In Monday October 16, 2023, Palestinian trade unions released an urgent call for international trade unions to take action to halt the arms trade to Israel. The call comes amid a ruthless bombing campaign of Gaza, following Hamas’ October 7 offensive into Israel, and as Israel prepares for a ground invasion into the territory.

In the week following October 7, the full force of the Israeli military-industrial apparatus was put on display. Over just six days, Israel dropped more than 6,000 bombs onto Gaza. Human Rights Watch verified videos documenting Israel’s use of the lethal chemical white phosphorous in Gaza and Southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced the ministry was purchasing 10,000 rifles, body armor and helmets to distribute to settler militias for use in the West Bank.

As Israeli politicians called for retaliation, using genocidal language that likened Gazans to “human animals,” leaders in Britain and the United States in the week following October 7, dispensed with even the fig leaf of “restraint” that usually accompanies Israeli bombing campaigns of Gaza.[1]The United States, in addition to dispatching two aircraft carriers laden with F-18 fighter jets to the region has instructed US defense companies to expedite munitions to Israel, causing an immediate $30 billion surge in US defense stocks.

During the May 2021 Unity Intifada, a collective of Palestinian trade unions called for international solidarity from international unions, urging them to divest their pensions from companies implicated in the occupation and release statements of solidarity. The latest call—which is reprinted in full below—focuses on the weapons industry and infrastructure of the blockade and occupation.

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Read the full statement from Palestinian trade unions here: https://www.workersinpalestine.org/the-calls-languages/english