[News] App makes killing Palestinians as easy as ordering pizzas

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/app-makes-killing-palestinians-easy-ordering-pizzas
App
makes killing Palestinians as easy as ordering pizzas

David Cronin <https://electronicintifada.net/people/david-cronin> - 2
December 2020
------------------------------

The group Palestine Action has protested continuously at sites in Britain
run by the Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems. (Via Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/palacti0n/photos/a.100153191794726/132463648563680>
)

Killing a Palestinian will soon be as easy as ordering a pizza.

That repugnant message – albeit couched in less explicit terms – was
delivered through a recent article
<https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/46485> published by the website
*IsraelDefense*.

It quotes Oren Matzliach, a colonel who is overseeing the use of a new app
by the Israeli military. The app would allow a commander to type details
about a target on a small electronic device and then troops would open fire
on that target swiftly.

Ordering an attack will be “like ordering a book on Amazon or a pizza in a
pizzeria using your smartphone,” Matzliach said.

The causal way in which the colonel speaks about remote-control slaughter
should outrage everyone.

The Israeli authorities – or high-ranking figures within them – view every
Palestinian as a legitimate target.

That much became clear – if it wasn’t already – during the Great March of
Return protests in Gaza over the past few years. Civilians who demanded
their basic rights were officially declared
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/icc-warns-israeli-leaders-over-gaza-killings>
as “terrorists” by the Israeli government.

The app has been developed through the Digital Land Army program, developed
by the Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems in conjunction with the Israeli
military.
Disruption is vital

Such “innovations” prove why it is vital to disrupt the weapons trade.

For several months, Elbit has been the focus of protests organized by the
group Palestine Action in Britain.

The protests – which have included temporary shutdowns
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-israel-drone-elbit-factory-palestine-occupation>
of an Elbit-owned plant near Birmingham and invasions of the firm’s London
offices – have evidently irritated
<https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/lets-talk-about-vandalism/> Israel and its
lobbyists. An Israeli minister is reported
<https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/repeated-anti-israel-vandalism-in-uk-by-bds/>
to have asked that the British government suppress them.

Protesters can take heart from how previous actions of this nature have
made a significant impact.

When Israel attacked Lebanon during 2006, nine activists occupied
<https://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2017/1108/918514-the-occupation/> a
software plant that Raytheon, a US weapons giant, had opened in the
northern Irish city of Derry. Raytheon decided to withdraw from Derry as a
result of that protest.
Priority market

It is a safe bet that conversations are taking place among Elbit’s managers
about the future of their investments in Britain.

Elbit regards Britain as a priority market
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/failed-british-politician-hired-leading-israel-lobbyist>
and has developed a network of factories and offices across the country.

The British government has become an important client for Elbit. Between
2018 and this year, the British defense ministry ordered
<https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-10-08-ties-that-bind-britain-buys-46m-of-israeli-military-equipment-and-stations-troops-in-israel/>
around $61 million worth of Elbit’s products or services.

During October, Elbit was an active participant in an annual exercise held
by the British military. The exercise bears the not-so-subtle name of the Army
Warfighting Experiment <https://twitter.com/BritishAWE>.

Elbit took advantage of the experiment to showcase new radio equipment and
a satellite communications system intended for soldiers.

Elbit also displayed a portable shelter that can, if a promotional brochure
<https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/esuk-website/MJktnitiRbyy0rbRKIcg-rhino-tactical-command-shelter-pdf>
is accurate, be set up “close to enemy lines” during a military operation.
The shelters – which look compact and relatively comfortable – are “field
proven,” according to the brochure.

The weapons industry trots out euphemisms
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/has-israels-weapons-industry-really-declared-war-virus>
like “field proven” or “battle proven” to alert potential clients how the
items being marketed have been tested in wars.

Elbit’s most lucrative “battle proven” products are probably the drones it
has supplied to Israel’s military. They have proven lethal when used for
firing missiles at civilians.

Not surprisingly, Elbit does not openly gloat about how it abets Israel’s
crimes against humanity.

Sometimes it even conceals the fact that it is an Israeli company.
Promoting its British investments on Twitter, Elbit favors the deceptive
hashtag “made in Britain.”

For people across the globe who experienced colonization, the British Army
has long been regarded as one of the most violent organizations in history.

Elbit, however, proclaims itself proud to support that army. Britain’s
troops look “cool” with Elbit’s wearable computers strapped to their backs,
the company brags.

When the weapons industry makes killing as easy as ordering a pizza, there
is a risk we will no longer be shocked by how it profits from suffering.
Activists who are determined to keep us shocked must be applauded.
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