In a world where few if any are doing anything to stop the genocide in Gaza, in a world where human conscience has all but vanished, morality has plunged into the abyss, and the mask of civilisation have slipped, the name ‘Francesca Albanese’ deserves to be remembered and deeply appreciated.
Albanese, an Italian legal scholar and human rights expert, is the current UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and she had just published a report showing how dozens of Western companies are “profiting from genocide” when it comes to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
Titled From the Occupation Economy to the Genocide Economy, published earlier this week, her report highlights the hypocrisy of Western corporations professing to value human rights while reaping huge financial profits from the ongoing massacre. It is not just defence firms, either.
Database of businesses
Albanese, who has been attacked by the US and Israel as “antisemitic” for her efforts, shows how banks and investment firms fund the war by buying Israeli bonds, while companies in technology, real estate, heavy machinery, and tourism have also done well out of it.
The atrocities in Gaza are being conducted with “support from these companies,” she said. “The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic. Israel is responsible for one of the cruellest genocides in modern history.”
The meticulous 38-page document is supported by 440 sources, references, and footnotes, and draws on a database of 1,000 business entities, informed by over 200 unprecedented contributions in response to a public call for submissions. This database enabled the mapping of global corporate involvement, with more than 45 companies named in the report.
What is truly striking is the moral freefall of these companies who, in their annual and quarterly reports, boast of their commitment to human rights, animal welfare, the environment, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.
Lucrative for many
It was a monumental effort by Albanese and her team, and it concludes with a stark finding that “life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault,” adding that the report “shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues: because it is lucrative for many”.
