Appeal to freeze Rakon exports for Israeli bombs

GPJA has today appealed to the Prime Minister to close the loophole which allows New Zealand’s Rakon Industries to export parts for Israeli bombs being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.

The guided bombs used to destroy the Lebanese village of Qana yesterday, killing 60 civilians, and last week ’s bomb which destroyed a United Nations observation post in Southern Lebanon, killing four UN peacekeepers, would have used Rakon parts in their guidance systems.

Reports over the past week make clear that guided bombs and missiles used by the Israeli armed forces to target facilities in Lebanon have been provided directly from the United States. US missiles and “smart bombs” have for 9 years now been supplied with sophisticated crystal oscillators by Rakon Industries for use in their guidance systems. We have written to the Prime Minister urging her to act immediately to close the loophole allowing Rakon to export these crucial parts for weapons now being used to such brutally destructive effect in Lebanon and Palestine.

It is unconscionable that a New Zealand company would collude in the production of weapons being used to heap devastation and suffering on the people of the Middle East. For the government to turn a blind eye is to participate in a war crime.

Rakon has already proudly asserted its intention to dominate the “lucrative and expanded guided munitions and military positioning market” within the next 5 years. They list their military products as including “Mainstream TXCO’s (crystal oscillators) for inclusion in smart bombs…G-hardened crystals for use in smart shells

The company has also been producing crystal oscillators specifically designed to withstand nuclear radiation. These are for use in guided bombs made from depleted uranium which are now being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.

The dangers of depleted uranium are well documented and threaten us all. The radioactive depleted uranium is twice as dense as lead and can penetrate armour plating with ease. Much of it also vapourises on impact with deadly radioactivity carried around the world as well as devastating the local population for generations to come. Helen Clark’s action against Rakon will speak much louder than her words

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