What is Elon Musks alliance with Israel and how has he shown his support for the country ?
On Wednesday, July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech to the US Congress, which was met with significant criticism and a boycott by about half of the Democrats in office. The speech was criticized for containing shameless propaganda.
The hearings were a disturbing manifestation of how deliberate falsehoods are converted into lethal narratives, employed to justify large-scale violence and legitimize future acts of aggression, while Zionist settler-colonialism persists under the endorsement of US imperialism.
The warm reception that Netanyahu gained from the Washington political establishment undoubtedly served as an encouragement for Israel's targeted killings of Fouad Shukr of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which occurred through a bombing in southern Beirut resulting in the deaths of three individuals, including two children. Additionally, Israel carried out an airstrike in Tehran in order to kill Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas political bureau and former Palestinian Prime Minister.
“I asked (the Israeli commander in Rafah) how many civilians were killed? He said, prime minister, practically none. With the exception of a single incident where shrapnel from a bomb hit a Hamas weapons depot, and unintentionally killed two dozen people,” Netanyahu stated at a certain moment.
“The answer is, practically none. You want to know why? Because Israel got the civilians out of harm why, something the people said we could never do, but we did!”
Except for Rashida Tlaib, who utilized her participation to express opposition against Netanyahu, the Congress members present at the event praised this statement. Netanyahu's address garnered a standing ovation from Congress and faced extensive criticism on social media platforms like X.
However, there is another dimension to Netanyahu's visit that goes beyond the public criticism. It also serves as a validation of the US political establishment's implicit policy of granting Israeli brutality complete political immunity. Regarding X, Netanyahu's invitee for the event was none other than the proprietor of X, Elon Musk.
In a later tweet, the individual responsible for genocide pondered on the events that occurred following his speech, specifically mentioning his interaction with Musk. He and Musk “discussed the opportunities and challenges in AI, its impact on the economy and society, and explored ways for technological cooperation with Israel.”
Musk's actions, which involve diminishing Venezuelan sovereignty through his tirades on President Maduro, resemble the conduct of a disrespectful and arrogant person. His status as a "special guest" during Netanyahu's visit affirms his growing involvement in the field of diplomacy.
This shift should be a matter of significant concern for everyone dedicated to universal freedom: it is widely known that Musk's companies are influenced by his self-centered and authoritarian tendencies, as well as the overarching goals of the US military-industrial complex.
When Netanyahu talks about "the opportunities and challenges in AI," it makes you shudder to consider what he might mean.
The growing resistance against Project Nimbus, along with the disclosure of programs such as "Lavender" and "Where's Daddy," highlights the significant role that AI plays in Israel's use of force. This has led activists from the No Tech for Apartheid movement to characterize Israel's technologically advanced actions as the leading example of a "AI-facilitated genocide" in Gaza.
The concept of "technological collaboration" raises concerns, particularly considering Musk's history of directing his platforms and projects towards advancing his personal interests and supporting the broader activities of the US military-industrial complex.
Despite Musk's public claims of supporting "free speech," his purchase of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has actually transformed it into a digital platform that amplifies his own transphobic and right-wing perspectives.
Elon Musk, who has a tendency to seek the support of far-right leaders worldwide, started meeting with Netanyahu last year. This happened after he publicly endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory and got into a dispute with the ADL. The ADL is a Zionist organization that often misuses its position as a Civil Rights organization to wrongly label anti-Zionist speech as antisemitic. This leads to the suppression of Palestine organizing and anti-racist activism in general.
The organization asserted that his recently obtained platform was a catalyst for hate speech. Musk had a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and took part in a tour of the Kfar Azza colony with Benjamin Netanyahu.
By collaborating with colonial Zionism, Musk found a way to avoid being held accountable for his antisemitic ideas and also direct his dictatorial tendencies into technological collaboration.
Netanyahu directly requested Musk to find a middle ground between safeguarding freedom of expression and combating antisemitism on the platform. Users who advocate for Palestinian freedom and liberation have observed a growing imposition of limitations on their posts on X.
In September, Musk explicitly stated his determination to suppress any speech that expresses sympathy for Palestine, while promoting the falsehood that the phrase "from the river to the sea" is genocidal. Considering the current situation, it is challenging to conceive of a vision for "technological collaboration" that does not involve the ongoing suppression of expressions endorsing the liberation of Palestinians.
This is not everything. As important as X is to Musk's digital diplomacy, Starlink is even more so.
According to reports, Musk initially showed interest in introducing Starlink to Gaza in October. Subsequently, he has established an agreement with Israeli authorities, under which access to Gaza would be evaluated in advance by Israeli authorities.
The service is currently operational at a field hospital in Gaza that is managed by the United Arab Emirates. However, this activation does not alleviate the significant lack of connectivity that Israel continues to impose on Gaza. Israel justifies this policy, along with its other acts of deprivation and atrocities, by expressing concerns that the service could potentially benefit Hamas.
This is less unexpected when we remember that SpaceX, the firm responsible for Starlink, has a lucrative association with the US military and strong connections to the US intelligence apparatus, specifically the CIA, as reported by Alan McLeod.
The service was utilized to promote US geopolitical objectives in Ukraine and subvert the Iranian regime. Consequently, Starlink access is only possible with the authorization of US imperialism.
Although access to the internet is crucial for medical and humanitarian purposes, Starlink access is being utilized as a tool for political pacification. It is being used to connect people globally, which is increasingly important given the ongoing genocide in Gaza. However, this connectivity is being used to categorize users as more or less "deserving" based on the colonial Zionist and US imperial agenda.
Musk's involvement in X and SpaceX, particularly through Starlink, makes him a significant player in comprehending the concept of digital/settler-colonialism. The example provided effectively demonstrates how imperialism encourages technological compliance with Zionism, and highlights the extent of oppression that arises from the alliance of Big Tech and Zionism, particularly for Palestinians living under colonization.
In a time when the genocidal nature of Zionism is openly evident, with Israeli ministers boldly criticizing limitations that prevent them from deliberately starving over 2 million Palestinians, it is alarming to consider the additional persecution that may arise from the collaboration between Big Tech and the Zionist state.
Musk's strong support for Israel is not unusual. As major technology companies increasingly embrace authoritarianism, the concept of "tech Zionism" has gained traction among tech magnate Balaji Srinivasan. This ideology amounts to ethnic cleansing of San Francisco and opposes any form of regulation in Silicon Valley. The systematic and unrestrained suppression of the general population, carried out for the exclusive advantage of the privileged few, is a prevailing pattern observed throughout several regions, from Turtle Island to Palestine. In this context, Zionism serves as a notable framework for institutionalizing this particular perspective.
However, Musk's example also demonstrates that questioning the existing capitalist system, which enables the extremely wealthy to undermine freedom, is closely linked to global liberation movements. The battle against digital/settler-colonialism is genuinely worldwide, and its consequences will also have a global impact.