Apple stores see protests on iPhone16 launch day over ‘profits from genocide’

Protesters flocked to Apple stores around the world on Friday, the same day the new iPhone16 launched, to call on the company to comply with human rights and "stop profiting from genocide".

Some of the protests were organised by former employees of Apple, who demanded that the company break its silence on Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and stop sourcing cobalt used in phones from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Many of the protesters, who gathered in around 12 different cities, pointed out that mines in the DRC are notorious for dangerous conditions, child labour and poor wages.

The demonstrators held up signs and placards denouncing the company for profiting from the DRC’s resources and contributing to poor conditions and violence, despite Apple saying it does not source minerals from mines where human rights are violated.

Apple previously said there are "challenges" in tracking its mineral supply chains. In 2022, this tracking led the company to remove 12 suppliers.

The New Arab reached out to Apple for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

War on Gaza

Another key issue highlighted by protesters is Apple’s silence on the war on Gaza, with members of the Apples Against Apartheid group present at some of the demonstrations.

The group, formerly known as Apples4ceasefire, is formed of five current Apple employees and around 12 former employees and have partnered with the organisation Friends of Congo as well as other activist groups.

The protests were held in cities in the UK, including Bristol, Reading, London as well as other cities around the world - Tokyo, Brussels, Montreal, Cape Town, Amsterdam and Mexico City.

The US’s flagship Apple store located in Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in New York also saw a large protest with a heavy police presence in the area. Similar protests took place in Palo Alto and Berkeley.

According to reports, the biggest turn-out at the protests was in Berlin, where over 30 people took part and chanted from behind a barricade that was set up around the store.

Local media stated that security guards outside the store checked the credentials of anyone wanting to go in.  

Footage later shared on social media showed police officers asking protesters to stand far away from the site and arresting someone wearing a keffiyeh.

Tariq Raouf, one of the organisers at Apples Against Apartheid told Wired that five protesters were arrested.

Earlier this year, Apples Against Apartheid sent an open letter signed by around 300 current and former Apple workers, alleging that employees were being disciplined or “wrongfully terminated” for supporting the Palestinian people by wearing pins, bracelets, and keffiyehs.

The group has now launched a campaign encouraging people to boycott the latest iPhone release and call for a change from Apple through social media posts online.

One tactic used by the group is to use Apple’s online ticket system to speak out against what they believe to be the company’s alleged complicity in the Congo and Gaza.

The protests come as Israel continues its brutal war on Gaza, which has killed at least 41,391 Palestinians and wounded over 95,760 others.

The war has levelled entire neighbourhoods and utterly devastated the Gaza Strip, while its population has been deprived of the most basic necessities of life.