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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/08/01/the-global-economic-benefit-from-the-genocide-of-palestinians/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The global economic benefit from the genocide of Palestinians</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ubai al-Aboudi, Vijay Prashad</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">August 1, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_mduhiqa10" alt="IOF-in-Jabalia.jpg" width="421" height="237"><br><p><font size="1">Israeli
forces in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, one of the
most fiercely targeted areas. Photo: IDF Spokesperson / Wikimedia
Commons </font></p><div>
<p>On June 16, 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since
1967, Francesca Albanese,<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5923-economy-occupation-economy-genocide-report-special-rapporteur"> published</a> a new report titled <i>From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide</i>.
Spanning over thirty-nine pages, the report indicts several major
multinational corporations of profiting from the occupation and
genocide of Palestinians. Among the implicated are familiar names:
Amazon, Blackrock, Google, Lockheed Martin, and Volvo. Each of these
firms, and many universities (particularly the Massachusetts Institute
for Technology), have differential investments in the displacement of
Palestinians and their replacement by Israeli settlers. Albanese ends
her report with reasonable requests: stop profiting from the genocide
and cut ties with Israel.</p>
<p>On July 9, the United States State Department<a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/07/sanctioning-lawfare-that-targets-u-s-and-israeli-persons"> sanctioned</a> Albanese for her work, which<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14203-imposing-sanctions-the-international-criminal-court"> prevents</a> her from any access to her own property in the United States. The US State Department<a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/07/sanctioning-lawfare-that-targets-u-s-and-israeli-persons"> claimed</a>
that \u201cAlbanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for
terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the
West\u201d. The United Nations responded that this imposition of sanctions
sets a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d. \u201cThe use of unilateral sanctions against
Special Rapporteurs or any other UN expert or official is unacceptable,\u201d
<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165359">said</a> UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. Albanese is not the first person to be sanctioned in this way. In June 2025, the US<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/international-criminal-court-deplores-new-sanctions-us-administration-against-icc-officials"> sanctioned</a> International Criminal Court judges based on the same US Executive Order.</p>
<p>The furore around US sanctions against high United Nations officials
and its institutions distracts people from the fundamental arguments
laid out in the report by Albanese and her team. It is almost as if US
Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to use the sanctions weapon to
make it the centre of attention. In many ways, Rubio succeeded. The
central argument of the report was set aside, as the main issue became
whether or not it was acceptable for the United States to sanction UN
officials.</p>
<h3><b>Genocide in the clouds</b></h3>
<p>Albanese\u2019s report indicates that several major multinational firms
are involved in profiting from the genocide. These firms are from the
following areas: construction, education, finance, service provision,
and weapons production. There are names one would expect: the major arms
manufacturers, such as Lockheed Martin. A full<a href="https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies"> list</a>
of these arms companies is maintained by the American Friends Services
Committee (AFSC). The AFSC section on Amazon is worth reading:</p>
<p>Israeli military intelligence uses AWS [Amazon Web Services] servers
to store masses of intelligence information on almost everyone in Gaza.
Since 2021, Amazon has been providing cloud services to the Israeli
government under Project Nimbus, a USD 1.2 billion contract it shares
with Google. It provides cloud services to all branches of the Israeli
government, including the military, the Israeli Security Agency
(Shabak/\u201dShin Bet\u201d), Police, and Prison Services; weapons manufacturers
Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael; and government agencies related
to Israel\u2019s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>Albanese\u2019s report mentions Project Nimbus and informs us that it is
mainly funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Then her report dives
deeper:</p>
<p>Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon grant Israel virtually
government-wide access to their cloud and artificial intelligence
technologies, enhancing data processing, decision making and
surveillance and analysis capacities. In October 2023, when the Israeli
internal military cloud overloaded, Microsoft, with its Azure platform,
and the Project Nimbus consortium stepped in with critical cloud and
artificial intelligence infrastructure. Their Israel-located servers
ensure data sovereignty and a shield from accountability, under
favourable contracts offering minimal restrictions or oversight. In July
2024, an Israeli colonel described cloud tech as a weapon in every
sense of the word, citing these companies.</p>
<p>It is clear that these tech companies not only provide information
for the Israeli occupation and genocide, but they also provide a \u201cshield
from accountability\u201d since they protect key information that would be
actionable in an international war crimes tribunal. Albanese referred to
Colonel Racheli Dembinsky, the commander of Israel\u2019s Center of
Computing and Information Systems, which provides data processing for
the Israeli armed forces. At a conference called <i>IT for IDF</i> at Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv, Colonel Dembinsky<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLBDfnZJrC8"> said</a>
that Israel\u2019s army relied upon the cloud storage and artificial
intelligence services from these multinational tech giants (which, in
her lecture slides, are Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft
Azure). Colonel Dembinsky<a href="https://www.google.com.hk/url?q=https://www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1753947615739081&usg=AOvVaw1FEsdPpOSdcEWnH_KV5Jav"> stated</a>
that her army unit \u2013 known as Mamram \u2013 used an \u201coperational cloud\u201d in
its internal servers that she said is a \u201cweapons platform\u201d. There is no
public information of the total amount that these firms have made from
the genocide.</p>
<p>In 2024, employees from Amazon and Google created the<a href="https://www.notechforapartheid.com/"> No Tech for Apartheid</a> campaign. At an event in New York, as Barak Regev of Google Israel was speaking, a Google employee interrupted him and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T26lLzrS_mg"> said</a>,
\u201cI am a Google Cloud software engineer and I refuse to build technology
that powers genocide, apartheid, or surveillance.\u201d Scores of Google
engineers were fired for their association with the No Tech for
Apartheid campaign. It has not stopped the group from organizing more
protests.</p>
<h3><b>The blind one</b></h3>
<p>In 2003, Peter Thiel and others founded a tech company called Palantir. The name comes from <i>Lord of the Rings</i>
and refers to the crystal ball that can see from afar. Thiel, a deeply
conservative libertarian who fundamentally believes in \u201cWestern
Civilization\u201d, made his money in PayPal and Facebook before entering the
highly lucrative world of military and intelligence contracts
(Palantir\u2019s first major investor was the Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s
venture capital firm In-Q-Tel). In 2015, Palantir began to do business
in Israel, particularly with its military and intelligence complex, by
providing data integration, data analysis, and the use of artificial
intelligence. In December 2023, during the first phase of the Israeli
genocide, Palantir\u2019s CEO Alex Karp<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e6K2ea_e7k"> told</a> Fox Business, \u201cWe are well known in Israel.\u201d</p>
<p>On January 12, 2024, Palantir formed a partnership with the Israeli
military industry to assist in the genocide. Palantir\u2019s Executive Vice
President Josh Harrish<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/palantir-israel-agree-to-strategic-partnership-for-battle-tech?embedded-checkout=true"> said</a>
at that time, \u201cBoth parties have mutually agreed to harness Palantir\u2019s
advanced technology in support of war-related missions.\u201d The phrase
\u201cwar-related missions\u201d is straight-forward and could otherwise be
described as genocide, which is exactly what the International Court of
Justice<a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203447"> called</a> it on January 26, 2024. Palantir\u2019s TITAN system is<a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/es/%C3%BAltimas-noticias/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes/"> being</a>
used for precision targeting, which \u2013 given the number of civilian
casualties in Gaza \u2013 has been precise in the murder of non-combatants.
On April 30, 2025, at the Hill & Valley Forum, Palantir\u2019s CEO Karp
was asked about the death of Palestinians, and he<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=uQCazCId_9o"> answered that</a>
Palantir had been responsible for killing \u201cmostly terrorists, that\u2019s
true\u201d. This is, of course, not true, since most of the people killed in
Gaza have been civilians (it would be useful to look at the<a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/data/casualties"> overall data</a>
on Palestinian death tolls since 2008, held by the United Nations; if
all those killed had been part of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, then these
groups would have been an even more formidable armed force). Based on
Karp\u2019s comments at the 2024 meeting in Tel Aviv and at the 2025 Hill
& Valley Forum, Albanese\u2019s report concludes that they are
\u201cindicative of executive-level knowledge and purpose vis-à-vis the
unlawful use of force by Israel, and failure to prevent such acts or
withdraw involvement\u201d.</p>
<p>As news reports have come out of the association of Palantir with the deportation of migrants from the US, protests have<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zN-s_zPBcVk"> mushroomed</a>
across the United States at Palantir offices. These protests link the
genocidal work of Palantir against the Palestinians and the
collaboration with the US state to deport migrants.</p>
<h3><b>Profiting off the occupation</b></h3>
<p>For decades now, investigators with the United Nations and other
groups (including Palestinian organizations) have documented the way in
which corporations have profited off the Israeli occupation of
Palestine. According to a conservative estimate by<a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/a77d295_en.pdf"> UNCTAD</a>,
Israel generates USD 41billion annually from its direct exploitation of
the West Bank (around 7% of Israeli GDP). This does not take into
account other indirect benefits that emanate from having a captive
population to exploit.</p>
<p>In 2020, the United Nations<a href="https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/43/71"> published</a>
a database of companies that had been profiting from the illegal
settlement activity in the West Bank. Most of the companies in the
database had their domicile within Israel, but many were multinational
corporations. The familiar ones included Airbnb (United States),
Booking.com (Netherlands), Expedia (United States), TripAdvisor (United
States), General Mills (United States), and Motorola (United States).
The WhoProfits<a href="https://www.whoprofits.org/"> website</a>,
meanwhile, not only has an accurate database of firms involved in
profiteering from the genocide and the occupation, but it also produces
important reports on specific areas of activity \u2013 such as its 2024<a href="https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/172?greenwashing-dispossession-the-israeli-renewable-energy-industry-and-the-exploitation-of-occupied-natural-resources"> report</a> on <i>Greenwashing Dispossession: The Israeli Renewable Energy Industry and the Exploitation of Occupied Natural Resources</i>. The Don\u2019t Buy Into Occupation coalition\u2019s<a href="https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023_DBIO-III-Report_11-December-2023.pdf"> report</a> from December 2023 lists European financial firms and their profitable tentacles within the illegal Israeli settlement project.</p>
<p>On June 10, 2025, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Sadaka Ireland, and al-Haq (Palestine)<a href="https://www.glanlaw.org/single-post/multi-jurisdictional-legal-action-airbnb"> brought</a>
a series of lawsuits in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United
States against Airbnb for its operations in the Occupied Palestine
Territory. In 2018, Airbnb<a href="https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/"> said</a>
that it would \u201cconsider the impact we have and act responsibly\u201d, but it
then reversed course and \u2013 as GLAN notes \u2013 \u201ccontinues to list over 300
accommodations listed for rent\u201d in the West Bank. These three
organizations argue that one of the crimes here is the \u201cmoney laundering
by Airbnb of proceeds of Israeli war crimes.\u201d These are serious
charges, particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom, which have
strong money laundering legislation. GLAN\u2019s senior lawyer, Gerry Liston<a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/airbnb-faces-multi-jurisdictional-legal-actions-over-alleged-profiting-from-rentals-in-illegal-israeli-settlements/"> said</a>,
\u201cThese are the first ever cases to apply anti-money laundering
legislation in the UK and elsewhere to business activity in the illegal
Israeli settlements. They demonstrate that senior executives of
companies profiting from Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territory
risk prosecution for a very serious criminal offense.\u201d</p>
<p>The impact of these companies profiteering from occupation is not
limited to the income they generate at the expense of Palestinians, but
they also contribute to land grabbing and environmental pollution. One
example is the<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2813%2962601-X"> Geshuri</a>
agrochemical company, which affects indigenous Palestinian communities
in Tulkarem and leads to higher rates of cancer, asthma, and eye and
respiratory health anomalies. This example is unfortunately not unique
in the West Bank as<a href="https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/alhaq_files/publications/Environmental.Injustice.Report.En.pdf"> Israeli companies profiteer</a> from extractive and polluting practices across the West Bank.</p>
<p>Having a captive population with no rights to experiment on has
proven to be a valuable resource for the development of intrusive
espionage technologies. A prime example is the<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/pegasus-project"> Pegasus</a>
spyware, which was developed in close cooperation between the Israeli
army infamous intelligence unit 8200, Israeli academia, and private
capital. This spyware was used by repressive governments globally to
crack down on<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57891506"> dissidents</a> with over 50,000 people targeted.</p>
<p>According to the<a href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/call-from-palestine-unite-against-cyber-surveillance-repression"> Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement</a> (BDS), \u201cIn 2020, Israeli cyber firms<a href="https://whoprofits.org/flash-report/repression-diplomacy/"> received</a>
approximately 31% of global investment in the sector. Acquisitions of
Israeli cyber companies generated some USD 4.7 billion, and Israeli
cyber exports stood at USD 6.85 billion. Israel has become a leader in
the<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-israel-s-cyber-spy-industry-aids-dictators-hunt-dissidents-and-gays-1.6573027"> spyware and surveillance market</a>,
providing data collection and processing expertise, including spyware,
facial recognition, \u201cuser tracking tools\u201d used for policing, electoral
manipulation, and more.</p>
<h3><b>Genocide gentry</b></h3>
<p>The focus on senior executives is notable. A new project,<a href="https://genocidegentry.org/"> Genocide Gentry</a>,
focuses directly on the senior executives of weapons manufacturers
(Boeing, Elbit Systems of America, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, and RTX \u2013 formerly Raytheon). These are the main
defense contractors for the US Pentagon. The group \u2013 developed by the
open-source online platform<a href="https://littlesis.org/"> LittleSis</a>
\u2013 names the senior leadership of these firms, tracks their connections
to other corporations, and then finds their linkage to cultural
institutions. It is these institutions that are the weakest link in the
chain, since they do not like to be associated directly with genocidal
corporations even if they need the money.</p>
<p>Genocide Gentry offers a simple three-step strategy:</p>
<ol><li>Better understand your city/university/workplace\u2019s
connection to genocide. Their database helps track whether a member of a
weapons company sits on a board of institutions in a city.</li><li>Identify cultural and educational institutions in your community with ties to weapons companies.</li><li>Utilize the profiles of board members and donors to specific examples of how local institutions are linked to the war machine.</li></ol>
<p>Here\u2019s an interesting example: Kathy Warden is the CEO of Northrop Grumman and on the board of directors of<a href="https://www.catalyst.org/"> Catalyst</a>, a global nonprofit that helps build workplaces that \u201cwork for women\u201d. UN Women<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/news/2025/05/un-women-estimates-over-28000-women-and-girls-killed-in-gaza-since-october-2023"> estimates</a> that at least 28,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza by weapons \u2013 some of them from Northrop Grumman, and UN Women<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2025/07/un-women-statement-on-the-escalating-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-gaza"> warns</a>
that a million women and girls are facing starvation in Gaza due to the
war machine fuelled by Northrop Grumman. So much for Catalyst\u2019s \u201cbrand\u201d
of standing for women.</p>
<p>There are successes to this strategy. In early 2024, activists began
to pressure musicians who had been slated to play at the South by
Southwest SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. In March, Ella Williams (who
plays as Squirrel Flower) announced that she would not go to SXSW
because it was sponsored by arms manufacturers. On Instagram, she<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sqrrlflwr/p/C4GwcwVu-gp/?hl=en"> wrote</a>,
\u201cSXSW is platforming defense contractors including Raytheon
subsidiaries as well as the US Army, a main sponsor of the festival\u2026.
Genocide profiteers like Raytheon supply weapons to the IDF, paid for by
our taxes. A music festival should not include war profiteers. I refuse
to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labor in protest.\u201d
Seventy-nine other performers decided to boycott the festival. By June
2024, SXSW<a href="https://genocidegentry.org/2024/08/14/sxsw-drops-u-s-army-and-weapons-manufacturers/"> said</a> it would cut its links to the US Army and to Raytheon (RTX).</p>
<p>What is evident as the genocide continues, is that there are vested
interests of big investors to protect their profits that result from the
continued occupation of Palestine. The situation is grim and ugly, but
there is now sufficient evidence \u2013 such as from \u2013 Albanese\u2019s report \u2013 of
the wretchedness of Zionism\u2019s occupation of Palestine and its treatment
of Palestinians. There is also plenty of indisputable evidence that
reveals how corporations and their technologies have been used to
repress Palestinians, and continue to find their way to be used
globally. This evidence must be acted upon, either by international
bodies, by courts, or by public opinion. Silence is not an option.</p>
<p>We are not free until everyone is free.</p>
<p><b><i>Ubai al-Aboudi</i></b><i> is the Director of the Bisan Center for Research and Development (Ramallah, Palestine). </i><b><i>Vijay Prashad</i></b><i>
is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow
and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of</i><a href="https://mayday.leftword.com/"> <i>LeftWord Books</i></a><i> and the director of</i><a href="https://thetricontinental.org/"> <i>Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research</i></a><i>. He has written more than 20 books, including</i><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Darker-Nations-Peoples-History-Third/dp/1595583424/?tag=alternorg08-20"> <i>The Darker Nations</i></a><i> and</i><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Poorer-Nations-Possible-History-Global/dp/1781681589/?tag=alternorg08-20"> <i>The Poorer Nations</i></a><i>. His latest books are</i><a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/on-cuba"> <i>On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle</i></a><i> (with Noam Chomsky),</i><a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1869-struggle-makes-us-human"> <i>Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism</i></a><i>, and (also with Noam Chomsky)</i><a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/withdrawal"> <i>The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power</i></a><i>.</i></p>
<p><i>This article was produced by</i><a href="https://globetrotter.media/"> <i>Globetrotter</i></a><i> and</i><a href="https://nocoldwar.org/"> <i>No Cold War.</i></a></p>
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