Vietnam complicit in Zionist genocide

Written by: Nick G. on 16 September 2024

 

(Above: The MV Kathrin   Source: www.presstv.ir )

The international arms trade that helps sustain Israeli Zionism’s attempted genocide of Palestinians was recently revealed to have a surprising participant.

Surprising, that is, for the millions of people around the globe who actively campaigned for Vietnam’s defeat of US imperialism during the US War of Aggression Against Vietnam.

Defying all the odds, the Vietnamese people led by Comrade Ho Chi Minh, persisted in their people’s war, liberated the South, and drove the US imperialists ignominiously from their shores, proving the truth that “A weak nation can defeat a strong, a small nation can defeat a big. The people of a small country can certainly defeat aggression by a big country, if only they dare to rise in struggle, dare to take up arms and grasp in their own hands the destiny of their country. This is a law of history” (Mao Zedong). 

This is the law of history that is on the side of the courageous Palestinian people.

Why then has Vietnam sided with the Zionists and attempted to provide them with explosives for use in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip?

The answer is that Vietnam has taken the road of capitalist development, and places the growth of capital above the growth of the Palestinian resistance.

Money doesn’t talk, sang Bob Dylan, it swears.

So, what is the obscenity in which Vietnam has participated?

On July 21 the MV Kathrin left the port of Hai Phong, Vietnam, loaded with 8 containers of RDX (Hexogen) explosives destined for Israel. RDX is the explosive agent in C-4 plastic explosive and a key ingredient in Semtex. It is a component in Elbit’s explosives.

The ship was also loaded with 60 containers of the explosive TNT.

The RDX was manufactured by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence’s Factory Z113 and loaded on the ship in Hai Phong. 

UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese said on August 31, “These explosives are reportedly key components in the aircraft bombs and missiles that Israel is deploying against besieged Gaza and in its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.”

Imperialist capital makes this trade possible

A complex web of intersecting capitals, each hungry for profits, makes Vietnam’s trade in explosives with Israel possible.

German capital is utilised through the ship’s owner, Lubeca Marine Germany GMBH. It is operated by Danish capital in the form of Ocean 7 Project through AGL (Africa Global Logistics). AGL, a logistics operator in Africa, is headquartered in Puteaux, France and owned by French capital.  AGL operates independently but is part of the Cargo Division of the Italo-Swiss MSC group.

Portugal gains revenue from German capital by registering or flagging the ship.

Israel has two ports, Ashdod and Haifa, capable of docking the MV Kathrin, but its destination is the Slovenian port of Koper. Slovenia profits from the exercise with docking, unloading and transportation fees. This is the second time in the last few months that the Slovenian port has been involved in the illegal weapons transfers to Israel, despite the International Court of Justice’s decision that it was plausibly perpetrating genocide. It raises the question of what is being evaded or concealed by unloading its cargo in Slovenia.

Once it was revealed that the Kathrin was carrying Vietnamese explosives to Israel, world opinion took a stand in support of the Palestinians. The Kathrin sought permission to dock in Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay.

On August 24, after approaches from the Palestinian BDS Committee and Namibian human rights organisations, the Namibian government cancelled the docking permit for the Kathrin. 

Over the next five days, Portuguese Palestine solidarity organizations and parliamentarians called on their government to de-flag the Kathrin.

On August 29, the Portuguese Foreign Minister claimed that the Kathrin is not transporting ready-made weapons, is not headed to Israel, that Portugal in all cases carries no responsibility, and that this arms trade has “commercial purpose” – a flimsy excuse not to take action.

Portuguese activists are still campaigning for Portugal to deflag the ship.

Meanwhile, denied access to the Namibian port, the Kathrin headed for Angola, which, on September 5 refused to dock the ship. This meant no Southern African state had given harbour to the vessel carrying military supplies for apartheid Israel’s ongoing Gaza genocide.

It remains to be seen when the Kathrin will dock at Koper, Slovenia and what arrangements will be made to transport the explosives to Israel.

The Vietnamese-Israel arms trade

Israel and Vietnam have developed a significant arms trade relationship in recent years, driven by Vietnam's efforts to expand its regional influence and Israel's advanced military technologies.

Israel and Vietnam have signed several military cooperation agreements, leading to growing military ties. These agreements focus on technology transfers, training, and the sale of military equipment.

Israel’s SPYDER (Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) surface-to-air missile system is one of the major deals, helping Vietnam enhance its military capabilities. Rafael is the prime contractor and Israel Aerospace Industries is the major subcontractor for the SPYDER program.

Israeli drone technology has also been provided to Vietnam, strengthening its surveillance and reconnaissance capacities.

Vietnam has procured Israeli small arms, such as rifles and machine guns, to modernize its infantry forces.

Drawing on its field experience in oppressing the Palestinians, Israel provides training for Vietnamese military personnel, focusing on the use of advanced weapons systems, cybersecurity, and intelligence. Additionally, Israel has assisted Vietnam in setting up domestic production lines for defence equipment through technology transfers, allowing Vietnam to produce Israeli-designed weapons locally.

Israel is known for its expertise in cybersecurity, and Vietnam has been keen to acquire Israeli technology and expertise to bolster its cyber capacity. The Israeli company Cellebrite has sold its surveillance and phone hacking technology to Vietnam for use against critics of the regime.

Vietnamese revisionism complicit with imperialism’s war on the people

The last word deserves to go to Vietnamese online blogger Hồng Thủy Lưu, who, on August 30, wrote:

As a “Communist” Party, trained by Chairman Hồ himself, through 45 years of waging the National–Democratic Revolution, the “Communist” Party of Vietnam should also stay true to its name and its history.

On the contrary, the “Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, led by the “Communist” Party of Vietnam itself, is a trusted ally of the genocidal Zionists and anti-people Hindutva…

If the Party doesn’t stand on the side of the people of the world, then it doesn’t deserve the title “Communist Party”. They are more the Revisionist Party of Vietnam. The government they rule directly assists the reactionaries in doing genocide. That proves that the Party and the Government itself are the biggest reactionaries in Vietnam.

They also express antagonism with their own “comrades” (this refers to the genuine Communists in struggle; for the Party declares itself Communist). Back in May, the electronic newspaper of the Gia Lai province Party Branch praised the Indian reactionaries for “killing many Maoists”. They call guerilla soldiers “terrorists”. This is not the only case where this has happened. They have called the Palestinian, Indian, and Filipino freedom fighters “terrorists” many times. This demonstrated how antagonistic they are to the world revolution. 

OPPOSE ACTIONS THAT AID GENOCIDE!

THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!

DOWN WITH THE VIETNAMESE REVISIONISTS!

LONG LIVE THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST STRUGGLE IN PALESTINE

REVOLUTIONARIES ARE NOT TERRORISTS!

 

 

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