Australia is playing a huge, though largely obscured role, in arming Israel in its war against Gaza.
A correspondent at Declassified Australia, Kellie Tranter, recently explained Australia’s key role in fitting out the F-35 fighter jet currently being used by Israel.
I was interviewed about these issues for Al Jazeera English:
Antony Loewenstein, an Australian journalist and author of the book, The Palestine Laboratory, said there is “damning evidence” that Western states, including Australia, have been selling weapons that are “potentially being used in Gaza as we speak”.
Loewenstein, who was based in East Jerusalem between 2016 and 2020, has investigated how Israeli weaponry and surveillance technology is used on Palestinians and exported around the world.
“There is bipartisan support [from major political parties] in Australia for a large and growing arms industry, regardless of the serious human rights concerns around that,” Loewenstein said.
“Secrecy benefits the arms industry”, he told Al Jazeera.
“What matters ultimately is making money,” he said.
“That’s all it’s about.”
Australia was the 15th largest exporter of major arms globally in 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which monitors global arms sales.
Read the whole thing: Australian arms exports to Israel in focus amid court case, port protests | Israel-Palestine conflic