Geneva, MINA – A group of leading economists, including Yanis Varoufakis, Thomas Piketty, and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, has released a powerful open letter supporting UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and endorsing her findings on the financial enablers behind what she calls the “economy of genocide” in Gaza, Al Mayadeen reported.
Posted on X by Varoufakis, the letter arrives amid growing US-led pressure to remove Albanese from her post. The economists condemn what they describe as a coordinated campaign to silence her and obscure the financial and institutional networks fueling “Israel’s” war against Palestinians.
“History teaches us that economic interests have often driven colonial enterprises and genocides,” the letter states. “Israel’s colonisation of the occupied Palestinian territories is no exception.”
The letter’s signatories include prominent figures such as Varoufakis, author of Adults in the Room; Piketty, known for Capital in the Twenty-First Century; and Taleb, author of The Black Swan. They are joined by academics from SOAS University of London, UMass Amherst, and the London School of Economics.
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Since October 7, these economists have become vocal critics of “Israel’s” war on Gaza. Varoufakis has described it as a “Western-enabled genocide,” while Piketty has advocated for sanctions and trade suspensions. Taleb has labeled “Israel” a “fragile state,” overly reliant on foreign support and military force.
The letter highlights Albanese’s report, From the Economy of Occupation to the Economy of Genocide, arguing that genocide is not just tolerated but incentivized and monetized. It lists corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Allianz, Chevron, BP, Palantir, Caterpillar, and Maersk as direct beneficiaries.
A striking point in the letter is the 161% rise in “Israeli” equity markets during a period of falling production and demand, signaling investor confidence in what they call the “genocide economy.”
The economists also criticize global technology companies, accusing them of turning Palestine into a “live laboratory” for surveillance and lethal AI technologies. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Palantir are named for testing facial recognition and automated targeting systems with fewer ethical constraints than animal experiments.
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Universities are equally implicated. MIT, the Technical University of Munich, and the University of Edinburgh are named for ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense and weapons manufacturers. The letter argues that these institutions are economically entangled with “Israel’s” occupation apparatus and dependent on the conflict economy.
Albanese’s report identifies five sectors military, technology, construction, finance, and academia as pillars supporting what she describes as genocide. The letter calls for total corporate divestment and the dismantling of financial structures that sustain occupation and mass violence.
As political attacks on Albanese intensify from the US, “Israel,” and parts of the EU, the economists urge public support to counter what they describe as a campaign of genocide denial.
“In a few years, almost everyone will claim they opposed this genocide,” the letter concludes. “But it is now that people of good conscience need to take a stand.” []
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