The Economy Of Genocide: Time For The Malaysian Government To Act, Say NGOs

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On 30 June 2025, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) released a report which names 48 corporations which are aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its genocidal war on Gaza in breach of international law.

To quote the report: “Israel’s forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing significant supply and demand, little oversight, and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions profit freely. Companies are no longer merely implicated in occupation – they may be embedded in an economy of genocide.”

The report states its findings illustrate that Israel’s genocide continues because it is lucrative for many corporations.

Among the major corporate entities profiting from the three components of the economies of settler-colonial occupation and genocide (Displacement, Replacement, Enabling) are:

MILITARY
Lockheed Martin (USA)
Leonardo (Italy)
FANUC (Japan)

TECHNOLOGY
IBM
Microsoft
Amazon
Alphabet
Palantir

ELECTRICITY
Drummond (USA)
Chevron (USA)
Glencore (Switzerland)
BP (UK)

SETTLEMENT EXPANSION
Caterpillar (USA)
Booking.com (USA)
Rada (USA)
Airbnb (USA)
Volvo (Sweden)
Hyundai (South Korea)

FINANCE
BNP Paribas
Barclays

The report also identifies US multinational investment companies BlackRock and Vanguard as the main investors behind several listed companies.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is listed as the second largest institutional investor in Palantir (8.6 percent), Microsoft (7.8 percent), Amazon (6.6 percent), Alphabet (6.6 percent) and IBM (8.6 per cent), and the third largest in Lockheed Martin (7.2 percent) and Caterpillar (7.5 percent).

Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, is the largest institutional investor in Caterpillar (9.8 per cent), Chevron (8.9 per cent) and Palantir (9.1 per cent), and the second largest in Lockheed Martin (9.2 per cent) and Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems (2 per cent).

Through BlackRock and Vanguard’s asset management vehicles, they implicate universities, pension funds and ordinary people who passively invest their savings and thus fund Israeli ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.

We urge the Malaysian government to take seriously the report of the Special Rapporteur, which, inter alia, urges all UN member states to suspend or prevent all trade agreements and investment relations, and impose sanctions, including asset freezes, on entities and individuals involved in activities that may endanger the Palestinians.

Among such entities are those listed above, some of whom are attempting to have contracts with the Malaysian government or have already been awarded contracts.

The government should not be swayed by any argument that these corporations are indispensable to the country’s development. Such an argument is false and ignores the Special Rapporteur’s exhortation as stated above.

Furthermore, the legal framework has been tightened by the ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 2024 that Israel’s presence in the OPT is illegal and by the UN General Assembly Resolution of September 2024 that reaffirms the same.

The arrest warrant issued by the ICC in November 2024 against the Israeli prime minister and defence minister confirms that violations of human rights and the commission of war crimes by Israel have taken place.

Therefore, any entity that facilitates or abets such violations of international human rights law, as described by the Special Rapporteur, may be subject to criminal prosecution under the existing legal framework.

The Malaysian government should cease its relations with these entities, especially given the country’s membership in the Hague Group, which is commendable and has the support of the rakyat. It would be a blow to the country’s image and a major embarrassment for the government were it subjected to legal action either domestically or abroad because of its links with entities which are complicit with the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

We call on the Malaysian government to review all its agreements and relations with the corporate entities named in the report to terminate or suspend them.

End the Genocide! Free Palestine!

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