A Dutch court ruled on Monday that the Netherlands must halt the export of spare parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel since they’re likely to be used to kill civilians in Gaza.
The Netherlands hosts a warehouse of US-owned F-35 parts and exports them to countries that operate the fighter jets. “The court finds that there is a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets might be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said in its ruling.
The Dutch government said it would appeal the ruling, which ordered a halt to the exports within seven days. The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed against the Netherlands by Oxfam and other human rights organizations.
Losing spare parts from the Netherlands is not expected to have an impact on Israel’s military operations since there are other places to source the equipment. But the ruling piles on the growing international pressure against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians and could lead to similar lawsuits in other countries.
Israel’s biggest backer, the United States, has shown no sign that it’s considering limiting military aid despite the international outrage over the slaughter.
The White House reaffirmed on Monday that it would continue supporting Israel even if it went ahead with its plans to launch a full-scale attack on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, which is packed with an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians.
The court’s coin dropped too late…!
Netherlands, England, and Germany are currently being sued at the ICJ for ‘supporting Genocide’.
I heard that and hopefully that sends another signal to the sleepers…!
Also in Davos Switzerland a sky shop refused to rent equipment to Israelis…!
So antisemitism exists in parts of Switzerland. Who knew?
Antisemitism probably does exist in parts of Switzerland.
But the incident as described doesn’t demonstrate that.
Sure it does. That shop owner is just using the war as excuse to do what he/she believes in. And how do they know the citizenship of their customers? Do they check their passports?
I am willing to bet if an Arab citizen of Israel visit that shop they would do business with them.
Note that I said “the incident as described.”
“As described” was “Israelis.” Not nearly all Israelis are Jews, not nearly all Jews are Israelis, and anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism are not the same thing as anti-semitism.
However, “the incident” as it actually happened, rather than as described, was specifically anti-semitic. It was not Israelis who couldn’t do business with the establishment, it was, specifically and exclusively, Jews.
Tom, thanks for doing some additional research on the incident.
I didn’t really have to do any research — I just happened to come across the story around the same time it got commented on here.
The English translation of the sign, which was in Hebrew, seems to be:
“After a series of annoying incidents, including the theft of a sled, we are no longer renting out sporting equipment to our Jewish brothers.”
So presumably neither limited to Israelis nor related to Gaza.
I didn’t really have to do any research — I just happened to come across the story around the same time it got commented on here.
The English translation of the sign, which was in Hebrew, seems to be:
“After a series of annoying incidents, including the theft of a sled, we are no longer renting out sporting equipment to our Jewish brothers.”
So presumably neither limited to Israelis nor related to Gaza.
Wow, could image a similar sign in the USA?
The USA had about a century of such signs. I remember seeing one in a tunnel that was built from reclaimed materials from an old rail station. It was the “WHITES ONLY” sign that had been posted over the station’s water fountain.
Way to go Oxfam et al, And the Dutch may be saved for one honest judge. But the US is a gone’r.
How in the heck can this ruling be enforced? Just a feel good move.
If it isn’t overturned, it’s rather likely that the NL government will comply with the ruling. That’s how these things usually go.
Tell me how the NL government is going to halt the shipping of US parts on USAF transport planes? The NL will give lip service and that is that. The Netherlands has no interest in confronting the US over this and risk losing the supply base and all of the associated jobs.
If the NL regime controls the warehouse, then the US parts never get ON the USAF transport planes.
Don’t overthink this, Tim. The Netherlands government, assuming that it complies with the court order, would simply cease whatever parts of the shipping and delivery process it usually performs.
And the US will just ship the parts to another warehouse and closed this one.
The US may or may not be able to ship the parts anywhere, depending on the terms of the court order and whether the Netherlands regime actually has physical control of the warehouse.
But the US can certainly stop using that warehouse, and the Netherlands, as a shipping waypoint and just route further parts from and through elsewhere.
Can they ship the parts to the Royal Netherland air force? Or to Germany? Or back to the USA? It would be interesting to read that court order?