BEWARE: BLOOD DIAMONDS ARE FUNDING ISRAEL’S WAR CRIMES

Sun 07 December 2025:

Last week the 2025 chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, had an article published extolling the benefits of the scheme. He must have had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he sent the article for publication.

Despite the bullish headline, integrity was missing from the outset.

If, as the article claimed, the Kimberley Process (KP) is “arguably the most successful attempt to govern the entire commodity supply chain” then that “success” should be measured against the death toll in Gaza where Kimberley Process certified diamonds have funded a genocide that has killed at least 70,000, and could be 126,000 or higher, defenceless, besieged and deliberately starved Palestinian, men, women and children. For the people of Gaza, the KP has been a weapon of mass annihilation.

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Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who worked quietly behind the scenes for years before the signing of the Abrahams accords to develop diamond trade links with the genocidal, fascist and apartheid regime in Israel, was never likely to say anything that might endanger the booming trade in Israeli blood diamonds which are laundered through the Diamond Exchange in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.

To claim that the KP attempts to govern the entire diamond supply chain is grossly misleading, intentionally so in my opinion. That claim forms the basis of the scam which legitimises the trade in blood diamonds that fall outside the remit of the KP which only bans rough diamonds that fund rebel violence.

While the KP was created to solve a very particular problem – rough diamond-funded rebel violence – the World Diamond Council (WDC) latched on to this to claim that it solved problems across the entire supply chain from mine to market. The WDC introduced the bogus System of Warranties to claim polished diamonds, that aren’t regulated by the KP, are conflict free even when they generate revenue used to fund genocide as is the case with diamonds processed in Israel.

There is no argument about the objective of the original, very limited, mandate of the KP. But what is at issue is the fact that rather than ending the trade in diamonds linked to grave human rights violations KP certification is being used to legitimise blood diamonds that fund human rights violations by groups other than rebel factions including governments guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the industry has repeatedly refused to correct this.

The claim that the diamond industry voluntarily adheres to both OECD Guidance is also not factual as I have explained previously.

Compliance with OECD Guidance means companies must commit to refraining from “any action which contributes to the financing of conflict” and “immediately suspend or discontinue engagement with upstream suppliers where we identify a reasonable risk that they are sourcing from, or linked to, any party committing war crimes or other serious violations of international humanitarian law, crimes against humanity or genocide.”

Despite decades of Israeli conflict with the occupied, besieged Palestinians not a single diamond company has recognised Israel as a “conflict affected and high-risk area” and so, by turning a blind eye to the conflict, they evade having to comply with the terms of the OECD Guidance and falsely claim compliance.

The diamond industry trumpets KP certification and the bogus System of Warranties to create the illusion of ethical diamonds while continuing to profit from the trade in diamonds that fund the crime of all crimes – the genocide in Gaza.

The article claims that the limitations of the KP are a “political mandate challenge” rather than a “structural design flaw” but this is another misleading statement as the definition of a “conflict diamond” was a designed choice, one which the WDC supported. As the WDC alluded to previously, “It was the industry that provided the blueprint for the certification system”.

The KP is captured by the very industry that it is supposed to regulate. It is a system of self-regulation that is rubber stamped by vested governments all with a veto to block changes that threaten their interests. KP member governments are the only ones with voting rights and they are guided by what the WDC recommends. The Civil Society Coalition is similarly influenced by their government and WDC paymasters who sponsor their participation.

In light of the repeated failure of the KP to ban trade in all blood diamonds members of the public should think carefully before purchasing diamonds.

The KP’s narrow “conflict diamond” definition provides a gaping loophole for blood diamonds linked to human rights violations by governments to bypass regulations and be designated “conflict free” in accordance with the bogus warranty scheme promoted by the jewellery industry.

While Russian diamonds are banned by the G7 and the EU there are no restrictions on diamonds processed in Israel which account for one fifth of the global market share in value terms.

A statement by the EU representative, Anitta Hipper, regretted that the plenary meeting In Dubai was unable to discuss Russian blood diamonds but she made no mention of Israel’s blood diamonds which are a far more significant source of funding for grave human rights violations.

The diamond industry channels $billions of rough diamonds from countries in Africa, Canada and Russia to Israel for processing and polishing. The fact that African countries which suffered long under the yoke of colonialism and apartheid allow their diamonds to be sent to Israel where the industry is a significant source of funding for the genocidal fascist and apartheid Zionist project in Palestine is shameful to say the least.

Anglo American shareholder-activists exposed De Beers diamond supply chain links to Israeli war crimes and pressured the Board to cut ties with the Israeli diamond industry. Days after the 2024 AGM Anglo American announced it would “divest” De Beers but so far has been unable to off-load the blood-drenched subsidiary.

Botswana and Angola are vying to buy or share ownership of De Beers which is critically important to the Israeli diamond industry and by default the Israeli economy – the main source of funding for the genocidal regime.

Neither the government of Botswana or Angola have not made any comment about De Beers value chain links to the Israel genocide or indicated if they will continue to send diamonds to Israel if they succeed in acquiring control of De Beers.

The Israeli diamond industry centered in Ramat Gan is one of the world’s major trading and polishing centers. While most diamonds are cut and polished in India, Israel specialises in cutting and polishing larger, more valuable diamonds.

The silence of the jewellery industry as leading brands continue to sell Israeli blood diamonds and tell patrons they’re conflict free is a very deliberate choice, one taken despite the legal, financial and reputational risk to the entire industry.

Preserving profits for their shareholders is deemed more important than preserving the lives, dignity and inalienable rights of defenseless Palestinian families bombarded, burned, starved and besieged in Gaza.

Those who consider diamonds objects of romance and desire should consider how they have come to believe that these pieces of polished carbon are so different to any other polished stone.

Are they truly valuable or is it the myth that they represent something special because De Beers has spent $millions promoting the diamond brand image causing people to believe this without a second thought?

If challenged to distinguish between a cubic zirconia, moissanite or diamond most people, including many jewellers, would be unable to tell which is which. Therefore, it’s not the appearance that renders them valuable, it is the story they have been repeatedly told by the diamond industry and when that story claims diamonds are conflict free it is a lie.

Diamonds processed in Israel fund war crimes, they are not objects of desire, they are objects of shame, the bloodiest of blood diamonds.

As a genocide continues in Gaza, we all need to consider the wider impact of the purchases we make, especially so for luxury goods like diamonds. Despite the spin from the industry diamonds are not conflict free, they remain indelibly tarnished by Israeli bloodshed and violence.

As the Kimberley Process failure demonstrated, vested interests refuse to end the trade in all blood diamonds and won’t do so voluntarily. Consumers must, therefore, force change by refusing to accept goods tarnished with the blood of Palestinian children.

Nobody wants to see bloody genocide gems this Christmas.

Author:

Sean Clinton

@wardiamonds

Sean Clinton is a human rights activist from Ireland. He has written numerous articles critical of the double standards in the global jewellery industry which facilitates the trade in diamonds that are a major source of funding for rogue regimes guilty of grievous human rights violations.

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