By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

In a statement, Al-Haq said that according to information published on the website, eight Israeli arms companies will be exhibiting their products and activities at the event.

Palestinian human rights body Al-Haq, along with four other organizations, has filed legal action to prevent Israeli arms companies from exhibiting at an upcoming air show in Paris.

Organized by SIAE, a subsidiary of the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS), the Paris Air Show “is the largest event in the industry, bringing together stakeholders from around the world,” according to the SIAE website. It will run from June 16 to 22.

📣 Al-Haq & partners take legal action to prevent Israeli Arms Companies from participating in Paris Airshow amid #GazaGenocide w/ @contactujfp @attac_fr @stopfuellingwar @Survie
🚨Some Israeli arms companies featured promote weapons as ‘tested in combat’ https://t.co/yfIo6TzEta

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) May 24, 2025

‘Tested in Combat’

In a statement, Al-Haq said that according to information published on the website, eight Israeli arms companies will be exhibiting their products and activities at the event.

“There should be no doubt that these companies are supporting Israel’s ongoing military onslaught in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), given the information available on their official websites and networks,” the statement said. “Some even go so far as to promote their weapons as having been ‘tested in combat’ in Gaza.”

BREAKING: Actionists target the Manchester-based landlords of Elbit’s Bristol HQ.

From the Bristol command centre, Israel’s biggest arms firm coordinate the production of weapons which are “battle-tested” on Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/Gt2d3g2sFa

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 15, 2025

SIBAT, the Directorate for International Cooperation of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, is also on the official list of exhibitors, said Al-Haq.

In addition, it said, a number of arms companies of other nationalities, “which allegedly continue to supply military equipment directly or indirectly to Israeli companies, delegations or intermediaries, are also listed among the exhibitors.”

War Crimes Concerns

Al-Haq, UJFP, Attac-France, SFW, and Survie, have “submitted a writ of summons” to the Bobigny judicial court for summary proceedings against the SIAE for hosting these entities, the statement noted.

“The presence of the arms companies is especially problematic, given the fact that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has repeatedly affirmed and reiterated the plausibility of genocide in Gaza and the issuing of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes including murder and starvation,” Al-Haq said.

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The organization stressed that the “summons requires SIAE to take all possible measures to stop a ‘manifestly unlawful disturbance’ and to prevent a risk of ‘imminent damage’, insofar as the exhibition could serve as a commercial platform strengthening the economic power of companies, delegations or intermediaries likely to participate directly or indirectly in the perpetuation of the international crimes in question.”

‘Responsibility of Private Actors’

Without the arms and components sourced from multinationals around the world, “these crimes could not be perpetrated with such intensity,” Al-Haq stated.

It pointed out that while denouncing “the persistent inaction of the French authorities” in the face of the serious risk of genocide in Gaza, as well as that of the international community, “which has still not adopted economic sanctions against Israel –– although it has done so in the cases of Russia and Sudan –– the summons is a strong reminder of the need not to conceal the responsibility of private actors in supporting, sometimes even indirectly, the commission of serious international crimes.”

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Staggering Death Toll

Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.

On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 53,000, wounding more than 122,000, with over 14,000 still missing.

“My son died in my arms. My husband was shot beside me.”

Asil Mahmoud Hamad’s testimony is one of unbearable loss, courage, and love.

🔗 https://t.co/aoE4JtLmU0 pic.twitter.com/pt2YYwb66K

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 27, 2025

Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.

Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.

(The Palestine Chronicle)