German arms exports to 'Israel' increased tenfold in 2023

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Nov 2023 23:48
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As of November 2, the German government permitted weaponry exports worth 303 million euros ($324 million).

Israeli occupation forces stand near a tank on the border with Lebanon on October 21, 2023 (AFP)

Compared to the same period in 2022, Germany has boosted its arms shipments to "Israel" by about ten times since the beginning of the year.

The majority of the sales were approved after October 7, according to a report published on Wednesday by German television Tagesschau, which cited the Economy Ministry.

The broadcaster quoted the Ministry as saying, in response to a request submitted by Tagesschau's parent company, the ARD media group, that as of November 2, the German government permitted weaponry exports worth 303 million euros ($324 million), a tenfold increase compared with 2022.

Early in October, the German Economy Ministry said that with 3.3 billion euros in authorized shipments, Ukraine led the list of countries receiving Germany's military exports, followed by the United States (466 million euros) and Hungary (1.03 billion euros).

German authorities have not only funded Israeli crimes against Gaza, which have killed over 10,569 Palestinians so far but also decided to ban the activities of Samidoun, an international network of organizers and activists who work to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.

Germany's Minister of Interior, Nancy Faeser, announced that she will also be "completely" banning the activities of Hamas, the Palestinian Resistance party. Hamas had already been designated as a "terrorist" organization in Germany, which makes the decision ambiguous as it does not specify what the term "completely" indicates.

Samidoun, also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, works to support and advocate for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held captive in Israeli prisons. Faeser claims that the organization is spreading anti-Semitic propaganda.

German authorities have obscured the clear distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. This is not the first time that individuals or organizations have been accused of anti-Semitism by the German government or corporations. In fact, earlier last year, German state media Deutsche Welle (DW) went on an Israeli-sponsored media purge, dismissing several employees for expressing pro-Palestinian opinions.

One of the employees was Jordanian-Palestinian journalist Farah Maraqa who later won an appeal against DW for arbitrarily firing her.

Samidoun is one of many pro-Palestinian groups that work on building solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. The organization was established following a hunger strike that lasted from September to October 2011.