Apple’s employees accuse Apple of donating to the Funding Settlements group at West Bank

Over 100 Apple current and past employees and shareholders have signed an open letter, calling upon the tech firm to cease its policy of matching employees’ donations to causes, which it says support unlawful Israeli constructions in the occupied West Bank and the Israel Defense Forces. 

 This letter, accompanying an internal campaign called Apples4Ceasefire, draws on recent activities to pressure Apple to eliminate two organizations from its donate platforms supporting West Bank settlements. 

The signatories demand Apple cease matching donations to all entities that support some of those settlements or the IDF. Required measures Benevity takes under pressure According to the letter received, Benevity’s employees, workers of Apples4Ceasefire, have asked Apple to remove the two groups funding illegal settlements. 

It reads: ‘We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Apples4Ceasefire who have requested Apple remove two organizations funding illegal settlements from Benevity. ’ This is the same message, only we are increasing it and demanding that Apple immediately investigate and stop matching donations to all organizations that contribute to the building of more settlements on occupied territories and supporting the IDF. 

The letter reiterates its allies: the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, HaYovel Inc., One Israel Fund, the Jewish National Fund, and Israelis. Middle East Eye reached out to Apple for confirmation of whether the company doubled the employees’ donations given to such organizations but did not get a response within the published time. 

The signed letter was read by 133 people claiming to be current or former employees or shareholders of Apple, and it indicates a growing trend in the United States tech industry where workers are calling on their employers to cut ties with practices that contribute to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The movement is picking up steam in instances of the recent conflict and the growing global condemnation of Israeli practices. 

Many US-based nonprofits have been forwarding hundreds of millions of dollars to settlers in the past fifteen years and $220 million in the three years of 2009-2013. Various non-governmental organizations and members of the US Congress have tried to act to stop the US contribution towards such illegitimate Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank. For example, an assembly member of New York, Zohran Mamdani, has proposed the “Not On Our Dime Act,” which seeks to extend unlawful of not-for-profit corporations in connection with Israeli settlements without a permit. 

 Also, in recent years, in the context of the growth of tension between the Obama administration and the Israeli leadership, the US restricted the relations of several Israeli settlers’ organizations with the American securities market. These measures are a part of an international attempt to fight funding of activities in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

In writing the letter to Apple, Cob Belle is joining a new wave of technology employees who are beginning to refuse to work for organizations involved in unethical practices. In April, Google dismissed over 100 workers who opposed the corporation’s position on Project Nimbus, a cloud-computing and artificial intelligence project with the Israeli government and armed forces. 

Also, the workers formed a group of around 297 people who were past or present employees of Apple. In April, they wrote an open letter to the company stating that Apple “wrongfully terminated” the workers who supported Palestine. 

 There is an increased movement among technology sector employees demanding corporate governance and ethical behaviour from companies, especially on matters related to conflict and human rights abuses. These pressures on firms such as Apple are likely to profoundly influence the firm’s public image and employees.