Latest news with #Divest
Gizmodo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Anti-Defamation League Pushes Google to Reject Review of Human Rights Abuses
The Anti-Defamation League is lobbying Alphabet, the parent company of Google, to vote down a shareholder proposal that would require the company to investigate whether its cloud services (specifically Project Nimbus, which is a contract with the Israeli government) are aiding human rights abuses in conflict zones (you know, like Gaza). Alphabet is expected to vote on the proposal at its next shareholder meeting on June 6th. This week, the ADL sent a letter to Alphabet in which it described the proposal as a 'ploy' by the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement, which has long sought to curb American aid to the Israeli war machine. 'Proposal 9 offers the pretense of concern for human rights when in fact it is a thinly disguised ploy to weaken Israel's national security — and to undermine its right to defend itself — by pressuring Alphabet to withhold vital technology that supports the country's self-defense capabilities,' said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. Nimbus is described by Google as 'cloud services to digitally transform the State of Israel.' What Nimbus is actually used for is still somewhat unclear. It is a cloud and AI system, so ostensibly it could be used for a lot of different things. Human rights groups have repeatedly asked for more information about the project, to no avail. Google isn't the only large U.S. company involved in the project. Amazon is another major stakeholder that has provided cloud infrastructure. Inside the company, concerns have swirled over whether Israel's increasingly genocidal policies against the Palestinians may lead to legal action against Google for its complicity in the carnage. In December, the New York Times reported that company lawyers were concerned that 'Google Cloud services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank.' Over the past year, Israel has decimated the Palestinian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnations of 'genocide' and to war crime charges filed by the International Criminal Court against the nation's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. Some 50,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed as a result of Israel's assault, the majority of whom have been women and children, according to one UN estimate. Amidst its blitzkrieg of the region, Israel has targeted journalists and healthcare workers with impunity and has openly targeted hospitals and other critical infrastructure. The government recently announced plans to permanently occupy and 'flatten' all of Gaza. Google's corporate kerfuffle over the Nimbus-related shareholder proposal also comes at the same time that The Intercept has revealed the degree to which the company intuited that Nimbus could prove problematic before it ever provided services to the Israeli government. The information is based on a confidential internal report from 2021 that showed executives' anxieties about the potential for the deal to spin out of the tech company's control. 'Google Cloud Services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank,' resulting in 'reputation harm,' Google worried. Even more problematically, Google worried that it would have a limited ability to control what Israel did with Nimbus. Due to the way in which the deal was structured, the project—once in Israel's hands—would largely be beyond Google's control. The report states that the company would 'be constrained by the terms of the tender, as Customers are entitled to use services for any reason except violation of applicable law to the Customer.' The Intercept article also makes clear the degree to which the Nimbus deal has wedded Google to the Israeli national security state. The article notes that the contract obligated the creation of a secret Israeli team within Google that was capable of handling the covert nature of the effort: …Project Nimbus entails a deep collaboration between Google and the Israeli security state through the creation of a Classified Team within Google. This team is made up of Israeli nationals within the company with security clearances, designed to 'receive information by [Israel] that cannot be shared with [Google].' Google's Classified Team 'will participate in specialized training with government security agencies,' the first report states, as well as 'joint drills and scenarios tailored to specific threats.' Google has spent years attempting to tamp down criticism (both from inside its own ranks and from outside groups) over its ties to the Israeli government. Concerned Googlers have frequently lobbied for the tech giant to cut ties with Project Nimbus. Meanwhile, groups like No Tech for Apartheid have continually sought to condemn the project and its potential role in the ongoing atrocities being committed by the Israeli government. Publicly, Google has never expressed anything approaching concern, maintaining that Nimbus is a critical program for a key ally in the Middle East.
Glasgow Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow University students block West End road amid protest
The protest, which began at around 11am, was in response to a University Court meeting scheduled for the same day at 1.45pm. The students, alongside supporters from the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee (GGEC), Glasgow University Celtic Supporters Club (GUCSC), and other pro-Palestinian organisations, are part of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) campaign. READ MORE: Manhunt launched after man stabbed in 'targeted' midday attack The protestors called on the court members to vote for unconditional divestment from arms companies, which make more than 10% of their earnings from arms sales. This demand followed the release of the court agenda on April 16, 2025, which made no mention of a vote on divestment, only a revision of the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy. The SRI policy does not include the requirement to divest from arms companies. The roadblock is the latest in a series of actions on the university campus by GUJPS. In March, the group increased their presence on campus through continued direct action. Students took part in a 10-day hunger strike, established an encampment on Library Hill, and last month, more than 100 students blocked University Avenue. READ MORE: Scottish TikTok in uproar after baby named this common Scots insult GUJPS argue that the university's investments in arms companies make it complicit in war crimes and the genocide in Palestine. The group are also protesting the university's increased crackdown on student activism, as one of their members, Neve Mclean, faces a ban from the university campus. This is the second Glasgow University student to face these disciplinary measures for their involvement in student activism this year, following the ban of Hannah Taylor, which was recently revoked. Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah, Rector of Glasgow University, recently commented on the use of 'authoritarian' measures from the University management following the ban placed on youth demand activist Hannah Taylor. In January 2024, a Demilitarise Education FOI request showed that there were 23 active grants totalling at least £60,343,849 at the University of Glasgow, which were in partnership with—or in a few cases, directly funded by—10 defence companies. These grants covered research grants, studentships, and research centres, and were held across four schools at the University of Glasgow, including Engineering and Physics and Astronomy. READ MORE: Do you know him? CCTV image released following assault at Old Firm According to Glasgow University's Student Representative Council (SRC), they held an indicative referendum last month. The motion was: "Should the University of Glasgow stop investing in companies that earn more than 10% of their revenue from the arms and defence industry?" The motion passed with 83.9% of votes in favour. An open letter was published by the SRC in the days following the vote, but there has been no response from university management.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coca-Cola amongst the companies targeted in new round of boycotts
Not dissimilar to the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction, or BDS, movement aimed at targeting businesses with perceived ties to Israel, a new grassroots movement has taken root on social media. While there have been calls to boycott businesses and their CEOs with ties to President Trump and his campaign in the past, the Latino Freeze Movement has renewed those calls. The president's statements on immigration and his rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies have sparked new protests. The movement takes the boycotts a step further by encouraging the use of Latin-American-based products instead of U.S. products to oppose the president's proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada. California's fast food staple, In-n-Out, has been targeted again by boycotts due to the former CEO's past donations to the president's and other Republican candidate campaigns. The company has about 280 locations in California alone. Other California companies that have been named in the boycotts are: Tesla Google Meta Coca-Cola is another big company that has faced social media backlash after a rumor spread that it was assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. However, no such evidence has been verified, and as of 4 p.m. Friday, the company has yet to release a statement. Google Trends showed the search term "why are people boycotting Coca-Cola" was a rising search term in California. Although the company is not based in the Golden State, it has dozens of plants and a large Latin-American consumer base inside and outside the country. According to its website, it serves approximately 530 million consumers in Latin America. The list of companies that are not California-based but have a large presence in the state include: Home Depot Chik-fil-a Hobby Lobby Target Walmart Amazon Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@ This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Boycotts fueled by DEI rollbacks could affect California
USA Today
08-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Coca-Cola amongst the companies targeted in new round of boycotts
Not dissimilar to the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction, or BDS, movement aimed at targeting businesses with perceived ties to Israel, a new grassroots movement has taken root on social media. While there have been calls to boycott businesses and their CEOs with ties to President Trump and his campaign in the past, the Latino Freeze Movement has renewed those calls. The president's statements on immigration and his rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies have sparked new protests. The movement takes the boycotts a step further by encouraging the use of Latin-American-based products instead of U.S. products to oppose the president's proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Which California companies are being boycotted? California's fast food staple, In-n-Out, has been targeted again by boycotts due to the former CEO's past donations to the president's and other Republican candidate campaigns. The company has about 280 locations in California alone. Other California companies that have been named in the boycotts are: Tesla Google Meta Coca-Cola is another big company that has faced social media backlash after a rumor spread that it was assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. However, no such evidence has been verified, and as of 4 p.m. Friday, the company has yet to release a statement. Google Trends showed the search term "why are people boycotting Coca-Cola" was a rising search term in California. Although the company is not based in the Golden State, it has dozens of plants and a large Latin-American consumer base inside and outside the country. According to its website, it serves approximately 530 million consumers in Latin America. The list of companies that are not California-based but have a large presence in the state include: Home Depot Chik-fil-a Hobby Lobby Target Walmart Amazon Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@
