A group of unions and organizations in the United Kingdom led by political group Progressive International has created a database to search which companies are complicit with Israel's genocidal operations in Gaza.
The new tool called the Watermelon Index is for "the worker-led resistance against the occupation and genocide in Palestine." It contains details of worker-led campaigns that are being mounted against the genocide against Palestine that "will allow employees to connect and with activists to challenge their bosses over connections to Israel."
Middle East Eye reported that upon searching, it found banking giant Barclays, shipping company Maersk, e-commerce platform Amazon, tech giant Microsoft and short-term rental outfit Airbnb were found to have ties with Israel among industries in finance, insurance, technology, logistics and energy.
The news outlet said Progressive International is focusing its efforts within these sectors. The organization added that it is stepping up its efforts to organize actions against Israel because the Western media seemed to have been blind to Israel's violence against the Palestinians.
"The West's political-media class won't challenge the genocide it arms and supports. We have to take action ourselves, wherever we are, to confront the grave crimes against the Palestinians," Progressive International Communications Director James Schneider said.
The group said a company's complicity with Israel's war on Gaza is measured through the different kinds of support it provides Israel, including financial, military, diplomatic, cultural, trade and social.
Palestinian trade unions have been calling for the embargoes of weapons since Israel started its genocidal operations against Palestinians following the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Workers around the world have also been asking their employers to stop its complicity with Israel. (Related: Turkey and 51 other nations call for global arms embargo on Israel.)
To date, health authorities in Gaza have confirmed that over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military.
Companies have to undertake heightened human rights due diligence when there is armed conflict
Former Irish President Mary Robinson and Business & Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC) Executive Director Phil Bloomer wrote an op-ed on Newsweek addressing the complicity of many businesses in crimes against humanity committed by Israel. According to them, the firms "stand at a fork in the road."
According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies and investors have the responsibility to undertake heightened human rights due diligence in circumstances of conflict.
"In armed conflict, companies must redouble their efforts to identify and address their effects on civilians' human rights to ensure they do not contribute to the drivers of conflict, nor to the triggers that intensify violence," they wrote.
They also cited research conducted by the London-based BHRRC, which found that companies have been falling woefully short of their human rights responsibilities. Of the 104 tech companies asked about the steps they are taking to avoid contributing to further harm in the region, only four bothered to respond.
An expert legal opinion also stated that "corporations and their managers could be held liable for the commission of acts of genocide," Bloomer and Robinson pointed out.
Moreover, international criminal law suggests that direct complicity requires intentional participation, but not necessarily an intention to do harm, "only knowledge of foreseeable harmful effects."
Weapons and tech exports are essential to the Israel Defense Forces' continued operations and therefore instrumental to the civilian death toll and violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Check out Genocide.news for stories related to Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinians.
Watch the video below that talks about ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This video is from the Cythia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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