Western Complicity and the Human Cost of the Arms Trade in Gaza

Radicals in Conversation

It has now been over a year since Israel embarked on its genocidal campaign in Gaza. In that time, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed or injured. Furnishing Israel with more than just diplomatic cover, Western governments have kept up a steady supply of military aid and equipment, actively enabling the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians. Our governments' complicity cannot be ignored or overstated.

At the heart of questions around how and why Britain and the US are continuing to arm Israel lies the international arms trade. Thinking more about how this corrupting, deadly industry operates, and how we might resist it, is vital - something that Palestinians understand only too well: one year ago, Palestinian trade unions reiterated their urgent global call to action, imploring workers across the world to halt the sale of weapons to Israel.

We are joined on the show by Ahmed Alnaouq, Andrew Feinstein and Anna Stavrianakis, to discuss how weapons sales to Israel function as a direct expression of state policy; how the arms industry corrupts our own democratic political processes; and the socio-economic opportunity cost of our governments' commitment to militarism. We also talk about the direct impact these weapons has had on life in Gaza, long before October 7th 2023; and the work that We Are Not Numbers is doing to give young Palestinians agency through sharing their stories.

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Ahmed Alnaouq is a former Palestinian diplomat who served in the Palestinian Mission to the UK. He is the co-founder of We Are Not Numbers, which empowers Palestinian youth to share their stories globally. Ahmed holds a masters degree in International Journalism from Leeds University, and his work has been featured in media outlets including the Washington Post, the New Arab, and Gulf News.

Andrew Feinstein is the executive director of Shadow World Investigations. Andrew resigned as an African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament in South Africa in 2001, in protest at the government’s refusal to investigate corruption in a $10 billion arms deal. His first book, After the Party, reveals the impact of this deal. He also wrote the critically acclaimed book The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade, and worked on an award-winning feature documentary, Shadow World.

Anna Stavrianakis is director of research and strategy at Shadow World Investigations, and Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex.

Ahmed, Andrew and Anna are all contributors to the new book, Monstrous Anger of the Guns: How the Global Arms Trade is Ruining the World and What We Can Do About It, which is available now from Pluto Press.