{"id":32964,"date":"2024-03-07T17:26:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T09:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=32964"},"modified":"2024-08-03T22:44:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T14:44:14","slug":"australian-industrys-dirty-secret-it-is-helping-israel-commit-atrocities-in-gaza-janet-hawkes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/australian-industrys-dirty-secret-it-is-helping-israel-commit-atrocities-in-gaza-janet-hawkes\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian industry\u2019s dirty secret: it is helping Israel commit atrocities in Gaza – Janet Hawkes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As we reel from the latest atrocity<\/a><\/span> committed by Israeli forces in Gaza when they opened fire on a crowd around aid trucks, killing 104 people, campaigners in Australia are shining a light on a highly secretive Australian web of complicity with Israeli war crimes. The \u201cflour massacre\u201d is only the latest in what UN experts<\/a><\/span> have said are clear violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

The states supplying Israel with weapons and military aid, notably the US and Germany, but also France, Australia and Canada, must stop their support for the crimes against humanity and, potentially, genocide in Gaza if their moral claims are to mean anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has firmly denied supplying Israel with arms since the start of its most recent assault on Gaza, telling parliament<\/a><\/span> in December that, \u201cAustralia has not supplied weapons to Israel since the conflict began and for at least the past five years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet activists, campaigners and Green politicians are telling a different story. Over the past weeks and months protesters have blockaded ports, scaled factory roofs and picketed the offices of companies that they say are directly helping Israel commit genocide in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

A group of Palestinian rights groups is bringing a case<\/a><\/span>, the first of its kind, to the Australian Federal Court to make public arms export licences granted to Israel, and Green Senator David Shoebridge has been calling on the government for transparency in parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Web of complicity<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Australian government may be denying its involvement in Israel\u2019s genocidal campaign in Gaza, but publicly available information indicates that many Australian companies are implicated in Israel\u2019s war effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s have a look at the culprits.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

New South Wales company Bisalloy Steel has contracts to supply Israeli companies Rafael<\/span><\/a> and Plasan Re\u2019em<\/span><\/a> with steel for its armoured military and police vehicles respectively. Was that one of the same armoured vehicles that Israeli forces in Gaza used this week to run over a man<\/span><\/a> whose hands were zip-tied? It may certainly be one of the armoured vehicles that ran over and killed a man<\/a><\/span> near Hebron in 2022 who was accused of attacking Israelis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are the many Australian companies making parts for the US-made combat bomber F-35 being used to drop heavy munitions in Gaza with devastating impact. These aircraft are made by US military giant Lockheed Martin, and serviced by approved companies worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Up to 70 Australian companies may be involved in the F-35 supply chain, with the latest contract awarded to Rosebank Engineering\u2019s Melbourne site for repairing brakes and wheels, announced<\/a><\/span> by the Department of Defence at the end of October last year. Protesters scaled the roof of Rosebank\u2019s Melbourne factory in February to protest against its lethal involvement in F-35 combat aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Chemring Pty, a company whose UK arms got into hot water<\/a><\/span> for sending tear gas to Hong Kong to be used against civilian protesters. The company makes the counter-flares for F-35s. Queensland-based Ferra Engineering makes the parts that allow weapons to be loaded onto the aircraft, and <\/span>celebrates<\/span><\/a><\/span> the fact that \u201cevery Joint Strike Fighter flying world-wide will have weapon adaptors produced by Ferra.\u201d Melbourne company Lovitt provides machining support for F-35s, and received a generous government grant<\/a><\/span> to do so, a grant which is still open<\/a><\/span> for tenders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) provides<\/span><\/a> critical thermal treatment to Australian-made parts so they do not have to be shipped to the US and back again. Protesters have been gathering outside its Melbourne site twice a week to urge it to halt its services to the lethal combat bombers used in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

These companies, as well as the Australian government, may be complicit in Israel\u2019s breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza, and maybe even genocide. And there is little room for denial. Lockheed Martin has confirmed<\/span><\/a> that, \u201cEvery F-35 built contains some Australian parts and components.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel has boasted<\/span><\/a> about using F-35s in its bombardment of Gaza when it confirmed it was bombing the civilians of Gaza with huge 2000 lb bombs from the aircraft. The New York Times<\/i> reported<\/a><\/span> that Israel dropped these heavy \u201cdumb bombs\u201d (unguided) on civilians in southern Gaza, where it had said that Palestinians would be safe. They found 208<\/span><\/a> of the massive craters that these bombs cause in southern Gaza in the first six weeks of its attack on the enclave. By way of comparison, the US Air Force only dropped one<\/a><\/span> of these hugely destructive bombs during its years-long campaign against ISIS\/Daesh in Iraq and Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Breach of international law<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Australian government seems unwilling to admit that Australian-made components are helping Israel\u2019s egregious crimes in Gaza. After January\u2019s genocide ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and with increasing evidence that Israel is breaching international humanitarian law, and potentially committing crimes against humanity in Gaza, it is easy to see the reason for the denials.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ICJ decision confirms that Israel may be committing \u201cpotentially genocidal actions\u201d<\/a><\/span> in Gaza. Gaza-based legal NGO Al-Mezan has documented<\/a><\/span> various instances of war crimes and acts of genocide by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory, and has called on the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible. Amnesty has found<\/a><\/span> that Israel is not complying with the ICJ ruling that it must act to prevent genocide in Gaza. Human Rights Watch alleges<\/span><\/a> that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, including targeting of civilians, failure to provide aid and collective punishment. Even US President Joe Biden has accused Israel of \u201cindiscriminate bombing\u201d of the strip.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Other countries supplying the Israeli military are realising that this is no time for business as usual, even in the notoriously shady arms industry. A Dutch court recently halted a shipment of F-35 parts destined for Israel, due to the risk of them being used \u201cin serious violations of international humanitarian law\u201d. Japanese company Itochu pulled out of its contract with Israeli arms company Elbit, citing the ICJ ruling.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Australia to follow suit. We have all watched with horror as what looks like a genocide unfolds in Gaza in the months since 7 October. From indiscriminate bombing<\/a> in civilian areas to attacking refugee convoys<\/a>, to withholding humanitarian aid<\/a><\/span>, to genocidal statements<\/a><\/span>, to the prevention of medical teams<\/a><\/span> reaching five year old Hind Rajab, to targeting journalists<\/a><\/span> and medical<\/span><\/a> staff, to bombing hospitals<\/a><\/span>, and the latest massacre of crowds receiving food aid, each time we think Israel\u2019s crimes can\u2019t get any worse, they do. It\u2019s time to end the hand-wringing and thoughts and prayers for the people of Gaza. It\u2019s time for actions to match words and to stop arming Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Janet Hawkes<\/span><\/p>\n

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span> – Feature image has been slightly modified<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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  As we reel from the latest atrocity committed by Israeli forces in Gaza when they opened fire on a crowd around aid trucks, killing 104 people, campaigners in Australia are shining a light on a highly secretive Australian web of complicity with Israeli war crimes. The \u201cflour massacre\u201d is only the latest in what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,301,113,645,145,3,392],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australias-move-to-the-right","category-corruption","category-foreign-policy","category-gaza-genocide","category-military","category-political-issues","category-racism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}