Antwerp is a favorite location for those who are in a hurry to help Israeli apartheid. A few minutes’ stroll from the central train station in Belgium’s second city, I found posters for a new express delivery service run by the Israeli firm Malca-Amit. “Simply hand over your shipments to Malca-Amit offices in Tel Aviv by the end of working day and the next morning, they’ll already be at Antwerp’s diamond office by 9.30am at the latest,” they read. To show that the firm means business, an armored truck was parked right outside its Antwerp office. “Delivering peace of mind,” a sign above it declared. The motto is particularly inappropriate, when you consider that diamonds are of critical importance to Israel, a state addicted to war. Israel is the third largest exporter of polished diamonds in the world. According to Israel’s trade ministry, these sales were worth $5.6 billion in 2012. Malca-Amit started its accelerated delivery service over the past few months. It is one of several private security firms involved in the gem trade between Belgium and Israel. Around the corner from its Antwerp office, I noticed the unmistakable logo of G4S, a company that has become infamous for providing equipment to Israeli jails in the occupied West Bank. When I phoned G4S’ office, I asked a man identifying himself as Rob if his firm undertook diamond deliveries between Tel Aviv and Antwerp. “Yeah, we do,” he replied. “Every day.” Rob added that the service on this route began in November last year, so it was “too early” to say how profitable it had been.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:37:14 +0000
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