‘Blood Diamonds’ and Israel’s Diamond Export Industry
by aletho
By Sean Clinton | Palestine Chronicle | December 28, 2013
In November, members of the Kimberley Process
(KP), meeting in plenary in South Africa, squandered what was probably
their last good opportunity to ban the sale of all blood diamonds,
including cut and polished blood diamonds which are an important source
of funding for the nuclear armed regime in Israel which stands accused
of the crime of apartheid, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The
governments with a vested interest in the diamond industry, that set up
and control the KP, failed to amend the definition of a “conflict
diamond” which is restricted to “rough diamonds used by rebel movements
or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate
governments”. All other diamonds associated with human rights violations
evade the KP regulations.
The failure was well flagged in advance as key stakeholders, including South Africa which chaired the KP in 2013, had voiced opposition to reforms that would broaden the remit of the KP to embargo diamonds associated with human rights violations by government forces.
Some
jewelers refuse to sell diamonds sourced in the Marange area of
Zimbabwe where government forces are reported to have killed 200 miners.
However, most if not all, of the worlds leading jewelers sell diamonds
processed in Israel where the industry generates about $1 billion annually for the Israeli military which is guilty of grievous human rights violations in Palestine .
With
the KP chair passed to China for 2014, and Angola in line for 2015, no
one believes they will implement the changes necessary to ban the trade
in all blood diamonds.
Corporate Posturing
Corporate
social responsibility statements – the moral beacons of wannabe
ethically progressive companies – amount to little more than
window-dressing unless they are supported by rigorous enforcement. No
amount of charitable support for a company’s favorite worthy causes can
mitigate, directly or indirectly, providing a revenue stream for rogue
regimes guilty of gross human rights violations.
Anglo
American plc owns 85% of De Beers making it one of the worlds leading
diamond companies with interests at all stages of the supply pipe from
mining to retail. De Beers promote their own “Forevermark” diamonds many
of which are crafted in Israel . Their promotional literature claims
“Forevermark is committed to upholding the highest business, social and
environmental standards and practices across its and its partners
businesses”.
Anglo American’s Sustainable Development Policy
stipulates that suppliers are expected to uphold “fundamental human
rights and fair labour practices, in line with internationally
recognized standards”. Suppliers must also “oppose corruption, bribery,
fraud…. and must not tolerate any form of money laundering or
participate in other illegal incentives in business”.
Despite
this, De Beers continues to sell diamonds crafted in Israel even though
the Israeli diamond industry is notorious for discrimination in the
workplace against non-Jews – a fact confirmed by data from the Israeli
Bureau of Statistics and a recent government-funded initiative to
encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to take up employment in the diamond
industry without a similar initiative for non-Jews. Furthermore,
although authorities uncovered the “world’s largest illegal bank”,
involving fraudulent trading worth billions of shekels, in the Israeli
Diamond Exchange in 2012, Anglo American continues trading with Israeli
diamond companies.
Anglo
American’s failure to abide by their own standards exposes their
hypocrisy – a double-standard that permeates the jewellery industry when
it comes to blood diamonds from Israel .
The
Steinmetz Diamond Group, one of Tiffany’s biggest suppliers and a
“unique partner” of Sotheby’s Diamonds, through the Steinmetz
Foundation, funds and supports
a Unit of the Givati Brigade of the Israeli military. The Givati
Brigade is guilty of the massacre of at least 21 members of the Samouni
family in Gaza – a war crime documented by the UNHRC and other human
rights organizations.
Other
world-leading jewelers including Harry Winston, Cartier, Ritani, Blue
Nile, Zales, Brilliant Earth, Graff Diamonds, Chow Tai Fook, Chopard and
many more, sell diamonds from Israel which are tarnished with
Palestinian blood – one of the most recent victim being a 15 year old child,
Wajih Wajdi al-Ramahi, shot in the back and killed by the Givati
Brigade on 7th December. He was the 26th Palestinian to be killed by
the Israeli military this year.
The
imperative for all businesses to respect human rights and ensure their
business relationships are not contributing to adverse human rights
impacts is a well established tenet affirmed in the UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Global Compact, and the
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The fact that the
diamond industry, which accounted for 31.2% of Israel ’s manufacturing
exports in 2011, is a very significant source of revenue for the regime
in Israel means jewelers that sell diamonds processed in Israel help
fund the commission of war crimes and suspected crimes against humanity.
Shareholders
of companies that sell diamonds linked to atrocities and bloodshed are
exposed to financial and legal hazard. The fraudulent misrepresentation
of such diamonds as conflict-free leaves jewelers open to challenge by
patrons angered by the fact that diamonds they purchased in good faith
are de-facto blood diamonds. Companies complicit in human rights
violations may be liable for reparations, which, in the case of victims
of Israeli violence in Palestine , could amount to billions of dollars.
Despite
Israel ’s record as a serial human rights offender and it’s nuclear
weapons stockpile which it refuses to submit to international
regulation, the leaders of the global diamond industry continue to give
Israel refuge in the KP tent.
Consumer Power
If
consumers are to have confidence in the ethical credentials of diamonds
civil society needs to regain the initiative. This can be done by
putting the jewellery industry under the spotlight and demanding that
jewelers guarantee the diamonds they sell are not a source of funding
for, or in any way associated with, serious human rights violations –
i.e. they are not blood diamonds.
As
cut and polished blood diamonds from Israel legally enter the diamond
market in vast quantities (50% of the US market), diamond buyers should
demand to know where a diamond was sourced, cut and polished if they
want to avoid buying a blood diamond.
Diamond
buyers should not allow jewelers to fob them off with assurances about
“conflict diamonds” – the sacrificial offering which only encompasses
rough diamonds that fund rebel violence against legitimate governments.
This distracts from, and blinds consumers to, the extensive trade in cut
and polished blood diamonds which continues unchecked and largely
unreported by media.
“Ethically
sourced” are some of the buzz words hammered into the conscience of
diamond buyers. Rough diamonds at source represent but a small fraction
of the value of the cut and polished diamonds sold by jewelers.
Ethically sourced diamonds can still be blood diamonds if revenue they
generate after sourcing is used to fund human rights violations. “The
“ethically sourced” pitch is a scam – it offers zero protection from
blood diamonds.
Another
example of the duplicity of the jewellery industry is the widespread
abuse of the term conflict-free. This is part of a bogus System of
Warranties introduced by the World Diamond Council which allows sellers
to self-certify diamonds as conflict-free based on the fact that they
are in compliance with the discredited Kimberley Process which gives
legal cover to blood diamonds that fund government forces.
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