Would you fly our doctors with money from the arms trade?

The Royal Flying Doctor Service needs support, but not from an arms manufacturer whose weapons have destroyed countless numbers of innocent lives.

Please sign this petition to ask the Royal Flying Doctors Service, South Eastern Section to reconsider their association* with the Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, who is internationally recognised as being complicit in numerous ongoing and serious violations of international human rights law.

The Royal Flying Doctors Service provides a critical service in regional and remote areas of Australia however its alliance with Elbit Systems puts the reputation of this highly regarded humanitarian agency at risk. We are gravely concerned that the RFDS has entered into a joint initiative with Elbit Systems who will contribute $10 million for the supply of an $18million flight simulator and training facility in Dubbo that will: 

·          Be built, operated and maintained exclusively by Elbit Systems

·         Provide trainers and training to local, national and international clients

Elbit Systems, (the parent company of Elbit Systems Australia), is a major supplier of weapons worldwide and to the Israeli military.  This company is one of the world’s most aggressive promoters of the use of drones in warfare as well as in population control.

Elbit has profited greatly from the arms used against civilian populations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.   Elbit Hermes drones were one of the two main unpiloted aircraft used to attack civilians in Gaza during Israel's 2009 Operation Cast Lead offensive which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, according to  the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report[i].

Gaza was subject to military attack by Israel again in 2012 and then also in 2014 with Operation Protective Edge, where Elbit Skylark drones were heavily used for support of ground military actions along with Hermes 450s and 900s[ii]. The subsequent UN commission of inquiry stated that “the scale of the devastation was unprecedented” and it counted 2,251 Palestinian deaths and 18,000 homes destroyed.

Elbit's 2010 Annual Report disclosed that a subsidiary of the company produces white phosphorus ammunition. According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the deployment of white phosphorus against humans is illegal and constitutes a war crime. In the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed the use of white phosphorus bombs in Israel's attacks on Gaza[iii] as did Amnesty International[iv].

International recognition of Elbit’s violations of international law has resulted in seventy-three members of the European Parliament calling to withdraw research grants and development funds to Israeli arms manufacturers.  The Norwegian Government Pension Fund sold its $5.4 million holding in Elbit Systems LTD due to the company’s supply of systems for the Annexation wall, which was declared illegal under international law by the International Court of Justice in 2004[v].

Don’t make medicine a deadly occupation.

Ask the Royal Flying Doctors Service to follow in the footsteps of international governments and reconsider its partnership with Elbit Systems.

[i] https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong/gaza-civilians-killed-israeli-drone-launched-missiles
[ii] https://corporatewatch.org/company-profiles/elbit 
[iii] https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/weapons-interview-170109.htm 
[iv] https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE15/015/2009/en/
[v] http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3=6

 *Articles on the proposed RFDS-ELBIT project:  
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-08/flight-sim-for-dubbo-rfds/7311700
http://www.contactairlandandsea.com/2016/04/10/rfds/
http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/3839099/rfds-to-benefit-from-an-18-million-investment/