Falcon29
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At least 17 British companies sell spare parts and military technology to the Israeli army, worth billions of pounds, it was revealed here Monday. Hence, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in UK (AOHR) said in a statement here, that "Britain was profiting from Israeli massacres in Gaza as Israel intensifies its assault on the strip".
It recalled that the annual Farnborough International Airshow, near London, was recently inaugurated with the participation of Israel which is represented by Elbit Systems, Rafael and the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), companies which manufacture weapons that kill Palestinians. The Airshow was concluded last night. The Chief Executive Officer of IAI, Yossi Weiss, announced during the Airshow that his company was working round the clock to meet Israel's security needs, the statement added. The IAI manufactured a radar for Operation Protective Edge and will manufacture 811 pairs of wings for the US F35 fighter jets according to a contract signed by Lockheed Martin which supplies Israel with F16 fighters, the organization pointed out.
The Israeli company Rafael announced it was conducting negotiations with the British Ministry of Defence to supply its fighter jets with new targeting pod systems. Rafael had recently signed a 15-year contract with the British Ministry of Defence to supply it with Litening Targeting Pods. These shows provide Israel with "a golden opportunity to strike deals to sell weapons it had developed and tested on Palestinians, especially during offensives on the Gaza Strip", it added.
These contracts, worth billions, demonstrate that countries which purchase weapons from Israel "choose to ignore the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians". A British arms export controls parliamentary committee's annual report published in 2013 revealed that more than 3,000 current export licenses for arms and military equipment worth more than 12 billion pounds were approved for 27 countries classified by the Foreign Office as "of concern" because of their poor human rights record but that no measures have been taken to rescind these contracts.
According to the report, Israel received the bulk of this equipment, estimated at nearly 8 billion pounds in the form of 400 export licenses. Weapons include components for body armour, parts for "all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection", assault rifles, pistols, military support vehicles, crowd-control ammunition, a spare parts for tanks, and F16 and Apache fighter jets, and combat drones. In 2005, the British Ministry of Defense granted U-TacS, a Leicester-based company in central England, a license to manufacture Watchkeeper (WK450) combat drones. U-TacS's parent companies are Elbit Systems Ltd, an Israeli company, and Thales UK Ltd. The value of the contract was one billion pounds.
In 2010, the Ministry of Defense signed with Elbit Systems Ltd. a contract worth 70 million pounds for maintenance services, training and logistical support. On the 21st of April 2009, the then Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted in an official statement that the equipment Israel used in attacking Gaza during Operation Cast Lead 200-2009 "almost certainty' had components manufactured in the UK. He added that equipment used in the attack on Gaza contained British-supplied components included in cockpit displays in US F-16 combat aircraft sold to Israel, and components for the fire control and radar systems, navigation equipment and engine assemblies for US Apache.
He also admitted that the equipment also included armored personnel carriers adapted from Centurion tanks sold to Israel in the late 1950s and components for the 76mm guns and radar in Israeli Sa'ar-class corvettes which took part in the operation in addition to supplying Israeli reconnaissance satellites used in preparing for the attack with British components.
None of the above-mentioned contracts has been suspended even following Operation Cast Lead and Operation Pillar of Cloud on Gaza and the current operation, nicknamed Protective Edge, "thus confirming that the British government is in stark violation of the rules that govern arms sales to countries which breach human rights", AOHR UK affirmed.
It equally disclosed that 17 companies with headquarters or branches in the UK provide Israel with spare parts for F16 and Apache fighter jets, tanks, naval ships, and other military and security equipment. F16 and naval ships with components manufactured in the UK have so far killed hundreds of Palestinians during the most recent offensive on Gaza, including children, women and elderly people. The rest were innocent civilian men. The random attacks have also injured 1887 Palestinians; many of them remain in critical condition, in addition to destroying 1800 homes and 89 public buildings.
The AOHR UK calls upon the British government "to take a legal and moral stand vis-à-vis the Israeli crimes against innocent civilians in Gaza by suspending all military contracts with the Israeli government", the statement underscored. The AOHR UK "considers the British government's decision to continue to supply Israel with military technology which is then used to murder innocent civilians a breach of all human rights laws and could mean that British officials are complicit in the crimes against humanity committed by Israel".
The AOHR UK also urges the EU countries to suspend all military deals with Israel especially Israel's participation in the project "Horizon 2020 for military and security research programme sponsored by the EU at a cost of 80 billion Euros
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At least 17 British companies sell spare parts and military technology to the Israeli army, worth billions of pounds, it was revealed here Monday. Hence, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in UK (AOHR) said in a statement here, that "Britain was profiting from Israeli massacres in Gaza as Israel intensifies its assault on the strip".
It recalled that the annual Farnborough International Airshow, near London, was recently inaugurated with the participation of Israel which is represented by Elbit Systems, Rafael and the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), companies which manufacture weapons that kill Palestinians. The Airshow was concluded last night. The Chief Executive Officer of IAI, Yossi Weiss, announced during the Airshow that his company was working round the clock to meet Israel's security needs, the statement added. The IAI manufactured a radar for Operation Protective Edge and will manufacture 811 pairs of wings for the US F35 fighter jets according to a contract signed by Lockheed Martin which supplies Israel with F16 fighters, the organization pointed out.
The Israeli company Rafael announced it was conducting negotiations with the British Ministry of Defence to supply its fighter jets with new targeting pod systems. Rafael had recently signed a 15-year contract with the British Ministry of Defence to supply it with Litening Targeting Pods. These shows provide Israel with "a golden opportunity to strike deals to sell weapons it had developed and tested on Palestinians, especially during offensives on the Gaza Strip", it added.
These contracts, worth billions, demonstrate that countries which purchase weapons from Israel "choose to ignore the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians". A British arms export controls parliamentary committee's annual report published in 2013 revealed that more than 3,000 current export licenses for arms and military equipment worth more than 12 billion pounds were approved for 27 countries classified by the Foreign Office as "of concern" because of their poor human rights record but that no measures have been taken to rescind these contracts.
According to the report, Israel received the bulk of this equipment, estimated at nearly 8 billion pounds in the form of 400 export licenses. Weapons include components for body armour, parts for "all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection", assault rifles, pistols, military support vehicles, crowd-control ammunition, a spare parts for tanks, and F16 and Apache fighter jets, and combat drones. In 2005, the British Ministry of Defense granted U-TacS, a Leicester-based company in central England, a license to manufacture Watchkeeper (WK450) combat drones. U-TacS's parent companies are Elbit Systems Ltd, an Israeli company, and Thales UK Ltd. The value of the contract was one billion pounds.
In 2010, the Ministry of Defense signed with Elbit Systems Ltd. a contract worth 70 million pounds for maintenance services, training and logistical support. On the 21st of April 2009, the then Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted in an official statement that the equipment Israel used in attacking Gaza during Operation Cast Lead 200-2009 "almost certainty' had components manufactured in the UK. He added that equipment used in the attack on Gaza contained British-supplied components included in cockpit displays in US F-16 combat aircraft sold to Israel, and components for the fire control and radar systems, navigation equipment and engine assemblies for US Apache.
He also admitted that the equipment also included armored personnel carriers adapted from Centurion tanks sold to Israel in the late 1950s and components for the 76mm guns and radar in Israeli Sa'ar-class corvettes which took part in the operation in addition to supplying Israeli reconnaissance satellites used in preparing for the attack with British components.
None of the above-mentioned contracts has been suspended even following Operation Cast Lead and Operation Pillar of Cloud on Gaza and the current operation, nicknamed Protective Edge, "thus confirming that the British government is in stark violation of the rules that govern arms sales to countries which breach human rights", AOHR UK affirmed.
It equally disclosed that 17 companies with headquarters or branches in the UK provide Israel with spare parts for F16 and Apache fighter jets, tanks, naval ships, and other military and security equipment. F16 and naval ships with components manufactured in the UK have so far killed hundreds of Palestinians during the most recent offensive on Gaza, including children, women and elderly people. The rest were innocent civilian men. The random attacks have also injured 1887 Palestinians; many of them remain in critical condition, in addition to destroying 1800 homes and 89 public buildings.
The AOHR UK calls upon the British government "to take a legal and moral stand vis-à-vis the Israeli crimes against innocent civilians in Gaza by suspending all military contracts with the Israeli government", the statement underscored. The AOHR UK "considers the British government's decision to continue to supply Israel with military technology which is then used to murder innocent civilians a breach of all human rights laws and could mean that British officials are complicit in the crimes against humanity committed by Israel".
The AOHR UK also urges the EU countries to suspend all military deals with Israel especially Israel's participation in the project "Horizon 2020 for military and security research programme sponsored by the EU at a cost of 80 billion Euros
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