There have been no reported donations for a few years now, but they are still attracting top level cabinet ministers to their events, with David Miliband the star attraction last week in Kensington.
It is an odd choice of person to try and sell Labour to a Muslim audience, much less elicit money from them. Mr Miliband is at the moment trying to find a way to stop Israelis being tried for war crimes in the UK, was supportive of the Gaza bombings himself, and typically dismissive of the Goldstone report. He dismissed the latter as “flawed”, albeit this is coming from the government that thinks Chilcot is a robust inquiry.
A couple of years ago, Miliband was forced to deny reports that he had visited relatives of his who were Israelis that lived in an illegal West Bank settlement, one of the biggest obstacles to peace. That report in the Jewish Chronicle has mysteriously vanished. The question of who these relatives are has never been answered.
Maybe they live in East Jerusalem. Miliband appears to be the architect of the UK Government’s current position where it is advocating a “shared Jerusalem”. With weasel words though, he told the MFL audience he backed a Palestinian state on 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that he actually wants to change internationally accepted borders.
HMG is busy buying the latest weapon systems from the Israeli military-industrial duplex - all tried and tested on live human guinea pigs in illegaly Occupied Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza) before being released for sale on the open international arms market.
Maybe Miliband might want to negotiate for the purchase of Israeli-made white phosphorus bombs which were deployed so effectively, a year ago, against Gaza schools and schoolchildren too?
Letters - Attack on the Drones
The Guardian
26 Jan 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/26/bae-systems-surveillance-drones
BAE is racing to capture the domestic UK drones market (CCTV in the sky: police plan to use military-style spy drones, 23 January) but is that because an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, seems to have the military market wrapped up? Elbit has sold the UK the Hermes drone system, battle-tested in the West Bank and Gaza, as part of the £850m Watchkeeper contract now nearing completion.
After the attack on Gaza, Britain cancelled three licences for export of arms to Israel. It did nothing about the almost £1bn contract to purchase and develop Israeli technology, which supports the Israeli military-industrial complex and funds the development of new weapons that can be used in support of the illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Jim Wright
Hastings
Posted by: joe90 kane | 27 January 2010 at 03:02 PM
Just for the record
Elbit Systems owns a subsidiery based in Leicestershire, UK.
Elbit Systems
Major Subsidiaries
http://www.elbitsystems.com/aboutus.asp?id=370
European Subsidiaries
U-TacS. UAV Tactical Systems Ltd. (U-TacS) is a U.K. subsidiary located in Leicester, U.K., held 51% by Elbit Systems (through a wholly-owned U.K. holding company – Elbit Systems UK Limited), with the remaining 49% owned by Thales UK Limited, a subsidiary of Thales S.A. U-TacS’ main business is to perform a major part of the Watchkeeper Program and other related programs.
Also see -
UAV Tactical Control System (TCS)
FAS - Federation of American Scientists
http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/uav_tcs.htm
Posted by: joe90 kane | 28 January 2010 at 02:09 PM
Still on foreign relations, as that is Miliband's government responsibility, here is some info from a fellow member of mine, on the JustPeaceUK Yahoo Messege Group.
A debate took place in the House of Commons yesterday on EU-Israel trade. It contains a detailed analysis by Phyllis Starkey of how EU-Israel regulations on trade in settlement goods are evaded, and a government response.
The record on the JfJfP website has been marginally edited to take out page breaks, interruptions and the like -
Settlement goods – House of Commons debate
UK Parliament
Jews for Justice for Palestine
27 Jan 2010
http://jfjfp.com/?p=9834
The original is in Hansard starting at 4pm and following here -
EU-Israel Trade Agreement
27 Jan 2010 : Column 313WH
Hansard
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100127/halltext/100127h0009.htm
Posted by: joe90 kane | 30 January 2010 at 06:53 PM