10 March: Brussels — Welcome to the Neighborhood Palantir
On the night of Tuesday 10 March, anonymous activists targeted Palantir’s new headquarters in Brussels, located at 87 Boulevard Louis Schmidt in Etterbeek, under the name “Palantir Technologies Belgium”.
We received the following statement: “The Belgian Justice Department states that ‘the company’s object, both in Belgium and abroad, on its own behalf or on behalf of third parties, or in partnership with them, is the marketing, sale and distribution of software designed for the integration, visualisation and analysis of data’.”
In the context of the Zionist colonial project in Palestine, the Israeli occupation army has massively expanded its use of AI to perpetuate genocide. Notably with the “Hasbora” system, which automatically analyses surveillance data to recommend targets for bombing to a human analyst who then decides whether or not to open fire.
In 2024, Palantir signed an agreement with Israel to utilise its “advanced technology to support war-related missions”. Part of this technology is now found in the “Lavender” AI system, which assigns Palestinians a score between 1 and 100 to determine their likelihood of being an enemy to be killed: its error rate is 10%.
Palantir has contributed to the deaths of countless families, and its "inaccuracies" are a deliberate part of the colonial occupation project.
Today, Palantir is recieving numerous surveillance contracts in the West. From US, Israeli and French intelligence services, supporting ICE raids and the coordination of imperialist wars in Iran and Palestine, Palantir’s AI is proving to be an essential technology for the maintenance and advancement of imperialist interests worldwide. Targeting Palantir here in Brussels means exposing its role in deadly Western imperialism, as well as the direct complicity of the Belgian state.
12 March: Leuven — Thales Alenia Space targeted again
Another office of Thales Alenia Space was targeted in Leuven on March 12. Activists stated: "We do not want Leuven to be responsible for the genocide in any way. Kick Thales out of Leuven, kick Elbit out of Belgium, cut all ties with Elbit".
On pictures we can see that the entrance of the office was tagged with slogans stating "Free Palestine", "Stop Arming Israel", "Thales, Cut Ties With Elbit!".
Thales is a major partner of Elbit: Israel's biggest weapons company. In Belgium, their subsidiaries Thales Alenia Space and OIP collaborate on the CLIM project. Thales and Elbit have a long history of working together, to make killer drones in particular.
15 March: Brussels — Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) targeted for their collaboration with ELBIT-OIP
On the night of Sunday, March 15, militants targeted the offices of Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB, Circulaire 3, 1180 Uccle), for their ongoing collaborations with OIP-ELBIT. Slogans were sprayed on the sidewalk, and posters were plastered onto the gates.
We recieved the following statement: "BIRA-IASB is cooperating with ELBIT-OIP in the VENspec-H project. OIP is a subsidiary of ELBIT, the biggest Israeli drone producer. Hence, the technology and profits from OIP serve Israel's genocide. Working with ELBIT-OIP = supporting the genocide in Gaza, and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Lebanon".
"We demand BIRA-IASB stop this collaboration."