De Beers, the diamond behemoth, are cynically exploiting the occassion of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in order to promote their Forevermark diamond brand with a display in the tower of London of a diamond crafted by a company that supports the notorious Givati Brigade in the Israeli military.

De Beer's decision to display a Steinmetz diamond ignores the fact that the Steinmetz diamond company, through the Steinmetz Foundation, is a funder/supporter of a Unit of the infamous Givati Brigade. The Givati Brigade was responsible for one of the most serious examples of gross human rights violations during the Israeli assault on the besieged residents of Gaza in January 2009 when 21 members of the Samuni family were massacred.

Over 100 members of the Samuni family were ordered by Israeli forces of the Givati Brigade to shelter in the house of one family member.  The house was later targeted with Israeli missiles killing over twenty people including many children. The Israeli human rights organisation described the incident as follows:

"On 4 January 2009, at the start of the ground phase of operation Cast Lead, about 100 members of the extended a-Samuni family were huddled inside one house in the a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. The next morning, an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people inside the house, including 9 children and 10 women, and injured dozens of other family members. During the next two days, the army refused access to medical teams, in spite of being informed of the terrible outcome by family members who managed to escape the bombed home and human rights and humanitarian organisations, including B'Tselem. When medics managed to get to the site, they found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses, and evacuated several wounded people. The army refused permission to evacuate the bodies and they remained in the rubble for a further two weeks"

An investigation by the UN Human Rights Council chaired by Justice Richard Goldstone found evidence that the Israeli military committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the three week attack on the defenceless residents of Gaza.

Referring to their support for a Unit of the Givati Brigade the Steinmetz website states " During operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Foundation helped the Unit purchase complementary equipment as well as visited and cared for the wounded soldiers."

Diamonds that are generating revenue use to fund a regime guilty of war crims are de-facto blood diamonds.

De Beers should show respect for the surviving victims of the diamond-funded Givati Brigade's actions in Gaza who have been left bereaved, maimed and traumatised and withdraw the blood diamond display immediately.