AN AMERICAN TECH company which has come under pressure over the work its US arm does with the Israeli army has taken down information on that work from the ‘success story’ section of its website.
Red Hat had recently cancelled a summit it was due to host in Croke Park after pro-Palestine groups and GAA players spoke out, amid sustained pressure in recent months from campaigners.
The open source software company, which was acquired by IBM in 2018, has offices in Cork, Waterford and Dublin, and recently announced plans to recruit 800 more staff here.
The Journal previously reported on pressure from Palestine solidarity campaigners who had pinpointed Red Hat listing its work with the Israeli Defense Forces’ Center of Computing and Information Systems, known as Mamram.
While it was listed in the ‘success story’ section of its website earlier this year, the page has now disappeared and the links are no longer active.
The entry explained how the company “enables critical defence and security advantages” for the IDF and provided it with a “stronger platform that incorporates the newest techniques in modern military operations”.
The Ireland-Palestinian Solidarity Campaign has leafletted Red Hat’s Waterford offices about the issue due to many of the company’s Ireland-based software engineers working from there.
In a response to queries from The Journal, the company said for the first time that its Irish workforce is not involved in any work with the IDF. It had been unclear which of Red Hat’s international offices carry out the work with the military force.
Red Hat declined to comment when asked about the disappearance of the case study promoting its work with the Israeli military from its website.
“Although I cannot specifically comment upon Red Hat’s customer contracts, I can confirm that our entities in Ireland do not work with the organization in question,” a spokesperson said.
The IPSC’s south-east branch said the company had “proudly promoted” its work with the Israeli army on its website, and was now effectively trying to “bury their head in the sand” following heightened criticism amid the war in Gaza.
In the case study, an unnamed Lieutenant Colonel who served with the Mamram Unit was quoted as saying that Red Hat’s system helped to “save our organisation time and money, all while better protecting the citizens of our country”.
The IPSC’s south east chairperson Mary Lyng told The Journal:“People across Ireland have sent resounding messages time and time again in support of the Palestinian people and to end the genocide.”
“We have been calling out the concerning links Red Hat have to the Israeli Defence Forces that they have previously proudly promoted on their website.
“Red Hat’s response has been to delete parts of the evidence of this on their website and to bury their head in the sand hoping this will all go away, while they continue to line their pockets with money from the Israeli Defence Forces while hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are murdered.”
Campaigners have also worked with staff and students at the South East Technological University in a bid to make the college sever its ties with the company.
Earlier this year, the college agreed to release a statement condemning the war but stopped short of carrying out a review of links between the college and any companies that may be complicit with or profit from the war itself.
