An activist group recently used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s grant database to uncover the school’s ties to Israeli military programs. As a result, the university has shut down the database.
The MIT Coalition for Palestine recently published a booklet dubbed “MIT Science for Genocide” in which it lays out the school’s various ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The booklet claims that Israel has invested as much as $3.7 million into the school as a way to seed research into various defense initiatives. The Intercept reports that those projects include “partnerships to research underwater surveillance, missile detection, and drone algorithms.” The report also shows dense ties between the school and Israel’s defense contractors—including one that makes most of the nation’s killer drones.
As the student activists continued to use the open-access software to probe MIT’s Israel-linked grant activity, the school deactivated the program, Rich Solomon, a Coalition member and MIT graduate student told The Intercept. “MIT has engaged in a sustained and organized campaign of disinformation and propaganda in order to silence and suppress this information,” Solomon added.
MIT spokesperson Sarah McDonnell said the following when reached for comment by The Intercept: “We respect that there are a range of views across that group on any number of topics, and as a general practice our office does not comment to the media about the individually held and freely expressed views of particular students or alumni.” McDonnell added: “MIT and its leadership are committed to promoting student well-being, protecting free speech, and responding to policy violations as appropriate.”
Over 40,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed as a result of Israel’s assault on Gaza, the majority of which have been women and children, according to one UN estimate. Some estimates claim the death toll is much higher. One study by The Lancet has claimed the death toll could climb to well over 100,000 as a result of Israeli destruction of hospitals and housing, which could lead to deaths from diseases, starvation, and exposure.
The horrific headlines associated with the conflict only continue to revolt. Last February, Haaretz revealed that the IDF was running a Telegram channel devoted to photos and videos of dead Palestinians, where it referred to them as “roaches.” More recently, a doctor working in Gaza admitted that it was the first time he’d “held a baby’s brains” in his hands. Multiple reports have alleged indiscriminate killing of civilians by Israeli forces—a claim that was met with incredulity in some circles but which, if you think about it, seems sorta obvious (unless you can feasibly argue that tens of thousands of women and children are agents of Hamas). Additionally, Israel has reportedly killed more journalists (128) during the past year than any other country during the past 100 years.
Commentators have referred to Israel’s campaign as a “genocide,” and some former Biden administration officials have fled the White House over the government’s handling of the crisis. The country, which continues to receive a steady flow of weapons and funding from the U.S., is currently on trial for having violated the Geneva Convention at the Hague.
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