On Israeli Italian military cooperation
Letter sent to Italian Defense Minister, Roberta Pinotti and President of the Sardinia Region, Francesco Pigliaru.
25.9.14
Dear Roberta Pinotti and Francesco Pigliaru
We are
writing to you from Israel about Italy’s support of Israel. We are
specifically concerned about the military cooperation between the
Italian military and the Israeli military. We understand that this
cooperation includes the supply of military aircrafts, in particular,
the M-346 jet, to the Israeli Air Force as well as the launching of
joint military exercises in Sardinia.
As
citizens and residents of Israel, the government of Israel claims to act
in our name but we refuse to partake in any way in the crimes committed
in our name. Those crimes are too grave and too obvious to people of
conscience to accept or be silent about. Reports by Israeli and leading
international human rights organizations, documenting these crimes, are
numberless. A quick browse through the reports of OCHA, the United
Nations, B’tselem, Yesh Din, Amnesty, or any other human rights
organization including the US State Department’s annual report on human
rights should suffice to make this point more than clear. Only last
week, a group of 43 Israeli army intelligence reserve soldiers and
officers published a letter detailing the systematic abuses carried out
by Israeli intelligence against Palestinians in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip. These abuses include the systematic blackmailing of
terminally ill Palestinian patients and their families, the search for
gay Palestinians, blackmailing them into cooperating with their
occupiers. These practices are part of a system of permanent occupation
which Israel has developed. It applies most harshly to the millions of
Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip who have been
living for nearly 50 years under a government they have no right to
choose or elect. In addition to blackmailing and threats, Israeli abuse
of Palestinians includes constant attacks and periodic outbursts of mass
killing. This summer saw the latest of such attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military and air force killed more than 2,150 Palestinians,
of whom 495-578 were children, more than 10,224 were injured and more
than 20,000 homes were made uninhabitable (according to UNRWA).
During
the assault, Israel continued its policy of heavily relying on its air
force. Israeli planes flew thousands of sorties and dropped thousands of
tons of explosives on Gaza which resulted in a significant part of the
unimaginable number of victims.
These
Israeli policies would not have been possible without the support of
other countries. Italy’s continued cooperation with the Israeli military
directly perpetuates Israel’s military occupation. This makes the
Italian military and government complicit in Israel’s crimes against
humanity. Selling arms to the Israeli military, which is surely going to
be used against Palestinians, is not only immoral but also in violation
of Europeans Union exports policies. For these reasons, a growing
number of organizations and individuals from South Africa to Portland
and to Rome are calling for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
against Israel. In fact, even the Obama administration and the Cameron
government took steps to curtail the unrestricted flow of arms to
Israel. By continuing these joint exercises with Israel, the Italian
government is signaling its approval of Israel’s criminal assault. On
the other hand by refusing to cooperate with the Israeli military, the
message you would send would be a very positive and constructive force
towards ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Therefore,
we, Israeli residents and citizens, call on you to halt all
Italian-Israeli military cooperation, in particular, the joint
binational military exercise in Sardinia and the transfer of military
equipment to or from Israel.
Sincerely,
BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS call from within!
Aka: Boycott From Within
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