We are a group of shareholders and current and former employees who have decided that we must speak openly about choices directly affecting us and our loved ones.
We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Apples4Ceasefire who have requested Apple remove 2 organizations funding illegal settlements from Benevity. We are amplifying that message, and asking that Apple must promptly investigate and cease matching donations to all organizations that further illegal settlements in occupied territories and support the IDF, including those listed below. Such support directly contravenes international law and our organization's purported commitment to human rights as well as matching cause eligibility.
• Friends of the Israel Defense Forces: per its own website, “Friends of the IDF is the sole organization authorized to collect charitable donations on behalf of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces across the United States of America”
• HaYovel Inc: HaYovel’s own mission statement as well as a 2019 Reuters article document the organization’s decades of contribution to illegal settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
• One Israel Fund: per its own mission statement, “One Israel Fund has remained committed to the safety and wellbeing of the nearly 500,000 residents of Judea and Samaria” since its inception in 1994. The “residents” here refers to illegal settlers while “Judea and Samaria” refers to the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories.
• JNF: Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, revealed in a 2021 article that “The Defense Ministry recruited the JNF (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) to purchase hundreds of dunams of private, Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank for settlers who worked the land while its owners were denied access to it…”
• IsraelGives: The Guardian published an article in December 2023 about how “IsraelGives has allowed US residents to donate millions of dollars since 7 October to causes including illegal West Bank settlements, paramilitary groups, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units currently operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.”
These demands are firm and must be honored. Procrastination risks undermining trust in Apple's commitment to safety, community, justice, and, most importantly, human rights. We respectfully ask Apple to heed our calls and demonstrate genuine dedication to the values shaping our community.
We add our voices to the Apples4Ceasefire open letter in expressing disappointment in Apple’s continued internal and public silence after more than half a year of escalated Israeli violence against Palestinians, which resulted in more than 33,000 of them killed in Gaza, in majority women and children. A silence that starkly contrasts with a prompt company wide email Tim Cook sent sympathizing with the Israeli victims of October 7th.
Sincerely,
Shareholders and Current and Former Employees of Apple Inc.