In her recent report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide (30 June 2025), Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese exhaustively details the corporate complicity in Israel’s occupation, apartheid and ongoing genocide of Palestinians. The report demonstrates how companies have:
- provided weapons and machines to destroy homes, schools, hospitals, markets and more
- purchased land to dispossess and displace Palestinians;
- provided surveillance equipment to segregate and control communities;
- stifled the Palestinian economy by turning it into a captured market and exploiting labour and resources;
- and channelled money into the illegal occupation.
The report’s framing acknowledges that colonialism and genocide “have historically been driven and enabled by the corporate sector,” and that “commercial interests have contributed to the dispossession of Indigenous people of their lands.” This model is replicated by Israel through its colonisation of Palestinian lands and its institutionalisation of apartheid, and now its overt actions of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The report also identifies how universities “have sustained the political ideology underpinning the colonization of Palestinian land, developed weaponry and overlooked or even endorsed systemic violence.”
WILPF welcomes this report, for which it made a submission and delivered a statement in support of, to the Human Rights Council.
Profit over peace
Since its founding in 1915, WILPF has consistently illustrated how systems of state violence and militarism giving rise to conflict are rooted in capitalism, racism and patriarchy. Consequently, private profit is prioritised over peace and justice. To end conflict, we must divest from war and instead invest in people and the planet.
WILPF fully agrees with the Special Rapporteur that to end corporate complicity in occupation and genocide, we must hold the private sector accountable. The evidence connecting their continued technological, logistical, intelligence and financial support to Israel to commit international crimes has been documented, verified, and broadcast in real time for over 18 months.
The Special Rapporteur’s report highlights many complicit weapon companies by name, including Elbit Systems (Israel), FANUC Corporation (Japan), Israeli Aerospace Industries (Israel), Leonardo (Italy), and Lockheed Martin (USA). It also highlights the role of Danish shipping company Maersk in facilitating the steady flow of military equipment to Israel—a company that has been exposed and challenged by the Palestinian Youth Movement through its Mask Off Maersk campaign.
The report also notes that the repression and genocide of Palestinians has become progressively automated. Tech companies have provided surveillance infrastructure, drones, biometrics, cloud computing and AI-driven targeting systems while also profitting “from the unique testing ground for military technology offered by the occupied Palestinian territory.” The report specifically names Alphabet/Google (USA), Amazon (USA), Hewlett Packard (USA), IBM (USA), Microsoft (USA), the NSO Group (Israel) and Palantir Technologies (USA).
WILPF has long opposed all of these companies, which have profited from war and entrenched the political economy of militarism in the countries where they manufacture their machines of violence. WILPF has also opposed the increasing militarisation of technology from tech start-ups and Big Tech firms alike, warning that the rise of this “new” military-industrial complex is only leading to further global catastrophe.
It is no coincidence that immediately after the report’s release, the US government imposed sanctions on the Special Rapporteur — only now that she has released a report that implicates the profit making of many of its companies. In its announcement of sanctions, the US government referred to Albanese’s work as “campaigns of political and economic warfare” against the United States’ national interests. Once again, the US government shows that it is prioritising profit for CEOs and corporations, and has no interest in fulfilling its international legal obligation to prevent genocide.
Arms embargo now
In November 2023, WILPF, together with Al-Haq, the International Service for Human Rights, and over 170 other organisations, issued an urgent call for a comprehensive two-way arms embargo on Israel. Today, WILPF reiterates that call, and urges States and corporations to end their complicity in human rights violations and international crimes and to immediately implement all recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in this new report.
Continuing to provide military support and other forms of assistance to Israel constitutes a clear violation of international law, including the obligation of States not to aid or assist internationally wrongful acts. It is legally indefensible. And it is morally unconscionable. States and corporations must not be allowed to choose which genocides they can profit from with impunity.
The Special Rapporteur’s report clearly shows that Israel’s genocide continues “because it is lucrative for many.” The occupation of Palestine “has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and big tech—providing boundless supply and demand, little oversight and zero accountability—while investors and private and public institutions profit freely.” This must end now.
WILPF fully supports all the recommendations in the report, including:
- To impose sanctions and a full arms embargo on Israel, including all existing agreements and dual-use items such as technology and civilian heavy machinery;
- To promptly cease all business activities and terminate relationships directly linked with, contributing to and causing human rights violations and international crimes against the Palestinian people, in accordance with international corporate responsibilities and the law of self-determination;
- To pay reparations to the Palestinian people;
- To investigate and prosecute corporate executives and/or corporate entities for their part in the commission of international crimes and laundering of the proceeds from those crimes; and
- To press for boycotts, divestments, sanctions and justice for Palestine and accountability at international and domestic levels.