Palestinians are in grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing unless the International Community mediate for an urgent ceasefire between warring Hamas and Israeli occupation forces. Since 7 October 2023, more than 10 000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 3 000 children, more than 30,000 injured, and over 800,000 people have been displaced as a result of the Israeli strikes. This fate befell a population which has already experienced five major wars since 2008 in the context of an unlawful blockade imposed by Israel since 2007,
To better understand the genocide taking place in Palestine, it is commendable to read ‘The Palestine Laboratory’, by the Best-selling journalist Antony Loewenstein. In this book, he uncovers this largely hidden world in a global investigation with secret documents, revealing interviews and on-the-ground reporting. This book shows in-depth, for the first time, how Palestine has become the perfect laboratory for the Israeli military-techno complex: surveillance, home demolitions, indefinite incarceration and brutality to the hi-tech tools that drive the ‘Start-up Nation’
Israel’s military industrial complex uses the occupied Palestinian territories as a testing ground for weaponry and surveillance technology that they then export around the world to despots and democracies. For more than 50 years, occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has given the Israeli state invaluable experience in controlling an “enemy” population, the Palestinians. It’s here that they have perfected the architecture of control.
From the Pegasus software that hacked Jeff Bezos’ and Jamal Khashoggi’s phones, the weapons sold to the Myanmar army that has murdered thousands of Rohingyas and drones used by the European Union to monitor refugees in the Mediterranean who are left to drown. Israel has become a global leader in spying technology and defense hardware that fuels the globe’s most brutal conflicts. As ethno-nationalism grows in the 21st century, Israel has built the ultimate model. Israel has become a global leader in spying technology and defense hardware that fuels the globe’s most brutal conflicts.
The myth of Israel’s ‘start-up nation’ is born out of the state colonisation of Palestine. From drones to Pegasus software, policing techniques to deadly ammunition this is a persuasive and timely intervention. Israel is one of the ten largest arms exporters in the world, which trades in death and suffering and sells them to anyone who wants to buy.
The weapons, technology and tactics developed by Israel to subjugate the Arabs living under occupation are being exported across the world – meaning, in effect, that Israel is profiting financially from the pain and suffering of Palestinians. Global instability increases the demand for Israeli air defence systems, drones, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and missiles, and we continually work to preserve our capabilities and strengthen them. Israel maintains comprehensive legislation to protect the right to privacy. Yet, Palestinians continue to be systematically denied their rights as Israeli authorities subject them to intensive surveillance.
Additionally, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also installed face-scanning cameras in Hebron to assist soldiers identify Palestinians at checkpoints even prior to checking their IDs. Meanwhile, CCTV cameras – some of which point into private residences – delivered live monitoring 24/7. Israeli police petitioned to expand the use of facial recognition technology across the region and implement a single, centrally managed database and to hack dissidents’ phones, provided location tracking services to the Israeli government. Human rights abuses and violations against Palestinians are common practices for sustaining apartheid. What is happening to Palestinians today will happen to people everywhere, as Israel exports its cyber-weaponry to governments around the world.
Arab and Muslim countries are among Israel’s greater clients. Israel arms exports hit all-time high of $12.5 billion in 2022, with UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan buying some 24% of the weapons.
A sad and sordid record of how “the light unto the nations” became the purveyor of the means of violence and brutal repression from Guatemala to Myanmar and wherever else the opportunity arose.
The book is a must read on a hidden and shocking aspect of the Israeli colonization of the Palestinians. It is a triumph of investigative journalism. It exposes the ruthlessness with which Israel exploits the experience gained from the illegal occupation to export all kinds of military hardware as well as the technology of surveillance, espionage, cyber warfare, phone-hacking, and house demolition. It also shines a torch on the dark side of Israel’s support for despots around the world. We have waited long for such a book that exposes the way Israel uses its oppression of the Palestine to enhance its military and security industries.
Bashir Nuckchady
