Explosive Materials Bound for Israel Are Flying Out of JFK Airport

Americans know that the U S executive and defense industry exports huge amounts of military goods to Israel but they may not be aware that in a few cases these shipments expedition beside them On Saturday afternoon a cargo airplane carrying tons of explosive materials bound for an Israeli weapons manufacturing company is expected to fly out of John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday afternoon according to air cargo documents reviewed by The Intercept The explosive material grade A nitrocellulose is a widely used industrial material that plays a key role in making ammunition from sniper bullets to rockets According to the air cargo documents obtained by journalists at Irish news site The Ditch and researchers with the Palestinian Youth Movement pallets of nitrocellulose are expected to be delivered to the Israeli weapons manufacturing company IMI Systems headquartered outside of Tel Aviv in the city of Ramat Hasharon The main client of IMI Systems previously known as Israeli Military Industries is the Israel Defense Forces Saturday s cargo flight is the largest single shipment of explosives to pass through NYC s busiest airport The cargo flight by Challenge Airlines Israel is scheduled to depart from JFK at p m on Saturday and land in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday according to flight information The manufacturer of the materials is not known but the cargo s sender is listed as deriving from a Los Angeles ZIP code While other weapons-related shipments have been sent from JFK to Israel Saturday s cargo flight is the first approved shipment of nitrocellulose and the largest single shipment of explosives to pass through New York City s busiest airport stated journalist and lawyer Roman Shortall co-founder of The Ditch Previously The Ditch has disclosed on other military equipment flown out of the JFK airport including ammunition propellants detonating fuses tear gas F- combat jet parts and firearms Explosive materials however typically have been shipped in smaller amounts in separate flights Shortall mentioned The concentrated amounts of nitrocellulose on Saturday are notable and prompt safety concerns for both civilians and workers at the New York airport the researchers revealed Over almost two years of genocide in Gaza JFK airport has served as the coordination point for the shipment of ammunition primer small arms cartridges detonators and aircraft parts to sustain the Israeli military explained Aisha Nizar an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement a Palestinian solidarity group that has chapters across the U S and Europe These arms are threats to our communities here in New York and show yet again the complete coordination between the Zionist project and the U S ruling class who are at this time waging a war of extermination against the Palestinian people IMI Systems parent company Elbit Systems and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which operates JFK did not this instant respond to The Intercept s requests for comment Read our complete coverage Israel s War on Gaza The Israeli military regularly receives billions of dollars worth in weapons from the U S whether transferred from U S military stockpiles or bought directly from U S defense companies During the first year of Israel s war on Gaza the U S military sent billion in aid to Israel The majority of Israeli military aid from the U S comes through grants for Israel to spend on buying new military weapons and materials directly from U S companies which helps fuel the country s weapons industry Researchers with the Palestine Youth Movement have previously uncovered sea shipments of ammunition and other material to Israel from the U S Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point or MOTSU in North Carolina including a Department of Defense shipment last year that violated Spain s arms embargo on Israel A separate Israel-bound shipment of military goods by Danish shipping giant Maersk which typically ships from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey also violated the Spanish embargo A media analysis into Challenge Air by Belgian news outlet RTBF has also shown the airline has transported weapons from the JFK airport to Brussels then to Tel Aviv Related U S Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Laborious Researchers with the Palestinian Youth Movement expressed safety concerns for workers and civilians posed by the highly flammable explosive materials A U S Army analysis cited by the group described nitrocellulose as explosively equivalent to TNT The group also pointed to China s Tianjin Port explosion in caused by nitrocellulose stockpiles which had spontaneously combusted killing people and injuring more than others Both customer flights and cargo flights at JFK share the same runways Cargo flights can also be taxied to the runway while passing civilian planes and terminals Since Hamas s attack on Israel in the Israeli military has killed more than Palestinians in its incursion on Gaza which has escalated in latest months after Israel broke its ceasefire agreement in March Israel s war cabinet in the past few days declared plans for the Israeli military to indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and displace Palestinians from the territory It comes amid an Israeli blockade on all humanitarian aid food water fuel and biological supplies in violation of humanitarian law The final destination for Saturday s shipment of nitrocellulose the Elbit-owned IMI Systems is known to manufacture a wide range of weapons such as combat vehicles rifles missiles rocket launchers and cluster munitions Nitrocellulose is also used in industrial and therapeutic materials including paint or aluminum foil and in physiological settings to create topical ointments Other companies ship weapons and military materials through JFK including Lockheed Martin according to The Ditch While Challenge Air has been the main airline to fly such military goods out of JFK U S transportation giant FedEx has also transported military goods through the New York airport Elbit Israel s largest arms manufacturer operates across the globe including in the U S the United Kingdom Australia Sweden Switzerland and Brazil Palestinian solidarity activists in the U S have protested at Elbit facilities in Virginia and South Carolina as well as a factory in Merrimack New Hampshire where four women attempted to halt production The post Explosive Materials Bound for Israel Are Flying Out of JFK Airport appeared first on The Intercept