Military deal makes Australia complicit in Palestine’s oppression

An Israeli government-owned military company has joined forces with an Australian firm to produce precision-guided missiles and other equipment for Australia’s military. Supporters of Palestinian rights and anti-war activists must seek to break this contract.

Rafael Advanced Defence Systems was formed in 1948, the year that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to make room for Israel took place. Since then, it has gone on to develop and manufacture a variety of weapons used against Palestinians.

The website of the Israeli government-owned company states: “Rafael applies vast experience and ingenuity in creating unique technological capabilities and specialised components and subsystems, such as rocket motors, warheads and pyrotechnics.”

In recent years, Rafael has partnered with Raytheon, a huge United States-based weapons and cyber security company that specialises in precision weapons, electronic warfare and missile defence.

Together they developed David’s Sling, which is comprised of a multi-pulse Stunner missile and designed for use in Israel to destroy rockets and short-range ballistic missiles. Raytheon’s website states “the David’s Sling System forms a crucial element of Israel’s multi-tier layered missile defence architecture.”

The two companies jointly worked on Israel’s Iron Dome Weapon System.

Rafael also developed the Popeye air-to-ground missile and the Protector USV, an unmanned, autonomous naval combat system.

Read the article by Mark Govier in Green Left Weekly.

[Editor:  All of the military equipment mentioned in this egregious article is either for Israel defence purposes or for offense against attacks from the military machinery of Israel’s neighbours. These endeavours have nothing whatsoever to do with Palestinian oppression.]