Fuelling Israel's Genocide: MEMO in Conversation with Lydia de Leeuw & Misa Norigami

Middle East Monitor Conversations

Businesses that supply Israel with jet fuel are helping to maintain its bombing campaign in Gaza, but what are the legal implications to such support?

In this week's MEMO in Conversation, we speak to the authors of a damning new report by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) that uncovers the extensive support provided by Israel's allies, enabling its devastating military onslaught on Gaza.
Join us as we discuss the findings with SOMO experts Lydia de Leeuw and Misa Norigami who shed light on the crucial role imported jet fuel plays in sustaining Israel's relentless air strikes. The guests highlight the staggering amount of US-supplied military jet fuel (JP-8) that has fuelled Israel's attacks since 7 October 2023. Leeuw and Norigami reveal the names of specific companies implicated in this deadly supply chain, demonstrating how, without this support, Israel would be unable to maintain its current level of bombing.
We also explore the legal implications of corporate complicity in war crimes, examining the criteria that must be met under international law and the precedents supporting the argument for holding these companies to account. The report's call for an embargo on jet fuel and crude oil sales to Israel, based on the International Court of Justice's determinations, is a crucial point of discussion. Tune in to hear the specific actions recommended by SOMO for states and companies to ensure compliance with international law and prevent further atrocities in Gaza.
Lydia de Leeuw leads SOMO’s strategic litigation work. Together with colleagues and partners, Lydia helps build coalitions around specific human rights issues and develop multi-jurisdiction, multi-procedure litigation strategies to advance shared objectives. Before joining SOMO in 2015, she conducted legal and field research for a variety of human rights organisations in the Middle East and South Africa.

Lydia holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminology from VU University in Amsterdam. In 2015, she was awarded an LL.M. in International Crime and Justice, with a focus on international crimes and state-corporate crime. Misa Norigami is a corporate researcher at SOMO. She investigates companies' finances, ownership, investors, corporate and capital structures, subsidiaries and supply chains through the Counter. The Counter is SOMO's pro bono corporate research helpdesk for activists working to hold companies that cause social harm and environmental destruction to account.Misa holds a Master of Laws in public international law and a Bachelor of Laws from Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan), as well as an advanced Master of Laws in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands.