Don’t let Australian-made arms and arms parts fuel the oppression of Palestinian people.

Dear Minister,

Richard Marles, Minister for Defence
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Minister,

We, the undersigned, write with concern for the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Despite the long overdue ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian people continue to fight for dignity, equal rights and justice under Israel’s illegal military occupation and system of apartheid.

While we welcome the government’s statement that “Australia has not supplied weapons to Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israeli conflict,” we wish to note that it is not clear if this includes exports of weapons parts where the Israeli Defence Force is the end user.

Australia’s defence export approval process needs reform. What is approved is not public, nor is the end user of the export public, and there is no end-use monitoring of the export. I call on the Australian Government to:

– Oppose any attempts by Israel to establish a permanent military and Israeli civilian presence in Gaza, alter its borders and demographic make-up, or shrink its territory, including through any expanded buffer zones or the construction of permanent checkpoints.

– Immediately impose a comprehensive national arms embargo on Israel, Hamas and other armed groups until there is no longer a substantial risk that arms could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law; and effective accountability mechanisms are in place;

– In addition, the Australian government should impose strict human rights-based end-use/end-user agreements on recipients of arms and ensure that they are implemented through proactive monitoring and robust post-delivery controls; and;

– Looking forward, the Australian government must adopt a transparent national control system that provides as much up-to-date and publicly accessible information as possible on the quantity, type, dollar value, final destination, end user and end use of all military and dual-use equipment and munitions, including parts and components.

Yours sincerely,