Ferra is a war crime

I carried my blood in my palm
I never lowered my flags
I guarded the green grass
over my ancestor’s graves …. Tawfiq Zayyad 

Facts

1. Ferra Engineering at Tingalpa has exclusive contract(s) with Lockheed Martin to manufacture adapters so that Israeli F-35 aircraft can drop Bunker Buster bombs on residential buildings in Gaza killing over 30,000 people.  Please Note – 2023 amendments to Trade Controls Act 2012 (in aid of AUKUS) would probably end the minister’s right to grant and revoke licences for export to U.S. and U.K. even if they were supplying a country which was engaged in genocide See https://www.innovationaus.com/australia-races-ahead-with-defence-export-control-reforms/

2. The ICJ found it plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide and issued six provisional measures, ordering Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts.

3. The Genocide Convention was ratified by Australia on 8 July 1949 and entered into force on 12 January 1951. As a signatory to that convention Australia must not aid the commission of genocidal acts by Israel.

4. Lockheed Martin has export licenses to provide F-35s to the United States and therefore Israel.

Opinion

Question
Is the Australian government’s support of Israel unlawful?

Answer

Genocide was made a war crime in Australia in 2002. Aiding or abetting the commission of a crime is also a crime. The provision of materiel to a foreign defence force with an appropriate licence is lawful. If it is proven that the materiel provided is being used in the furtherance of genocide, people could make a case that continuing to provide that materiel is aiding and abetting genocide and therefore, a crime. In criminal law there is the presumption of innocence, and most particularly, the time the procedure takes.

There is no power to make interim orders other than bail powers. Pursuant to s 268.121(1) of the Criminal Code, proceedings concerning genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against the administration of justice of the ICC ‘must not be commenced without the Attorney-General’s written consent’. The granting of that consent is a rarity.

I suppose an application for an injunction could be made to prevent the commission of a crime. The granting of an injunction as a civil remedy is discretionary. It will not be granted if to do so would be futile even if the commission of a wrong is demonstrated. I have heard judges say “ It is already a crime (if proven), so what is the point of an injunction?”.

Only an extremely compelling and urgent case could give rise to an interim injunction. Such an injunction is only granted in exchange for the applicant’s providing a meaningful undertaking to pay damages for loss suffered by the respondent if the case is lost in the final hearing.

Also, on Gaza and responsive to the question, is the Australian government support of Israel unlawful? I have some other thoughts. The United States and its acolyte states, including Australia, have decided to defund the UNRWA which provides United Nations aid to Gaza, relying on an allegation by Israel that twelve of UNRWA’s tens of thousands of employees were involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel and its citizens.

The defund of UNRWA by the United States reeks of hypocrisy having regard to the widespread scorn heaped on “Defund the Police” campaigns, which arose from the serious misconduct of some police. The defund UNRWA decisions followed upon the decision of the International Court of Justice making interim orders to hold Israel to account and to protect innocent Palestinian citizens when it found that Israel has a “plausible case” of genocide to answer such as to enliven its jurisdiction.

One of those orders was to take immediate and effective steps to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.In response, Israel, almost immediately, called for the defunding of the UNRWA relying on its allegations against the 12 UNRWA employees.

Defunding UNRWA has the effect of denying the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. Israel’s call to defund UNWRA is in contempt of the orders of the ICJ. Those nations (UK, Australia US etc) who responded to the call are accessories to the contempt.

Israel and the United States orchestrated the release of allegations against the 12 UNRWA employees in response to the interim orders of the ICJ and instituted defunding of UNRWA, doubling down on the genocide, for the purposes of influencing the ICJ in further proceedings. The defunding was to send a message to the ICJ that if it decided that Israel was non-compliant with the present orders such as to warrant further orders and/or a finding of contempt, it would do so while Israel and the U.S. held a gun to the heads of defenceless, starving , homeless Palestinian people who had no agency in the October 7 attack. 

In recent exchanges between Senators Shoebridge and Wong, the foreign minister claimed that Australia has not provided Israel with weapons during the last five (5) years. The senator is lying. A number of Australian companies are providing Israel with components for its war machine that enable that country to commit genocide. For example, Ferra engineering in Tingalpa provides adapter parts for Israeli F35s enabling IDF pilots to drop bombs on people in Gaza. Noia in Maryborough provide Israel with a 155 mm shells.

Ian Curr

1 Feb 2024