Human rights and British hypocrisy

Britain has been slowly but surely refusing to sell Israel weapons over the past few years, claiming that the weapons may be used in violating Palestinian human rights.

The British government has blocked almost one third of British military exports to Israel this year, citing possible threats to regional stability and fears the equipment might facilitate human rights violations.

According to official figures, the value of UK military sales arms to Israel declined by one third last year, and has fallen by a drastic 75 percent since 2005.

And they are paying the legal costs of a Palestinian man who is trying to outlaw British weapons sales to Israel.

Outside of government, the opposition Liberal Democrat party has called for a rethinking of arms sales to Israel, while in May the UK’s Legal Services Commission, the state agency that provides funding for attorney’s fees for indigent defendants, agreed to underwrite the costs of litigation brought by a Palestinian man in a British court seeking a ban on arms sales to Israel.

The U.K. has no trouble selling weapons to Jordan. They don’t seem to be interested in Jordanian human rights policies.

Statistics published by the committee showed that arms exports to Israel totaled 14.5 million pounds last year (about $29 million), compared to GBP 22.5 million in 2005. Between 1997 and 2006 Britain granted Israel 1561 Standard Individual Export Licenses (SIELs) valued at GBP 113 million. During the same period it authorized 626 SIELs valued at GBP 136.5 million for shipment to Jordan.

However, over the last 10 years, 190 application for military sales to Israel have been prohibited, comprising 11 percent of all applications for sales of military equipment. During the same period, only two such applications were rejected for military and restricted goods bound for Jordan.

But they’re very interested in Israel’s human rights record:

The 14 rejected SIELs violated various “Consolidated EU and National Arms Licensing Criteria,” the Foreign Office stated, citing concerns the shipments would not respect “human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination,” would worsen the “the internal situation in the country of final destination;” and would harm “regional peace, security and stability.”

One SIEL was denied due to the “behavior of the buyer country with regard to the international community; in particular its attitude to terrorism, the nature of its alliances and respect for international law,” while concerns the equipment would be “diverted” for non-approved uses or “re-exported under undesirable conditions” were cited in rejecting three SIELs.

VERY interested.

Testifying before the committee on March 15, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett stated that the Foreign Office kept a “close eye” on the uses made by the IDF of British military equipment.

The then-foreign secretary said: “If we discovered that equipment had been sold to Israel and was being used contrary to agreed terms, we would regard that with grave concern and we would make sure we did not issue licenses for such equipment in the future.”

But you know whose human rights record they are absolutely uninterested in?

Hamas.

Britain’s and the international community’s refusal to speak to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is doing more harm than good, a British parliamentary committee said on Monday.

Pursuing a “West Bank first” policy — where Britain and others deal with the West Bank, which is run by the more secular Fatah group, and isolate the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip — will further jeopardize peace, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report on the Middle East.

“The government should urgently consider ways of engaging politically with moderate elements within Hamas,” the all-party group of lawmakers said.

The Foreign Office—the organization that authorizes weapon sales to Israel—thought that was a peachy idea. They don’t seem to be overly bothered by Hamas’ lack of respect for human rights. The beating of wedding celebrants, the clampdown on journalists—that doesn’t bother them at all. Not when Hamas does it, anyway.

Reacting to the report, Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement: “We continue to make clear that we are ready to respond to any significant movement by Hamas.”

However, it said it was not unreasonable to expect that engagement should be based on the three conditions.

The Foreign Office is at least paying lip service to demands that Hamas end violence, recognize Israel, and adhere to previous peace agreements. But those human rights? Who gives a damn? It isn’t Israelis oppressing Palestinians. It’s Palestinians oppressing Palestinians.

Funny how the Brits also have no trouble at all selling the Saudis weapons, when you can’t even bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia. Or wear a cross. Where women can’t do much of anything, but since the Saudis aren’t actually using the British weapons on their women, I suppose human rights don’t come into the equation.

Yet another example of Israeli Double Standard Time. Yet another example of anti-Israelism, which looks a whole lot like anti-Semitism.

Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that my great-grandfather left Scotland for America in 1914?