No plowshares in sight but there was plenty of fertilizer and fuel for Gaza

Less than 2 weeks ago the Israelis discovered 6.5 tonnes of potassium nitrate in bags of ‘sugar’ labeled as aid from the European Union. Reuters carried this report:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The European Union on Sunday denied any connection to bags that Israel said were marked as containing EU aid "sugar" but actually filled with bomb-making chemicals bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army said on Saturday it seized 6.5 tonnes of potassium nitrate aboard a Palestinian truck travelling through the occupied West Bank en route to Gaza.
Video footage of the haul showed white sacks with the spray-painted label: "EEC 2 Sugar Exported from E.U."

Potassium nitrate can be used to make explosives and power homemade rockets. It can also be used as a fertilizer.The European Union is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. EU spokeswoman Alix deMauny said the bloc distributes its food aid through U.N. agencies, rather than directly, and does not export any sugar to Gaza.

"Based on the information received, it appears that these bags cannot be confused with any kind of EU humanitarian aid," deMauny said. "We would consider it an isolated criminal act and we condemn it."

Ha’aretz carried this report yesterday of another case of Gaza Humanitarian aid gone awray:

Israel Airports Authority security personnel on Monday thwarted an attempt to smuggle a chemical substance that can be used to manufacture explosives and rockets, from Israel into the Gaza Strip though the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The IAA recovered two tons of the bomb-making material from a truck attempting to smuggle the material into Gaza in the guise of a humanitarian aid delivery. According to security sources, last week a larger amount of the material was found on a similar truck attempting to cross into Gaza.

The source also said that the amount apprehended Monday, could have been used to produce 500 rockets. The chemical substance was found in a test sample. It can be used to fuel rockets and to create explosives.

I am not suggesting the European Union is involved in the smuggling of ammo, weapons, or rocket making material – although, it would make my defense stronger if various EU countries were not actively involved in financing alleged “human rights” groups in Israel. I suspect it is a case of very little managerial oversight by the EU when using locals for labour.