Stop Arming Israel
Last year the British government sold millions of pounds worth of military equipment to Israel despite its continued human rights abuses and violations of international law.
Recently obtained figures show that in the first nine months of 2009 the UK government approved the sale of military equipment to Israel worth nearly £4 million. This includes small arms ammunition and components for snifer rifiles. The approval of these licences are in breach of the government's own arms export guidelines which state that arms should not be sold to countries where they could be used for internal repression.
In April 2009 the Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced a review of arms sales to Israel in light of Israel's attack on Gaza which left over 1400 people dead. Yet Israel's human rights violations continue today whilst more arms licences are being approved. The people of Gaza are still being held under a crippling seige and in recent weeks Palestinians campaigning against the Separation Wall in the Occupied West Bank are being targeted in a brutal crackdown on their freedom of expression and association.
In recent weeks villages affected by the illegal Separation Wall such as Ni'lin, Al Ma'sara and Jayyous are being subjected to regular night raids by Israeli soldiers, who have broken into homes, fired teargas, smashed windows and arbitrarily arrested and detained numerous Palestinians, including children.
Popular Committees working with War on Want partner organisation Stop the Wall have been specifically targeted. This follows the detention without charge of Jamal Juma' in December 2009 and Mohammad Othman in September 2009, both of whom worked for Stop the Wall. International pressure helped free them, but dozens more human rights activists are still languishing in jail, targeted solely because of their activism against the Wall.
War on Want is calling for a two way arms emgargo between the UK and Israel. The UK government remains complicit in Israel's human rights abuses unless it stops arming Israel immediately.
Hear Jamal Juma' speak at War on Want's AGM on 27 February.
Act now to Stop Arming Israel.
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