How Israel tests military tech on Palestinians | The Palestine Laboratory E1
Uncovering how Israel profits from surveillance technologies using occupied Palestinian territories as a testing ground.
Israel punches way above its weight when it comes to arms sales. The 97th country by population, it is the ninth largest arms dealer in the world with a $13bn military-industrial complex.
"Plenty of countries sell weapons," says award-winning journalist Antony Loewenstein, "but what makes Israel's industry unique is the mix of weapons, surveillance technology and architectural techniques that combine to create a comprehensive system for controlling 'difficult' populations and are based on years of experience in Palestine."
In this two-part series, Loewenstein goes on a journey to investigate how these weapons and surveillance technologies are used to control and repress Palestinians in Palestine before being sold all over the world.
Antony Loewenstein is a Jewish, Australian journalist and author who for more than 20 years has written unflinchingly about Israel and its relationship with the Palestinians, even though it has often put him at odds with many in the Jewish diaspora and Israel.
In Episode 1, Loewenstein returns to Israel to investigate how cutting-edge military and surveillance technology is being used on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, before being marketed to international clients as "field-proven" and "battle-tested".
Hearing from Palestinians and Israelis, he uncovers how a pipeline of personnel and research from the Israeli army feeds into semi-private arms companies which form a crucial part of Israel's exports to the world. He also investigates the Israeli army's use of targeting systems that utilise artificial intelligence during the Gaza war after October 7, 2023.
How is Israel’s military tech marketed abroad? | The Palestine Laboratory E2
In Episode 2 of "The Palestine Laboratory", journalist and author Antony Loewenstein investigates how surveillance and military technology developed by Israel and tested on Palestinians is marketed abroad. He finds out how the latest Israeli technology is being used to monitor refugees and migrants in Greece and along the US-Mexico border.
Loewenstein visits Mexico to explore its use of Israeli spyware and travels to India to find out how a thriving arms trade is fostering close links between the two nations. In South Africa, he uncovers a hidden aspect of the country's history which saw a secret relationship between the apartheid-era government and Israel centred on a clandestine arms trade and shared values.
What he reveals is a picture of how the "technology of occupation" developed on Palestinians is also used to subjugate people and surveil political dissidents, human rights defenders and journalists all over the world.
Loewenstein concludes by asking if the countries buying these systems are actually looking for more than just another weapon, but instead buying into a wider ideology of the separation and control of "unwanted" populations, be they protesting farmers, political dissidents, or refugees.
George Orwell's 1984 is here. This ties right into Chris Hedges: The Western Way of Genocide (post above)
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