Yaakov Aharon is an anti-Zionist Jewish journalist and researcher on weapons companies and their ties with the Israeli military. This is an abridged version of his speech to a protest against the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, organised by the Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, on November 4.
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At the Indo-Pacific expo today, arms dealers are cozying up with politicians and pushing their merchandise. Their products are on the cutting edge of technology, which is used to kill Palestinian children in Gaza and surveil pro-Palestinian activists here.
Tharawal/Wollongong-based company Bisalloy Steel has a booth at the expo. Bisalloy manufactures armoured steel for military use and exports it to Israel. It also has contracts to build AUKUS subs, and frigates for the Australian Navy.
The armoured steel Bisalloy sends to Israel is primarily for armoured vehicles, which are used by the Israeli Defense Forces to kill Palestinians.
These steel exports have to be approved by the Department of Defence because steel is considered a “dual use” material on the Defence and Strategic Goods List.
Throughout Israel’s genocide, Bisalloy’s share price has skyrocketed by 140%. Which means prominent shareholders such as Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Senator Dave Sharma and several members of the Israel lobby are profiting from the genocide.
As Australia’s only manufacturer of high-strength quenched and tempered steels, Bisalloy’s role in the global arms trade is almost irreplaceable. This means that if a tank or sub is entirely Australian made, then Bisalloy is almost certainly part of the supply line.
In 2018, Bisalloy announced its partnership with Israeli armoured vehicle manufacturer Plasan Re'em. The statement was headlined by photos from Plasan Reem’s brochures for its modified Toyota pick up trucks.
These vehicles weigh 1.5 times as much as a normal Toyota and are described by Plasan Re’em as having the “same appearance, different characteristics”.
They have a completely armoured exterior with steel 55 millimeters thick and can apparently withstand two grenades. They include a low visibility roll bar which unfolds into a weapons mount.
Plasan Re’em claim the vehicles are “ideal for Special Forces covert operations.”
Bisalloy’s reinforced steel allows the vehicles to support the weight of mounted machine guns.
These vehicles are defined by Australian law as weapons, and Bisalloy plays a critical role in producing them.
In 2022 the so-called Israel Defence magazine reported that a Plasan Re'em Toyota Hilux “was involved in the elimination of the terrorist in the recent attack that took place in Kiryat Arba”.
The report said an Israeli man “attacked the terrorist and ran him over to death.”
This took place in an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank, where the Israeli government employs and arms its own private militia group in each settlement.
These settler militias are armed with armoured vehicles equipped with Bisalloy Steel.
Palestinian’s have the right to resist the occupation of their land and the genocide of their people.
And we have the right to protest and do what we can to end our complicity in the genocide and occupation.
Wollongong Friends of Palestine have organised regular community pickets outside the Bissaloy factory in Tharawal. We shut down the factory and celebrate Palestinian culture with music, dabke and arts and crafts.
Shutting down the factory means less armoured steel for Israel, which could mean one less armoured vehicle in Gaza or the West Bank.
NSW Police attempted to slander and shut down our pickets by filing a report of a so-called antisemitic incident at one of our protests. The report referred to a sign reading: “Armour for Israel is arming a genocide”.
How is this antisemitic? Bisalloy is not a synagogue. Jews do not worship at the altar of the military industrial complex.
Disrupting the arms trade does not disrupt Jewish religious practice.