UK Cancels "Some" Weapons to Israel

In a "pathetic" attempt to pacify the British public, David Milliband has decided to cancel "some" weapons deals to Israel. Shall I define the word "some?" Well, it means 5 out of 182 arms deals. A mere gesture, nothing more.

After Gaza war, UK cuts some arms sales to Israel

Britain has cancelled the planned sale of some military components to Israel following an export review prompted by the December-January war in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Monday.

London cancelled five out of 182 licensed British arms exports to Israel, the official said, all involving equipment for the Saar 4.5 class Corvette, a naval vessel that took part in the offensive which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

British Foreign Minister David Milliband announced the review in April after some legislators pressed for an arms embargo on both Israel and the Hamas Islamists ruling Gaza. source

British Weapons Systems Killed Palestinians

Britain has promised to probe into its sale of military equipment to Israel amid pressure over its contribution to the Gaza aggression.

After months of evading the issue of British support for Israel, Foreign Secretary David Miliband confirmed on Tuesday that London had "almost certainly" supplied Tel Aviv with equipment used in the military offensive into Gaza.
Miliband said he would order a review of all licenses for arms export to Israel.

"I can confirm that we are looking at all extant licences (for sensitive exports to Israel) to see whether any of these need to be reconsidered in light of recent events in Gaza," he said in a written statement.

While Tel Aviv continues to enforce a crippling blockade on Gaza and prevents necessary humanitarian aid and assistance from reaching the 1.5 million people inside the strip, British support for Israel has sparked controversy and has prompted opposition in parliament.

"All future applications will be assessed taking into account the recent conflict," Miliband promised.

Equipment supplied to Israel from the UK includes parts for Israeli reconnaissance satellites -- which are suspected of playing a part in espionage operations by the Israeli army.

"We assess that these might have been used to prepare the operation but would not have played a significant part in the operation itself," the British diplomat explained.

According to Miliband, F16 aircraft that incorporate British components indirectly exported to Israel via the United States were also "widely used" to deliver precision-guided bombs.

The UK has banned the export of F16 components to Israel since 2002.

Apache attack helicopters, Saar-class corvette naval vessels and armored personnel carriers -- all of which either incorporate British components or are upgrades of models supplied by the UK -- have also been employed by Tel Aviv during the war.

While the UK probe is expected to eventually prevent all future arms sales for the use of internal repression and external aggression, the decision has failed to quell the criticism leveled against the British government.

"David Miliband failed to bring pressure to bear on Israel through a suspension of arms sales when it might have had a useful effect," Edward Davey, foreign affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said in a statement.

"A review now only serves to slam the stable door after the horse has bolted," he insisted, describing the move by the British foreign secretary as a mere confirmation that the British arms control system had broken down.

More than 100 legislators in the UK signed a statement in January that called for an embargo on the supply of military equipment to both sides of the Gaza conflict.

Israel makes nearly 95 percent of its military-related purchases from the United States, which bankrolls many of the contracts using the nearly $3 billion in annual foreign aid it has allocated for Tel Aviv.

The British contribution to the total Israeli arms imports are believed to stand at around 1 percent.

Despite global condemnation of the war on Gaza, Washington has taken no action to curb Israeli aggression against the Palestinians who have become the victims of a 60-year-old Israeli land-grabbing campaign that has forced them out of most of their native land for the sake of a purely Jewish Israel. source

Lawyers Bring Suit Against UK Government Regarding Israel's War Crimes

This just in…Groups of Lawyers will bring suit against UK government over Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Pressure continues to mount against Israel; people won’t forget this time, no excuses, no more “hasbara”, won’t work this time. No more diversions, no more placing blame on Hamas when it was Israel that broke the ceasefire numerous times with excursions into Palestine. No more crying “poor little Israel had to defend itself” (Poor little Israel with the 4th largest army in the world and nuclear weapons, against home made rockets that rarely hit anything, laughable!!) Thousands of innocent Palestinians murdered, many were children. Sorry Israel, game over, you loose, your tricks and your “hasbara” won’t save you this time; the world has seen what you are. A dirty little rogue state that acts with impunity, but no more. People everywhere are doing what they can to hold Israel accountable for its holocaust; people are not letting this go, thank God for that! Truly amazing the Israeli excuses and Hasbara, look here, look there, but don't look at us, we are poor little Israel. Puh-leeze...

End this culture of Israeli impunity

In the face of Palestinian deaths in Gaza, the UK government must be held to its commitments under international law

It is difficult to imagine how anyone watching Clancy Chassay's three short films on Israel's devastating attack on Gaza ("Operation Cast Lead") could deny that Israel has a clear case to answer on commission of war crimes.

The films tell the individual stories of those who are otherwise lost in the horrifying statistics. We learn of three teenage brothers used as human shields by the Israeli army, a Palestinian family killed by "precision weaponry" when drinking tea in a courtyard and a medic blown into pieces by the thousands of tiny metal darts, called flechettes, packed into each Israeli tank shell.

Recent estimates put the number of Palestinians killed in the bloody onslaught at more than 1,400 – including 430 children – and the number injured at more than 5,000. Israel's actions have been roundly condemned and demands from senior UN officials and human rights groups for Israel to be investigated for international war crimes over the "massive violation of human rights" are growing by the day.

At Public Interest Lawyers, we are acting on behalf of Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian human rights NGO based in Ramallah, which is bringing a public law claim against the UK government for its breaches of international law and calling on it to fulfil its international legal obligations. We will argue in court that as a result of Israel's unlawful action the UK has certain responsibilities: to denounce Israel's actions; not recognise the situation created by Israel as lawful; not render aid or assistance or be otherwise complicit in Israel's action in Gaza; co-operate with other states to bring Israel's breaches to an end and take all possible steps to ensure Israel respects its obligations under the Geneva conventions. Everything one might reasonably expect our government to do, but none of which it has done thus far.

If we are to uphold the rule of law across the world and if we are to challenge the culture of impunity that exists on the international stage, we must ensure that all states, including our own, take their responsibilities and obligations under international law seriously. It is time for our government to consider what its purported commitment to international law really means and, in the face of the Palestinian men, women and children who have lost their lives, it is time for our courts to be brave enough to hold the government to that commitment.

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY

WAR CRIMES IN GAZA