Saudi war on Yemen, Dutch government, parliament disagree

This AFP photo shows a Yemeni graffiti artist depicting children, killed by Saudi bombing, going to heaven; and numbers of civilians killed during that bombing; on a building destroyed by the Saudi royal air force.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Blok and parliament clash over arms embargo against Saudi Arabia

[Foreign Affairs] Minister Blok does not think it’s right to argue in the UN Security Council for an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia, as the House of Representatives wants. An overwhelming majority in the House, including coalition parties D66, CDA, and Christian Union, supported this afternoon a motion to tackle the arms supplies.

That means 3 of the 4 parties in the right-wing coalition government want to stop arming the bloody Saudi war on the people of Yemen. Only Blok’s party, the pro-Big Business VVD, does not. It looks like Blok is scared of not being slavish to the Trump administration in the USA and Theresa May in Britain; close friends of the Saudi absolute monarchy.

The Lower House also wants Blok to insist on a cease-fire in Yemen. According to the parliament, many people in Yemen will starve to death if the international community does not intervene. …

D66 is the author of the proposal for an arms embargo. “Saudi Arabia has an unmistakable share in the war in Yemen and the serious human rights violations involved“, states MP Sjoerdsma. …

In May of this year, the UN Security Council, on the initiative of the Netherlands, adopted a resolution that states that there is a relationship between hunger and conflict situations. Where hunger is used as a weapon of war, the UN must report this to the UN Security Council. According to the House, that is now the case and action must be taken. …

According to Minister Blok, an embargo does not stand a chance because employment in the arms industry plays a role in some European Union member states.

Politicians speak about employment when defending their contributions to the butchery in Yemen. In reality, they don’t worry about workers’ jobs, but about the profits of war profiteering corporations.

The parties in parliament find Blok’s attitude disappointing. CDA Member of Parliament Van Helvert: “I understand that it is difficult, but in Yemen the food does not come because of the weapons we, the West, deliver. Imagine that it takes place in our country, and Rotterdam is full of food, but it stays there because armed people stop it.”

D66 Member of Parliament Sjoerdsma: “Germany and Switzerland also want an arms embargo.”