Major new Irish Exposé into Israeli Blood Diamond Industry, IPSC says: "reform the Kimberly Process"

international | consumer issues | news report Monday March 29, 2010 22:35 by Freda H, Zoe L & Kev - IPSC

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) today expressed its shock and dismay at revelations unearthed by Limerick-based researcher Seán Clinton in his recent exposé on the role of Israel in the global diamond industry. Mr. Clinton’s article, published last night on the respected Electronic Intifada website (http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11170.shtml), highlights how the industry deceives the public by playing up benefits accruing to poorer countries through the Kimberly Process – the stated aim of which is to eliminate ‘blood diamonds’ - while simultaneously hiding the fact that Israel, a state that has militarily occupied Palestine for more than 40 years, is the world’s biggest beneficiary of the diamond industry.

Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds

What Mr. Clinton’s article reveals is the hypocrisy and doublespeak that lie at the heart of the Kimberly Process, which claims to be “a tracking system for the export and import of rough diamonds to prevent the exploitation of diamonds for illicit purposes such as war and inhumane acts”. Yet the Process only applies to “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments”. This narrow definition of what constitutes a ‘conflict diamond’ lets states, such as Israel, that export polished diamonds and regularly commit war crimes completely off the hook and gives an utterly false impression to consumers that all Kimberly Process certified diamonds are ‘bloodless’. The article also reveals complicity with Israeli Apartheid at the highest levels of the World Diamond Council, as Israel currently chairs the Kimberly Process, while diamonds account for over 30% of Israel’s total manufacturing exports - worth nearly $20 billion in 2008.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls on the Irish government to support a call for the same human rights standards to be applied to all diamonds and for the Kimberly Process to be reviewed as a matter of urgency and also calls on Irish jewellers to refuse to trade in Israeli diamonds and to give consumers the right to know where each diamond was crafted and the right to choose Israel-free diamonds.

IPSC Spokesperson Freda Hughes speaking about the article today said, “It is unacceptable that the World Diamond Council should allow this situation to pertain whereby Israel can fund its illegal occupation of Palestine and its war crimes in Gaza through its diamond industry when there is a process in place to prevent diamonds being used in such a way. We call on our government to insist that the same human rights standards to be applied to all diamonds, both rough and polished.”

Ms. Hughes continued, “Most people are unaware that Israel is one of the world’s leading producers of cut and polished diamonds and, as diamonds are normally not hallmarked, consumers cannot distinguish an Israeli diamond from one crafted elsewhere. It is so important for consumers to become aware that the ongoing slow and deliberate ethnic cleansing of Palestine including the massacre of over 1,400 people in Gaza by Israeli forces last year and its use of illegal weapons such as white phosphorus and flechettes is directly funded by the Israeli diamond industry. To ensure that Irish consumers are given the freedom to choose not to become complicit in this process we are asking Irish jewellers to refuse to trade in Israeli diamonds.”

Ms. Hughes concluded by saying, “The IPSC fully backs Mr. Clinton's research into the Israeli diamond industry and intends to link up with other Palestine solidarity movements and Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) networks in order to further the campaign to boycott Israeli blood diamonds.”

Background Information

Sean Clinton’s article, ‘Israel's Blood Diamonds’ (Electronic Intifada, 29 March 2010) can be read in full here: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11170.shtml

The World Diamond Council was established in 2000 with its mandate being “the development, implementation and oversight of a tracking system for the export and import of rough diamonds to prevent the exploitation of diamonds for illicit purposes such as war and inhumane acts”. To this end it initiated the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme to stem the flow of “conflict” or “blood diamonds”. In keeping with the limited concerns of the WDC the UN-mandated Kimberly Process adopted a very narrow definition of what constitutes a conflict or blood diamond: “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments”. Such a limited definition of conflict diamonds allows the trade in cut and polished diamonds to avoid the human rights compliance demanded of rough diamonds. Therefore Israel, in constant and flagrant breach of the human right of the Palestinian people as well as international law, is able to benefit from the unrestricted access of diamonds crafted in Israel to the multi-billion dollar global diamond market. On its website the World Diamond Council fails to mention that the diamond industry is the main artery of the Israeli economy, accounting for over 30% of Israel’s total manufacturing exports worth nearly $20 billion in 2008.