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Express News Service
"Saudi Arabia has not always been so repressive. Now, it is unbearable, "said journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Washington Post in September 2017. Over the last year, Khashoggi has written a series of articles on the violation of human rights. man in Saudi Arabia, in which he talked about the widespread arrest of militants. and reformers who defied the monarchy.
None of his pieces have sufficiently moved Silicon Valley technology companies to break ties with Saudi Arabia, a country that is investing heavily in the American technology cluster. But suddenly, the horrific murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul earlier this month, allegedly orchestrated by the Saudi monarchy, has brought to light Silicon's blood money Valley, leaving the technology industry in a dilemma.
Every year, Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Silicon Valley and was photographed with some of the world's greatest tech stars as he toured their offices. MBS often refers to the Crown Prince.
Last month, the acronym became synonymous with Mister Bone Saw, a reference to how the body of Khashoggi was dismembered and eliminated. [19659003] It is unlikely that Silicon Valley will ignore the poor record of human rights in Saudi Arabia before Khashoggi 's death, but it is now impossible to ignore.
Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, a startup incubator, suspended his participation as advisor to the new Saudi smart city, Neom.
Business leaders Uber Dara Khosrowshahi and Google Cloud, Diane Greene, were among the leaders who withdrew from the investment conference organized by Saudi Arabia, known as the name "Davos in the desert" Tuesday
Masayoshi Son, CEO of the Japanese company SoftBank, canceled his intention to speak at the conference. A significant portion of Saudi investments in Silicon Valley comes from SoftBank's $ 100 billion Vision Fund, which received $ 45 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The Saudi fund has also invested directly in companies. In the past, Uber had received $ 3.5 billion from the FIP.
To try to determine whether Saudi Arabia's mbadive investments in Silicon Valley had bought the silence of technological companies over human rights violations committed in the country, writes author Anand Giridharadas. an opinion piece for The New York Times that he contacted several high-tech companies that received substantial FIP funds from Saudi Arabia.
"I asked Uber, Wag, DoorDash, Katerra, WeWork, Slack and Plenty's there The conduct of Saudi Arabia in the apparent murder of Mr. Khashoggi that the company has disavowed, "wrote Giridharadas," Or, did I ask, does PIF's investment imply waiting to remain silent about Saudi conduct? All companies either refused to respond, or reacted by refusing to comment on the record regarding the behavior of the Saudi kingdom. "
HBO's humorous series, Silicon Valley, mocks tech giants for their constant affirmation of" making the world a better place. "
" If the Valley is sincere, that's it "will change the world "and" will act as appropriate, period ", the billions of dollars of investment capital of the Saudi government should be returned, and companies in the Silicon Valley should Giridharadas
In an article by Slate, Charles Kenny , senior researcher at the Center for Global Development, calls the proposal of Giridharadas "a new form of international boycott – a decision that is to refuse to accept money the more traditional approach based on refusal to put it back. "
As many technology companies in which Saudi Arabia has invested are private, he adds that this would imply for publicly traded companies.
He mentions close ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which make the sanctions imposed by the US government on Saudi Arabia unlikely. Saudi Arabia is the biggest buyer of US arms, the two countries are involved in military cooperation and in intelligence, and both are hostile to Iran. And then, Saudi Arabia is investing in the affairs of President Donald Trump.
Kenny says the boycott of consumers and institutions is an alternative to government sanctions. While the traditional method involves a refusal to buy or invest in a country, as was the case for the apartheid regime in South Africa, Kenny thinks that this method will not work for Saudi Arabia.
"Consumers do not know where their gas comes from. when they pump to the station, and anyway, little Saudi diesel goes to the United States, "wrote Kenny, adding that there is no point in refusing to invest in Saudi companies, because the country is "desperately trying to find investment opportunities for its cash surplus. "According to him, the only option left is Giridharadas' proposal to refuse to take Saudi money.
As many authors have pointed out, withdrew from a conference in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia or the advisory council of a Saudi city to build, offers easier prospects than restitution of Saudi money.
The biggest stars of Silicon Valley have long been proud of their liberal values and It is hoped that the badbadination of Khashoggi will push them to put their money in.
(The author is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.) She tweets on @newspaperwalli )
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