The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel profits from oppression
The Palestine Laboratory, a podcast by investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein available on Drop Site News, is an essential listen.
Based on Loewenstein’s book of the same name, the podcast explores how Israel’s military and technological advancements are used to sustain the oppression of Palestinians, while simultaneously being commercialised for profit globally.
This grim intersection of occupation, surveillance and profit is dissected across four episodes: "Start-Up Nation", "How to Make Friends", "Privatising the Occupation" and "After October 7". They offer a deeply researched perspective on the commodification of military rule.
At the heart of the podcast lies a powerful argument: Palestinians are not only dehumanised and dominated by Israel’s political and military establishment, but their oppression is also turned into a profit-making venture.
Israel has effectively exported its occupation, marketing its supposed military innovations - developed and tested on Palestinians - to a global audience. This point resonates throughout the series, painting a sobering picture of how apartheid and economics are terrifyingly intertwined.
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The podcast is particularly timely as Israel continues its systematic mass slaughter in Gaza. With the war now entering its 14th month, a special UN committee recently concluded what has long been stated: Israeli policies and practices in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”.
Israeli officials have openly outlined their strategic objectives, including occupation, annexation, and reducing Gaza to rubble. These actions, in their unparalleled horror, are not merely acts of war, but also serve as an avenue for Israel to flaunt on the world stage its military prowess.
Chilling juxtaposition
One of the podcast’s standout episodes, “After October 7”, underscores this connection. On 14 November 2023, amid Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, Israeli military and tech companies were simultaneously attending Milipol Paris, one of the world’s largest national security exhibitions.
At this event, attended by more than 30,000 participants from 160 countries, Israeli companies showcased products such as remote-controlled weapons developed by SmartShooter, tested extensively in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Such products are marketed as “combat-proven”, with their effectiveness demonstrated on Palestinian populations.
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It was cause-and-effect personified. As Haaretz reported in April, clients from around the world have taken an interest in Israeli systems and weaponry “backed up by evidence fresh from the battlefields in Gaza and Lebanon”.
The juxtaposition is chilling. While Gaza was being subjected to a litany of crimes against humanity - including the deaths of premature babies in al-Shifa Hospital due to fuel shortages, and the digging of mass graves inside the hospital compound - Israeli firms were reaping the benefits of the military-industrial complex.
Israel's arms industry has little interest in peace, as its profitability relies on sustained conflict and repression
Loewenstein powerfully illustrates how the ethnic cleansing and occupation of the Palestinian territories becomes a selling point for Israel’s arms industry. Importantly, the series doesn’t shy away from the brutal realities on the ground, ensuring that Palestinian voices are centred, and not caveated or qualified.
Loewenstein speaks with Palestinian journalist Mariam Dawas from Gaza, who recounts the horrors of surviving six Israeli military onslaughts. She describes how civilians in Gaza have learned to distinguish between the weapons killing them: “People in Gaza know when it’s Apache. They know when it’s F-16.”
Recently, newer weapons, including F-35 jets, have been confirmed to have been used in Gaza, adding to the overwhelming devastation.
Such firsthand accounts, interspersed throughout the podcast, ensure that the human toll of Israel’s aggression remains front and centre.
Troubling pattern
In addition to current events, the podcast delves into the historical dimensions of Israel’s role as a global enabler of oppression.
Journalist Sasha Polakow-Suransky highlights Israel’s close relationship with apartheid South Africa, noting how the former ignored United Nations resolutions to cease arms sales and instead became one of the latter’s largest arms suppliers. Israel even assisted South Africa in developing a nuclear weapons programme, solidifying its role as a partner in oppression.
Another harrowing example comes from Daniel Silberman, a Chilean activist whose family endured Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in the 1970s. Silberman describes Israel’s complicity in arming and supporting the regime, stating: “In a metaphoric way, an Israeli bullet killed my father.”
His testimony underscores a troubling pattern: Israel’s arms industry has little interest in peace, as its profitability relies on sustained conflict and repression.
Beyond weaponry, the podcast also examines how surveillance is used as a tool of domination. Mona Shtaya, a Palestinian digital rights activist from the occupied West Bank, provides a personal account of living under intense surveillance. Such technology, developed to control Palestinians, has become a major export for Israel, sought after by authoritarian regimes worldwide.
Loewenstein’s analysis thus highlights how Israel has turned repression into a model that other states aspire to emulate.
Episode by episode, The Palestine Laboratory unpacks the layers of Israel’s colonisation of Palestinians, presenting a perspective that is often underrepresented in mainstream media. While much coverage focuses on the immediate violence and political implications, this podcast explores the structural mechanisms that perpetuate Israel’s occupation.
Global ramifications
Loewenstein is adept at weaving together the broader implications of Israel’s actions, without losing sight of their impacts on Palestinians. He contextualises Israel’s military campaigns within its global marketing strategy, showing how the state’s arms industry benefits from showcasing “tested” technologies.
This dual focus ensures that the podcast is both informative and deeply human, highlighting Palestinian voices and experiences while exposing the global ramifications of Israel’s policies.
The podcast is unflinching in its critique of the international community’s complicity. Nation-states, enamoured with Israel’s ability to enforce control and maintain dominance, frequently turn to it for guidance. This point is particularly emphasised in “How to Make Friends”, which details Israel’s partnerships with oppressive regimes around the world.
As Loewenstein explains, the question many countries seem to ask is not whether such practices are moral, but rather: “How do you get away with it?”
In a cruel and increasingly authoritarian global landscape, Israel has become both a specialist oppressor and a model for others. As Loewenstein shows, the allure of Israel’s strategies lies in their effectiveness at maintaining a system of supremacy, and suppressing freedoms. But this so-called success comes at the expense of millions of Palestinians, whose lives are destroyed by the very systems of occupation that Israel is exporting abroad.
Despite its heavy subject matter, The Palestine Laboratory offers a vital and timely perspective, with key insights into the mechanics of colonisation. By centring expert analysis alongside firsthand accounts of those affected, the podcast enriches our understanding of Israel’s multilayered systems of oppression and their wider global implications.
In a media landscape that often marginalises Palestinian perspectives, The Palestine Laboratory stands out. It challenges dominant narratives, contextualises Israel’s crimes, and exposes the broader consequences of its occupation. For anyone seeking to understand the intersection of technology, repression and profit in Israel’s domination of the Palestinian people, this podcast is compulsory listening.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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