Columbia’s connections to Apartheid
The Columbia Investment Management Company (CIMC) invests the university’s endowment in three companies that are complicit in Israeli occupation. These include: Alphabet (better known as Google), Amazon, and Microsoft.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s cloud computing service, Azure, is used in the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Israeli Civil Administration's (ICA) app "Al Munaseq." This app is used to issue the necessary permits for Palestinians in Gaza and occupied West Bank to work, visit their families, as well as their legal and medical needs. The app tracks Palestinian’s names, geo location, IP addresses and all files on their devices.
The company also provides programming courses and hackathons for the Israeli military, explicitly to aid Israel’s military in the development of new military technology.
Since 2022, Microsoft has been contracted by the Israeli Police for well over $5,500,000 to provide them software services and products. The company has also been contracted to provide software services for the Israel Prison Service for over $4,500,000.
In 2019 and 2021, they were contracted to be the sole supplier of software services for both the Israeli Police and Israel Prison Service.
Alphabet +
Amazon
In 2021 Amazon and Google split a 1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government to develop the Nimbus Project. The project will provide cloud infrastructure to all branches and units of the Israeli government including Israeli military, police, prison services, and land authority. As a part of the contract Google and Amazon are forbidden from denying service to specific government entities, which includes those actively violating the rights of Palestinians.
Additionally, Amazon and Google have also agreed to “reciprocal procurement and industrial cooperation in Israel at the rate of 20% of the contract value.”
In October 2021, more than 390 employees at Google and Amazon published a statement demanding both companies reject the Nimbus Project contract, stating the Nimbus Project, “allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.”
Columbia’s investments in ETF’s and mutual funds
Columbia invests in funds managed by iShares, Matthews Asia, and Dodge & Cox. These funds hold shares in defense contractors (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics) as well as companies that construct Separation Walls (Hyundai, Bobcat, Hitachi), demolish Palestinian neighborhoods (Caterpillar), manufacture armored vehicles (Land Rover, Mitsubishi), provide services to Israeli police and prison service (Matrix IT, Bobcat) and help develop Israeli infrastructure in Occupied Palestinian Territory (JA Solar, Booking Holdings).
For more on Columbia’s ETF investments: