Background
Israel’s 76 years of settler-colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and military occupation, and now also a live-streamed genocide against Palestinians, have been perpetrated mostly with imported weapons. Israeli armed forces are dependent, now more than ever, on mass shipments of weapons. After the U.S, Europe is Israel’s second largest source of weapons.
Various military embargo campaigns in Europe have been successful in exposing, scandalizing and even stopping arms shipments to Israel. The campaigns can learn from each other and build stronger coordination.
European complicity
The complicity of Europe in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians is both criminal, immoral and unwise.
Military ties with apartheid Israel are illegal under international law. Several international treaties to which all European states are signatory forbid the sale of arms to, the purchase of arms from, and the transiting of arms to a state committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and which is prima facie committing genocide. The UN Human Rights Council has called for a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, as have dozens of UN human rights experts. European governments have every reason to assume that the weapons they sell will be used to kill or maim Palestinian civilians in Gaza or destroy infrastructure and homes there. The weapons they buy finance Israel’s war machine and are tested on Palestinians. The weapons they transit to Israel are turning the Gaza Strip into a graveyard for children.
Europe is arming itself, partly with Israeli weapons “field-tested” on Palestinians, at the cost of the standard of living and essential social services. The EU in particular is financing the development of new lethal weapons and tools of oppression through research grants, such as by Horizon Europe, and through academic collaborations with Israel’s complicit universities and military companies.
Your potential targets:
Advocacy – Pressure and lobby your governments to comply with their legal obligations under international law and heed the calls from Palestinian and international civil society and grassroots movements to end complicity in Israel’s genocide and 76-year-old regime of settler-colonial apartheid.
Build Divestment Campaigns
Pressure pension funds, banks and institutions (including universities) to divest from deeply complicit companies, especially Israeli arms companies, and US and European arms companies that are arming Israel’s genocide and apartheid.
Mobilize pressure on your city council to call for a comprehensive military embargo and to exclude from any procurement and investment contract companies that are implicated in grave human rights violations anywhere.
How to build a military embargo campaign:
Get the facts:
Research the military ties of your government and institutions with Israel
Does your State buy, sell, produce or transit Israeli weapons or military equipment? Do your universities have ties to Israeli universities doing military and security research? Do universities and/or corporations have joint military or dual-use R&D projects with Israel or its complicit entities? Do Israeli military and/or security companies have a presence in your country?
Tips:
Questions from parliamentarians to the government and freedom of information requests can help expose military-security relations.
The AFSC has recently launched a website to highlight the most important companies which are arming Israel and facilitating its genocide in Gaza.
Create awareness:
Expose these military ties on mainstream media, alternative media and social media.
Show governments that public opinion supports a military embargo
Prepare petitions, joint intersectional statements of civil society (trade unions, churches, human rights groups, social justice movements and more), social media actions, etc.
Build pressure:
Build people’s power through grassroots activism
Organize sit-ins, vigils, marches, protest encampments, demonstrations, and other peaceful disruptions at weapon factories, military bases, complicit universities, arms fairs, and in front of relevant government buildings.
Disruptions through legal and peaceful means can stop or hinder the supply chains of weapons to Israel, delay trains, trucks, ships and planes carrying deadly ammunition.
Intersectional alliances that connect struggles are crucial to build the movement and build power. Ask yourself who else could be affected by this complicity? What other social movements, human rights organizations, trade unions, peace movements, and political parties would be ready to contribute to a military embargo campaign? Connect the military and security ties with Israel to the rising repression at home, the diminishing funds for healthcare, jobs and education, and/or other social justice issues.
Mobilize stakeholders
Unions whose members are involved in the arms trade, student bodies of complicit universities and others can issue statements that they will refuse to partake in or facilitate military ties with Israel.
Work with human rights organizations to take legal action
Consult with movement-friendly legal experts and organizations whether a legal case can be built against these military-security ties and if yes, which organization would be best to lead. Various legal approaches exist, including suing officials for arms deals that violate international obligations and have been conducted on their watch, filing requests for injunctions to stop arms shipments, police complaints against visiting Israeli criminals or dual-citizens who are implicated in Israel’s genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Publicize your impact:
Each incremental progress in your campaign, from the growing coalition against military ties with Israel to the moment you reach your campaign goal, represents a step forward in bringing about accountability. It contributes to the growth of the BDS movement, its efforts towards a full military embargo on Israeli apartheid, and the empowerment of people working to end international complicity in its genocidal policies. Don’t forget that it is crucial to publicize, promote and widely share the impact you are having!
Influence decision-makers in your country through advocacy meetings and call for policy and legislation to implement a comprehensive military embargo.
Which actions are right for my context?
The most effective BDS campaigning is always context-sensitive, considering one’s environment and capacities. Campaign building requires planning, media work, coalition building, strategic crafting of messages, and a division of labor between individuals and organizations based on their strengths, leverage and contacts.
Divide the work based on your networks and your skills. Let the social media experts develop the messages, the experienced civil society professionals plan advocacy campaigns, the unionists lead union actions, and the students and supporting staff lead campus mobilizations.
Note: BDS campaigns are intersectional, ethically considerate of the rights and safety of participants, nonviolent and categorically anti-racist. This must be reflected in our military embargo campaigns as well.
For more guidance, please visit our Military Embargo campaign page.
If you need support in building your military embargo campaign or you have questions about arms companies in your area or transfer of weapons through your area, please contact us at the BDS movement.
Existing campaigns:
Block the boat - stop illegal arms deliveries through the Mediterranean.
Israel is a global leader in using and exporting spyware technology which violates privacy and human rights. Spyware is used to spy on Palestinians through their phones as part of the “target generation” for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The same Israeli spyware products have been extensively used by European governments against their own citizens. Join our global network of organizations to work towards banning spyware.
The #NoTechforApartheid campaign warns of the danger of tech companies such as HP, Google and Amazon equipping Israel’s armed forces with dangerous technologies that enable their commission of grave human rights violations and war crimes.The European Union breaks its own rules by financing Israeli military research with money earmarked for civilian research.