Stanford SJP Calls for "Student Intifada," Plans Walkout Against Company That Helped Find Bin Laden
Students for Justice in Palestine targets Palantir on Jan. 20, accusing tech firm of enabling "genocide." The company's work includes developing counterterrorism technology that saves lives
Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine is organizing a campus walkout on January 20 at noon, calling on the university to sever ties with Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company the group describes as part of a “genocide tech axis.” The protest at White Plaza is being co-organized by Tech For Palestine, Vigil for Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace Stanford, the Stanford Asian American Action Committee, and involves the ACLU, according to promotional materials shared on social media.
The same SJP chapter recruited members last September by asking Stanford students to “join the student intifada,” using terminology historically associated with violent Palestinian uprisings. That Instagram post, dated September 18, 2025, featured an image of a person in a keffiyeh with the text “STANFORD SJP NEEDS YOU - JOIN THE STUDENT INTIFADA TODAY,” and promised to build solidarity while organizing against what they called Stanford’s “complicity in genocide.”
The Target: Palantir
The January protest centers on Palantir, a Silicon Valley firm founded in 2003 by Alex Karp, Peter Thiel, and others in the wake of September 11. The company was created specifically to help U.S. intelligence agencies “connect the dots” after the 9/11 attacks exposed fatal gaps in America’s ability to analyze disparate intelligence data.
Palantir’s software has played a role in some of America’s most significant counterterrorism operations. The company provided intelligence software that contributed to locating Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan in 2011. According to CEO Alex Karp, “Terror suspects leave patterns they don’t really realize they’re leaving,” and “at least one U.S. agency reported that hundreds of terror attacks around the world have been stopped with our product.”
The company’s work extends beyond counterterrorism. Palantir’s Maven platform is used by the entire U.S. military and international allies including the UK and Ukraine. Mike Gallagher, Palantir’s head of defense and former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, described Maven’s function simply: it “helps fewer good guys kill more bad guys.” According to Karp, Palantir is “responsible for most of the targeting in Ukraine” in its war against Russia.
What Stanford SJP Claims
In their promotional materials for the walkout, Stanford SJP accuses Palantir of profiting from “ICE raids, police violence, and mass surveillance at home,” while helping to “power a digital dragnet that enables apartheid and mass killing in Palestine.” The group claims Stanford provides Palantir with “research, legitimacy, and talent,” framing the January 20 action as part of a “national day of action” against what they describe as escalating ICE terror under the Trump administration.
The protest organizers describe their goal as cutting off the “Stanford pipeline to Palantir and the genocide tech axis.” Stanford SJP previously attracted international attention for hosting a vigil in “honor of our martyrs”, in apparent reference to the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on October 7.
Beyond Defense: Saving Lives in Hospitals
At Tampa General Hospital in Florida, Palantir’s software tracks 17 clinical indicators to detect sepsis—the leading cause of death in American hospitals. Scott Arnold, the hospital’s chief digital and innovations officer, told The Free Press they were drawn to Palantir because “we heard that the Palantir technology may or may not have contributed to finding Osama bin Laden.” The $3 million system has saved about 600 lives so far, according to Tampa General CEO John Couris.
“We’re Pro-West”
Karp, who has a PhD in philosophy and was raised by progressive parents who took him to civil rights marches, describes himself as a socialist. But he is also, in his words, “unabashedly pro-West.” At the Hill & Valley Forum in April, when a protester interrupted his interview yelling that “Palantir kills Palestinians with their AI and technology,” Karp invited her to hear his response, saying Palestinians were dying because of Hamas.
On Israel specifically, Karp told The Free Press: “I’ve been very open about what we stand for. We’re pro-West. For us, the West is led by America, but also includes allies, including Israel.”