Warren Buffett signs $2 billion check in support of Israeli apartheid

David Cronin Power Suits 6 May 2013

Warren Buffett (left) with Barack Obama; multi-billionaire has taken full control of Israeli metal firm.

Pete Souza The White House

I gave up drinking the day after the Live8 concert in 2005. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Apart from the obvious health benefits, it helped me figure out things that I had avoided trying to understand.

My decision to shun the bottle was a sudden one. But it now seems apt that it was made following an extravaganza where Bill Gates took the stage to feign concern for the poor. Today, I become apoplectic when I see the ultra-wealthy posing as friends of the downtrodden.

The latest billionaires’ list compiled by Forbes magazine names Gates and his pal Warren Buffett as the world’s second and fourth richest men. Between them, the pair have a “net worth” of $120.5 billion.

Fawning news features tell us we should admire the duo because of their philanthropy. Yet a newly-concluded business deal demonstrates where the sympathies of the 1% really lie.

“Message of faith”

Buffett has just spent a cool $2 billion to take full control of the Israeli company Iscar Metalworking (he had already bought most of the firm in 2006). Eitan Wertheimer, Iscar’s president, described the transaction as a “message of faith” in the Israeli economy and “a type of Balfour declaration.”

At first glance, Wertheimer seems to be resorting to hyperbole. But Buffett’s act is arguably more significant than the letter of support to the Zionist movement that Arthur James Balfour, then Britain’s foreign secretary, signed in 1917. The Balfour declaration was aspirational; Buffett, on the other hand, has signed an enormous check in support of Israeli apartheid.

Buffett’s investment is an insult to the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. I’m a supporter of the BDS movement, not a strategist for it. Yet I think there is a clear case now for Palestine solidarity activists to urge a boycott of products made by firms in which Buffett has a major stake. They include Coca-Cola and Heinz.

Class war

It is noteworthy that Wertheimer’s remarks were reported in Israel Hayom, a newspaper owned by the gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson. As well as holding racist views towards Palestinians in particular, Adelson generally holds the underprivileged with contempt. He has emphasized his staunch opposition to the redistribution of wealth.

Buffett may be less obnoxious than Adelson — the former has, for example, urged Barack Obama to increase taxes on the wealthy. Yet they are both fighting a class war with the objective of widening inequality. Buffett has correctly observed that his class is winning that war.

The super-rich can never be trusted. Even when they lavish money on charities, there is invariably a flipside. Bill Gates’ work against malaria is severely compromised by how his foundation has invested almost $1 billion in BP and ExxonMobil. Malarial mosquitoes thrive when temperatures soar — something that is happening now in Africa and beyond thanks to the global warming that the oil industry has forced on the planet.

Warmongers hug trees

The effrontery of corporations knows few bounds. Lockheed Martin, the arms giant, recently published its annual “sustainability report.” Two gems jumped out from its pages: Lockheed is striving to achieve a “zero-accident workplace” and to cut down pollution from transport by buying one-quarter of components from suppliers “within 30 miles of our significant sites of operation.”

For a second, I was so in awe of Lockheed’s commitment to tree-hugging and ergonomics that I forgot it is the single biggest beneficiary of US military aid to Israel. As Shir Hever, the left-wing Israeli economist, pointed out recently, this military aid is in the form of vouchers. Israel is required to exchange the vouchers for American weaponry, principally that manufactured by Lockheed.

Israel’s attacks on Syria will surely be a boon for Lockheed if they continue — or even if they don’t. The attacks have been conducted with the aid of Lockheed’s F-16 Fighting Falcon jets.

Of course, Lockheed’s armaments are routinely used as tools of oppression against Palestinians. Are our Palestinian brothers and sisters supposed to be comforted by Lockheed’s policies on local sourcing and safety at work?

The “public relations” industry is forever tying big green ribbons around corporations and the super-rich. These ribbons cannot conceal the toxic truth that the super-rich look out only for themselves. They will happily trample over Palestinians or any other people if doing so can make them even richer.

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Comments

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mary replied on

Other than boycotting Heinz and coca-cola, that is? It'll be rather hard to avoid Heinz products, but I'll certainly try if it will be useful. But can we petition Mr. Buffett, or write to him asking why he is supporting apartheid and oppression? Would it do any good? I just feel there must be something we ordinary people can do!

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John El-Amin replied on

My thinking is that those , like us, who oppose the atrocities , can speak the truth by use of the written word to these profit first @any cost people.

The madness must that gives life to the suffering and injustice must end.

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Shakeerah Long replied on

The atrocities that happen on a daily basis hurts my heart so much. I don't buy products that support Israel, I educate my family and other people I know as to why they should also boycott, I have info. in my home for people to make them aware of what is really going on in Palestine, I sign petitions, write letters, etc., etc... and I will continue to fight by writing and informing people about what is factually happening in Palestine. Once the Palestinian Muslims, Christians and Jews were neighbors and lived side by side with no problems until the Zionist came and changed everything; It seems people don't want to know the truth and that is sad.

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Peter Loeb replied on

We who struggle in advocacy groups must acknowledge that our accomplishments
are based on persuasion. The structure of power and privlilege have trumped many
of our efforts. For an analysis of the US configuration of power see bl a THE ROOTS
OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY... (1969) by Gabriel Kolko. (Other works of his
reiterate these views and their meaning for strategy. This work was penned during the War in Vietnam which had not ended at the date of publication.)

We must continue our efforts while acknowledging these lessons of history.

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Mark replied on

Yes, Buffett/Adelson investments are first rank targets for boycotting/protesting, if we had a real movement in the US.

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mary replied on

Mark, you've put your finger on the problem. We need to strengthen our activism! I've been boycotting Starbucks for years, both because of the CEO's stance on the settlements, and because of union-busting in NYC. I believe it's had no effect at all.A single person simply won't have any effect, but thousands - or millions - can. So - can we get a petition going? A movement to divest from these companies, as there is a movement to divest from Caterpillar?

It's just awful to me that we unwittingly support fortunes built up on the blood of innocents.

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Mark replied on

Your finger is on the problem also,,aside from the Olympia co-op, we haven't had much on the ground success here in the USA. Contact me!

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Cindy X replied on

It´s a good idea to boycott all sodas period. I don´t completely understand what sodastream is but I imagine from the name that it supplies the drinks machines in different restaurants, bars, truck stops, convenience stores, etc.

Bottled sodas consume an enormous amount of water to produce. Sodas are equivalent to instant diabetes.. They are addictive, because of their advertising, sugar content, and in the case of Coca Cola, the drugs. And, they do not satisfy thirst, which is best satisfied by water with a little lemon or lime. Two liters a day minimum.

Processed food, unless it's done locally by someone you know is generally not a good idea if you want to be both healthy and politically a little bit correct. There is nothing more important than what you eat and drink.

A boycott on this? We need a revolution by any means necessary. Probably peaceful is best in such an unstable world. Or maybe it's just unstable me. We'll see.

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mark replied on

Try googling sodastream to find out more!

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Cindy Wilmore replied on

I see. Home carbonation machines. Now that's really a terrible idea. Anything but natural carbonation drains calcium from your body, I was told by my sister. Probably true.

David Cronin

David Cronin's picture

David Cronin is an associate editor of The Electronic Intifada. His books include Balfour’s Shadow: A Century of British Support for Zionism and Israel and Europe’s Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation.