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As the US moves ahead with $3 billion sale of F-35s to Israel, Canada continues to supply key parts for these bombers

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: An IAF F-35 Adir.

On March 19, Middle East Eye reported: “The US plans to move ahead with a $2.5bn [also reported as $3 billion] sale of F-35 fighter jets, Josh Paul, the former director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s bureau of political-military affairs, said.”

The Times of Israel has previously reported these fighter-bombers would be “delivered in batches of three beginning in 2027.”

But the EurAsian Times reported in January: “Although the decision to purchase the F-35I Adir was taken [in July 2023], Tel Aviv is making efforts to expedite the purchase now as its military continues to pound the Gaza Strip.”

Axios has also reported: “Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant will come to Washington [on Tuesday March 26] with a long list of U.S. weapons Israel wants to receive in an expedited manner, two Israeli and U.S. officials said.”

That article adds Gallant would come with a series of requests including “short-term requests for the war in Gaza but also long-term ones, including the option to purchase more F-35 and F-15 fighter jets.”

Israel’s existing fleet of F-35s

Lockheed Martin has highlighted: “Lockheed Martin has supplied the Israel Air Force with fifth-generation fighter jets, following the decision of the Israeli government in September 2010 to select the F-35 Lightning II fighter. Named ‘Adir’ [meaning Mighty One] in Israel, the initial acquisition agreement included 19 Adir fighter jets, with the first two planes arriving in December 2016. Between November 2014 and October 2016, the government of Israel ordered an additional 31 aircraft in order to complete a second F-35 squadron. A total of 50 aircraft are projected to be delivered by 2024.”

Al Jazeera has reported that with the Israeli Ministry of Defence decision in July 2023 to purchase 25 more aircraft from Lockheed Martin that will bring the total number to 75 F-35s in Israel’s air force.

Canadian components in F-35s

Kelsey Gallagher of Project Ploughshares has noted in his Fanning the Flames report that at least 110 Canadian-based suppliers have been awarded contracts for the F-35 program and that a study commissioned by Lockheed Martin in 2018 says there are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 fighter jet.

What are some of those components?

In April 2022, the CBC reported: “More than 100 years after shipyard workers in Lunenburg, N.S., shaped wood and metal to build the Bluenose schooner, the tradition of local, hand-built excellence lives on. But now, instead of fishing boats, it’s fighter jets.”

That article further notes that the Toulouse, France-based Stelia Aerospace facility in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia has been contracted to, for example, build shims to help open and close the weapons bay doors of F-35s sold to other countries.

What comes out of those weapons bay doors?

Israeli F-35s have reportedly been equipped with 907-kilogram GBU-31 JDAM bombs. Guided Bomb Units (GBU) 31/32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were developed by Boeing for the US Air Force and US Navy.

Stelia in Lunenburg website.

British components in F-35s

Nine organizations in the UK, including Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Amnesty International and Quakers in Britain, have highlighted: “The UK provides approximately 15% of the components in the F-35 stealth bomber aircraft currently being used in Gaza, including the rear fuselage and active interceptor system, ejector seats, aircraft tyres, refuelling probe, laser targeting system, and the fan propulsion system. Durability testing for the F-35 is also undertaken in the UK.”

They have demanded: “an immediate suspension of arms transfers to all parties to the current conflict.”

Court rules on Dutch components for Israeli F-35s

In February of this year, the Court of Appeals in The Hague ruled that the Dutch State must stop “any export and transit of F-35 parts with final destination Israel.”

The NL Times reports: “According to the court, there is a real risk of Israel using those fighter jets, kept up and running with parts delivered by the Netherlands, to commit serious violations of humanitarian law of war in the Gaza Strip.”

Canadian government response

Earlier this month, the Canadian government supported a motion in the House of Commons earlier this month that says Canada will “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

Despite this the Canadian government does not appear to have taken action with respect to the issue of F-35 components.

Lockheed Martin at CANSEC, May 29-30

Lockheed Martin has said that it “is proud of the significant role it has fulfilled in the security of the State of Israel.”

The company will be present with Israel at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this coming Wednesday May 29-Thursday May 30.

The company will sponsor the “CANSEC Evening Networking Reception” starting at 5 pm at the CAE Meal Hall 1 on May 29.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Peace Community of San José de Apartadó as the Ministry of Interior visits

By
Brent Patterson
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On March 24, Franklin Castañeda tweeted: “From the Human Rights Directorate of the @MinInterior [Ministry of the Interior] we support the historic and genuine defense of the territory and peace of the @cdpsanjose [Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado]. What is expressed by [Colombian president] @petrogustavo and @Pontifex_es [Pope Francis]. honors the fight for life and sovereignty of the peace community of San José. On March 27, the national government will be in this territory, supporting the community and agreeing on actions that allow them to live with dignity and guarantees.”

Then on March 27, the Colombian Ministry of Interior tweeted: “After the two murders of members of the @cdpsanjose, our director @FranklinCastaV, together with other Government entities, visited this territory to hold a dialogue about the emergency they are going through, respecting the principle of rupture that the community has with the State.”

They add: “As a result of the meeting, from #MinInterior and @UAcuerdoPaz [the Peace Agreement Implementation Unit], we will form an inter-institutional table to review your requests and risk situations. This with the objective of proposing actions that guarantee their rights. More details in the following video.”

Video.

On the evening of March 27, Castañeda tweeted: “After the visit and within the framework of the 27th anniversary of the @cdpsanjose, we have decided that we will install an inter-institutional table that promotes risk prevention, following up on the orders of the @CorteIDH [Inter-American Court of Human Rights] and the commitments that the different entities acquired today. . Some of them: The request for environmental preservation of the territories inhabited by the community will be evaluated. Legal diagnoses of the properties will be carried out. A field inspection will be carried out on the mining titles. The possibility of carrying out an act of public forgiveness by the public force for historical acts of violence that this community has resisted will be sought.”

El Espectador video.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado since 1999. PBI-Colombia also accompanied Franklin Castañeda when he was the president of the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP).

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: PBI-Colombia accompanies the 27th anniversary of the Peace Community days after two members were murdered (March 26) and PBI-Colombia expresses its indignation over the murder of two members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó (March 20).

More than 130 Parliamentarians in the UK sign letter citing Canada in call to stop arms exports to Israel

By
Brent Patterson
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The Guardian reports: “A letter signed by more than 130 parliamentarians to the foreign secretary, David Cameron, highlights action taken by other countries, most recently Canada, which last week announced it would halt all arms exports to Israel.”

The article adds: “The letter, coordinated by the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Zarah Sultana, was signed by 107 MPs and 27 peers including the former Labour Middle East minister Peter Hain, the Scottish National party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, the former shadow minister Jess Phillips, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Conservative peer Nosheena Mobarik.”

The complete letter, tweeted by MP Sultana, says: “Other countries are taking action. The most recent example of this is Canada, where last week the government announced it is halting arms sales to Israel.”

On March 18, the House of Commons passed a motion (in a 204 to 118 vote) that reads Canada will “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

The Palestine solidarity and anti-militarist movement is calling on Canada to do more to achieve a full arms embargo.

The article in The Guardian also highlights: “[The letter] says UK-made arms are being used in Gaza, noting a recent UN investigation that found an F-16 fighter jet made with UK parts was probably responsible for the bombing of British doctors in Gaza.”

Photo: An Israeli F-16 fighter jet, using British made equipment, is believed to have fired a missile at a residential compound in Gaza on January 18, 2024, injuring four British doctors and others in the attack.

Concerns about components in Israeli warplanes have also been raised in Canada. Kelsey Gallagher of Project Ploughshares has noted in “Fanning the Flames” that at least 110 Canadian-based suppliers have been awarded contracts for the F-35 program and that a study commissioned by Lockheed Martin in 2018 says there are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 fighter jet.

Read The Maple.

We also note that following the motion in the House of Commons in Canada, 600 trade unionists blockaded major arms factories in England and Scotland.

MR Online reported: “[The blockades] follows the Canadian Government’s announcement last night that it will stop arms sales to Israel after a parliamentary motion was passed in the house of commons. Many are demanding the UK government do the same as well as supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”

Tweet.

Peace Brigades International has called on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel.

We continue to follow this.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks speaks at the People’s Summit in Vienna about RCMP C-IRG violence

By
Brent Patterson
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Video: Chief Na’Moks at the People’s Summit in Vienna along with Hup-Wil-Lax-A and Gwii Lok’im Gibuu of the Gitxsan Nation.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks writes in Ricochet Media: “This month marks one year since the RCMP’s civilian watchdog, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, launched an investigation into C-IRG.”

“Last month, audio recordings of C-IRG brutality were played in a British Columbia courtroom, including audio of the RCMP ridiculing Indigenous women wearing red handprints to symbolize our missing and murdered.”

He then notes: “Yet, the unit was not suspended during the systemic review nor will any public hearings be held. It’s been over a year and we have heard nothing, though this is no surprise, and our expectations are not high.”

Chief Na’Moks further highlights that he will be in Vienna for the European Gas Conference (March 26-28) to “ensure Europeans know that Canadian gas [is] awash with violence and the state-sanctioned trampling of Indigenous rights.”

The webpage for the People’s Summit 2024 (March 21-24) that is challenging the European Gas conference included in its program:

“Truth-Telling: Human Rights Violations and Climate Destruction in Canada: People think of Canada as a climate leader and peace keepers. Little does the world know that Canada is not only home to disturbing human rights violations, intensive climate destruction, and dehumanising efforts for land defenders but it is not just the companies but the Canadian government that has approved violent policing efforts on Indigenous communities. 6 proposed LNG projects are pushing forward, one a carbon bomb, with various pipelines without the consent from all Indigenous communities. It is time to speak the truth and call for global solidarity to help bring about social and climate justice for a better future and to protect the beauty of so-called Canada.”

At the closing press conference today (Monday March 25), Chief Na’Moks noted: “You know our country of Canada holds this great reputation around the world as being a peaceful, welcoming democratic country and it’s not true. They burn down our houses, they throw us in jail, they destroy our rivers, our lands, our future of our children and your children too.”

He further highlighted:

“We are the template of the violence to come in that country. When they create an arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and it’s referred to as C-IRG, Community-Industry Response Group, it will change its name to Critical Response Unit. When they create an arm like that which is militarized, strictly to come onto Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan lands, Indigenous lands, then that is what is threatening democracy in this country. Canada itself, the Prime Minister, has enacted the Emergency Measures Act, and within that it opens a door for this unit, which was supposed to be short-term directed at us, as well as a few of our neighbours. They made it permanent and the world should know that. That this great country of Canada, that has this great reputation, you need to challenge that reputation, because the violence that has come to us. I don’t know how many of you have stared down the rifle of a gun, how many of you can step outside and say there’s a sniper, we do. How many of you have had canine units come into your house, come through your doors with power saws and axes, burn down your homes, and that is the democracy in Canada you’re not learning about.”

We continue to follow this and call for the abolition of C-IRG.

PBI-Colombia accompanies the 27th anniversary of the Peace Community days after two members were murdered

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Colombia has tweeted: “We accompanied the peaceful march and the commemorative events of the anniversary #27AñosCdP [27 years of the Community of Peace] organized by the @cdpsanjose [Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado] who claims their legitimate right to the protection of nature. We regret that the sky of commemoration has been clouded due to the murder of 2 members.”

Last week, PBI-Colombia had also posted: “We express our deep pain, rejection and indignation at the murder of Nallely and Edinson, two beloved people of the @cdpsanjose with whom we shared in solidarity only days before.”

The Peace Community

Yes! Magazine has reported: “On March 23, 1997, Brígida Gonzáles, 69, along with the others who decided to stay, founded the Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó. This ‘Peace Community’ declared itself neutral in the conflict, pledging not to get involved in any way and asked to be left in peace.”

In March 2009, Amnesty International noted: “Over 170 members of the community have been killed or forcibly disappeared since the community’s creation in 1997.”

Last week, Colombian president Gustavo Petro said that 400 members of the community have been murdered.

Some of those killed have died in massacres, such as the one in April 1999, when three of its members were killed; that of February 2000, when five members were killed; and the one on February 21, 2005, when Luis Eduardo Guerra, one of the historical leaders, was assassinated along with part of his family.

Nallely Sepúlveda and Edinson David

Two more members of the community were killed last week.

El Colombiano reports: “Nallely and Edinson were murdered on Tuesday, March 19 at noon, the news reached Apartadó around 6 p.m. and the bodies were collected 24 hours later.”

That article adds: “No one really knows who the killers were for Nallely Sepulveda, 30, and her little brother-in-law Edinson David Higuita, 14. The only thing that is clear is that their bodies, which were left lying in a house in the village of La Esperanza, in San José de Apartadó, were not picked up by either the Prosecutor’s Office or the Police, it was the same members of the Peace Community who had to rescue them four hours away and return with the bodies wrapped in sheets. passing through wild rivers and trails in which they were sometimes buried up to their knees.”

Tweet: “In these 27 years of the Peace Community we have collected our dead, murdered by paramilitaries, with the complicit consent of the government. What good is a change of government, if nothing changes, if they continue killing us in the territory. Until when?”

The speculation is that the two members were killed by the Clan del Golfo (Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AGC) paramilitary.

On Sunday March 24, Pope Francis remembered the two killed and dedicated a space to pray for the community during the liturgical celebration of Palm Sunday.

Tweet: Pope Francis: “I express my closeness to the Community of San José de Apartadó in Colombia, where a few days ago a young woman and a child were murdered” https://vaticannews.va/es.html

We continue to follow the situation.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó since 1999.

Could the German Air Force resume low-level flight training over Indigenous lands in Newfoundland and Labrador?

By
Brent Patterson
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Video: Hunters and Bombers (1990).

CBC reports the German air force has requested that low-level flight training resume at 5 Wing Goose Bay, a Canadian Forces Base situated on the traditional territory of the Innu in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In an emailed statement to CBC/Radio Canada, Department of National Defence (DND) spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin says: “We are open to future requests, and will pursue positive engagement with Indigenous communities regarding such requests.”

Poulin adds: “The war in Ukraine has … increased the strategic importance of 5 Wing Goose Bay for Canada and NATO’s collective security, and in support of our bilateral and multilateral defence relationships.”

In September 2023, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey wrote Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair highlighting: “My government stands ready and willing to host GAF [the German Air Force].”

Photo: In December 2022, the German government announced it would be purchasing 35 F-35 warplanes. Training with the first new planes is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Premier Furey’s government has helped to facilitate consultations with potentially affected Indigenous communities — for example, the Innu Nation, the Nunatsiavut government (representing an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador) and the NunatuKavut community council (the governing body for the territory of Inuit who reside primarily in south and central Labrador).

CBC further reports: “The Innu Nation confirmed representatives outlined their ‘grave concern’ about low-level flying in a meeting with DND.”

Grand Chief Simon Pokue says: “We cannot ignore our past experience — low-level flying has affected our people, our environment and the caribou. There are elders and many other members of our community alive today who were jailed or whose family members were jailed for protesting low-level flying.”

Photo: Grand Chief Simon Pokue with Innu Elder Tshaukuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue.

In a letter dated December 18, 2023, the Innu told Defence Minister Blair: “Low-level flying makes no sense and would undermine our own efforts and further destroy surviving caribou populations.”

The full article can be read at Return of low-level flight training over Labrador on German air force’s radar (Rob Antle, Patrick Butler; CBC News; February 28, 2024). A CBC Radio Labrador Morning interview with Antle can also be heard here.

Subsequently, on March 14, 2024, SaltWire reported that Hollis Yetman Jr. is one of several residents of Happy Valley-Goose Bay who is supportive of low-level flying.

Yetman Jr. tells Saltwire: “Personally, I would think that you will see an agreement with the Indigenous people in Labrador that will allow low-level flying to go ahead because I don’t think there’s enough negatives to stop it. I think they will eventually come to some agreement. Whether that’s monetary or otherwise, I don’t know.”

That same article notes that Happy Valley-Goose Bay Mayor George Andrews also supports low-level flight training as does the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Labrador Affairs.

In a statement to SaltWire, the provincial government says: “The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supports a proposal submitted by the German Air Force to the Federal Government to resume low-level flight training activities in Labrador, as long as it has the support of Indigenous communities.”

The SaltWire article adds that the Nunatsiavut Government declined to comment on this, while the NunatuKavut Community Council says it has not been approached by the Department of National Defence on this.

The full article can be read at Taking off: Happy Valley-Goose Bay residents hoping German military will bring low-level flying back to region (Sanuda Ranawke; SaltWire; March 14, 2024).

Innu opposition in the 1980s

Years ago, Innu Elder Tshaukuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue commented: “In the 40 years that the military has been in Goose Bay [the airfield was established in 1941], the Innu’s culture has collapsed. The use of our lands by others, without our being consulted, has caused stress in our family relationships and links to our family violence. The Innu did not welcome foreign domination. It happened against their will.”

Photo: A German air force Tornado fighter jet at Goose Bay in 2005.

Beginning in the late 1980s, the Innu, led mainly by women, began defending their land against NATO low-level fight testing for the cruise missile. More than one hundred Innu land defenders and their supporters were arrested at re-occupations of the Goose Bay airfield and the Minipi Lake bombing range.

Photo: Elders outside a prison when Innu land defenders were being arrested for opposing fighter jets flying over their lands. Photo by Bob Bartel. 

Penashue has noted: “Innu women never used to go out to meetings, but it was time to wake up and do something to stop the destruction caused by low-level flying and weapons testing. …I went to the bombing range with other activists. We put tents on the base to protest. We were jailed many times, in Goose Bay and Stephenville. We walked from Toronto to Ottawa and they put us in jail there, too. I went to Europe twice to speak.”

Photo: A protest at the Goose Bay air force base in 1988 in opposition to NATO low level flight training over Nitassinan.

Photo: Another Innu protest against low-level flight training, 1989.

In October 1994, the Peace Brigades International-North America Project (PBI-NAP) commented: “A continuing issue for the Innu of both Labrador and Quebec is low-level flight training over their hunting territory by Canada and other NATO countries.”

PBI-NAP highlighted at that time the lack of free, prior and informed consent: “The training began without any prior consultation with the Innu.”

It wasn’t until 2005 that the 50+ years of low-level flying operations by NATO member countries over these ancestral lands finally ended.

Almost 20 years later, the issue appears to have emerged again.

We continue to follow this.

Photo: Innu Elder Tshuakuesh Elizabeth Penashue and Peace Brigades International-North America Project activist Anne Harrison in 1995.

Further reading: What impact will Canadian F-35 warplanes at CFB Goose Bay have on Innu territory in Labrador? (PBI-Canada, February 21, 2023) and Canadian and U.S. fighter jets to conduct “exercise flights” over “sparsely populated” Innu territories this week (PBI-Canada, September 20, 2020).

PBI-Guatemala accompanies BDH law firm at sentencing of Poqomchí land defender Sofia Tot Ac for “usurpation”

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Guatemala has posted on Facebook:

“On Tuesday and Wednesday [March 19-20] PBI accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) to the hearing of the resolution of the accusation in the Sofía Case, in Cabón (Alta Verapaz). The judge in his sentence resolved that the Poqomchí defender has been an accomplice in the usurpation of protected areas and had an advantage promoted by such occupation, sentencing her to 3 years and 4 four months in prison commutable to Q5 per day, in addition to the payment of a fine of Q2,600.67.

The BDH lawyers consider that the sentence shows contradictions and inconsistencies. The full sentence is expected to be read on April 1.”

On March 18, just prior to Sofia’s sentencing, US Senator Ed Markey tweeted: “Sofia Tot Ac has long worked to protect the rights of Indigenous people and the environment in Guatemala. I am deeply concerned by her prosecution designed to intimidate human rights defenders and I call on the judge to issue a fair verdict.”

Commenting on her sentencing, the Guatemala Solidarity Project notes:

The Guatemala Solidarity Project has also previously explained:

And we previously noted:

Ruda has explained that Sofía Tot, defender and indigenous authority of Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, is accused of aggravated usurpation.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a former UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, has written that “usurpation” is when “Indigenous peoples become [are charged with being] trespassers or illegal occupants of their own lands.”

ActionAid adds that Tot belongs to the resistance movement for the recovery of the ancestral land of the Mayan Poqomchi people.

They further note: “The activist has always worked in defense of the Sierra de las Minas, affected by mineral extraction concessions. This is despite the fact that 52% of this territory is tropical rainforest. Today, it is heavily affected by deforestation and the pollution of its rivers. According to official information, she is accused of the crime of ‘usurpation of a protected natural area’. Specifically, they point out that by accessing an area where the emblematic quetzal bird lives.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) since 2013.

Photo: Sofía Tot, defender and Indigenous authority of Purulhá, Baja Verapaz. Photo by Rony Morales.

PBI-Guatemala observes evicted communities and BDH lawyers deliver alternative to Protected Areas Law

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“On Tuesday [March 19] PBI observes delegations from various territories of evicted communities accompanying communities of the Laguna del Tigre and Sierra de Lacandón Protected Areas that have lived decades criminalized and threatened with eviction by the current Protected Areas Law.

Together with their lawyers from the Human Rights Law Firm [BDH] they delivered a reform proposal to several congressional deputies. The proposal seeks that the communities are recognized as guardians of nature and that the state complies with their rights to education, health and decent housing.

Since 2010, via accompaniment to the BDH [Human Rights Law Firm] PBI accompanies the alternative proposal of the communities affected by the Protected Areas Law; for more information we invite you to read this article from 2018 that gives context to the life situation of the communities.”

A news report on the protest noted: “Residents from different parts of the departments of Petén, Izabal, Quiché, Zacapa, Baja Verapaz, Sololá and Alta Verapaz participated in the mobilization.”

Indigenous peoples stated: “We demand the protection, conservation and care of the natural area in the communities, because there are areas where people can enter to damage them.”

And another said with a loudspeaker: “This system of government says that there are protected areas, but they are pure lies. Protected because they don’t let us, the native peoples, in, but they do let the landowners, civil servants, the military in, they do let them in to continue exploiting what is not theirs. The territories belong to us.”

The PBI-Guatemala article hyperlinked further explains:

“The LAP Protected Areas Law, enacted in 1989 by Decree 4-89, grants the administration of PA to the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP). The largest PAs in the country are located in Petén, Laguna del Tigre and Sierra Lacandón, and several communities that inhabit them are affected, due to the lack of legal certainty regarding land ownership and permanence. The State’s response to this situation was to establish what are known as Cooperation Agreements (CAs). However, according to one of the lawyers who provides legal support to these communities, the CAs are administrative instruments, implemented unilaterally by CONAP, to tolerate the indefinite stay of the population in these areas, while eviction is achieved. Thus, the few communities that have signed CAs are not free from eviction and find themselves in the same abandonment, criminalized and subject to arbitrary detention by the combined forces.”

Alternative proposal

PBI-Guatemala also notes the alternative underlines “the collective nature that is sought in this property, requesting that the non-repetition of evictions, the resettlement of the forcibly evicted communities be guaranteed, and that the State fulfill its institutional functions through the corresponding government agencies, demilitarizing the region but guaranteeing the necessary security measures to protect peasants from crime organized. They also expressly request that the State not renew or grant licenses and contracts for industrial activities that damage the ecosystem and affect the right to a healthy environment.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) since 2013.

Could Canadian-made Colt M4 and MK18 assault rifles be exported for Israeli “civilian security squads”?

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Protest at Colt Canada Corporation plant in Kitchener, Ontario; February 28, 2024. Photo by World Beyond War Canada.

On March 18, the House of Commons passed a motion that included an amendment from a Liberal Member of Parliament so that it would read Canada will “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

The CBC now reports: “One arms contract that may yet cause problems for Canada is an Israeli order for 24,000 Armalite-style assault rifles that already has been the subject of a hold order from the U.S. government.”

The CBC article continues: “Three-quarters of those rifles are to be supplied by Colt. Colt’s subsidiary Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco) manufactures small arms for the Canadian Forces [and the RCMP, including the controversial C-IRG unit] and was expected to supply some of the Israeli contract.”

**UPDATE: CBC reporter Evan Dyer subsequently tweeted this thread of updates on this.**

As such, it could be the case that the weapons or components could be exported to Israel via the United States.

Image by World Beyond War Canada.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability has noted: “Israel requested to purchase from Colt about 18,000 M4 and MK18 assault rifles, out of 24,000 total assault rifles from U.S. companies. Israel designates these firearms for newly-formed civilian ‘security squads’ in dozens of cities and towns, including illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. U.S. State Department officials, who have to approve the sale of automatic rifles, expressed concerns that these weapons will be used to expel Palestinian civilians from their land in the occupied West Bank.”

Video: Since October 2023, “some 800 new civilian defense squads have been set up throughout Israel.”

Timeline

In October 2023, Israel requested 24,000 rifles for civil security squads under the auspices of the Israel Police.

On November 5, 2023, The New York Times reported: “The three proposed tranches of semi-automatic and automatic rifles are valued at $34 million and are being ordered directly from U.S. gunmakers, but they require State Department approval and congressional notification. Israel says the rifles would be used by the national police force, but has also indicated that they could be given to civilians, people familiar with the weapons orders told The New York Times.”

On November 6, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported: “The Biden administration has approved the transfer of some 24,000 rifles to the Israeli national police.”

On November 9, 2023, Colt declined to comment to Fox News about a protest outside their Connecticut plant about the sale of these rifles.

On December 13, 2023, Axios reported: “Several weeks after the deal was approved, the U.S. State Department decided to slow-walk the process and put the licenses under a new review, the U.S. officials said.”

On January 3, 2024, the AFSC called on the Office of the Secretary of Commerce to
“suspend all licenses and shipments of firearm exports to Israel”.

On March 20, 2024, following the passage of a motion in the House of Commons that references arms exports, CTV reported: “Export permits that were approved before Jan. 8 remain in effect, the office of Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in an emailed statement.”

Beyond this, the current status of the order for these assault rifles is not clear.

Colt at CANSEC, May 29-30

The AFSC has highlighted: “Colt’s Manufacturing Company makes firearms, including the M16, which was the standard-issue assault rifle used by the Israeli military from the 1990s to the early 2010s. Many older M16 rifles are still in use by the Israeli military and police.”

Photo: IDF soldiers in Jabalia, Gaza Strip.

We Are the Mighty has also noted: “The IDF maintains a large quantity of M4s and M16s that have been converted to carbines. As a result, the IDF continues to field both the Tavor and AR as its standard-issue rifles.”

Colt Canada Corporation is listed as an exhibitor (in Booth 1429) at the upcoming CANSEC arms show, this May 29-30 at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

We continue to follow this.

For more: Save the date, World Beyond War Canada webpage for protests planned against CANSEC 2024.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS on Humanitarian Mission to hear from people in La Esperanza, Cantagallo

By
Brent Patterson
-

CREDHOS has posted on Facebook:

“From the territories, listening to the human rights situation of the civilian population, we build peace.

To the district/administrative subdivision of La Esperanza, in the municipality of Cantagallo, Bolivar, the Credhos corporation accompanied the Humanitarian Mission organized by the Ombudsman’s Office and the Mayor’s Office of Cantagallo, in conjunction with State entities, in order to listen carefully to the situation of serious violations of human rights of the population and breaches of international humanitarian law in the context of the conflict that continues to be latent in the territories.

This action is carried out with the Community Boards and Human Rights Committees of the municipality of Yondó, Antioquia and Cantagallo, Bolívar.”

More context on this soon.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) since 1994.

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