NATO is, and always has been, the armed wing of US imperialism 
and of the broader Global North. It manifests its power through direct and indirect military interventions, particularly in the Middle East, where Israel—itself a creation of Western colonial powers—benefits from unconditional support from NATO members despite not belonging to the alliance itself. Because of its complicity in the crimes against humanity and human rights violations committed in Palestine for decades, and its ongoing silence on the genocide in Gaza, NATO is in violation of its own founding charter. This charter states that member states commit to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Occupied Palestine: laboratory of the Global North’s military-industrial complex
The Zionist entity is an exceptionally privileged major non-NATO ally (MNNA). Because of its status, Israel has almost unlimited access to the most advanced military technologies developed by United States and Europe. The blockade and containment policy imposed on Gaza—the world’s largest open-air prison—is made possible through the cutting-edge tools and technologies praised by NATO countries. This is embodied, in part, in the border walls which isolate the colonized and occupied population, and the surveillance systems which control Palestinian lives via checkpoints. The ultimate goal is to prevent Palestinians from uniting in resistance against 76 years of occupation.
Israel's physical segregation tactics include barriers made of metal mesh and reinforced concrete, surveillance cameras, drones, and military turrets commanded by the Zionist militia. Added to these physical barriers are facial recognition, cybersurveillance, and other methods of technological control. Palestine is, in essence, a testing ground for the Israeli military and technological industry—and this is all supported logistically and financially by the Global North. Not only do the world's military dictatorships source weapons and surveillance technology from Israeli companies, but NATO members use them on their own populations. For example, in 2012, the plastic bullets fired by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), which gouged out the eyes and disfigured student activists, were first tested by repressive Zionist forces.
Through its Innovation Fund, NATO facilitates access to cutting-edge military technologies for the Zionist army. Furthermore, the Fund’s slogan, “Investing 1 billion to Secure the future,” is reminiscent of a famous white supremacist slogan (the 14 Words1). In June 2024, we learned that NATO would support four European companies working in cutting-edge military technologies, like ARX Robotics, which builds unmanned drones, and Fractile, which specializes in chip manufacturing. The Innovation Fund also invests in venture capital funds2 that specialize in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and big data. Together, these investments demonstrate NATO's desire to support advanced technological warfare under the pretext that this form of military action offers the opportunity for precision strikes and is therefore “cleaner” and “more humane.” However, since October 7, we have instead seen that AI-powered drones, among the many other forms of military automation deployed by the Zionist army, are killing the Palestinian population in a massive and indiscriminate manner. Advanced military technologies do not halt genocides—they accelerate them.
NATO has long used the so-called imminent threat of a Soviet Union-led world order to hide its true face: that of global US hegemony. As the Cold War came to a close in the 1990s, NATO’s role in international relations evolved, notably in the former Yugoslavia. There, it quickly became evident that UN peacekeeping missions were unable to prevent the genocidal acts of Slobodan Milošević’s Serbian Government against Muslims and the Bosnian, and Croat peoples. However, NATO's military intervention in Kosovo in 1999, acclaimed for its effectiveness by Western powers, in fact gave rise to imprecise strikes targeting civilian places of refuge and humanitarian installations. These attacks constituted crimes against humanity just as disturbing as those attributed to Milosevic's troops. The way the international community dealt with these two war crimes groups, however, differs enormously. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia did not bring any charges against Western forces, instead recognizing the competence and autonomy of NATO as an international organization to investigate and punish the perpetrators of crimes. This world-historic exoneration, which offered NATO the opportunity to be both the accused and its own judge, paved the way for a recurring normalization of war crimes by Western military forces. This brings us to today, to NATO’s policy of unconditional support for the genocidal strikes of Israel.
NATO’s complicit silence
In October 2023, the Secretary General of NATO clearly showed his support for the Zionist entity by declaring in a press release that “Israel is not alone.” In addition to remaining silent about the ongoing genocide in Gaza, NATO is violating its own norms by allowing the assassination of UN employees in Gaza and attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Not only does it supports the Zionist entity, but NATO-associated think tanks question the role that NATO could play in the “resolution of the conflict.” A NATO Watch briefing published in December 2023 explores the idea of direct NATO military intervention to “stabilize the region” based on “success” of its stabilization missions in Ex-Yugslavia in the late 1990s. However, these interventions were widely denounced for their direct attacks on places like churches, hospitals, and schools, which are protected by the humanitarian legal framework that shelters civilian populations. NATO Watch’s briefing closely mirrors a previous proposal by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Both are part of the “Greater Israel” strategies; the attempt of the Global North to colonize a large part of the Middle East through the elimination of the Palestinian people, the subjugation of neighboring nations, such as Lebanon, and the appropriation of resources and territories. The members of NATO, the neo-colonial powers, are thus continuing their deadly project of world conquest through gunfire and blood.
By the Divest for Palestine Collective
1 The complete slogan is “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The simplified expression “secure the future” is perceived by many to be a fascist dog whistle
2 Investment funds in early-stage companies that are not publicly traded and can yield a high return on investment, but remain high-risk. It is through these venture capitals that most startups finance their development