[Boycott - Arms] Alert 12th May 2015 - Join us ask Hewlett Packard MD - Why is HP supporting war crimes in Gaza?
inminds 7 May 2015
DATE: Tuesday 12th May 2015 9:00am - 11:30am
LOCATION: Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London SE1 7UT (Closest tube: Waterloo or Westminster - need to cross bridge to South Bank)
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/424307471084139/
7th May 2015, www.inminds.com
On Tuesday 12th May 2015 Hewlett Packard's World Tour is coming to London. It will be hosted by HP's UK & Ireland Managing Director & Senior Vice President Andrew Isherwood, and fellow Vice President & Chief Customer Office John Hinshaw. Please join us at 9am sharp outside the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge on the South Bank, as we demand HP stop its complicity in war crimes in Palestine.
HP provides and manages the IT infrastructure of the entire Israeli military which killed over 500 children last summer and has been found guilty of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity by the United Nations Human Rights Council. One Palestinian child is murdered by Israel every 60 hours for the past 14 years. Hewlett Packard, one of the top 20 armament companies in the US, with its $6 billion investment in Israel, provides and manages the IT backbone of Israel's entire killing machine - from the army, to the navy, to the Ministry of Defense - that makes such slaughter possible.
Last year Israel abducted 1266 Palestinian children - that's one child taken from their parents every 7 hours! 40% of the 600 that were taken from Jerusalem alone were sexually abused by Israeli soldiers during arrest or interrogation. During interrogation 75% of Palestinian children detained by Israel are physically tortured. Hewlett Packard keeps those torture dens and dungeons where Palestinian children are caged and abused, operational by the IT infrastructure it provides to the Israeli Prison Service. Join us ask HP's UK Managing Director if he is proud of the torture and sexual abuse of children that his company facilitates?
BACKGROUND - HEWLETT-PACKARD
HP is more than an office supplies and printers company, they are one of the top 20 defense contractors in the US with arms* sales worth $3 billion in 2011. They specialize in developing the IT infrastructure that is essential for the military to function.
Whilst Hewlett-Packard(HP) operates in 178 countries around the world in HP's own words "Israel is one of the few countries where HP has a massive presence.. In the past decade, HP has invested over $6 billion in the acquisition of Israeli companies, including the establishment of production plants.. HP is the second largest investor in Israeli IT."
HP provides IT backbone to Israeli Military
In 2011 HP won Israel's largest ever servers tender, worth an estimated $140 million. Under the tender HP implements and manages the entire server farm of the Ministry of Defense and the Israeli army for 5 years (contract ends in 2016). Those HP servers form the IT backbone of the entire Israeli war machine making HP complicit in Israel's war crimes.
HP has been equipping the Israeli military since 2006 when it was first contracted to provided the IT infrastructure for the Israeli navy, a virtualization project which was used by the Israeli military as a pilot for implementing the same system to the entire army. HP is thereby assisting the illegal naval blockade of Gaza which also began in 2006. In 2009 HP won the contract to supply all computer equipment to the Israeli military. In another contract HP supply configuration management database system for the Israeli Army's secret IT unit. Currently HP is implementing and assimilating an enterprise resource planning and management system for the Israeli Army (2011-2015).
HP helping Israels dungeons and torture dens to operate
Hewlett Packard is also providing essential IT services and infrastructural that enable the Israeli Prison Service (IPS)** to function.
Last year Israel abducted 1266 Palestinian children as young - that's one child as 12 years old taken from their parents every 7 hours! 40% of the 600 that were taken from Jerusalem alone were sexually abused by Israeli soldiers during arrest or interrogation. During interrogation 75% of Palestinian children detained by Israel are physically tortured***. Human rights groups have documented the brutal torture of children as standard practice during interrogations in order to coerce confessions, usually to stone throwing which carries a sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment. Today there are over 6000 Palestinian political prisoners, including women and children, imprisoned by the Israeli Prison Service - many locked up without even a charge let alone a trial. 72 Palestinian prisoners have been tortured to death in Israeli prisons since 1967. The latest being father of five young children, Raed Abdul-Salam al-Jabari, who was died following interrogation at Eshel prison on 9th Sep 2014. He had been arrested over a simple car accident involving an illegal Israeli settler. The IPS claimed he had committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell but the autopsy revealed he had been savagely tortured with repeated blows to the head and face causing brain haemorrhage. His neck showed no signs of hanging.
In an ongoing contract (until 2016), worth millions of dollars, HP provides the Israeli prison service the systems and servers needed to keep it operational. In 2012 HP provided the central servers for the operational system of the IPS ("Tzohar") and its ongoing maintenance. In a contract worth $35 million, HP developed the Kidma information system for the IPS which includes the prisoners management system and intelligence subs systems, helping the occupation keep illegal records on Palestinians it has abducted and their families. HP has also executed a project for e-mail storage and archive for the IPS.
HP helping the occupation implement apartheid
HP has developed and maintained the Basel System - a biometric access control system with hand and facial recognition, which is used by Israel at illegal checkpoints deep inside occupied territory to restrict and control Palestinian freedom of movement in their own land. It forms part of the separation wall apparatus declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004.
HP also provided services to the illegal settlements, in particular Modi'in Illit and Ariel. This includes a data storage system for the municipality of Ariel as part of the "Smart City" project.
*Arms sales defined as goods & services designed specifically for military purpose and doesn't include general purpose equipment like office computers. Figure may be underestimate as it doesn't include classified contracts. Src: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
**We would especially like to thank WhoProfits.org for the research they have conducted on HP, in particular their freedom of information requests that have revealed the extent on HP's complicity with the Israeli Prison Service.
***Source - Euro-Mid Observers For Human Rights, Jan 2010 - Jun 2014
More Information on campaign against Hewlett Packard 's complicity in Israel's war crimes, dungeons and torture dens:
http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10628
Previous Actions
BETT 2015
Protest outside British Education and Training Technology event BETT 2015 (ExCel centre, London 22 Jan 2015) where Hewlett Packard's Vice-President for Worldwide Education, Gus Schmedien, was speaking.
Protest outside British Education and Training Technology event BETT 2015 (ExCel centre, London 22 Jan 2015)
where Hewlett Packard's Vice-President for Worldwide Education, Gus Schmedien, was speaking.
VIDEO
Speech outside BETT 2015, 22 Jan 2015, London
Sustainable Brands 2014
Protest outside HP sponsored Sustainable Brands 2014 conference (Lancaster London Hotel, 5th Nov 2014) where Hewlett Packard's Global Manager of Strategic Alliances and Innovations in Education, Ann Ewasechko, was speaking.
Protest outside HP sponsored Sustainable Brands 2014 conference (Lancaster London Hotel, 5th Nov 2014)
where Hewlett Packard's Global Manager of Strategic Alliances and Innovations in Education, Ann Ewasechko, was speaking.
LIVE UPDATES DURING PROTEST
We will, inshAllah, be tweeting live from the protest with live photos being uploaded to our twitter and facebook page. So if you can't join us on the day, please help us by sharing the photos as they get uploaded.
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If you support this activity please share this alert widely, thank you.
JazakAllah,
Abbas Ali
Palestinian Prisoners Campaign
www.inminds.com/caged
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The Palestinian Prisoners Campaign aims to raise awareness for the plight of Palestinian prisoners and build solidarity for their struggle and work towards their freedom. The campaign was launched by Innovative Minds (inminds.com) and the Islamic Human Rights Commission (ihrc.org) on the occasion of Al Quds Day 2012 (on 17th August 2012), since then we have held actions every fortnight in support of Palestinian prisoners, if you can spare two hours twice a month then please join the campaign by coming to the next action.
Source: www.inminds.com
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