War on Want’s outcry over JCB machines demolishing Palestinian playground needs redress.
Before I start, let me state for the record that I have no affiliation with JCB. Try as we might, the company is not an advertiser on DemolitionNews, and never has been. Furthermore, I am not a right-wing Tory boy or an anti-Palestinian. And as a left-leaning media type, nor am I the sort to sit idly by while anyone’s human rights are violated (I’ve been on marches, y’know).
But what started out as some poor journalism reporting of JCB’s supposed involvement in human rights violations has now escalated with the no doubt well-meaning War on Want charity throwing its considerable weight behind the argument.
This story relates to the simple depiction of a JCB machine being used by the Israeli military to demolish a Palestinian playground in the town of Silwan.
Never mind the fact that JCB may have sold the machine for non-military purposes; never mind that it may, in fact, have been sold to a previous owner and since purchased second-hand by the Israelis; never mind that the machine in question may be years old and long since out of contact with its manufacturer. According to war on Want and, specifically, its campaigns and policy director Greg Muttitt, this makes JCB “complicit in attacks on children and communities”.
“It is unacceptable that a British company like JCB should profit from human rights violations.”
Attacks on children and communities? This doesn’t sound like the actions of a world-renowned British manufacturer. Nor does it sound like the actions of a company that donates millions to charity each year. Nor does it sound like the actions of a company that has a reputation for being among the first to respond to natural disasters with machine donations around the world.
But there, tucked into the darkest corner at the bottom of War on Want’s statement is a clue to real reasoning behind this story – The fact that the company was a major contributor to the Conservative Party’s election campaign.
OK, perhaps the British government and its counterparts across the pond may not be doing enough to interject in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But please don’t drag one of the UK’s last bastions of manufacturing excellence into a political mud-slinging contest. JCB has continued to manufacture much of its product range here in the UK when economic and strategic sense must surely have suggested otherwise. It is a major employer, runs its own academy to encourage engineering learning and is an integral part of the Staffordshire community. And, for the record, it s NOT a war criminal.
We rarely beg for comments on DemolitionNews (most of you don’t need encouragement in that area) but we feel particularly strongly about this issue and we would like you to show your support using the Comments area below. Even if you are not a JCB customer and even if you are a JCB competitor, please take just a few seconds to air your views.
