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We demand that FANUC stop selling weapon-manufacturing robots to Israeli merchants of death!  #StopFANUCNow

FANUC, headquartered in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, is the world's second largest manufacturer of industrial robots. FANUC is directly or  indirectly selling its robots and other products to Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and other weapons corporations! It is also suspected that FANUC sells robots to IAI, the second largest Israeli arms manufacturer. That means that at this very moment, robots from a Japanese corporation are being used to manufacture weapons in factories of companies that are complicit in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians.

Elbit Systems is Israel's top military manufacturer, supplying weapons to the Israeli army, which is currently massacring Palestinians. It manufactures combat drones used to kill civilians in Gaza, surveillance drones used throughout Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, as well as components of the Apartheid Wall (the Separation Wall), which violates the international laws(*1). This arms corporation is using FANUC products in their factories!  

 

 

（A screen capture of the video posted by the Israeli Ministry of Defense on their Facebook page on January 30, 2024. FANUC robots are being used to produce shells in an Elbit Systems factory.）

English translation of the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Facebook post

Must-Watch: This is how “blue and white” shells and get made

The Ministry of Defense has worked around the clock since the start of the war producing and procuring shells and military equipment to ensure that the Israel Defense Forces’s ongoing campaigns continue.

The production lines for armor-piercing ammunition and artillery shells at Elbit Systems have been operating nonstop since October 7 and have supplied large quantities of ammunition to our fighting forces. 

In the 100 days since the start of the war, the Ministry of Defense has purchased over 30 billion NIS worth of “blue and white” shells from thousands of Israeli suppliers. 

Additionally, other Israeli arms corporations such as BSEL, which maintains the engines of the Israeli military's fighter jets, and Rosenshine Prast, which manufactures parts for Israeli military rifles, are also using FANUC robots in their factories.

 

 

(FANUC robots being used in Israeli weapons company BSEL’s factory)

 

FANUC robots are also used in U.S. and British weapons corporations' factories that supply artillery shells and bombs that Israel uses to massacre Palestinians! One of those corporations is the U.S.'s General Dynamics, which manufactures the majority of the MK-80 bombs that the Israeli Defense Forces use most often for bombing Gaza from the air as well as frequently used 155mm artillery shells.

 

 

(FANUC robots being used on production lines for 155mm shells at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, a General Dynamics factory)

 

 

 

(A FANUC robot being used in the factory of the BAE Systems, a British arms corporation, which is said to produce 155mm shells for the Israel Defense Forces)

Multiple human rights organizations have pointed out that the Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 are war crimes and violate the international laws (*2). Furthermore, a case was brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the violation of the Genocide Convention and, in January 2024, the ICJ provisionally ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide.

This means that the Israeli, U.S. and British arms companies using FANUC products to manufacture weapons supplied to the Israeli military are likely accomplices to the crime of genocide.

If FANUC continues to cooperate with these merchants of death by selling them its robots, these companies can cheaply and efficiently manufacture weapons used to slaughter the Palestinians and deprive them of their human rights. In other words, the Japanese corporation FANUC can be seen as complicit in genocide, war crimes, and apartheid.

We therefore call on FANUC to:

1. Immediately stop selling their products to and/or providing maintenance and other services to Israeli weapons companies like Elbit Systems, and never do business with them again, directly or indirectly.
2. Immediately stop selling their products and/or providing services to U.S. and British weapons companies, such as General Dynamics, that manufacture artillery shells and missiles for the Israel Defense Forces, and never, directly or indirectly, do business with them again. 

We demand that FANUC complies with its own Human Rights Policy, which states that FANUC “will encourage our business partners and related parties not to infringe human rights if they have a negative impact on human rights" and that "When it is clear that our business has caused or engaged in negative human rights impacts, we (FANUC) endeavor to remedy them. In addition, we (FANUC) will establish a grievance system as necessary." We demand that FANUC immediately stop selling products and/or providing maintenance and inspection services to weapons manufacturers, including Elbit Systems, that directly support human rights violations.

 

 

(FANUC Human Rights Policy photo)

In addition, we demand that FANUC comply with its own “Basic Principles” which state that “The corruption of an organization and downfall of a company start from a lack of transparency." In the case that they sell products to weapons corporations complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians besides the companies mentioned above, they should disclose those facts and terminate all business relationships with them.

Following the ICJ’s provisional orders, the Japanese companies Itochu Aviation and Nippon Aircraft Supply terminated their memorandums of understanding with Elbit Systems in February 2024. FANUC must follow suit.

On March 22, 2024, we submitted this petition to FANUC with more than 28,000 signatures. We submitted again with an additional 4,591 signatures on June 27, 2024. Our petition continues.

We demand that FANUC immediately announce that they will stop selling their products and providing maintenance and inspection services to Israeli, American, and British weapons corporations complicit in genocide against Palestinians.

Until that announcement is made, we will continue our global campaign, calling on a boycott of FANUC products and divestment from FANUC.

Contact: BDS Japan Bulletin

bdsjapan.bulletin@gmail.com

Endorsing Organizations:

Palestinians of Japan

Network Against Arms Trade (NAJAT)

Students and Youths for Palestine

 

(*1) https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-204033/

(*2) https://www.amnesty.or.jp/news/2023/1027_10098.html https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza