«Israel» Refuses to Stop Myanmar Arms Sale despite Rohingya Crisis

Local Editor

Despite the country's ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya Muslim minority, the "Israeli" entity refused to stop selling weapons to the military junta in Burma.

Investigations by several human rights watchdogs found more than 100 tanks, as well as boats and light weapons, have been sold to the Burmese government by "Israeli" arms companies in recent years.

One company, TAR Ideal Concepts, also trained Burmese Special Forces in northern Rakhine state, where much of the violence is taking place. The company posted pictures on their website in August last year of its staff teaching combat tactics and how to handle weapons.

In response to a petition to the "Israeli" entity's High Court from activists demanding an end to "Israeli" arms sales, Shosh Shmueli, representing the regime, said the court should not interfere in "Israel's" foreign relations, Haaretz reported.

His comments echoed a preliminary response issued by the War Ministry in March, which said the court had no standing in the "clearly diplomatic" matter.

Eitay Mack filed the petition to block all arms sales to the Burmese junta along with 10 other activists.

He argued that the evidence of "Israeli" arms sales to Burma is indisputable, as is much of the documentation of war crimes by the country's military, the Times of "Israel" reported.

Taking those two factors together, he said while the entity is not violating its own laws, the sales go against international agreements "Israel" has agreed to uphold.

He also noted both the European Union and United States had placed arms embargoes on Burma.

The Independent had approached the "Israeli" embassy for comment.

It isn't clear when the "Israeli" entity last sold arms to Burma, as the country does not make records of its defense exports public.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, there have been no major recorded arms sales between "Israel" and Burma since 2011.

Burma has been accused of committing crimes against humanity by Human Rights Watch, which called for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions and an arms embargo.

The UN refugee agency has called for a redoubling of international aid for the 480,000 refugees, 60 per cent of which are children, who have fled Burma to Bangladesh to escape the violence.

A Burmese government spokesman has rejected the accusation of crimes against humanity, saying it lacked evidence.

Burma had also rejected UN accusations its forces are engaged in ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims.

Refugees arriving in Bangladesh had accused the army and Buddhist vigilantes of trying to drive Rohingya out of Buddhist-majority Burma.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team