• partial_accumen@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    17 hours ago

    They also fund the IDF and are involved with illegal settlements.

    Are we sure about that?

    I’ve used one of these corporate donation matching programs before (obviously I’m not donating to Israeli or IDF charities). Its essentially a large donation platform and web interface that allows corporations to offer the charity donation/matching systems to its employees. The donation platform Apple apparently uses is called “Benevity”.

    To be clear, I don’t believe the corporate employer chooses the charities listed, it simply allows donations to all the charities the platform has registered. When I was searching for charities I donate to, I found many small obscure charities which surprised me. This suggests to me it doesn’t take much to get registered if any action at all. Does Benevity simply get a list of every 501©(3) organization registered with the IRS?

    From your article:

    “Apple will be expected to take swift action to investigate and potentially cease matching donations to organisations linked to the Israeli military and illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

    My question would be: Do we know for sure that any Apple employees even donated to these Israeli/IDF charities (and therefore received matched donations from Apple)? Just because the charities are listed on Benevity doesn’t mean anyone actually donated? If zero Apple employees chose to make donations, then Apple would also have made zero donations. So before we crucify Apple for donating, do we have proof that there actually were any actual donations made?

    I will say the effort to have the Israeli/IDF charities delisted as choices to Apple employees through Benevity is still a reasonable request, but that is a far smaller need/sin than actual donations to Israeli/IDF charities.

    • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      34 minutes ago

      You get the fuck out of here with your level-headed reasoning, the torches are already lit and the pitchforks sharpened!

      Apple does plenty of shitty shit but this isn’t much of anything. Go after labor conditions in China, piss on them for succumbing to the ads game. There are other real things to hold them accountable for.

      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        9 hours ago

        That article looks like a repeat of the other article. I didn’t see anything new in it that we haven’t see in the first one. Neither article shows any evidence that Apple employees or Apple themselves have contributed any funds to those Israeli/IDF charities.

        Its unlikely Apple chose any of the charities listed. The charities listed are from the Benevity platform (which potentially lists every single 501(c)(3) charity registered with the IRS).

        There’s far more going on than just the contributions, when it comes to Apple’s material support to Israel

        That’s certainly possible, but the Apple/Apple Employee donations to Israeli/IDF charities claim looks like misinformation.

        • Smif_N_Lenin@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          8 hours ago

          The matching program is setup in such a way that we CAN’T verify how much apple has donated through the matching program. On this topic, the issue is with Apple allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism in the first place.

          Additionally, through Project Nimbus, israel is directly funding the Zionist project, both financially as it’s a 1.2 billion dollar project, and military as this project is used to bolster the Israeli military apparatus. Not to mention how Apple has fired those who employees oppose Apple’s financial ties and projects with Israel.

          There’s also the issue of Apple having factories in Israel. Either way you cut it, Apple materially supports Israel, and by extension the Apartheid, Genocide, and all other aspects of ethnic cleansing intrinsic to the Zionist project.

          • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            8 hours ago

            The matching program is setup in such a way that we CAN’T verify how much apple has donated through the matching program.

            Right, but there’s zero evidence the donation amount is more than $0.

            I’ve explained how a corporate donation platform works in my first post. You’re misconstruing it at something else like a sinister plan cloaked in shadows. Not everything is a conspiracy. Instead its a boring corporate-outsourcing-bureaucracy. Apple (and other companies that use these donation platforms) want to offer the benefit to their employees for HR reasons as well as tax cuts for charitable donations. They contract with a benefits donation company, in this Benevity. The list of charities isn’t hand-picked to be Israeli/IDF charities, its likely all IRS registered charities.

            On this topic, the issue is with Apple allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism in the first place.

            I agree Apple should exclude these charities even as an option for donation, but you’re painting this like Apple is donation money directly to the IDF. There is just zero evidence that is occurring even if it would support your argument better if they were.

            I think I realized why I’m so disappointed in your line of thought on this. Its the lack of consistency in your accusation on the use of this donation platform. Why is it you’re only calling out Apple for “allowing donor matching to Apartheid, Genocide, and Settler Colonialism”? Why are you not calling out the literally hundreds of other companies that allow the exact same donation possibility?

            There’s also the issue of Apple having factories in Israel. Either way you cut it, Apple materially supports Israel, and by extension the Apartheid, Genocide, and all other aspects of ethnic cleansing intrinsic to the Zionist project.

            Cool, then go with those where there’s actual evidence of support of Israel. If you’ve got good examples with good evidence, why make up implications with the employee donation thing?

      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        15 hours ago

        I appreciate your new link. I answered a number of questions I’d formed myself. It also pointed out that there is no public evidence that Apple or its employees donated to those Israeli/IDF charities. I concede this doesn’t mean donations haven’t happened, but that we have no evidence donations happened and nothing to suggest that they did.

        Is this a link you found when exploring our conversation here or did you have this second link when you made your first post claiming “They also fund the IDF and are involved with illegal settlements.”? I’m not making an accusation against you. I know I frequently learn new things that contradict my held position when others share information and it causes me to examine a topic further in search of truth and accuracy. I didn’t know if this was a case similar to my experience.

        • Séimhe (sé / é)@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          15 hours ago

          I found this link prompted by your comment. As I said in my previous reply, you’re right that the amount could be zero, but we have no evidence that Apple has conceded to the requests to prevent this kind of thing from happening.