cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/45608823

Not only that, they hire ex-Mossad/IDF tech folks to work on critical chip and software. Its like the fox has a licensing agreement with the henhouse owner

Why is Israel in quotes?

They also fund have a donation matching scheme that allows funding the IDF and who are involved with illegal settlements. I’ve used their products for fifteen years now, unaware of all this. Never again. https://www.tbsnews.net/worldbiz/usa/apple-under-fire-matching-employee-donations-idf-and-illegal-settlements-879791

Nitpick: those are not correct images of the new iPhone Duo

They also suck Trump's dick.

They also fund the IDF and are involved with illegal settlements.

Are we sure about that?

I've used one of these corporate donation matching programs before (obviously I'm not donating to Israeli or IDF charities). Its essentially a large donation platform and web interface that allows corporations to offer the charity donation/matching systems to its employees. The donation platform Apple apparently uses is called "Benevity".

To be clear, I don't believe the corporate employer chooses the charities listed, it simply allows donations to all the charities the platform has registered. When I was searching for charities I donate to, I found many small obscure charities which surprised me. This suggests to me it doesn't take much to get registered if any action at all. Does Benevity simply get a list of every 501(c)(3) organization registered with the IRS?

From your article:

"Apple will be expected to take swift action to investigate and potentially cease matching donations to organisations linked to the Israeli military and illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

My question would be: Do we know for sure that any Apple employees even donated to these Israeli/IDF charities (and therefore received matched donations from Apple)? Just because the charities are listed on Benevity doesn't mean anyone actually donated? If zero Apple employees chose to make donations, then Apple would also have made zero donations. So before we crucify Apple for donating, do we have proof that there actually were any actual donations made?

I will say the effort to have the Israeli/IDF charities delisted as choices to Apple employees through Benevity is still a reasonable request, but that is a far smaller need/sin than actual donations to Israeli/IDF charities.

Honestly, even without this, there are so many reasons not to buy from that shitty company.

Usually a reference to disputed lands. I've seen similar usage when talking in context of indigenous rights, e.g., "Native tribes in so-called 'California' are..."

I promise not to spend $2K on a Duo.

Americans would never boycott apple.

You might be looking for the apple_unenthusiast community

Now thats a proper apple enthusiast comment!

The controversy stems from Apple's employee donation-matching programme, which allows workers to make contributions to various non-profit organisations and receive matching funds from the company through a platform called Benevity.

Among the charities Apple's controversial platform allows funds to be sent to are Friends of the IDF, which collects donations on behalf of Israeli occupation soldiers, and several groups that contribute to the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, such as HaYovel, One Israel Fund, the Jewish National Fund and IsraelGives.

Sounds like Apple is matching donations for genocidal employees, not specifically doing it ‘alone’ as it were.

Yes. It’s a choice, though. When I worked for a large tech company those things happened with conscious planning.

Censorword for Palestine

As far as I can tell, the donations are completely private. That means that as far as we’re concerned the amount could be zero.

This looks like a good article to separate the known deep economic ties Apple has to Israel from the unknown as well as the viral mis/disinformation https://sherafy.com/does-apple-support-israel/

And even if they did, the rest of the world is still a problem.

I appreciate your new link. I answered a number of questions I'd formed myself. It also pointed out that there is no public evidence that Apple or its employees donated to those Israeli/IDF charities. I concede this doesn't mean donations haven't happened, but that we have no evidence donations happened and nothing to suggest that they did.

Is this a link you found when exploring our conversation here or did you have this second link when you made your first post claiming "They also fund the IDF and are involved with illegal settlements."? I'm not making an accusation against you. I know I frequently learn new things that contradict my held position when others share information and it causes me to examine a topic further in search of truth and accuracy. I didn't know if this was a case similar to my experience.

I found this link prompted by your comment. As I said in my previous reply, you’re right that the amount could be zero, but we have no evidence that Apple has conceded to the requests to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

As a tech person I refuse to buy Apple. They pray on people who have no clue about tech.

I agree that Apple should remove these as an option to contribute to.

Many already do for various reasons, but yeah there could be a lot more. This will definitely add to the total at least.

*prey

This is the second time it won’t be even a little tempting to try the new Apple product. Vision Pro looked pointless, and this is more of the same. Already bigger than the biggest iPhone, then it folds out to twice that size? They still make iPads, right?

!deapple@piefed.social

I may have bought in completely to Apple’s ecosystem…. But at this point it’s more because I hate every other tech giant slightly more.

Shame I can’t boycott because this was a boring product update and I wasn’t gonna buy it anyway.

Everybody outside of China who designs silicon has R&D facilities in Israel. They seem to have a lot of silicon expertise there, and have for decades (the Intel 8087 floating-point coprocessor was designed there around 1980, and the engineer’s Hebrew initials are on the chip die).

🙏

Thanks Greta. I didn't know that. I've had a pretty bad opinion on Apple. Now it has somewhat improved.

piefed

Sweet username

The Intercept has a more in-depth article

https://theintercept.com/2024/06/11/apple-donations-idf-israel-gaza-illegal-settlements/

There's far more going on than just the contributions, when it comes to Apple's material support to Israel

That article looks like a repeat of the other article. I didn't see anything new in it that we haven't see in the first one. Neither article shows any evidence that Apple employees or Apple themselves have contributed any funds to those Israeli/IDF charities.

Its unlikely Apple chose any of the charities listed. The charities listed are from the Benevity platform (which potentially lists every single 501(c)(3) charity registered with the IRS).

There’s far more going on than just the contributions, when it comes to Apple’s material support to Israel

That's certainly possible, but the Apple/Apple Employee donations to Israeli/IDF charities claim looks like misinformation.

The matching program is setup in such a way that we CAN'T verify how much apple has donated through the matching program. On this topic, the issue is with Apple allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism in the first place.

Additionally, through Project Nimbus, israel is directly funding the Zionist project, both financially as it's a 1.2 billion dollar project, and military as this project is used to bolster the Israeli military apparatus. Not to mention how Apple has fired those who employees oppose Apple's financial ties and projects with Israel.

There's also the issue of Apple having factories in Israel. Either way you cut it, Apple materially supports Israel, and by extension the Apartheid, Genocide, and all other aspects of ethnic cleansing intrinsic to the Zionist project.

The matching program is setup in such a way that we CAN’T verify how much apple has donated through the matching program.

Right, but there's zero evidence the donation amount is more than $0.

I've explained how a corporate donation platform works in my first post. You're misconstruing it at something else like a sinister plan cloaked in shadows. Not everything is a conspiracy. Instead its a boring corporate-outsourcing-bureaucracy. Apple (and other companies that use these donation platforms) want to offer the benefit to their employees for HR reasons as well as tax cuts for charitable donations. They contract with a benefits donation company, in this Benevity. The list of charities isn't hand-picked to be Israeli/IDF charities, its likely all IRS registered charities.

On this topic, the issue is with Apple allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism in the first place.

I agree Apple should exclude these charities even as an option for donation, but you're painting this like Apple is donation money directly to the IDF. There is just zero evidence that is occurring even if it would support your argument better if they were.

I think I realized why I'm so disappointed in your line of thought on this. Its the lack of consistency in your accusation on the use of this donation platform. Why is it you're only calling out Apple for "allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism"? Why are you not calling out the literally hundreds of other companies that allow the exact same donation possibility?

There’s also the issue of Apple having factories in Israel. Either way you cut it, Apple materially supports Israel, and by extension the Apartheid, Genocide, and all other aspects of ethnic cleansing intrinsic to the Zionist project.

Cool, then go with those where there's actual evidence of support of Israel. If you've got good examples with good evidence, why make up implications with the employee donation thing?

I often wonder why people think Google is less evil than Apple. The oligarchs aren’t giving us choices. Every big corporation and most small businesses are evil by design. Are people supposed to move into a cabin in the woods and go off grid?

Seems like best thing is buy a pixel used and put grapheneOS on it.

You're a fuckwit

If I want to run two apps at the same time, I can just get two iPhone 17s and tape them together. I

t would save a couple hundred bucks also.

Both companies are evil, but in different ways so you just pick the side that most closely aligns with your goals.

For me I switched bc Google keeps randomly killing projects so I have no idea what service is going to work and which isn’t. They killed Inbox so I switched to Apple.

That and their ad business.

I want a pure Linux phone now.

….or that cabin in the woods is sounding pretty good.

Microsoft and Google do that too. Apple at least put some polish into it. At least they used to.

You're the only one who's only focused on apple here

Use the No Thanks or even join a BDS working group

I often wonder why people think Google is less evil than Apple

They control the de facto search engine. They control the de facto video sharing platform. They're the biggest ad company in the world. They control what world sees and hears.

I have no doubt they've secretly shaped opinion on themselves.

Marketing, Apple has many privacy and security ads. While their privacy/security is not different from google.

Apple is corrupt as fuck because Pegasus is straight out of Israel

where you find those people?

It's just comfortable living in the mindset that your choise of product tribe somehow makes a difference. People shut down on the thought that pretty much everything is fucked.

You get the fuck out of here with your level-headed reasoning, the torches are already lit and the pitchforks sharpened!

Apple does plenty of shitty shit but this isn’t much of anything. Go after labor conditions in China, piss on them for succumbing to the ads game. There are other real things to hold them accountable for.

The best tech that stolen American research and tax payer dollars can provide.