Sunday, 30 July 2006 @ 00:31:21 BST
Arms Industry
The Guardian
By Benjamin Joffe-Walt
British parts in Israel's deadly attack helicopters; key parts for Israeli aircraft made in UK; rights groups say Apaches used for assassinationsThe Guardian -- July 30 --
British arms companies are supplying key parts for Israel's Apache combat helicopters, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets deployed in southern Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank despite government guidelines banning the sale of weapons likely to be used "aggressively against another country" or fuel regional tensions.
Israel was listed as a country of concern in last year's annual Foreign Office report on human rights and the government has said it would refuse arms export licences for any equipment that could be used aggressively by Israel. But F-16s, F-15s and Apaches have been used extensively by Israel in the recent attacks across Lebanon and Gaza, which have resulted in more than 500 civilian casualties to date. Last week Kim Howells, a Foreign Office minister, said the British embassy in Tel Aviv "has confirmed reports that Israel is using F16s in its incursions into Gaza and Lebanon".
Apaches are alleged by human rights groups to have been used by Israel for extra judicial assassinations, missile strikes in heavily populated civilian areas and the shelling of schools, medical facilities, refugee camps and civil society buildings.
"The Apache is not just equipment. For Palestinians it's a symbol of indiscriminate military violence," said Shawan Jabarin, general director of the Palestinian human rights group al-Haq. "From a young age every Palestinian child learns to distinguish the Apache's sound and associate it with assassinations, destruction and blood in the street."
http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2938
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