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Ban Israeli blood diamonds

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Sunday June 06, 2010 20:15author by Sean Clinton Report this post to the editors

EU must call for urgent review of the Kimberly Process

At this critical juncture it is important that all who seek an end to Zionist hegemony focus on the critical structures underpinning the regime. Even a cursory examination of Israeli trade statistics reveals the importance of the diamond industry to the Israeli economy. Israel dominates the global diamond market and is, by a significant margin, its largest beneficiary with net diamond exports amounting to $10 billion in 2008.
no2_1.jpg

Revenue from the Israeli diamond industry funds war crimes, crimes against humanity and high seas piracy – yet its diamonds are not classed as blood diamonds. The Kimberly Process system of self-regulation introduced by the diamond industry stipulates that only rough diamonds can be classed as blood diamonds. Israel’s cut and polished diamonds avoid having to comply with any human rights standards and are being sold as “conflict free” diamonds to unsuspecting consumer.

The European Union is a member of the Kimberly Process and should immediately call for an urgent review of the process so as to ensure the same human rights standards apply to all sectors of the diamond supply chain and that Israeli blood diamonds are banned.

Please ask your MEP to seek an urgent review of the Kimberly Process.

Sample letter to your MEP

Re: Ban Israeli blood diamonds - review the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme

To (your representative in the European Parliament)

The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KP) is a UN based system of self-regulation introduced by the diamond industry in response to growing public concerns over the trade in conflict or blood diamonds - diamonds that fund human rights abuses.

As of November 2008, the KP has 49 members, representing 75 countries, with the European Community and its Member States counting as an individual participant.

In 2003 the KP adopted a narrow definition of what constitutes a conflict or blood diamond – “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments” As a result of this tight ring-fencing, the process created a double standard in the diamond supply chain. The KP focuses exclusively on human rights abuses funded by rough diamonds. The far more lucrative trade in cut and polished diamonds does not have to adhere to the same human rights standards. Regardless of the human rights abuses funded by cut and polished diamonds they are not classified as blood diamonds and are freely traded on the international market.

Israel is the world’s leading diamond exporter, with exports valued at $20 billion in 2008. Israel stands accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and piracy on the high seas. Revenue from the Israeli diamond industry funds Israel’s criminal behaviour. If the Kimberly Process applied the same human rights standards to all diamonds, Israeli-crafted diamonds would be classed as conflict or blood diamonds and treated accordingly.

During the past week we witnessed Israel’s total disregard for international law and the will of the international community when it violently attacked the Free Gaza Movement aid flotilla in international waters killing nine unarmed civilians as they attempted to deliver essential aid to the besieged people of Gaza. The three year long Israeli siege of Gaza has been described as “collective punishment” – a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Despite these human rights violations by Israel, Israeli diamond exports avoid the strictures of the Kimberly Process simply because they are cut and polished diamonds. As a consequence of this, consumers are being sold Israeli blood diamonds and are thereby unwittingly helping to fund Israel’s on-going breaches of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

Given the foregoing I appeal to you to raise this issue in the European Parliament as soon as possible and to impress upon the Parliament the need for an urgent review of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme so that the same human rights standards apply across all sectors of the diamond supply chain. Until that happens, Israeli blood diamonds, which fund the sort of human rights abuses committed by Israel in the past week, will continue to contaminate the diamond market.

Yours Sincerely,

Related Link: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11170.shtml
author by Someonepublication date Sun Jun 06, 2010 23:29author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Diamonds in times of crisis? Well done Sean, very switched on you are.

author by try to think with . . . your brainpublication date Sun Jun 06, 2010 23:47author address author phone Report this post to the editors

"Diamonds profits=Funding for illegal Israeli Colonies/'Settlements'"

These diamonds help finance the criminals who help finance the many of the illegal Israeli Colonies/'Settlements'" built on recently stolen Palestinian land

To give but one example from many possible examples:

Lev Leviev is one of Israel's richest men. He built his enormous fortune trading in diamonds with apartheid-era South Africa. His company now buys diamonds from the repressive Angolan government. Leviev uses profits from diamond sales to fuel the conflict in Palestine and Israel by funding the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, undermining the prospects for Middle East peace. Leviev's diamonds are "conflict diamonds" in a broad sense of the term, funding repression in Angola and violations of international law in Palestine.


here's another:

Belgian-born Maurice Tempelsman has a long and bloody history in Africa. When Congo’s first Premier, Patrice Lumumba, pledged to return diamond wealth back to the newly independent Congo in the early 60’s, Tempelsman, who began with De Beers in the 1950’s, helped engineer the coup d’etat that consolidated the dictatorship of 29 year-old Colonel Mobutu, and the coup against Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah; diamonds were at stake in each.

From then on diamonds would be extensively used to discreetly fund wars, coups, repression and dictatorships, in Africa.

Maurice Tempelsman is Chairman of the American Jewish Congress, a Zionist pressure group that claims it works closely with the Israeli military. US Securities and Exchange Commision filings show that LKI directors are high-rolling Zionist lawyers and investment bankers: one director belongs to the law firm that once represented President Kennedy—another Tempelsman friend. LKI is also connected to the euphemistically named United States Agency for International Development (USAID) [a probable CIA front]

Maurice Templesman is one of the top funders of Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party [both of whom are refusing to use any useful methods, such as cutting of 'Israeli Military welfare' monies paid every year by the US taxpayer, to pressurise the Israelis to stop stealing Palestinians land and to stop building colonies on that stolen land] Templesman was the unofficial ambassador to the Congo (Zaire) for years


and another

Israeli-American Dan Gertler goes nowhere—does nothing—without the spiritual guidance of Brooklyn-born Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Leibovitch, a personal friend of Condoleeza Rice.

Gertler and Leibovitch are two of the principals behind a diamond mining company, Emaxon Finance Corporation, involved in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Gertler and gang won the majority rights to the diamonds from the state mining company, Société Minière de Bakwange, MIBA, found near the government-controlled town of Mbuji-Mayi, the rough diamond capital of the world.

Dan Gertler is close to Israeli politicians, especially [ultra right wing anti-palestinian racist] Avigdor Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party. Gertler’s inseperable friend, Chaim Leibovitz, is also very close to Lieberman, and was “a regular fixture” in [right-wing Anti-Palestinian racist] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offices. [So essentially Gertler is funding both of the right wing pro-Colony/'Settlement' Israeli parties, using profits from 'Blood Diamonds']



do you need any more examples or is that enough???

author by Sean Clintonpublication date Mon Jun 07, 2010 00:26author address author phone Report this post to the editors

duh

figureno4_small_.jpg

author by Bazooka Joepublication date Tue Jun 08, 2010 00:07author address author phone Report this post to the editors

This is an interesting article on Israeli companies involved in blood diamonds and their links to American political and corporate power.

http://www.allthingspass.com/uploads/html-203BD%20Combd...7.htm

Maurice Tempelsman
http://www.eurasia.org/about/bio_tempelsman.aspx

http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Business_1/The_Ger...shtml

author by Israelite.publication date Tue Jun 08, 2010 10:32author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The Jews have been involved in the diamond trade for more than a thousand years.

Quaint rules imposed on Christians by Rome made sure that Jews slotted into the trade.

The Rome rules on banking are also the reason why Jews were leading bankers.

If the Jews are the leading diamond dealers today you can blame the Vatican.

author by Sean Clintonpublication date Fri Jun 11, 2010 19:17author address author phone Report this post to the editors

A Kimberley Process intersessional meeting will be held in Tel Aviv between June 21-23. This presents an opportunity for the EU to raise the issue of a review of the process so that all diamonds that fund human rights abuse are regulated by the Kimberly Process and not just rough diamonds used by rebel movements.

Not surprisingly, Eli Avidar, Managing Director of the Israel Diamond Institute, says that the focus of the Kimberley Process intersessional meeting in Tel Aviv will be on Zimbabwe’s diamond trade.

Related Link: http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/News.aspx?boneId=918&objid=7221
author by Jew.publication date Sat Jun 12, 2010 15:22author address author phone Report this post to the editors

"This presents an opportunity for the EU to raise the issue of a review of the process so that all diamonds that fund human rights abuse are regulated by the Kimberly Process and not just rough diamonds used by rebel movements".

Let us not forget that Diamonds and Gold helped to preserve a race who were always surrounded by murderous opopsition.

author by anti-Zionistpublication date Sat Jun 12, 2010 16:24author address author phone Report this post to the editors

'The Jews' as you like to refer to them, are not a 'race' - Judaism is a religion shared by a number of separate groups the main ones being :

* Mizrahim (Middle Eastern )
* Ashkenazim (East European/Russian - mainly descended from Khazar-converts to the religion)
* Sephardim (Originally Spanish- probably descended from converts)
* Habashim (Ethiopian - probably descended from converts) -

as any intelligent unbiased observer can see it is utterly implausible that these genetically-disparate groupings could ever truthfully be said to from a cohesive genetic/racial grouping - in fact Mizrahim are more closely connected to modern-day Palestinians than to any other group of humans on the planet and genetic testing has shown this to be the case - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/25/medicalscie...etics

author by Historianpublication date Sat Jun 12, 2010 16:56author address author phone Report this post to the editors

'The Jews' as you like to refer to them, are not a 'race' - Judaism is a religion shared by a number of separate groups the main ones being"

That is being childish.

Race is a general term.

The Irish or English or French are races by name only.

The only pure "race" on earth are the male priests in the Vatican.
There is no chance that females from the outside will contaminate Rome..

Mind you.
Rome itself was founded by:
"The Rape of the Sabine Women".

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women

author by Anti-Zionistpublication date Sat Jun 12, 2010 17:27author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Even if as you say 'race is a general term' it is still utterly meaningless In this context.

When used in this context - when used to equate a religion with a race e.g.: The Christian race, it is nothing but the indication of a racial-supremacist from of thought - anyone using it in such a fashion is in effect a racist, hence my comparison of Zionists with Anti-Semites - they are essentially both sides of the same coin - both are racist

author by Historianpublication date Sat Jun 12, 2010 18:08author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The Irish or English or French are races by name only.

actually Anti-Zionist is correct, (so my apologies to him/her) it is generally true that only racists ever use the terms 'Irish race', 'English race' or 'French race' - they are the thought-products of people for whom racist thinking is second-nature

author by Historianpublication date Sun Jun 13, 2010 03:19author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The only pure "race" on earth are the male priests in the Vatican.

I have no idea how that astoundingly ridiculous sentence quoted above managed to appear under a post bearing my nom de Indymedia - I must have been channeling Opie or something even more bizzare - If any more ridiculous sentences like that appear under my moniker it's probably best to just presume that someone is trying to hijack my chosen identity . . . or else I've been temporarily channeling Opie once again.

author by Biologist.publication date Sun Jun 13, 2010 19:50author address author phone Report this post to the editors

"I have no idea how that astoundingly ridiculous sentence quoted above managed to appear."

It was meant to be ridiculous.

Catholic priests are forbidden to reproduce themselves.

You would not ask that punishment off a bacterium.
.

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