Film Workers For Palestine Slam MUBI For Taking Funds From Israeli-Aligned VC Sequoia (image-instagram/filmworkers4palestine)
The Film Workers for Palestine on its post on Instagram expressed that they were “horrified” to know that MUBI, a major film distributor and global streaming platform, had accepted funding from Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm that is deeply invested in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.
In a Financial Times report, it was stated that MUBI had raised $100 million in funding from Sequoia Capital. The venture capital is seen investing heavily in Israeli companies since February 2024. And it had been found that they mostly invest in Kela, a military tech startup founded by a former senior manager of Palantir Israel and multiple Israeli military intelligence veterans.
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The Kela is known for its specialisation in converting commercial drone and AI applications into military-grade technology. According to Sequoia’s website, its investment in Kela is meant to “leverage Israel’s unique cadre of technowarriors to help defend the Western world order.”
Sequoia Capital has been one of Airbnb’s most significant early and ongoing investors. While Airbnb had been criticised for listing rental properties of illegal Israeli settlements on the stolen Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
“This means that money invested in MUBI by Sequoia is inseparable from profits generated by the illegal dispossession of Palestinian land and the genocide of Palestinians,” the Film Workers for Palestinian Rights wrote on social media.
According to the Financial Times, Sequoia’s investment will help MUBI fund and distribute independent arthouse films. “As film workers, our art and labor will be used to launder profits generated from Israel’s war crimes. And it means that as viewers, our MUBI subscription dollars will flow back to the war machine,” they further added.
“This is unacceptable, and we demand that MUBI return the investment.”
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Film Workers for Palestine is a global solidarity initiative launched in January 2024 by filmmakers, cinema industry professionals, and allied artists. It’s both a statement of values and a practical organizing platform aimed at ending the ongoing genocide in Gaza, liberating Palestine, and supporting cultural workers facing censorship.
