De-Beers asked to remove blood diamond display from Tower of London

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Saturday June 02, 2012 08:29

by Sean Clinton - Global Palestine Solidarity

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee used to promote diamond brand that supports a Unit of the Israeli military’s notorious Givati Brigade.

De-Beers, the diamond behemoth, is exploiting the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in a vulgar and insensitive manner in order to promote their diamonds.

The company’s decision to display a Forevermark Steinmetz Diamond at the Tower of London ignores the fact that the Steinmetz Diamond Group, through the Steinmetz Foundation, has “adopted” a Unit of the infamous Givati Brigade in the Israel military. The Israeli military stands accused of “serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity” by the UN Human Rights Council.

The Givati Brigade was responsible for the one of the most appalling examples of gross human rights violations recorded during Israel’s assault on the besieged residents of Gaza in January 2009. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem describes the incident as follows:

“On 4 January 2009, at the start of the ground phase of operation Cast Lead, about 100 members of the extended a-Samuni family were huddled inside one house in the a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. The next morning, an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people inside the house, including 9 children and 10 women, and injured dozens of other family members. During the next two days, the army refused access to medical teams, in spite of being informed of the terrible outcome by family members who managed to escape the bombed home and human rights and humanitarian organizations, including B'Tselem. When medics managed to get to site, they found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses, and evacuated several wounded people. The army refused permission to evacuate the bodies and they remained in the rubble for a further two weeks.”

Referring to their support for a Unit of the Givati Brigade the Steinmetz website states “During Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Foundation helped the Unit purchase complementary equipment as well as visited and cared for the wounded soldiers.”

Diamonds that are generating revenue used to fund a regime guilty of war crimes are de-facto blood diamonds.

We call on De-Beers to show respect for the surviving victims of the diamond-funded Givati Brigade’s actions in Gaza who have been left bereaved, maimed and traumatised and withdraw the offending display immediately.

End.