Take Action on July 30th if you want to see the City of Grand Rapids Divest from companies complicit in the Israeli Occupation, Israeli Apartheid and the current Genocide

Last month GRIID wrote about the divestment campaign that is being organized in Grand Rapids.

In that article we told you that the Community Relation Commission has enthusiastically supported a divestment resolution and adopted a resolution that was first drafted by community organizers, which you can read here. Just last week, the Community Relations Commission sent a copy of the resolution of divestment to the Grand Rapids City officials and a letter recommending they adopt the divestment resolution. The divestment resolution is calling for the City of Grand Rapids to:

• Terminate its current contract with Granicus by January 1, 2025; 
• Ceases funding to Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. if it continues to utilize Amazon AWS technology for its committees (Amazon’s services include cloud and AI support for the Israeli military targeting Palestinians) by January 1, 2025; 
• Commits to refraining from entering into financial contracts with Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, and G4S Corporation, until the Israeli government’s policies and treatment of Palestinians have been reformed and dismantled.

GRIID has learned that since the Community Relations Commission sent a letter to the Mayor and the City Manager, the Deputy City Manager responded with a memo to the City Manager of Grand Rapids, Mark Washington, which you can read here.

What that letter says is instructive. First, the letter states: 

I felt it important to share that the premise of this request for divestiture is problematic for a number of reasons. Specifically, the singling out of Granicus (our legislative management system) and DGRI seem to be predicated on the fact that each uses systems, or operates on systems, supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It appears that because AWS provides cloud computing services to the Israeli government, the CRC believes that the City should divest from any contracts with companies that use AWS as their cloud computing backbone. AWS accounts for 1/3 of the cloud computing market worldwide. It is likely that many, if not most, of our cloud-based software-as-a-service providers are using some portion of AWS to support their operations. 

Apparently, the Deputy City Manager believes that since so many government services use Amazon Web Services (AWS), that it is not practical for them to divest. This was a similar argument made against the Divestment campaign against South Africa in the 1980s, yet the City of Grand Rapids agreed to divest at that time.

The Deputy City Manager then goes on to say this: 

Out of due diligence, I have been in contact with Granics’ VP of Product, Bob Ainsbury, to verify whether the company has any contracts or ties to the Israeli government or military. He confirmed that not only do they not have business with either, but have no book of business at all in the country. 

Those involved in this campaign are well aware of the fact that Granicus does not have contracts with the Israeli government. However, Granicus has a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) since March of 2024. Granicus CEO Mark Hynes was quoted at that time as saying:

“This collaboration with AWS will help power the next generation of innovation for Granicus’ Government Experience Cloud (GXC) solutions, giving our customers more ways to communicate, engage and collaborate with their communities. The combination of AWS’s advanced infrastructure and the data generated by over 6,500 government agencies leveraging Granicus GXC solutions to support more than 300 million citizens, creates compelling opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning in unique ways to help governments better serve the public.” 

Now, it seems to me that since Granicus has a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a contract with the Israeli government, which provides AI technology to more effectively target Palestinian civilians, that Granicus also has blood on their hands. You can never claim innocence when you are in a partnership with a company that provides tech support during a genocidal campaign that has already claimed the lives of roughly 40,000 Palestinians over the past 9 and a half months. 

We need people to show up to the Tuesday, July 30 Grand Rapids City Commission meeting to speak during the Public Comment period to endorse the Divestment proposal that was developed by community organizers and the Community Relations Commission.  

The Grand Rapids City Commission meeting for July 30th is being held at the Gerald R. Ford Academic Center, 851 Madison Ave SE, Grand Rapids. There is a pre-Commission meeting that you can attend, where a meal is provided, but the Commission meeting starts at 7pm. 

Also, if you have not already sent a letter of support for the Divestment Resolution, you can do so at this link.

We need the community to show up and demand that the Divestment Resolution be adopted during the Public Comment period of the meeting. Ceasefire Now! End US complicity in Genocide! End the Israeli Occupation Now!