Despite the scale of horror it has inflicted in Gaza , why is the geopolitical outrage against Israel insignificant compared to what any other country would have faced? The Palestine Laboratory : How Israel Exports The Technology Of Occupation Around The World by investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein builds a detailed case of how in becoming a key supplier of arms and surveillance technologies to most countries around the world, Israel has brought itself excellent insurance against moral censure and other sanctions.
Israel’s world-class weapons industry has been developed with equipment “conveniently” tested on occupied Palestinians, then marketed as “battle-tested”, the book says. This is then used to rally diplomatic support internationally. UN itself gives Israeli companies security contracts, including for CCTV cameras, drones and threat detection systems.
The book goes further. It says that under Netanyahu not only has ethno-nationalism been turbocharged, he has convinced many other countries to use Israel as a model: “Netanyahuism as an ideology will outlive him.”
According to the book, historically, Israel has been an enabler of apartheid in South Africa, genocide in Rwanda, plus dictators like Pinochet, Suharto, Ceausescu and ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier. Today, “operational envy” of Israel’s technology and its “willingness to act with relative freedom and confidence in confronting threats”, has become pervasive. This is reflected in an endless supply of customers, including India, China, US, UK and EU.
It’s not just countries, though. From Mexican drug cartels to the 2016 Trump campaign to Harvey Weinstein, plenty of private parties are also paying for “private Moss ads” these days, Loewenstein details.
He also writes that the personnel and machine learning biases of Big Tech support the Israeli line. This means the censorship and restrictions experienced by Palestinians under physical occupation get replicated in the online world. There is widespread “digital orientalism” and then there are even more dystopic tools. Israel has used secret algorithms targeting Facebook to arrest Palestinians on the basis of “precrime incidents”.
On the US-Israel relationship , the book expands on how much Israel has been “benefiting” from the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon. The message being: “We have been fighting a War on Terror since our birth. We’ll show you how it’s done.”
After admiration for its homeland security sector, Israel’s resilience post the 2008 global financial crisis pulled applause for its start-up “miracle”. But what did not get attention was what was generating the innovations and profits. It is actually the experience of controlling another people that Israel is selling in the global market, the book says.
A “majority” of Israeli entrepreneurs are profoundly influenced by their stint in IDF. The book quotes one of them: “When it comes to US military resumes, Silicon Valley is illiterate. What a waste of kick-ass leadership talent coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Since Oct 7, 2023 Israel’s defence companies have actually been experiencing increased demand. It is now live-testing new weapons in Gaza, Loewenstein suggests. And with a “lusty aesthetics of warfare”, these are being proudly displayed on social media to reach potential global buyers.
Israel’s world-class weapons industry has been developed with equipment “conveniently” tested on occupied Palestinians, then marketed as “battle-tested”, the book says. This is then used to rally diplomatic support internationally. UN itself gives Israeli companies security contracts, including for CCTV cameras, drones and threat detection systems.
The book goes further. It says that under Netanyahu not only has ethno-nationalism been turbocharged, he has convinced many other countries to use Israel as a model: “Netanyahuism as an ideology will outlive him.”
According to the book, historically, Israel has been an enabler of apartheid in South Africa, genocide in Rwanda, plus dictators like Pinochet, Suharto, Ceausescu and ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier. Today, “operational envy” of Israel’s technology and its “willingness to act with relative freedom and confidence in confronting threats”, has become pervasive. This is reflected in an endless supply of customers, including India, China, US, UK and EU.
It’s not just countries, though. From Mexican drug cartels to the 2016 Trump campaign to Harvey Weinstein, plenty of private parties are also paying for “private Moss ads” these days, Loewenstein details.
He also writes that the personnel and machine learning biases of Big Tech support the Israeli line. This means the censorship and restrictions experienced by Palestinians under physical occupation get replicated in the online world. There is widespread “digital orientalism” and then there are even more dystopic tools. Israel has used secret algorithms targeting Facebook to arrest Palestinians on the basis of “precrime incidents”.
On the US-Israel relationship , the book expands on how much Israel has been “benefiting” from the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon. The message being: “We have been fighting a War on Terror since our birth. We’ll show you how it’s done.”
After admiration for its homeland security sector, Israel’s resilience post the 2008 global financial crisis pulled applause for its start-up “miracle”. But what did not get attention was what was generating the innovations and profits. It is actually the experience of controlling another people that Israel is selling in the global market, the book says.
A “majority” of Israeli entrepreneurs are profoundly influenced by their stint in IDF. The book quotes one of them: “When it comes to US military resumes, Silicon Valley is illiterate. What a waste of kick-ass leadership talent coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Since Oct 7, 2023 Israel’s defence companies have actually been experiencing increased demand. It is now live-testing new weapons in Gaza, Loewenstein suggests. And with a “lusty aesthetics of warfare”, these are being proudly displayed on social media to reach potential global buyers.
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