International human rights groups have recently teamed up with pro-Palestinian legal groups to try to change policy through legal petitions to Denmark and the UK, two of the few major European countries that have yet to announce an arms embargo against Israel. The Danish parliament previously categorically rejected a proposal to ban the export of weapons and spare parts to Israel, while in the UK, the new Labour government has indicated it is considering imposing a ban on arms sales to Israel in the near future.
The petition is part of a legal battle that European pro-Palestinian and human rights groups have waged against Israel since the Gaza war began. The main groups active in this battle in Europe are Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, and local pro-Palestinian groups.
The alliance’s first success was when a Dutch court last February banned the supply of spare parts for F-35 fighter jets from a Dutch military warehouse to Israel, citing concerns that it risked exposing the Netherlands to liability for war crimes in Gaza.
In France, a legal coalition including some of these organisations succeeded in blocking individuals linked to Israeli defence industry companies from entering the Eurosatory arms exhibition in June, via a ruling by the regional court in the local city of Bobigny.
“Israel has the right to defend itself.”
While countries such as Italy, Spain and Belgium have voluntarily announced the suspension of defense exports to Israel due to the war, several countries on the continent have taken different lines. The Danish government has demonstrated a relatively pro-Israel policy since the start of the war, due in part to its purchase of advanced weapons systems from Israel in the past year, as well as the Scandinavian country’s close ties with the United States.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen have repeatedly stated publicly that Israel has the right to defend itself. Frederiksen even went so far as to defend the country’s Jewish community after pro-Palestinian demonstrations turned anti-Semitic.
At the end of May, the Danish parliament voted overwhelmingly (84 votes to 11) to reject an opposition proposal to halt the export of arms and security equipment to Israel, mainly in relation to parts for F-35 aircraft that are produced domestically and have been exported to the Israeli Air Force in recent months.
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An earlier petition by a Danish group was rejected, but a petition was recently filed in Copenhagen’s civil court, arguing that continued exports of parts for F-35 aircraft operated by the Israeli Air Force could “make Denmark complicit in war crimes in violation of its international obligations.”
The petitioners are asking the court to block this. Foreign Minister Rasmussen again responded strongly to the petition, saying Danish courts “have no power to decide whether the export of this or that part is a legitimate government activity or not.” Foreign Minister Rasmussen made it clear that “Denmark cannot be blamed for exporting weapons that violate international law.”
Amnesty International, which disagrees with the Danish government’s position, argues that Danish courts can and should examine whether government policies are “in accordance with international law,” according to an article about the petition in the Danish newspaper Politiken. The Danish government’s legal position is that the groups have no right to sue in court. One of the defendants, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is asking the court to dismiss the recently filed lawsuit in its entirety.
Testimony from Gaza on petition against arms exports
In the UK, four prominent organisations working on this issue in Europe, along with the Global Legal Action Network, have filed a petition to the Supreme Court calling for the government to halt all military exports to Israel. Like the Danish petition, they also call for a moratorium on exports of spare parts and F-35 components, citing alleged “war crimes and violations of international law” in Gaza.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that the groups plan to present testimony to the court from Western doctors in Gaza and local families affected by air force bombings.
The petitioners are calling for an immediate halt to exports from the UK, which have reportedly now fallen to just millions of pounds worth of defence equipment, from much more expensive items in the past. The petition is due to be heard between the 8th and 10th of October.
A government decision is likely to be made ahead of the court hearing. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has visited Israel several times since taking over as foreign secretary last month, said he had launched a “new legal investigation” to look into whether Israel has actually committed, or is suspected of having committed, war crimes as part of the Gaza war. Lammy told media he launched the investigation on his first day in office in early July.
If this question is answered in the affirmative, the British government could immediately declare an arms embargo.
Various British media reports in the past few weeks have revealed that the UK Department for Trade has already frozen arms export requests in some cases because “the matter is under review”. However, the UK government has said in recent days that “there is no change to our export policy towards Israel”.
Published by Globes (en.globes.co.il), an Israeli business news site, on August 22, 2024.
© Copyright 2024 by Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd.
