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Posted on 09/21/2005 7:53:33 AM PDT by SmithL
In the shadow of threats against retired Israeli generals over war crimes, organizers of one of the world's largest international arms fairs in London tossed out an Israeli company for offering stun guns, leg irons and other "weapons of torture."
The firm, TAR Ideal Concepts, was forced to leave Britain while customs officials considered what action to take against them. The company was in town for the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, held last week.
"It turned out that we are great criminals because in our catalogue we were offering leg cuffs and stun guns and batons," said company head Tomer Avnon. "And don't forget we were among booths offering everything from sniper rifles to silencers, cluster bombs and all sorts of nasty stuff. It's the height of hypocrisy," Avnon told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview.
"It's beyond ridiculous, particularly since we had received permission from the organizers who approved all of our brochures."
Held every two years in London's Docklands, the arms fair is Europe's biggest, offering everything from war ships to surveillance equipment.
But the arms show also became a magnet for pressure groups who abhor the weapons trade and held daily protests there. Israeli defense firms were particularly targeted in Internet sites run by anti-arms protesters.
Avnon said his company supplied non-lethal riot control gear as well as equipment for counterterrorism and homeland security, including protective vests helmets, infantry gear and canine services.
He said that a reporter had passed himself off as a buyer and took a brochure. The next day, the London-based Guardian ran a story "exposing" TAR's violation of a ban on selling stun weapons and leg irons. According to the Guardian the British government last year extended its controls on the trade in stun weapons and leg irons by making it illegal for anyone to promote their sale in Britain.
Avnon reported that fair officials approached his booth on Friday, the last day of the four-day exhibition, and shut him down.
"They were flanked by huge bodyguards and told us in no uncertain terms that if we didn't leave they would tear down our booth and toss us out," said Avnon. "'Better get yourselves a lawyer because you are going to jail,'" Avnon quoted one of the organizers.
Avnon said he was aware of the ban on the items considered to be – wrongly in his eyes – weapons of torture.
"On page three of our catalogue were photos of these 'awful weapons of torture,' leg cuffs," Avnon said.
He was convinced that the singling out of Israeli firms came from the same anti-Israeli motivations that led to the harassment of retired IDF officers.
"It is as if we are harming human rights. I wouldn't be surprised if it all originated from the same source," Avnon said.
The irony of the whole ordeal, Avnon said, was that there had been enormous interest in his non-lethal weapons.
Officials from DSEI could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile two booths down the latest in suicide vests were on display. This years colors include White Feather.
Spokeswoman Cherie Blair said they can be made to any desperate size.
Europe = Jew Haters
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How soon is Tony Blair going to enact the Nuremberg laws (don't buy from Jews)??
Where on the Union Jack will the Moon God's Crescent Moon be embroidered BTTT
*Sipping morning tea with pinkie finger properly extended*
A student told his professor he was going to "Palestine" to "fight for freedom, peace and justice,"— Orwellian leftist code words that mean "murder Jews."
Donate to the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort.
Sheesh!
So because one company from Israel is thrown out the country - we are all Jew haters? Why were the rest of the Israeli companies allowed in then?
Does the fact that America treated it's Black population in the south as second-class citizens meam America = Black haters? Or is that too simple-minded?
"treated"
Past tense.
What you are seeing in the UK, and much of Europe, is a REVIVAL of anti-Semitism. The numbers bear this out in crime as well as the acceptability of speech and behavior that has not been seen since before WW2.
It is a potent formula as it was in the 1920's. Economic stagnation, unemployment, and terror/violence threats from Muslims many of whom are citizens. The belief is twofold -that Jews are the cause of the country's and the world's ills, and that appeasement in the form of Jew hatred and ostracizing will work.
The US is similarly hated but perceived as powerful and thus not within the purview of such tactics.
So because one company from Israel is thrown out the country - we are all Jew haters? Why were the rest of the Israeli companies allowed in then?
Yes, you are too simple-minded.
America did not treat "it's" Black population as 2nd class citizens in the wake of Katrina if that's what you're referring to. New Orleans government officials (who are black) shirked their clear responsibilities to the impoverished.
If you are referring to the slavery era then you really are a simpleton. America fought a Civil War to, among many other things, end slavery and correct an evil that has existed among nearly every culture in history.
And another thing Mr. Euro - the 'South' treats "it's" blacks better than the North. In the south, blacks live among whites. In the liberal north blacks live in distinct areas.
So, does throwing a Jewish company out of a trade show indict all of Europe?
No.
But it IS patently obvious that Jew-hatin' is on the rise in Europe and that is making Jews a little nervous. Visions of 1938 or so dancing in their heads. If you deny that anti-Jewish sentiment is not on the rise in GB and Europe in general you truly ARE simple-minded.
"So, does throwing a Jewish company out of a trade show indict all of Europe?"
It would be interesting to know if there were other commpanies trading in the same commodities that were not tossed out.
It's no joke.
I give Europe less than 5 years before a major European country calls for a boycott on all Israeli goods.
"Mike Lewis, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), said: "Selling weapons to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Israel only stands to fuel international terrorism. Britain, even though it has suffered two terrorist attacks recently, is sanctioning these sales by hosting this show."
CAAT campaigner James O'Nions said that about 100 people - some holding placards saying "We Will Not Pay for Killing" and pictures of US President George Bush with the words "World's No 1 Terrorist" - had assembled at Central Park, East Ham, in east London, to march to the ExCel centre. But he was expecting "hundreds" more to join the demonstration. "There is a strength of feeling," he said. "Quite a lot of people have taken time off work to come."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,10674,1569114,00.html?gusrc=rss
Saying Saudi Aarbia and Algeria are the same 'fuelers of terror' as Israel shows just where these morons are coming from. And the epithet on Pres Bush clinches it.
If you visit the show's website you'll note it's a show of military hardware co-sponsored by the UK Ministry of Defence. They sell equipment to break things and kill people. The idea that the cuffs and batons sold by this company are the only "illegal" products in the UK is ludicrous.
The world has gone mad.
You said:
It would be interesting to know if there were other commpanies trading in the same commodities that were not tossed out.
I dont know the answer to that, but there were 25 Israeli companies exhibiting and only one was thrown out for marketing ileagal items, so 24 or 96% of Israeli companies attending completed the show without incident.
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