[Refers to a diamond mined in a war zone and sold
to finance an insurgency, invading army's war efforts, or a warlord's activity,
usually in Africa where around two-thirds of the world's diamonds are
extracted.]
[2008] Israel and the Ongoing
Holocaust in Congo by Keith Harmon Snow The diamond jewellery trade
in the United States is more than $30 billion annually, and 99%—everything that
is not synthetic or artificial diamonds—involves blood diamonds and the above
organized crime syndicates. Israel buys more than 50% of the world’s rough
diamonds, and the U.S. buys two-thirds of these. The diamond factories are
located in Nethanya, Petach Tikvah, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Jerusalem, and other
cities around the country, but most of the offices were in Tel Aviv in the
financial district on Ahad Ha'am Street
Sotheby's have partnered with the Steinmetz Diamond Group to form Sotheby's
Diamonds. The Steinmetz company have adopted the Givati Brigade of the Israeli
military which has been accused of war crimes and possible crimes against
humanity by the UN Human Rights Council. The Givati Brigade is responsible, in
particular, for the massacre of the Samouni family of Gaza.
During Operation Cast Lead in January 2009, the Israeli
army's Givati Brigade rounded up 100 members of the Samouni family, and ordered
them into the house of Wa’el Samouni. The house was then bombed, and the ruined
building cordoned off for four days during which time rescue services were
prevented from approaching, with ambulances being shot at. When rescue workers
were finally allowed into the ruins, they found 29 bodies, and traumatised
children under the rubble with dead family members. They also found daubed on
the walls racist graffiti in Hebrew which read "The only good Arab is a dead
Arab".
The Steinmetz Company supports the Givati Brigade through
charitable donations. Their foundation on its website* claims to "fosters a
close relationship with the commanders and their soldiers" and "during Operation
Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip the foundation helped the unit buy complementary
equipment" and "visited and cared for the soldiers".
The surviving members of the Samouni family in a video
appeal have asked people in the UK to reject diamonds from the Steinmetz
company.
Sotheby's through its partnership with Steinmetz is
directly linked to Israeli war crimes in Gaza. We will be protesting outside
Sotheby's to demand they immediately end their partnership with Steinmetz and
and make reparations for it’s role in helping to fund Israeli war criminals.
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