London, May 16 (RHC)-- A high court case, led by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, challenges the UK's arms exports to Israel, which is committing genocide in Gaza, highlighting the risk of war crimes. A demand heard innumerable times during the course of the Gaza genocide, the British public are once again making their position clear on their government supplying weapons to Israel.
One protester at a demonstration outside the court screamed: "We're to blame. We're actually sending arms to Israel to destroy humanity in Gaza." Another demonstrator said: "I'm ashamed to be complicit in genocide, which our government is. And I think this is a really important moment to show those people who are politically concerned that this is an outrage, and we have to do something about it."
The UK government is under intense scrutiny as a High Court case challenges its continued export of F-35 fighter jet components to the Israeli regime. And something is certainly being done about it in the form of a high court legal case brought by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq.
At the core of it, the UK made components for American made F-35 fighter jets. The government itself concedes that Israel is not committed to complying with international humanitarian law, and the government also concedes the F-35 components, which it continues to send to Israel, are at a clear risk of committing war crimes.
Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, an attorney representing Al-Haq, told reporters: "We're here today to make that stop." Representatives from Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam have joined pro-Palestine activists to support the legal case against the UK government
The UK is the second largest supplier of spare parts for the jet after the United States. In September last year, it suspended 30 of its more than 300 arms export licenses to Israel, but it excluded components for the F-35, saying they couldn't ascertain where the parts ended up. Jeremy Corbyn, an Independent MP, said: "I simply do not believe that. The defense industry is, if nothing else, efficient. They know perfectly well where every single part is going. They know perfectly well what the destination is."
The UK government claims there is no evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The court will hear the case for four days. No date has yet been announced for a verdict.
The case has taken nearly a year to come to court, and the outcome of the current hearing will determine whether profit and commitment to an offensive alliance can override Britain's international legal obligations, especially when it comes to providing weapons to an entity that's being investigated by the International Court of Justice for genocide.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and REUTERS ]
