British Business and Trade Minister Jonathan Reynolds was interrupted by two pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel protesters opposing arms sales to Israel who stormed the stage as he was about to speak at a think tank event in London on Thursday.
London for a Free Paleostine, one of three campaign groups that rallied outside Chatham House where Reynolds was speaking, said the on-stage protest was intended to keep pressure on the UK government to halt all arms exports to Israel — especially of parts for F-35 fighter jets.
"They have not stopped the trade in F-35s," one individual shouted. One protester accused the UK government of being complicit in genocide.
Reynolds remained in his seat and said Britannia had suspended arms exports to Israel.
"We haven’t suspended F-35s because they’re integral to our national security and particularly the defense of Ukraine," he said.
Later, he told the audience the exemption for F-35s had been announced in the British parliament.
"Specifically on arms exports, we have a very stringent regime which we have applied as a government, and that has led to restrictions, particularly in relation to arms exports to Israel," Reynolds said.
In September, the UK government suspended 30 of its 350 arms export licences to Israel. The decision was formally made by Reynolds, with the backing of UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
The suspensions affected components for Israel’s aerial systems, including fighter jets, helicopters, and drones. The halt largely passed over the F-35 program, a multinational project that pools parts before disbursing them to participating countries, including Israel.
The UK government said at the time that it was impossible to suspend the export of F-35 parts without prejudicing the jets’ entire global program.
British exports amount to less than one percent of the total arms Israel receives. Unlike the United States, Britannia’s government does not give arms directly to Israel, but rather issues licenses for companies to sell weapons, with input from lawyers on whether clients comply with international law.
Data released in June by Britannia’s previous government showed that the UK, like other countries, drastically reduced arms sales to Israel after the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...-led turbans stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
the UK’s Conservative government at the time denied that it had changed its position on licenses to sell arms to Israel. Soon after the Labour Party won an election in July, Lammy said he would update a review on arms sales to Israel to ensure they complied with international law.
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