al Jazeera:
UK arms exports to Israel press ahead despite licence suspension: Study
British pro-Palestinian activist groups found that since September the government had sent ‘8,630 separate munitions’ to Israel
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli attacks, at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
Published On 7 May 20257 May 2025
A new report has found that United Kingdom firms have continued to export military items to Israel despite a government suspension in September last year, amid allegations that the British parliament has been deliberately “misled”.
A report by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine revealed on Wednesday that the UK sent “8,630 separate munitions since the suspensions took effect, all in the category ‘Bombs, Grenades, Torpedoes, Mines, Missiles And Similar Munitions Of War And Parts Thereof-Other’.
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“Despite [Foreign Minister] David Lammy, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds MP and other Ministers repeatedly reiterating in the House of Commons that the Government has ended this direct supply of F-35 [fighter jets] parts, the evidence indicates that they have continued to send direct shipments of components for lethal F-35 jets to Israel after September 2024 – and that these shipments are ongoing,” it added.
In September, Lammy announced the suspension of 29 arms export licences, out of 350, that were used during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Lammy said the government had found there had been a “clear risk” that the licences “might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”. He said the ongoing licences covered items such as “goggles and helmets for use by one of the UK’s closest allies”.
‘Parliament misled’
The report used data from the Israel Tax Authority and concluded that Lammy had “misled” Parliament and the public about arms exports to Israel.
Former Labour shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said the government has a lot of “explaining to do” in response to the report.
“If Parliament has been misled by the Foreign Secretary or any minister it is a resigning matter and more importantly it attracts potentially a charge of complicity in war crimes. The Government has shrouded its arms supplies to Israel in secrecy,” McDonnell said.
Former leader of the Labour Party and independent MP, Jeremy Corbyn, said the report could explain why the government has not responded to a call for a public inquiry into the UK’s role in Israel’s military assault.
“When will the UK government come clean about the reality of military cooperation with Israel? The public deserves to know the full scale of the UK’s complicity in crimes against humanity – and we are not going anywhere until we have established the truth,” he said.
The Foreign Office told Al Jazeera that the government has suspended the “relevant licences” that might be used to “commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law in Gaza.”
“Of the remaining licences for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defence Forces but are for civilian purposes or re-export, and therefore are not used in the war in Gaza. The only exemption is the F-35 programme due to its strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security,” the ministry said.
“Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading.”
“The UK totally opposes an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full, secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and work towards a permanent peace,” it added.
Source: News Agencies
There is 76 Years of UK Bipartisan support for Israel's right to defence.
ReplyDeleteIs Starmer prepared to throw it away ?
Zionist state was/is the creation of the pommie desperate, who has bloodline linkage with the zionists!
DeleteIt wouldn't giving up the efforts to continuing supporting the zionist state with am her best farts.
Unfortunately, the pommieland isn't what she used to be.
Balfour S-Whole
DeleteBalfour was very fair.
DeleteBear in mind there is no historical "Palestinian People" . Only Arabs and Jews, and the land was the detritus of the collapsed Ottoman Empire.
95 % of the Land was promised to Arabs, 5% to Jews.
In fact, unfair to Jews.
Who made those promise?
Delete"Balfour was very fair"
Fair as in ramping it down the throat of the whole arab region, w/o a drop of consultation!
Wakakakaka… Palestinians r arab subgroup as defined by historical locality occupation by the clan. Whereas, the Jew r not in any sense the native of Arab region. Their only claim is their grandmother fairytale. These Europe rejects SHOULDN'T even get 5% of anything within/wthout the Arab region.
BS, Balfour was a racist. From Wikipedia:
DeleteIn 1906, during a House of Commons debate, Balfour argued that the disenfranchisement of the blacks in South Africa was not immoral. He said:[66]
We have to face the facts. Men are not born equal, the white and black races are not born with equal capacities: they are born with different capacities which education cannot and will not change.
Political scholar Yousef Munayyer has claimed that Arthur Balfour's antisemitism played a role in the issuance of the Balfour Declaration, citing Balfour's presiding over, as prime minister, the passage of the Aliens Act 1905 that mainly aimed to restrict Jewish immigration to Britain from Eastern Europe.[66] Balfour had written in 1919, in his introduction to Nahum Sokolow's History of Zionism, that the Zionist movement would:[67]
mitigate the age-long miseries created for Western civilization by the presence in its midst of a Body [the Jews] which it too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or to absorb.
In other words, he foisted the Jews onto the PALESTINIANS so as to prevent them from entering Britain.
From Wiki:
the region known as Palestine existed long before 1947. The name "Palestine" is derived from an ancient Greek term, and the region has been referred to as Palestine for centuries. Even before the establishment of the British Mandate in 1920, Palestine was a distinct geographical area within the Ottoman Empire. The term "Mandatory Palestine" specifically refers to the period under British administration, but the region itself, with its distinct geography and cultural history, existed long before.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Ancient Origins:
The term "Palestine" is linked to the ancient Philistines, who lived in the region. The region was also known as Judea and the Holy Land.
Ottoman Period:
Before World War I, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the area for centuries.
British Mandate:
After World War I, the League of Nations established the Mandate for Palestine, placing the territory under British administration in 1922.
Territorial Changes:
The boundaries of "Mandatory Palestine" included the area of the current state of Jordan, though this was later separated.
1947 UN Partition Plan:
In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan for Palestine, which was rejected by Arab leaders.
Establishment of Israel:
The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 resulted in the displacement of many Palestinians, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to this day.
History of the Question of Palestine - the United Nations
23 Jan 2025 — Palestine was among former Ottoman territories placed under UK administration by the League of Nations in 1922. ... In ...
the United Nations
Mandatory Palestine - Wikipedia
Mandatory Palestine was a British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine, and after 192...
Wikipedia
The Forgotten History of the Term "Palestine" - Hudson Institute
13 Dec 2021 — “Palestine” applied vaguely to a region that for the 400 years before World War I was part of the Ottoman empire. ... T...
Hudson Institute
Show all
KT, shouldn't just quote wikipedia direct. U should use those references, which r more authenticated, to refer to events mentioned.
DeleteThey r serious & tedious read. But they r FACTS based with cross references.