You might have seen this article circulating. This is from 972 mag, a zionist rag (that pretends to be on the left). The byline specifies “Chinese-made drones” are being used by the IOF to kill people in Palestine.
Except reading the article they clearly, black-on-white state that:
- The first batch of drones were bought by Statesians and donated to the IOF (lol, as if 3 billion $$$ a year isn’t enough for them)
- Later, the US started producing these drones – the Autel EVO – in the US and donating them to the IOF.
The drones are also modified by the IOF to have a grenade mechanism attached, like in Ukraine. These are photography drones, they’re being used for war because they’re good quality otherwise.
In August 2024, China passed restrictions on the sale of civilian drones for military purposes and Autel themselves (this you can find in a reference linked in the 972 article) is opposed to this misuse of their tech but they can’t really do anything about it if the US keeps producing them.
The real story here is the US can’t compete with chinese drones so they steal the tech and produce knock-offs. How the times have changed.
972’s byline is doubly weird because it’s wrong. “Weaponizing Chinese tech” would be more accurate, I’d have problems with that but not as much. “Chinese-made drones” implies they are made in China or by China, which is not true.
This is a bit of a rant but I need comrades to stop falling for anti-AES propaganda everytime it happens. People instantly jumped on the “China is selling weapons to enemies of communism!” point. No. China does not sell weapons to the IOF, their tech is being misused. They don’t sell weapons to the Philippines or provide them, they don’t provide weapons to the US, they don’t provide weapons to Ukraine, they don’t provide weapons to anyone you’ve heard them provide weapons too.
I’ll tell you who provides weapons though. The UK. The US. France. They find new ways to kill people in atrocious ways, and then send this experimental tech to the IOF to be tested on Palestinians. They have missiles that fire sharp steel blades upon impact cutting through everything it crosses in a 10 meter radius. They have bombs that deliver compound shrapnel that leaves almost no entry sign, but will shatter your spine completely.
Oooh but no, you can modify a photography drone by 3d printing a component, this means China must stop producing commercial quadcopters and leave the tech solely in the hands of the US!!! I am being very dialectical 🤓
Don’t lose sight of what’s actually important here. Stop looking towards what China does (which it doesn’t do anyway) and look to your own countries instead. They’re the ones enabling genocides.
This bothered me too on first sight. Here is a comment from another thread I made: https://hexbear.net/comment/6320322
Here is the attached article about US Zionists shipping these drones to the IOF: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/a-fanatical-israeli-settlement-is-funded-by-new-york-suburbanites/
The appeal for drones, sent out to Gordon’s mailing list, has since grown into a “thermal drone matching campaign” run by the One Israel Fund, another charity based in the Five Towns that supports West Bank settlements. The group hosts tours of the West Bank and holds annual wine-tasting barbecues in the Five Towns to fund settlement security projects. Although it usually raises $3 million per year, the One Israel Fund took in $2.5 million in the month after Oct. 7, according to the Long Island Herald.
I had a back forth with someone from ml earlier today about this article, a post they have since deleted. These drones must have been bought between the July 31, 2023 export restrictions on drone tech and the July 2024 adjustments to those restrictions. The drones do not drop bombs,
they have a universal mechanism that can drop anything and Israel has created a mechanism to attach to that universal mechanism to drop grenades.You can get attachments to the drone (aftermarket I think, not sure of the manufacturer makes a 1st party accessory that does this), that can facilitate dropping things. Likely the Israeli IOF is modifying this attachment or building their own. That’s what the “iron ball” is in the article. The drone isn’t equipped to drop anything until an attachment is used.
- Ministry of Commerce General Administration of Customs National Defense Science and Industry Central Military Commission Equipment Development Department Announcement No. 28 of 2023 on the implementation of temporary export controls on some drones.
- Ministry of Commerce General Administration of Customs Central Military Commission Equipment Development Announcement No. 31 of 2024 Announcement on Optimizing and Adjusting UAV Export Control Measures.
As it stands now China will not ship these drones to Israel. According to Autel, they have banned the sale of their drones to the entire region. They’ve made two statements on the matter. Here:
- https://www.autelrobotics.com/news/non-military-use-of-autel-robotics-products-statement-2/
- https://www.autelrobotics.com/news/non-military-use-of-autel-robotics-products-statement/
DJI has a similar statement pre 2023:
On Amazon and other platforms you can not get these drones shipped to Israel:
In the 9 months between the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the adjustments to drone exports Israel bought
20,000Chinese made drones (likely through consumer channels) and also relied on civilian donations of drones.“Soldiers independently launched crowdfunding campaigns,” L. explained. “Our company received around NIS 500,000 (approximately $150,000) in donations, which we also used to buy drones.” C., another soldier, recalled being asked to sign thank-you letters to Americans who had donated EVO drones to his battalion.
In a Facebook group named “The Israeli Drone Pilots Community,” many posts request EVO drone donations for units in Gaza. Multiple pages on Headstart (an Israeli crowdfunding startup) were also created to independently raise funds for drone purchases.
The timeline on this purchase is unclear. It’s also unclear if the changes to the export restrictions are a response to this purchase.
correction: Israel intends to buy 20,000 Israeli made drones.
From everything I’ve read and seen there isn’t currently direct sales of drones from China to Israel.
When I read in a non-left source that “AES state did bad”, my first instinct is just not to trust it. Maybe if video or academic sources demonstrate otherwise, maybe I might eventually change my mind, but it has a big hill to climb in my brain for that to happen. We’ve seen so much fabrication out of pro-capitalist news sources, why the fuck do people still trust them at face value?
Exactly! Always approach sources with a known history of operating as vectors of disinformation and psychological warfare with extreme skepticism. Always look for evidence and corroboration from reliable sources before taking anything they say at face value. And I would also like to add that this same skepticism and caution should be extended to so-called “OSINT” as well.
The OP has written an excellent piece about this subject. I’ve been disappointed to see some folks in anti-imperialist circles base geopolitical and military analysis on data put out by these so-called “OSINT” sources with insufficient skepticism as to whether they are really what they claim to be, or why this information in particular has been made available and what narrative those who control the flow of this information are trying to shape.
Too many people still haven’t grasped this basic truth: if it’s in a pro-Zionist or pro-imperialist publication, it is likely, in some way or another, bullshit. It doesn’t necessarily need to be all lies, but it can and very often is a case of twisting half-truths, misleading framing and intentionally deceptive choice of language. The same applies to analysis derived from so-called “OSINT” sources, which can sometimes appear trustworthy but very often are a tool of Zionist and imperialist psychological warfare. It is easier to be deceived than most people think.
I also think some people are just so paranoid about “their side” not being pure enough that they will jump at any opportunity to have their fears validated, because it feels good in a sort of masochistic way to wallow in negativity than risk later disappointment or embarrassment. In my opinion it is the same emotional mechanism that leads to the toxic cycles of alternating defeatism and triumphalism that we observe sometimes in anti-imperialist circles which is not productive but feels more emotionally cathartic than maintaining a sober and level head.
