EU border agency shops around for Israeli warplanes

David Cronin Rights and Accountability 13 February 2012

Israel’s war machine may be recruited to stop impoverished foreigners from reaching the European Union.

A pilotless drone manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently took part in a demonstration exercise organized by Frontex, the EU’s border management agency, in Greece. A statement issued by IAI indicates that the drone (or unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV) in question belonged to the Heron range, which was used extensively during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. Frontex has put out a call for tenders on drones that can help it identify boats carrying migrants en route to Europe.

Nonchalant attitude to war crimes

This morning I contacted Frontex headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, to ask why it is considering the purchase of warplanes from a company known to have profited from crimes against humanity. “[EU] member states are interested in surveillance technology,” Frontex spokeswoman Ewa Moncure replied. “So we are looking at what is out there. The fact that it has been used for other purposes cannot prevent us from looking at this technology.”

Her nonchalant attitude says much about the relationship between the EU and Israel. Human rights monitors have documented how Israeli soldiers killed 87 civilians with drones during Cast Lead, illustrating how they were one of the main weapons in an offensive that left around 1,300 Palestinians dead. When Herons are the tools of oppression and occupation, it is not acceptable for an official EU body to claim that they have been used merely for “other purposes.”

Business as usual for EU-Israel relations

A few weeks ago, there was a minor ripple of excitement when a paper drawn up by EU diplomats based in East Jerusalem and Ramallah was leaked. It argued that the Union should take steps to prevent the money of European taxpayers from helping the expansion of Israeli settlements.

IAI’s subsidiary Tamam provided equipment installed in Israel’s apartheid wall in the West Bank. As one of the objectives of that monstrosity is to ringfence settlements regarded as strategically important by Israel, the IAI would appear to be the kind of company that the EU diplomats had in mind when they implicitly complained about how the Union is greasing the palms of the occupation’s profiteers. It is significant, though, that other branches of the EU’s labyrinthine bureaucracy — such as Frontex — are perfectly happy to consider supporting such companies by buying their wares.

Under the EU’s treaties all of its activities are legally obliged to respect fundamental human rights. Sadly, the memo explaining that fact does not appear to have been sent to Frontex. Last year, Human Rights Watch published the findings of its investigation into the detention of almost 12,000 migrants who entered Greece at its land border with Turkey between November 2010 and March 2011. Guards working for Frontex regularly apprehended those migrants and brought them to detention facilities that were so shabby that they were condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, the report found.

Frontex assists human rights abuses

Attempting to migrate to another country is not a crime. So by taking part in such operations, Frontex assisted in the jailing of people who had not been accused of a recognizable offence. In other words, it abetted human rights abuses by criminalizing the innocent. Yet that didn’t stop the European Parliament from giving Frontex a present of €44 million in September. That sum is additional to the agency’s annual budget, which rose from €6 million in 2005 to €86 million in 2011.

IAI calls human rights workers “stupid”

I also called IAI earlier today to check if the type of Heron being assessed by Frontex was deployed in Gaza. “The Heron is used only for gathering information,” said the company’s representative Hadal Paz. When I pointed out that human rights monitors have amassed credible evidence indicating that civilians were killed with Herons in Cast Lead, Paz responded. “That fact that somebody wrote something in a stupid article doesn’t mean it is correct. I read your website [The Electronic Intifada] very carefully and a lot of the information you have there is incorrect.”

Paz did not, however, provide one specific example of any inaccurate detail in EI’s reporting.

When speaking to Moncure from Frontex, I asked her if she was aware of the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She didn’t appear to know what I was talking about. It is vital that this knowledge gap be plugged. You can contact Frontex at this email address: frontex@frontex.europa.eu. Please let its management and staff know that shopping around for Israeli weapons is an affront to humanity, regardless of what they want to do with those weapons.

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Comments

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Shepherd replied on

Re: your statement "attempting to migrate to another country is not a crime."-- can you explain? I'm pretty sure it is illegal to cross borders without proper identification, visas, etc. therefore, a crime. I'm very, very sympathetic with the plight of the refugees and economic migrants who simply want a better life. Wouldn't it be better to improve the system so they can get visas to cross legally, work legally and live legally in the west? The present circumstances make that virtually impossible, and that's why they enter illegally. Understandable yes. Legal, um.. no.

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Ali Abunimah replied on

In most cases, crossing borders without proper documentation is a civil matter, though I agree movement is becoming increasingly criminalized.

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Ewa Moncure replied on

I read your article with great interest. I noticed however that you made an error in one of your statements. The sentence that says, “Frontex is shopping around for Israeli weapons” is factually incorrect as we are exclusively looking at non-armed surveillance equipment for non-military use including search-and-rescue operations at sea. Frontex’s R&D department looks at the latest technology that can be used by the border authorities in the EU member states. For this purpose Frontex hosts various demonstrations where numerous providers present their latest developments in many areas, such as biometrics or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). We are evaluating the surveillance capabilities of RPAs with a focus on their use to save lives.

David Cronin's picture

David Cronin replied on

Drones are designed as warplanes and have been used to kill civilians in Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. Your stated intention to use drones for civilian purposes does not alter the fact that they are warplanes.

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Red Snapper replied on

Again THE question in the air: who kills? a machine or a man pulling the trigger?

People! As of today please stop using:
teflon frying pan,
Gore Tex,
cars (e.g. Saab and Volvo),
planes (e.g. Boeing and EADS-Airbus),
microwave ovens and so on...

All those products were produced for the army and "civilised" later on. Boeing and EADS are the top warplanes producers globally; it is Boeing that constructed the fence at the U.S. - Mexico border few years ago. Saab and Volvo, "peaceful" Swedish companies producing lethal warplanes since 1940's. Microwaves you use every morning to heat your milk - a side-effect of Raytheon research on radars during the World War II.

I understand the author will never travel by plane produced in Israel but is keen to take a comfortable seat in an Airbus traveling from Brussels to London or to take a ride in a comfortable Volvo.

If this article is about "bad boys" could one tell me what is the difference between killing Afghanis, Iraqis, Libyans and Palestinians? Innocent people die. Are we Europeans any better than Israelis? Are we?

And if not why is it wrong to test drones for civilian use? Because they are Israelis? Yes.

At the end this is Electronic Intifada so the author can shoot around with just one goal: to have a hit. But please remember that a word can be as lethal as a drone.

The author is not helping the Palestinian cause with this article, the author wants to show how good he is and how ignorant others are.

Let all supporters of As-Sulta al-Watanijja al-Filastinijja be wiser and peaceful in their actions.

David Cronin

David Cronin's picture

David Cronin is an associate editor of The Electronic Intifada. His books include Balfour’s Shadow: A Century of British Support for Zionism and Israel and Europe’s Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation.