Genocides committed or sponsored by the West have often been a highly profitable business. Whether it was against the native American population in the United States throughout much of the 19th century, the colonisation of the Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium, or the Nazi Holocaust, many individuals and companies have profited greatly from humanity’s worst crimes – through direct participation or by providing services and support.
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A new report by Francesca Albanese, the courageous UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, has named more than 60 mostly Western companies that have profited from the repression, genocide and other war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
Fully enabled by the US and extensively supported by a handful of Western governments, these crimes have been carried out in the face of global condemnation and outrage.
“Far too many corporate entities have profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The complicity exposed by the report is just the tip of the iceberg,” writes Albanese in the report, titled “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide”.
“The corporate sector has materially contributed to this endeavour by providing Israel with the weapons and machinery required to destroy homes, schools, hospitals, places of leisure and worship, livelihoods and productive assets.”
American defence contractor Lockheed Martin has provided some of the most destructive weapons used in Gaza. Omnipresent flying killing machines such as drones, hexacopters and quadcopters have used technologies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.