JACOBIN, Taj Ali, December 31, 2023
Last week, hundreds of health workers shut dow
Last week, hundreds of UK health workers shut down the central London headquarters of US tech giant and spy firm Palantir to disrupt its business. Their mass picket aims to blockade entry to and exit from the building in protest against National Health Service (NHS) England awarding a £330 million contract to Palantir, a company that professes to be keeping the Israeli government “armed and ahead” in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza, including Israel’s systematic targeting of health care facilities, health workers, and patients.
Palantir specializes in artificial intelligence–powered military and surveillance technology and data analytics, working with the CIA and the UK Ministry of Defence. The company has provided military and surveillance technology to the Israeli government for years, including predictive policing services used as part of the occupation to systematically harass and detain Palestinians.
Such “predictive systems” are used by Israel to analyze the social media posts of Palestinians. In 2010, Israel issued Military Order 1651, which imposes a ten-year sentence on anyone who attempts to influence public opinion in the West Bank in a manner deemed harmful to public order or who publishes words of praise for “hostile” organizations. For years, the Israeli army has used broad military orders to intimidate and arrest Palestinian human rights activists engaged in nonviolent protests. Palantir’s racially profiled analytics systems therefore facilitate the unjust arrest of Palestinians. Many have faced long prison sentences for simply posting photos of family members killed or imprisoned by Israeli forces, citing Quranic verses, or calling for protests.
n the London HQ of Palantir to protest a tech company profiting off of Israel’s bloody war on Gaza.
Read More: JACOBIN