Press Releases

October 17th, 2024

Contact: info@lalsalam.org

SALAM Demands Tata Divest from Israel, and New York Road Runners Drop Tata Consultancy Services as NYC Marathon Sponsor Over Complicity in Israel’s Genocidal and Apartheid Regime

New York, NY (October 17, 2024) - SALAM (South Asian Left) is launching the Tata Bye Bye campaign, demanding that Tata Group disclose all contracts with Israel, and divest from them. We are also calling the New York Road Runners to drop Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as a sponsor of the New York City Marathon due to TCS's critical role in enabling Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.

Tata is a major player in the U.S. economy, employing over 50,000 people across 12 subsidiaries, including in steel, engineering, tea, and coffee. Tata Group has extensive involvement in defense projects and collaborations with Israeli contractors, contributing to military operations in occupied Palestinian territories. Tata partners with Israeli defense firms, directly enhancing Israel's military capabilities. Their joint venture with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Nova Integrated Systems, provides missile systems and electronic warfare technologies used in military operations. Additionally, Tata Motors supplies vehicles converted into armored MDT David units, which are used for intelligence gathering and military actions in the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, Tata invests in Israel’s high-tech and financial ecosystem, supporting startups with potential defense applications, and has partnerships with U.S. defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, indirectly supporting Israeli military operations. Tata Consulting Services (TCS) is the most valuable subsidiary of Tata Group (by market capitalization).

TCS’s presence in the U.S. is especially notable, contributing more than 50% of TCS' global revenue. TCS began business in Occupied Palestine in 2003, providing cloud computing (through its servicing of Project Nimbus) and digital transformation services (particularly in the banking sector) to the Israeli government, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and private Israeli companies. These services are essential to Israel’s military operations and its broader system of digital control, which enables the surveillance and repression of Palestinian civilians.

TCS has formed deep partnerships with Israeli banks and ministries, embedding itself within Israel’s apartheid economy. TCS is actively facilitating financial and technological networks that sustain the Israeli manufactured genocide of the Palestinians.

SALAM Members say “New York Road Runners (NYRR) must immediately sever all ties with TCS and remove TCS as the sponsor of the New York City Marathon. Tata group must end its contracts with the Israeli government, IDF, and all entities complicit in Israel’s apartheid regime. We must do what we can to isolate the genocidal and apartheid regime of Israel: by disrupting these economic ties, we can help dismantle the infrastructure that sustains the Zionist occupation of Palestine."

For broader context on India's connection to Israel, see HERE.

For questions, please contact SALAM at info@lalsalam.org.

Campaign website: https://www.indiaisrael.org/

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About Us:

SALAM (South Asian Left) is a New York City-based political organization that draws on the traditions of revolutionary Marxism. We strive to co-articulate a pan-South Asian socialist and anti-caste politics that engages with ongoing struggles in the region, through our work with progressive organizations and movements in South Asia and beyond.