Latest news with #EconomyofGenocide
Scoop
12-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
The "Economy Of Genocide" Report: A Reckoning Beyond Rhetoric
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in occupied Palestine, stands as a testament to the notion of speaking truth to power. This "power" is not solely embodied by Israel or even the United States, but by an international community whose collective relevance has tragically failed to stem the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Her latest report, 'From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,' submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on July 3, marks a seismic intervention. It unflinchingly names and implicates companies that have not only allowed Israel to sustain its war and genocide against Palestinians, but also confronts those who have remained silent in the face of this unfolding horror. Albanese's 'Economy of Genocide' is far more than an academic exercise or a mere moral statement in a world whose collective conscience is being brutally tested in Gaza. The report is significant for multiple, interlocking reasons. Crucially, it offers practical pathways to accountability that transcend mere diplomatic and legal rhetoric. It also presents a novel approach to international law, positioning it not as a delicate political balancing act, but as a potent tool to confront complicity in war crimes and expose the profound failures of existing international mechanisms in Gaza. Two vital contexts are important to understanding the significance of this report, considered a searing indictment of direct corporate involvement, not only in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, but Israel's overall settler-colonial project. First, in February 2020, following years of delay, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a database that listed 112 companies involved in business activities within illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. The database exposes several corporate giants – including Airbnb, Motorola Solutions, JCB, and Expedia – for helping Israel maintain its military occupation and apartheid. This event was particularly earth-shattering, considering the United Nations' consistent failure at reining in Israel, or holding accountable those who sustain its war crimes in Palestine. The database was an important step that allowed civil societies to mobilize around a specific set of priorities, thus pressuring corporations and individual governments to take morally guided positions. The effectiveness of that strategy was clearly detected through the exaggerated and angry reactions of the US and Israel. The US said it was an attempt by 'the discredited' Council 'to fuel economic retaliation,' while Israel called it a "shameful capitulation" to pressure. The Israeli genocide in Gaza, starting on October 7, 2023, however, served as a stark reminder of the utter failure of all existing UN mechanisms to achieve even the most modest expectations of feeding a starving population during a time of genocide. Tellingly, this was the same conclusion offered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who, in September 2024, stated that the world had 'failed the people of Gaza.' This failure continued for many more months and was highlighted in the UN's inability to even manage the aid distribution in the Strip, entrusting the job to the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mercenary-run violent apparatus that has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians. Albanese herself, of course, had already reached a similar conclusion when, in November 2023, she confronted the international community for 'epically failing' to stop the war and to end the 'senseless slaughtering of innocent civilians.' Albanese's new report goes a step further, this time appealing to the whole of humanity to take a moral stance and to confront those who made the genocide possible. 'Commercial endeavors enabling and profiting from the obliteration of innocent people's lives must cease,' the report declares, pointedly demanding that 'corporate entities must refuse to be complicit in human rights violations and international crimes or be held to account.' According to the report, categories of complicity in the genocide are divided into arms manufacturers, tech firms, building and construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities, and charities. These include Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Amazon, Palantir, IBM, and even Danish shipping giant Maersk, among nearly 1,000 other firms. It was their collective technological know-how, machinery, and data collection that allowed Israel to kill, to date, over 57,000 and wound over 134,000 in Gaza, let alone maintain the apartheid regime in the West Bank. What Albanese's report tries to do is not merely name and shame Israel's genocide partners but to tell us, as civil society, that we now have a comprehensive frame of reference that would allow us to make responsible decisions, put pressure on, and hold accountable these corporate giants. 'The ongoing genocide has been a profitable venture,' Albanese writes, citing Israel's massive surge in military spending, estimated at 65 percent from 2023 to 2024 — reaching $46.5 billion. Israel's seemingly infinite military budget is a strange loop of money, originally provided by the US government, then recycled back through US corporations, thus spreading the wealth between governments, politicians, corporations, and numerous contractors. As bank accounts swell, more Palestinian bodies are piled up in morgues, mass graves, or are scattered in the streets of Jabaliya and Khan Yunis. This madness needs to stop, and, since the UN is incapable of stopping it, then individual governments, civil society organizations, and ordinary people must do the job, because the lives of Palestinians should be of far greater value than corporate profits and greed. - Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ' Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out'. His other books include 'My Father was a Freedom Fighter' and 'The Last Earth'. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is
Al-Ahram Weekly
04-07-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Firms profiting from genocide of Palestinians: UN expert Albanese - War on Gaza
UN human rights expert Francesca Albanese on Thursday said dozens of companies are profiting from Israel's military occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians, in a damning report presented to the UN Human Rights Council. Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said the report exposes 'the corporate machinery sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians.' She called on companies to immediately end all business activities that cause or contribute to grave human rights violations and international crimes. 'In Gaza, Palestinians continue to endure suffering beyond imagination,' Albanese told the Council, describing conditions in Gaza and the West Bank as 'apocalyptic.' Businesses — from weapons manufacturers to banks and supermarkets — have directly enabled what she described as a 'machinery of erasure,' facilitating the infrastructure of illegal Israeli settlements, supplying logistics and financing, and entrenching a system of apartheid. 'All have helped entrench apartheid and enable the slow, inexorable destruction of Palestinian life,' she said. Her remarks were met with applause in the chamber. Albanese does not speak for the United Nations as a whole but was appointed by the Council in her independent capacity. Israel's mission in Geneva rejected the report as 'legally groundless, defamatory and a flagrant abuse of office,' calling Albanese's work part of a 'hate-driven agenda to delegitimise the State of Israel.' Albanese has previously accused Israel of committing genocide and has faced a sustained campaign of attacks by Israeli officials and allied governments, who have called for her removal and accused her of antisemitism. Israel often uses allegations of antisemitism to smear its critics and silence legitimate condemnation of its occupation in the West Bank and its genocidal war in Gaza. Profiting from mass violence Albanese said she contacted all 48 companies named in her report, 'From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide.' Of those, 18 responded — but only a few engaged meaningfully. 'Most said there was absolutely nothing wrong,' she told journalists. 'There have been people and organisations who have profited from the violence, the killing.' 'My report exposes a system so structural, widespread and systemic that it cannot be fixed. It must be dismantled.' She said the first responsibility lies with states, but that companies and consumers also bear responsibility. 'We are part of a system where we are all entangled, and the choices we make... have an impact elsewhere,' she said. 'There is a possibility for consumers to hold these companies accountable — because we vote with our wallets.' Corporate responses Swiss mining and commodity giant Glencore, named in the report, dismissed the findings as 'unsubstantiated and devoid of any legal basis.' Other firms offered little or no comment. said its mission was to 'make it easier for everyone to experience the world' and that it does not believe it should 'decide where someone can or cannot travel.' Microsoft declined to comment. Volvo Group said it has no direct operations in either Palestine or Israel and sells through resellers. 'We obviously respect human rights in accordance with the United Nations framework,' a spokesman said. Danish shipping company Maersk said it disagreed with many of Albanese's conclusions but added: 'Since the war began, we have maintained a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to Israel.' 'Apocalyptic' toll in Gaza Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023, with women and children making up most of the dead, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Independent reports suggest the actual toll is likely higher. Nearly two years into the conflict, Gaza lies in ruins. Entire families have been wiped out by air strikes, and hundreds of thousands remain displaced, lacking food, shelter, or medical care. In just the past 48 hours, Israeli forces killed more than 300 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, which accused Israel of 'committing 26 bloody massacres' during that period. On Thursday, Gaza's Health Ministry reported at least 118 Palestinians killed and 581 injured in Israeli attacks across the territory in the previous 24 hours. Meanwhile, violence has surged across the occupied West Bank, where Israel has maintained military control since 1967. Israeli settlers have launched sudden, violent raids on Palestinian towns—burning property, attacking residents, and attempting to drive them from their homes. At the same time, Israeli forces have relentlessly surrounded and raided refugee camps, forcing even more Palestinians from their homes and barring their return. Since the Gaza war began, Israeli forces have killed around 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
