Divest from apartheid fueling tech stocks

Investing conscientiously by avoiding morally bankrupt corporations is a human imperative.

The pain of Gaza is apparent to any fair-minded person. Even to Indigenous Palestinians long used to brutal attacks by the occupying power, the scale of devastation since October last year is staggering. This time, it seems the apartheid regime has finally come clean about its original purpose: genocide.

And yet Israel remains unaccountable, abetted by its Western allies, most significantly the United States. In effect, it is a jointly committed genocide and one that is sponsored by big American corporations. Tech companies among them are leading the way, advancing the US imperialist goals through “digital colonialism”.

These giant companies have been pouring endless resources into Israel, with zero regard for its checkered past or ongoing crimes against humanity.

As Muslims, we are supposed to invest in a halal way which excludes businesses dealing in things like alcohol, entertainment, interest. Then what of putting money in companies whose products are being used for the extermination of an entire people? Digital technology is now a weapon too.

Responsible investors ought to take a stance. Let the complicit companies know that their collusion with the genocidal regime of Israel is morally indefensible. Vote with your dollar by disinvesting and avoiding these stocks.

Diaa Alomari on freepalestineproject.com

*What follows below is not an exhaustive list but a sample of some of the most powerful US tech multinationals that have an unequivocal relationship with zionist Israel.*

Direct supporters of Israeli apartheid

These tech companies engage in projects directly aiding the Israeli apparatus of occupation and ethnic cleansing, making investing in them untenable.

Stocks to shun: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Alphabet and Amazon are involved in Project Nimbus, a joint contract to provide cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government and military. The technology is purported to be used for both surveillance and attacks; the deployment of experimental AI systems for airstrikes is particularly disturbing.

The companies have been heavily criticised for Project Nimbus from all sides, their own workers included. While Amazon did not even deign to explain, Alphabet made multiple attempts to deny their involvement with Israel’s defense establishment — but their lies have been exposed.

“Google executives, in their thirst for profit, granted the Israeli military an exception to its standard operating procedure. Every other nation in the world is subject to Google’s Terms of Service and AI principles — except for Israel. Google sold its soul for a flagship cloud contract so that it could become a warfighting and military tech behemoth.”

Google workers organising with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign

Stock to shun: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft is an even more overzealous collaborator of Israel. Its software and consulting services are supplied to the Israeli government, military, police, prison system and settlements. All Israeli military apps, including Al Munaseq which is used to manage Israel's repressive permit system, run on Microsoft Azure.

Another notable user of Microsoft products is the elite Mamram Unit, the developer of the Israel Defense Forces’ infamous kill list — employed in indiscriminate attacks on Gaza. The American tech firm is also a generous sponsor of training courses to Israeli combatants and of educational activities for illegal settlers.

Under the slogan “No Azure for Apartheid”, Microsoft is the latest addition to the #NoTechForApartheid initiative initially launched by the employees of Alphabet and Amazon.

Stock to shun: Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Palantir is another tech company with clear links to apartheid Israel. Its artificial intelligence platform had been in wide use by the military and intelligence agencies even before October 7, but since then their collaboration has only deepened.

Palantir’s surveillance applications are plenty dubious on their own, but it is the combat applications that have crossed every threshold of wickedness. Like other suppliers of AI technology, Palantir has been enabling the Israeli military to kill with little human input — a practice that has resulted in innumerable innocent deaths.

Faced with such grave consequences stemming from the misuse of their technology by outlaw states, Palantir executives have nothing to say other than that Israel is “in the right”.

Stock to shun: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

HPE (previously Hewlett-Packard Company) has been on the principal list compiled by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for the longest time. The US firm provides servers and software for the Israeli Population Registry in the Occupied Territories as well as the Israeli Prison Services known for its flagrant human rights abuses.

Active benefactors of Israeli apartheid

Not only do these companies operate in Israel — that alone is controversial — they also make purposeful decisions to invest in and partner with Israel, thus furthering the settler colony’s agenda.

Stock to avoid: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Intel happens to be the largest private employer in Israel, operating four development and production sites. It entered the country early on, all the way back in 1974, and has since invested many billions of dollars in the Israeli economy. No amount of atrocities committed by Israel have deterred Intel from doing business with it. In December 2023, in the midst of massacres in Gaza, it announced plans for a new chip factory.

Stock to avoid: IBM (NYSE:IBM)

IBM’s relationship with Israel goes back even further. It services Israel’s population registry which keeps a database for all Palestinians and Syrians living under the occupation. The collection of data and its use, for surveillance and control, are both unlawful. IBM’s collaboration with the military is equally controversial: its product support extends across divisions with the aim of boosting combat readiness — naturally, for immediate application in occupied Palestine.

Stock to avoid: Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)

This one may be difficult for AI fans to pass on, but Nvidia is becoming an increasingly important backer of Israel. Since 2020, it has been on a spree of acquisitions, partnerships and investments in Israeli ventures. Among them, Mellanox was a key supplier to the Israeli military prior to acquisition. This flurry of activity is not a coincidence but a clear message on where Nvidia stands. And it is not the right side of history.

Stock to avoid: Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Cisco is officially on the BDS list accused of numerous offences, including supporting Israel's unlawful settlement enterprise through services in occupied territory, while simultaneously putting control of the native Palestinian population in the hands of occupier Israel through surveillance. The company also contributes to the police and the military with digital technology and communication systems.

Stock to avoid: Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL)

Dell, in Israel for the past three decades supplying computers, servers, software and network security services, has been another mark of the BDS campaign. The company’s main clients throughout this time have been the Ministry of Defense and the military. Dell secured its latest, US funded, contract with the Israeli security forces in January 2023.

Stock to avoid: Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle’s wide suite of cloud and solutions have found application across industries in Israel, including defense. In fact, it may have taken it further than any other US company by making strengthening Israel's trade and political ties globally a corporate objective. On multiple occasions, Oracle has openly denigrated employees who sympathise with Palestine; it also stopped donation matching for Palestinian charities (while funding Israeli NGOs).

Stock to avoid: Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW)

Snowflake is a relatively new entrant to the region but its decision to open a base in Israel, in 2021, and make significant inroads within it through investments and partnerships is revealing of the company’s ethical stance. It has chosen to advance the Israeli tech ecosystem despite the high risk of becoming implicated in human rights issues which is typical when engaging the settler colonial state.

Informal advocates for Israeli apartheid

These companies and their leaders make every effort to create benefit for the US ally Israel through intentional business decisions but also public declarations of support. Holding such stocks is morally wrong.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, the two most widely used social media platforms, stands accused of stifling pro-Palestinian voices while allowing similar pro-Israeli content to remain. Since October 2023, the online censorship has turned systemic given the unprecedented scale of losses and destruction in Gaza and Israel’s heightened need to silence the critics. There is also evidence of Meta being unduly influenced by executives who represent the interests of the Israeli government.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla as a stock has a huge following. But as a brand, it is inseparable from founder Elon Musk who is still the largest individual shareholder and the biggest beneficiary of the company’s rise. And Musk is unapologetically zionist. He visited Israel expressing support for the genocide and withdrew access to Starlink satellites after Israel destroyed all communication infrastructure in Gaza. Musk is also a known provocateur driven by Islamophobic and anti-migrant convictions.

Takeaway

It is astounding just how fond the big tech is of Israel. Their ties run deep, and in almost every case encompass the Israeli population registry and security forces — the two primary means through which the occupier exerts control over Palestine.

As far as the military goes, these tech companies are making it more digitally savvy and hence more efficient. Efficient, first and foremost, in annihilating Palestinian communities, starting with the “erasure” of Gaza. The proof is the numbers and the Israeli leaders’ own words.

The tech companies are also the main enablers of Israel’s apartheid system of indigenous population control, through digitalisation of data collection and storage, surveillance, borders and checkpoints.

(Aside from key technology, practically all Western companies operating in Israel support the military establishment through grants to employees on reserve duty and generous donations to Israeli civilians.)

Buying stocks in these companies means, by implication, spurring Israel on to continue with its genocidal mission. No investor with his heart in the right place should want that.

Tayyib Finance has plenty of alternatives, for example: