Israel to host genocide seminar

Israel is hosting dozens of allies at a international military seminar. The Times of Israel reported that the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, India, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Estonia, Japan, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia are participating.

But now the UK has pulled out. Israel-supporting sources in the UK have attacked the government for putting “ideology over national security”. But a senior military source says Israel will use the event to spread propaganda.

Needless to say, many others oppose the seminar too. Global Students for Palestine Network(GSPN) said:

The event is intended as a platform that actively showcases and instructs military tactics used in Gaza, in order to share knowledge on how such genocidal methods can be deployed elsewhere

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michelle (@shirleybird00)

The Israeli military claims the event will:

strengthen cooperation, enhance familiarity with diverse operational approaches, exchange professional knowledge and experience between the participating militaries, and reinforce understanding of the IDF’s activity.

As with anything coming from the Israeli army, this needs to be taken with an industrial quantity of salt.

UK pulls out

And, according the Telegraph, the UK has pulled out of the event. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) reportedly told the paper that:

despite the Army having received an invitation, it was decided that no British officers or officials would attend.

The billionaire-owned paper said the aim of the conference was to use “case studies” from “two years of complex fighting in Gaza” to improve urban warfare skills.

Which is a very long-winded way to say ‘explain how you carried out a genocide’.

The Telegraph added:

Topics covered included advances in the military use of data and AI, the co-ordination of drones and artillery to protect advancing troops, and how to increase the chances of injured soldiers surviving their wounds.

Lots of guides for fellow genocide fanatics, then.

Ideology over security

One unnamed Tory source said the decision was a poor one:

Israel is an ally. Whatever your view is of the conflict, they’re incredibly experienced and you would want to know what lessons they have learned.

My gut says it is a completely naive view from a Government that puts ideology over national security.

The comment is at odds with reality. The Starmer government has repeatedly backed the Israeli regime to the hilt. On 12 November, UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese told Middle East Eye:

The UK is one of those interesting cases of manufacturing, where the political leadership has helped manufacture consensus around the war that Israel has unleashed against the population of Gaza.

The UK has given Israel enormous military and intelligence support throughout the slaughter, while suppressing dissent at home. You can see how our own Hannah Sharland mapped the state crackdown here.

Nothing to see here

Even so, one senior military source told the Telegraph the event was “likely” to be seen as a chance for Israel to propagandize to allies:

There are two things here, one is that Israel genuinely has stuff they want to pass on – which they have never done before.

But what’s much more likely is they want to tell a story that vindicates them from the allegations they face. In terms of whether this is a loss of opportunity for the UK, no, not really.

Israel’s reputation and soft power has vastly diminished in the last two years. It’s leaders are currently under investigation for genocide and crimes against humanity. Partly, this looks like desperate move to regain influence by marketing ‘expertise’ to a captive audience. And no country with a commitment to even basic human rights should attend this event.

Featured image via the Canary