In this article, I will examine Amazon’s role in the Gaza Genocide. Armies have been using technology in warfare for many years. This is nothing new. Nearly every major technology company, including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Google, and Amazon, provides products and services to armies and their allies worldwide. What is surprising here is that, under normal circumstances, a multinational company should not refrain from actions that cause human rights violations and should receive various penalties for not refraining, but no sanctions are applied.
Amazon is known to collaborate with Israeli military intelligence to store and analyze large volumes of data on Gaza residents. With this function, it is claimed that these technologies play a role in processes such as target identification, operation planning and post-attack verification. Project Nimbus is the basis of these claims. While Project Nimbus may not immediately evoke Amazon, Project Nimbus, a partnership between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google with the State of Israel, offers technological infrastructure such as large data centers, cloud services, and artificial intelligence. Project Nimbus provides services to military and security institutions such as the Ministry of Defense, the army, and intelligence agencies, as well as civilian public services.
Israeli defense officials have previously announced that the data processing and artificial intelligence functions of AWS, Microsoft and Google services are being used for operational effectiveness. Details such as the nature of Amazon’s contracts, how the data is used, and the extent to which it contributes to military planning are critical. So far, no such ruling has been made against Amazon by independent courts or international legal bodies.
There are many strong claims that Amazon is involved in technological and logistical processes that support the situation in Gaza. Its contributions, particularly in areas such as cloud services, artificial intelligence, and surveillance systems, are significant issues of debate from both security and human rights perspectives. Amazon employees are protesting this project because it leads to human rights violations, but rather than halting the project, Amazon is temporarily suspending the protesting employees. Amazon and other companies maintain that their projects are not used for military or “secret missions,” but merely serve roles such as “public cloud computing and public services.”
In short, UN officials and various human rights groups accuse Amazon of facilitating Israeli military operations in Gaza through “surveillance,” “data security,” and “material support.” It is clear that Amazon contributes to the harm of civilians through its mass data storage and tracking systems.
Sedanur KARAKOÇ