Australian arms exports to Israel in focus amid court case, port pro-Palestinian protests

An unusual court case and protests at a shipping port have brought attention to Australia's weapon exports to Israel, a deal accused of being lucrative and unaccountable.

"Few people know that Australia has one of the most secretive, unaccountable weapons export systems in the world," Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge told the Australian Senate on Tuesday.

According to Al Jazeera, a legal challenge was launched by Palestinian and Australian human rights organisations on Monday in Australia's high court seeking to shed light on the shadowy trade.

The case was filed by Australian supporters of Palestine who have joined the international "block the boat" movement to protest against arms shipments to Israel.

During the protest at Sydney's Port Botany on Saturday, activists lay down in front of trucks carrying cargo for the Israeli shipping company Zim.

However, due to the lack of transparency, whether the shipments from Australia include weapons for Israel is difficult to determine.

"Our government doesn't tell us who we're exporting weapons to; doesn't tell us what the weapons are; doesn't tell us who profits here in Australia from the sale of weapons," Shoebridge said in the Senate this week.

Shoebridge said such information is much less available in Australia than in other countries, including the United States, says Al Jazeera.

According to the Australian Department of Defence, what can be confirmed is that Australia has previously issued 350 defense export permits to Israel since 2017, including 52 this year alone. However, this information was only made publicly available after direct questions from Shoebridge during Senate hearings this year.

'A large and growing arms industry'

Australian journalist Antony Loewenstein said there is "damning evidence" that Western states, including Australia, have been selling weapons that are "potentially being used in Gaza as we speak".

Loewenstein, who is also the author of the book 'The Palestine Laboratory', was based in East Jerusalem between 2016 and 2020. He has investigated how Israeli weaponry and surveillance technology are used on Palestinians and exported around the world.

"There is bipartisan support [from major political parties] in Australia for a large and growing arms industry, regardless of the serious human rights concerns around that, Loewenstein said.

"Secrecy benefits the arms industry," he told Al Jazeera.

"What matters ultimately is making money," he said.

"That's all it's about."

In 2022, Australia was the 15th largest exporter of major arms globally according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which monitors global arms sales.

Al-Haq, one of the three Palestinian human rights organizations involved in the court case, is also involved in other legal challenges, along with the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), who wrote to the UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Kemi Badenoch, asking her to "suspend all weapons export licenses to Israel".

Al-Haq and GLAN warned that if the export licenses were not suspended, a judicial review challenge would be brought before the UK High Court.

In Australia, Al-Haq, along with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), has launched legal action in the Federal Court of Australia with the support of the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ).

Unlike in the UK, the Australian case is focused on accessing information about Australian defense export permits to Israel that have been granted by the Minister for Defence since October 7, 2023.

Port protests

During the protest on Wednesday, activists who protested at the Port of Melbourne stopped trucks, including those carrying cargo for the Israeli shipping company Zim.

Similar protests were held at the Port of Tacoma in the US, and airport workers in Belgium are refusing to handle military shipments to Israel.

Currently, Zim is a publicly listed Israeli shipping line; however, the rest of the trucks and ships have not been confirmed for carrying military equipment to Israel.

Organizers of the Sydney protest claimed Zim's role "in the Israeli war machine has been relentless".

The Premier of NSW, Chris Minns, described Israel as "a longstanding trading partner and ally of Australia" in an interview with Australian radio station 2GB on Saturday,

"It's ridiculous to suggest or think that trade will be stopped because of the personal preferences of individual protesters," he said.

"I didn't see these people down the port when it comes to trading with Cuba, or Saudi Arabia, or China, or any other country there may be disagreements with," Minns added.