Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stressed that the information published in the recent Washington Post report, supported by internal documents, confirms the involvement of giant technology companies like Google in providing advanced technical services to the Israeli government and the Israeli army for military purposes, thus making these companies directly involved in the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
AOHR UK added that the “Nimbus” project, worth $1.2 billion, is used to develop tools based on artificial intelligence and cloud computing to support Israeli military operations, which targeted thousands of civilians in Gaza. It explained that the Israeli army relies on these technologies to analyse population data and identify targets, which led to the expansion of the scope of genocide and the targeting of entire residential blocks.
AOHR UK pointed out that the documents leaked by the Washington Post confirmed Israel’s efforts to expand the use of technologies such as “Vertex AI”, developed by Google, in order to enhance its ability to carry out complex military operations. Reports confirmed that these technologies have been used to support decisions on intensive bombing that led to the killing of tens of thousands, at least two-thirds of whom were children and women, during the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
AOHR UK emphasised that Google’s involvement was not limited to providing technical support to the Israeli army, but extended to suppressing dissenting voices of those working within these companies itself.
Reports revealed that more than 100 employees in the company protested against this cooperation, demanding that the company’s projects with the Israeli army be stopped, however the management ignored all their calls, dismissing 50 employees last year after they protested the “Nimbus” contract.
AOHR UK highlighted that the company justified its approval of these requests to its employees by saying that the Israeli army would seek other companies like Amazon if Google did not provide it with these technologies, in an effort to preserve the economic interests and market progress of the company at the expense of Palestinian lives.
AOHR UK added that this technical cooperation was not limited to providing the occupation with technological tools, but also included facilitating the development of advanced algorithms that allow the occupation to improve its intelligence capabilities and bloody operations against the Palestinian people.
AOHR UK stressed that Israel used modern technology to carry out horrific mass killings as part of the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip over the course of fifteen months. It used advanced surveillance technologies to accurately locate targets, and used lethal weapons against them, leading to a significant increase in the number of victims, including women and children.
AOHR UK pointed out that the technical support provided by Google directly contributed to enabling the Israeli occupation forces to commit the most heinous crimes, ignoring the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, as army leaders justify their targeting of entire residential blocks, markets, and camps housing displaced persons, under the pretext of the presence of “wanted persons”. This clearly indicates that these technical tools contributed to multiplying the bloody effects of the occupation’s crimes, not reducing them. This has in fact made the company a real partner in the crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people, and places it under the threat of international legal responsibility.
AOHR UK called on all activists, influencers, human rights defenders and institutions around the world to take an ethical stance towards Google and technology companies involved in supporting genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip.
AOHR UK stressed that boycotting Google products and services, whether at the individual or institutional level, is an effective mean to force the company to review its unethical policies.
AOHR UK also called for the need to open urgent international investigations into the role of Google and other companies involved in enabling the occupation army to commit genocide crimes.
AOHR UK called on governments and international institutions to take legal steps to prosecute these companies before international courts, including the International Criminal Court, as they are partners in crimes against humanity and war crimes, while calling for imposing restrictions and legislation that prevent technology companies from providing tools used to support the increase of human rights violations. Finally, AOHR UK called and for the formation of independent committees to monitor their activities to ensure their compliance with international laws and standards.
