Swiss activists started a campaign on Tuesday against an official deal between their country and Israel through which Switzerland is to buy drones, Quds Press has reported. The first protest took place outside Switzerland’s largest military base.
The deal, which was agreed last July, will see the Swiss military buy Israel’s Hermes 900 drone made by Elbit Systems. The contract is worth an estimated $280 million.
According to Quds Press, the protesters repeated their objections to the deal, which has faced opposition widely within Switzerland. Several politicians had their way blocked as they tried to enter the army base in connection with the agreement.
“The Swiss government is dealing with a state which insists on the violation of Geneva Conventions, of which Switzerland is the sponsor,” said Wisam Abul-Haijaa. The protesters aim to convince MPs to reject the deal, which has been approved by the government.
Electronic Intifada pointed out that the Hermes drone, a version of which is also being purchased by Britain, has been “field-tested” on captive Palestinians. It reported that Mamoun Al-Dam, aged 12, was playing football when he was killed by an Israeli drone strike in the occupied Gaza Strip on 20 June 2012. He is one of more than 800 Palestinians who have been killed in Israeli drone attacks since 2006, British charity War on Want revealed in a 2014 report.
In its 2009 report, “Precisely Wrong”, Human Rights Watch documented Israeli drone attacks on civilians, including those against an elementary school and private homes, during Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. The report focused on six specific drone attacks – “all far from areas where fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces was taking place” – which killed 29 civilians, eight of them children.