Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Saturday, September 29, 2018

British firm JCB helps Israel commit war crimes

A JCB bulldozer, guarded by Israeli occupation forces, is used to uproot olive trees on private Palestinian land near Nabi Elias in the occupied West Bank in order to build a road for Israeli settlers, 16 January 2017.
Keren ManorActiveStills

Adri Nieuwhof-29 September 2018
Occupation authorities have given residents of the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar until 1 October to demolish their own homes.
Earlier this month Israel’s highest court gave final approval to destroy the West Bank village to make way for Israeli settlements.
Diana Buttu ✔@dianabuttu
Israel orders Palestinians of to demolish their homes and school by Oct. 1st
2:59 AM - Sep 23, 2018
If the residents don’t comply, Israel is expected to send in its bulldozers any day. It is almost certain they will include machines made by British firm JCB, whose equipment has been used for years to demolish Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank.
Destruction of Khan al-Ahmar would be a war crime under international law, and JCB executives are being warned they could face criminal liability for their role.
Last July, JCB equipment was spotted in the Bedouin villages of Khan al-Ahmar and Abu Nuwwar near East Jerusalem.
British Palestine solidarity activists blocked the entrance to the JCB distribution center in Derby this month to protest the company’s involvement in the demolitions of Palestinian homes.
Shoal Collective@ShoalCollective
Activists have blocked the entrance to the JCB distribution centre in Derby in protest at the company's involvement in demolitions of Palestinian homes. Updates at @CorpOccupation
10:51 AM - Sep 18, 2018
Half of the almost 200 residents of Khan al-Ahmar are children and teenagers.
JCB’s claim that it wants “to help build a better future for our children, where hard work and dedication are given their just reward” must taste bitter for these youth.

JCB and Khan al-Ahmar

On 4 July, BBC correspondent Tom Bateman tweeted a photo of Israeli forces using a JCB excavator to clear the way for the forcible evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar.
Tom Bateman ✔@tombateman
Israeli bulldozer now clearing way ahead of planned eviction of
6:59 AM - Jul 4, 2018
London-based Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights immediately wrote to UK Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt urging the government to intervene and charging that JCB’s involvement in the pending demolition of Khan al-Ahmar “may amount to aiding and abetting a war crime.”
Labour Party lawmaker Paula Sherriff raised the issue in Parliament and Burt assured her that an investigation into the use of JCB machinery in the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar would be carried out.
But European governments have a history of prioritizing trade with Israel over respect for international law, and no history of imposing costs on Israel or on the companies that assist its violations.
European Union diplomats have limited their response to toothless statements and symbolic visits.
EU and Palestinians ✔@EUpalestinians
Khan Al Ahmar: 🇪🇺EU Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah visited today Khan Al Ahmar and the Tire School. They met with Abu Khamis, community representative, and other 🇵🇸Palestinians who stand in... https://www.facebook.com/EUandPalestinians/posts/1507102886057425 …
10:06 AM - Sep 27, 2018
In August, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights also wrote to JCB asserting that “involvement in the demolition process of Khan al-Ahmar may amount to aiding and abetting the war crime of forcible transfer.”
JCB has not responded to an invitation from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, a corporate accountability watchdog, to answer the allegations in the letter.

A record of destruction

Six years ago, the British campaign group War on Want published a report detailing Israel’s use of JCB machines to destroy Palestinian homes, mosques and olive trees and to build settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law.
Since then, the use of JCB machines has been documented repeatedly during Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights:
  • 25 July 2018: A JCB bulldozer was used in the demolition of an EU-funded daycare facility that served dozens of children and a women’s community center in Jabal al-Baba village near East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
  • 4 July 2018: Israeli forces demolished nine Palestinian homes and three farm buildings in the Abu Nuwwar community near East Jerusalem with JCB equipment, leaving 62 people homeless.
  • 12 February 2018: Israeli forces used a JCB machine to flatten the home of 58-year-old Rezeq Abu Nasser in the village of Deir Istiya, east of Qalqiliya. The Israelis told Abu Nasser in Hebrew that he had five minutes to collect his belongings, which was not sufficient to save his possessions. Abu Rezeq’s home is in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel declared a “nature reserve” – a tactic long used to stop Palestinians from building on their own land.
  • 18 June 2017: A photo published by The Times of Israel shows a JCB machine being used in the construction of the settlement of Maaleh Amos, in the occupied West Bank.
  • 6 February 2017: JCB equipment was used in the construction of a settler road in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Elias.
  • 16 January 2017: Israeli occupation authorities used JCB equipment to uproot dozens of olive trees for construction of a settler road near Qalqiliya.
  • 19 June 2016: Israeli forces demolished Palestinian property in Susiya village, in the South Hebron Hills area of the occupied West Bank, with JCB and Volvo equipment.
View image on TwitterView image on Twitter
adri nieuwhof@steketeh
18June: Israeli forces demolish Palestinian property in Susiya with equipment (pics Nasser Nawaja)
2:40 PM - Jun 19, 2016
  • 5 January 2015: JCB equipment was documented being used for construction in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

“Criminal liability”

JCB’s corporate leaders cannot have failed to notice Israel’s use of their products in its systematic violations of Palestinian rights.
As Lawyers for Palestinian Rights has spelled out, the provision of JCB’s products for use by Israel in these and other acts is contrary to the human rights responsibilities businesses have under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
That is why Palestine solidarity activists have initiated a campaign in the UK to hold JCB accountable .
Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights gave JCB chair Anthony Bamford and CEO Graeme MacDonald fair warning that their firm’s involvement in the imminent demolition of Khan al-Ahmar could “incur the criminal liability of individuals within the company.”
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'There is extermination here': Basra protests against killing of demonstrators


Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launches an investigation as anger over failed services and slain activists rises in Iraq's south
Basra protesters hold up banners showing photos of killed activists (Alex MacDonald)

Alex MacDonald's picture
Alex MacDonald
Friday 28 September 2018

BASRA, Iraq - Tears streamed down Haider's face as he described how his brother Mohammed was killed by armed police during a demonstration in Basra on 4 September. He was one of dozens of people killed since protests against corruption, unemployment, water and electricity shortages began in July.
"He was shot in his abdomen - that is why I am demonstrating now," he said. "Demonstration was my brother's way and we will keep it his way."
Haider was one of those heading up the "March of Murdered People" on Friday, with hundreds protesting against the increasingly long list of people killed for taking to the streets to demand public services and stable futures.
Protesters chant against the murder of demonstrators in Basra (Alex MacDonald)
He added that he would be pursuing the chief of police and Basra's governor in the courts over his brother's death
The anger shown by Basrawis has shaken Iraq to its core, shattering a common perception both nationally and abroad that the country would be on its way to recovery after defeating the Islamic State (IS) group in Mosul in July 2017.
Instead, the crisis in Basra has seen dozens killed, hundreds wounded, the headquarters of political parties and the Iranian consulate torched, and the career of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi - thought to have been riding high on the IS defeat - effectively ended.
We came here and we are not sure if we are going back to our homes alive or in a coffin
- Nasser, protester
"The Iraqi media is lying - we are not criminals, we don't burn," said one protester, Nasser. "We are coming here against corruption, we want to correct things, not make things wrong."
"For 15 years we don't have one water purification station. This is a disaster. They are humiliating the people. There is extermination here - they are killing a lot of us.
"We came here and we are not sure if we are going back to our homes alive or in a coffin," he said.
On Friday evening, the outgoing Abadi announced that he would be launching an investigationinto the numerous deaths and kidnappings in Basra (as well as Baghdad), demanding results within 48 hours.
But there was very little love for the political class on display at Friday’s demonstration, which had a less prominent police presence than previously - possibly sensitive to any escalation.
A protester holds a sign with a number of senior Iraqi politicians' faces crossed out (Alex MacDonald)
Demonstrators set off from the central Abd al-Karim Qasim Square chanting "Political parties, you are all garbage!" and walking streets still displaying scorch marks from a previous - more combustible - demonstration.
An even more telling sign was the charred remains of one of the Basra governorate buildings, torched in early September.
Activists carried the Iraqi national flag as well as flags depicting Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed, who is revered by Iraqi Shia for his martyrdom at the Battle of Kerbala in which he died while facing overwhelming odds against the Umayyad caliphate.
Gathering on the road leading up to the Basra governor's office, the young black-shirted men leading the chanting gathered in a circle, slapping their chests and singing.
"The Imam Hussein revolution was a revolution, and this is also a revolution!" they sang.
One protester with a broken foot limped slowly along as well, still determined to take part despite his injury.
Protester with an injured foot (Alex MacDonald)
"I got shot in the leg after the funeral of al-Kaabi," he explained, referring to Makki Yasser al-Kaabi, whose death in early September sparked some of the angriest demonstrations so far.
"We are here to honour my friends and what they gave to this country. We are asking for a proper life - for everything, water and electricity."

'We will get killed secretly'

One of the protest organisers, Naqib Alluaibi - also a nephew of Iraq's oil minister - said threats against those involved in the demonstrations had been increasing in recent weeks, as powerful figures accused them of being backed by shady foreign forces, such as the United States or Israel.
"Israel... Qatar... France... Australia..." he joked, dismissing the suggestion.
But the threats are no longer taken lightly, particularly after the public murder of women's rights activist Suad al-Ali on Tuesday. Although police have suggested she was murdered by her ex-husband, Alluaibi and other activists believe it was an assassination.
"They will not shoot us directly or intentionally, but it will be more like Suad al-Ali - they will say it is a social issue," he said.
"I think we will get killed secretly, just like Suad."
Young men protest in Basra (Alex MacDonald)
Despite the threats, Alluaibi said he and other protesters were determined to continue their protests.
His anger at the damage done by the failed water infrastructure was palpable - like other protesters Middle East Eye spoke to, he said the official statistics given by the Basra health ministry of the number infected by waterborne diseases was underestimating the problem.
The most recent figure, cited by Iraq's Independent High Commissioner for Human Rights, suggested that 95,000 people had been admitted to hospital because of polluted drinking water - however, Alluaibi said this did not take into account large numbers who did not go to hospital when they were infected.
He also dismissed the still ongoing government formation process, saying the new coalition was riddled with "sectarians" and "terrorists".
"This is a bastard government", he said. "Why should I support any of them? They all destroyed the country.
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"What have we reached now, in Basra, is because of these parties."
On Saturday, the US announced the evacuation of its diplomats from Basra after mortar fire targeted the consulate near Basra international airport.
Although no damage was done by the mortars, the ability of armed groups to target diplomatic buildings and civilians in Basra has worried residents.
The situation remains febrile in the city, with some analysts going as far as warning of a potential Libya-style situation if the problems afflicting Basra are not resolved, and trust in the central government is not repaired.
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