenance of a new training center for the Israeli police who are at the heart of Israel’s oppression of Palestinian citizens of Israel and in occupied Jerusalem.
  • Provides and maintains a biometric access control system
    installed in many Israeli military checkpoints in the OPT and produces
    ID cards that form part of Israel’s centralized population database and
    complex ID card system that denies freedom of movement to Palestinians
    and enforces racial segregation between them and Israelis.
  • Operates various parts of the IT infrastructure of the Israeli
    military and administers the IT infrastructure of the Israeli navy,
    which is enforcing the illegal siege of Gaza.
  • Supplies and maintains software and hardware to Israeli prisons
    at which Palestinian political prisoners are held without trial and
    subjected to torture.
  • Provides computer equipment and services to Israeli settlements in the OPT.
International support for Israel’s military system
Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 00.59.31
Trade and joint research with Israel’s military establishment,
including the vast military industry and military research at academic
institutions, provide Israel with material and political support for its
violations of international law.
Military aid to Israel
Over the period 2009-2018, the US is set to provide military
aid to Israel worth $30bn. In 2011, the average US taxpayer gave Israel
$21 in military aid. This military aid is then used to purchase
military equipment predominantly from US companies. Since 2000, the US has licensed the export of nearly 825 million weapons valued at nearly $10.5 billion.
International exports of weapons and military-security services to Israel
Exports of weapons and military equipment to Israel are used to
further its oppression of Palestinians and enable it to carry out its
war crimes and other violations of international law.
EU countries granted licenses for military totaling €983m for the period 2012-13 (see here and here). In the global south, South African company Cape Gate provides fencing used in the Israel’s illegal wall and settlements, especially in and surrounding East Jerusalem.
Other international companies such as HP and G4S (see above) act as
private contractors, taking on key supporting roles in helping Israel
to maintain its infrastructure of militarism and racial oppression.
Israel’s exports of “field tested” technology
Military exports from Israel totaled $7.5bn in 2012 but are currently declining and could drop to as low as $4bn in 2015. Israel was the 8th largest arms exporter in 2014 which
is especially remarkable given its relative size. Purchases of Israeli
weapons and military technology help fund the Israeli
military-industrial complex and provide an important revenue stream for
the Israeli state, offsetting the cost of Israel’s systematic oppression
of and regular military assaults against Palestinians.
Up to 85% of Israel’s military industry production is exported, in particular to India, UK, South Korea, Brazil and Colombia.
Each Israeli military attack on Palestinians is seen as an
opportunity to test new technology and to advertise it. During the 2014
Gaza massacre, operational decisions were made on the basis of allowing
new weaponry to be tested, according to testimony given at the 2014 Russell Tribunal.
Israeli military companies market their products as “field tested
and “battle tested,” by which they mean that they are tested on the
bodies of Palestinians. Israeli arms companies have publicly boasted
about the effectiveness of the new technologies trialed for the first
time during the 2014 Gaza massacre.
This use of Israeli assaults and military operations to test and
market military exports creates a powerful financial incentive for
continued oppression and violence. One in ten Israeli families are
financially dependent on the Israeli military industry.
Israel’s deadly drones
Israel has supplied 60.7 percent of
the world’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones,
since 1985. Israel regularly uses armed  drones in its attacks on
Palestinians in Gaza and have been used to deliberately attack civilians. According to the Al Mezan Center, a Gaza-based human rights organization, more than 1000 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by armed drones in the period 2000-10.
Israel is also increasingly using drones for surveillance in the
West Bank, including Jerusalem. Drones have been spotted increasingly
frequently during the current wave of popular resistance, according to
Palestinian eyewitnesses.
Countries that that have procured UAVs from Elbit Systems include
Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Georgia, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden,
Switzerland, the UK, Brazil, Russia and USA.
Research collaboration with Israel
Israeli weapons companies participate in joint research with
companies and institutions across the world, providing a valuable source
of income and allowing them to market and further develop the
technologies used to oppress Palestinians. For example:
  • In the period 2007-14, Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) participated in EU funded research projects worth €244 million.
  • Brazil finances joint military research cooperation with Israeli companies.
  • 30 percent of all research and development in Israel has a military focus, involving all major Israeli universities.
How Israel globalises its militarized repression
Israel is not just oppressing Palestinians; it is exporting its
ruthless model of securitization and militarized repression to the
world. For example:
The international campaign for a military embargo on Israel
Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 00.52.15
Campaigns for a comprehensive military embargo on Israel are growing in impact, and they need your support.
The call for military embargo
In 2011, the Palestinian BDS National Committee issued a call for a comprehensive military embargo on Israel.
The call urged: an end to military aid and weapons exports to
Israel, ending the transfer of weapons and military technology to and
from Israel, and ending all forms of military aid and research
cooperation.
Supporters of this call for a military embargo include
Naomi Klein, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 5 other Nobel Prize winners,
and a variety of political parties and anti-war movements across the
world.
Military embargo campaign successes so far include:
  • Israel’s four largest military companies have spoken of a ‘major crisis’ of declining sales, sparked in part by “less desire for Israeli [military] products”.
  • More than a dozen banks have divested from Elbit Systems over its role in Israel’s military violence. Elbit factories across the world have been repeatedly blockaded by campaigners.
  • In 2014, the Rio Grande do Sul regional government ended a large scale research collaboration project with Elbit Systems.
  • G4S has lost millions
    of dollars in contracts and faced divestment by the Bill Gates
    Foundation, the United Methodist Church and other key investors as a
    result of the global campaign against it.
  • Israeli participation in arms fairs faces protests, military
    deals with Israel are targeted across the world, and governments have
    temporarily withheld arms deals because of public pressure.
  • Britain, France and other European states have refused to take part in a military fair in Tel Aviv in 2015
  • The governments of Norway and Turkey have announced forms of military embargo on Israel. 
Ideas for Action
  • Join and share our call for action #SolidarityWaveBDS
  • Pressure your government: campaign for
    an end to military cooperation with Israel. Build pressure on your
    government to exclude Israeli military companies from contracts.
  • Bring the military embargo to your streets: organize mock checkpoints, raise awareness about Israeli repression demanding an immediate military embargo.
  • Find out more: present freedom of information requests, ask councilors or representatives to question local or federal governments.
  • Investigate banks and pension funds to find out if they have collaboration with Israeli military companies or complicit corporations such as G4S and HP.
  • Find out if your local universities conduct joint military research with Israel or with weapons companies that supply the Israeli military.
  • Target arms factories that are owned by Israeli companies or export weapons to Israel and the arms fairs at which Israel markets its military technology.
  • Organize debates and bring the issue to the media: military and security cooperation is generally off the radar of the public debate. Raise the issue!
  • Campaign for local governments to commit to not
    collaborate with or invest in Israeli military companies or
    international companies such as G4S or HP and to pressure central
    government.  
  • Work with movements, unions and other partners that can pressure
    investment funds, corporations or governments to stop military ties
    with Israel. Pass motions calling for mass popular campaigning!
  • Please don’t forget to let us know about
    your actions! We would like to share your experiences with other
    partners around the world and strengthen your initiatives. Contact us
    on info@bdsmovement.net.