Politics
Palantir boss dodges all questions on Gaza
Doorstepping powerful figures used to be a mainstay of journalism. Nowadays hardly anyone does it. But our friends at Declassified UK aren’t just anyone. This time they cornered the boss of genocide-complicit military AI firm Palantir Louis Mosley.
He was heading for a swishy Mayfair drinks event with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The firm was holding it to celebrate signing a gigantic military contract.
Mosley appeared as the Declassified crew waited outside in the rain:
He was asked:
Has your technology been used to facilitate war crimes in Gaza? Is this the same technology that you are selling to the British army?
Mosley didn’t answer. Instead he went in hurriedly surrounded by his moody-looking entourage. And, as Declassified point out in their reportage:
There are even concerns that Peter Mandelson, friend of notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, helped to broker the deal with the MoD.
Mosley, in case our readership missed it, is the grandson of aristocratic British fascist Oswald Mosley.
This timeline is an exceptionally strange one.
Palantir’s big UK deal
Palantir seem to have got their British contract at mate’s rates. No other firm was considered:
Two months ago, Palantir signed a three-year Ministry of Defence contract worth £240m to “modernise UK defence” by “supporting critical strategic, tactical and live operational decision making” in the armed forces.
The contract was awarded without competition. The MoD has said this was “due to an absence of competition for technical reasons” and because there were “no reasonable alternatives”.
Seems legit…
The firm has also been profiting from Israel’s genocide in Gaza. As Declassified reported:
In January 2024, Palantir also agreed to a strategic partnership with the Israeli defence ministry “to help the country’s war effort”, according to media reports.
But Palantir is not known for being forthcoming with details:
But it is unclear exactly what technology Palantir has supplied to Israel as part of that new partnership, and whether or how any of that technology – or technology previously supplied to the country – has been used in Gaza.
The tech giant has issued a denial about two key systems used in Gaza though:
Palantir has denied being involved in Lavender and Gospel, two AI systems that the Israeli military has used to target Palestinians in Gaza.
Partners in crime
Declassified asked whether the MOD was buying Palantir tech “battle-tested in Gaza” but got no answer.
An MOD spokesperson said:
Palantir is a significant investor in the UK economy, and we have a decade-long partnership with them.
There are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently. All suppliers are subject to rigorous due diligence and must deliver value for money while complying with our security and legal obligations.
MOD officials and tech barons no doubt enjoyed swanking it up and patting each other on the back. Far from the echoey halls of state and corporate power, the total record of Palestinian casualties since 7 October 2023 now sits at 72,069 killed, with 171,728 injured. Given how hard it is to verify, report and retrieve bodies from Gaza’s apocalyptic landscape, this is likely a massive underestimate.
Featured image via Aljazeera