On 11 June 2014, from their base in Israel, surveillance company NICE Systems announced a major Glasgow City Council contract to deploy “its security solutions to enhance the community’s safety and security infrastructure”[1].
Glasgow City Council is developing “a one-stop shop City Dashboard” that will monitor, by CCTV and “integration of data”, “everything from foot and vehicle traffic to council tax collection and hospital waiting lists”[2].
NICE Systems uses data from “multiple sources, including phone calls, mobile apps, emails, chat, social media, video, and transactions”[3]. While the extent of surveillance being carried out by Glasgow City Council is unclear, there is no doubt that the Council is using technology developed by Israeli military and secret services to oppress the Palestinian people.
The Glasgow City Council showcase project was given funding by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) “to show what can be achieved by innovative use of today’s technology”[4]. Innovate UK, the new name for the Technology Strategy Board, is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills[5], and is involved in British government attempts to counter the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement by building trade links with Israel.
NICE Systems links to Israeli military
NICE Systems was established by seven ex-Israeli military intelligence officers[6] who served in Unit 8200[7], a top secret section of the Israeli army. Unit 8200 is the largest intelligence unit in Israel’s army, the equivalent agency in the United States is the NSA and in the UK, GCHQ. Its role is surveillance, to intercept “electronic communications including email, phone calls and social media in addition to targeting military and diplomatic traffic”[8]. Many of Israel’s technology companies were founded by veterans of Unit 8200, based on surveillance technology researched and developed for use by the Unit[9].
In September 2014, forty-three veterans of Unit 8200, including current reserve soldiers, refused to serve in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Their letter to Israel’s chief of staff of and head of military intelligence confirms the nature and purpose of surveillance:
“The Palestinian population under military rule is completely exposed to espionage and surveillance by Israeli intelligence. It is used for political persecution and to create divisions within Palestinian society by recruiting collaborators and driving parts of Palestinian society against itself. In many cases, intelligence prevents defendants from receiving a fair trial in military courts, as the evidence against them is not revealed.”[10]
A captain who served in Unit 8200 for eight years testified that:
“What the IDF does in the occupied territories is rule another people. One of the things you need to do is defend yourself from them, but you also need to oppress the population.
“You need to weaken the politics. You need to strengthen and deepen your control of Palestinian society so that the [Israeli] state can remain [there] in the long term. We can’t talk about specifics … [but] intelligence is used to apply pressure to people to make them cooperate with Israel.[11]
State surveillance & our civil liberties
Edward Snowden, currently Rector of the University of Glasgow, exposed the extent of surveillance of Scots by U.S. and British Intelligence Services. Glasgow City Council is using Israeli military technology that has been tested on Palestinians and is being used to weaken Palestinian resistance to Israel’s occupation, oppression and ongoing colonisation, to harness all sources of data and technology in a comprehensive surveillance system for use in Scotland’s largest city[12].
Trade links to counter Palestinian call for BDS
The Glasgow City Council showcase project was given funding by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) “to show what can be achieved by innovative use of today’s technology”[13]. Innovate UK, the new name for the Technology Strategy Board, is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills[14], and is involved in British government attempts to counter the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement by building trade links with Israel.
In 2011, the UK Government launched the UK-Israel Tech Hub in order to develop closer diplomatic and commercial ties, using both private and public funding, to the state of Israel[15]. The Chair of the Hub is Haim Shani, former Director General of the Israeli Finance Ministry and CEO of NICE Systems[16]. Shani also sits on the UK-Israel Tech Council, established in 2012[17]. The UK-Israel Tech Council works with Innovate UK to bring Israeli technology, such as NICE Systems surveillance, to the UK[18].
The Hub is an initiative of UK’s ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould, a militant Zionist whose work to develop trade relationships with Israel is a direct response to the successes of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, and British opposition to it[19]:
“There is a lot of noise around boycotts but these figures show that it is just noise, and the trade relationship speaks for itself.”[20]
“Our mission, of building scientific and academic links between our nations, is deeply unwelcome to some, who would rather go down the route of boycott than engagement.”[21]
[1] http://www.nice.com/nice-safe-city-solutions-deployed-glasgow-bolster-security-safety-and-operations-management
[2] http://futurecity.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10251
[3] http://www.nice.com/company-overview
[4] http://www.nice.com/nice-safe-city-solutions-deployed-glasgow-bolster-security-safety-and-operations-management
[5] https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk
[6] http://www.nice.com/news/newsletter/6_03s/timeline.html
[7] http://www.cji.co.il/cji-n137.txt
[8] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-reservists-refuse-serve-palestinian-territories
[9] http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120605-veterans-of-israel-s-secretive-unit-8200-head-many-successful-hightech-startups
[10] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-reservists-refuse-serve-palestinian-territories
[11] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-reservists-refuse-serve-palestinian-territories
[12] http://futurecity.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10251
[13] http://www.nice.com/nice-safe-city-solutions-deployed-glasgow-bolster-security-safety-and-operations-management
[14] https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk
[15] https://www.gov.uk/government/priority/promoting-high-tech-opportunities-and-innovation-through-the-uk-israel-hub
[16] http://ukisraelhub.wix.com/british#!our-team/c1e9a
[17] http://www.matimop.org.il/uk_israel_tech.html
[18] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/9168035/British-Israeli-project-set-up-as-matchmaker-for-entrepreneurs.html#.T3Fv5abN5nU.email
[19] http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Ambassador-UK-vehemently-opposes-boycotting-Israel-315385
[20] http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Ambassador-UK-vehemently-opposes-boycotting-Israel-315385
[21] http://www.timesofisrael.com/british-envoy-to-israel-castigates-academic-boycott-efforts/