WEAPONS firm BAE Systems has donated £150,000 to British food banks while Gazans face famine, as the firm continues to be complicit in Israel’s bombardment of the strip.
Donations were handed to food banks today with more than £20,000 given to a food bank in Barrow, in a bid to foster community engagement in one of Britain’s most deprived areas. The company has one of its main bases, BAE Systems Submarines, sited there.
Its attempt at compassion did not extend to Gaza, with the firm providing Israel with components for Mk 38 Mod 2 machine guns, and F35 combat aircraft which are raining down bombs on Palestinians.
According to Palestinian authorities, more 20,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel intensified its bombing on October 7, around 70 per cent of them women and children.
Delivery of vital aid has been hindered by military operations, Israel’s demands to inspect aid, communication blackouts and fuel shortages.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said on Thursday that Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger, with the risk of famine increasing each day.
It said that 576,600 people had exhausted their food supplies and face starvation.
Shadow World Investigations director Andrew Feinstein pointed out the absurdity of BAE Systems’ PR efforts.
He said that it was “particularly egregious and ironic that this is the way in which they’re trying to wash their corrupt, murderous activities.
“If they actually cared about humanity at all, they wouldn't allow their product to be used in what is clearly an ethnic cleansing and genocidal project,” he told the Star.
Mr Feinstein said such efforts were a “very pathetic attempt by a sociopathic company, to improve its unimprovable corporate image.
“We don’t need BAE as an intermediary in support we give to communities that are suffering.”
He also pointed out that “ultimately it’s the British taxpayer donating to those food banks because BAE Systems is probably the most state-subsidised company in the United Kingdom.”
BAE Systems contributed more than £11.5m to charitable projects in 2022 in an attempt to cleanse its image.
In November, it reported that it had booked £10 billion of orders since the end of June, raking in more than £30bn in 2023.
