Exclude companies 'complicit in genocide' from govt deals, BDS urges

The government has been urged to exclude any company known to be “complicit in genocide in Gaza” from any state procurement contracts.

In a statement today, the Malaysian chapter of pressure group Boycott, Divert, and Sanction for Palestine (BDS Malaysia) said this includes defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin, tech giant Google, and oil and gas company Caltex/Chevron.

“It is generally known that Israel is acting with impunity because it has the protection of the United States and other Western governments.

“But it is also a fact that among its enablers are countries which profit from the ongoing violence against Palestinians.

“This is not only unacceptable but morally reprehensible,” it said.

As such, BDS Malaysia said excluding such companies from participating in government procurements would send a clear message that the country is against the Zionist regime.

This includes purchasing products or services from the companies, “to streamline Malaysia’s policy and foreign trade policies to ensure it does not recognise the existence of Zionist Israel,” it said.

Other companies listed by BDS Malaysia included:

• BAE Systems

• Caterpillar

• Siemens

• JC Bamford

• HD Hyundai

• Intel

• Hikvision

• TKH Security

Why are the companies listed?

The companies in the list have been singled out for various reasons, including supplying equipment directly used in violence against Palestinians or for deep investments in the country.

Lockheed Martin manufactures the fleet of fighter jets used by the Israel Defence Force in its attacks on Gaza.

BAE Systems supplies the avionics for the jets and has reportedly been making record profits amid the conflict in Gaza.

Google has been in the headlines after it fired workers who protested against a cloud computing contract it had with the Israeli government.

The workers said the system Google is building will be deployed in Gaza with lethal repercussions but Google denies this.

Caltex’s owner Chevron, meanwhile, operates Israeli natural gas fields, fueling a large portion of the electricity needs of Israel, Reuters reported.

Heavy machinery company Caterpillar, British firm JC Bramford, and Hyundai Heavy Industries have been accused of manufacturing equipment used by Israeli forces to demolish Palestinian homes.

This includes the 2003 high-profile case of American activist Rachel Corrie who was killed when an Israeli soldier ran over her with an armoured bulldozer which Caterpillar custom-made for the Israeli Defence Force.

Corrie’s parents and Palestinian families who lost their family members and homes through the actions of soldiers using the Caterpillar bulldozer took legal action against the firm, but the case was dismissed in US and Israeli courts.

Caterpillar and JC Bramford have denied they contributed to human rights abuses in Palestine while Hyundai Heavy Industries did not release a statement on the matter.

In January, BDS Malaysia also urged Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) to divest its investments in Caterpillar for the same reason. PNB has yet to respond.

Investments and surveillance

Siemens was also targeted by BDS for building billions of US dollars worth of infrastructure in Israel, including its railway systems, while the company said it has been active in Israel for about 60 years, and it is “deeply rooted there”.

BDS is also targeting US microchip maker Intel for making a US$25 billion investment into its plant in Israel despite the ongoing violence in Gaza.

“Support from the Israeli government will enable us to continue building on that excellence to ensure that Israel remains a global centre of semiconductor technology and talent,” Intel Israel co-general manager Daniel Benatar said in a statement last December.

China’s Hikvision and TKH Security supply face-recognition surveillance technology, which Israel uses to monitor Palestinian people, in what Amnesty International called “automated apartheid”, the New York Times reported.

Neither of the firms responded to the US daily’s request for comment, but Hikvision in a report said it does due diligence to ensure its actions do not impede human rights. - Mkini