Matt Ocko 

Islamophobic Remarks :

Co-founder and co-MD Matt Ocko is associated with DCVC, a Palo Alto-based deep tech fund. Along with being a member of BENS (Business Executives for National Security), he provides advice to top staff members of the FBI, CIA, and SOCOM as well as several US military forces.

Even though Matt doesn’t seem to be directly involved in Israeli events, his opinions are in line with those of the radical sections of the Israeli government. Matt calls those who desire a free Palestine “subhuman” and says there are “not a lot of innocents,” endorsing the ongoing slaughter against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Thus, according to Matt Ocko, a human, at least 25% of American Jews and more than 40% of Democrats do not meet his criteria for being subhuman.

It is crucial to remember, too, that although Matt’s desires for the eradication of the Palestinian people are alarming, he also appears to harbor comparable desires for the obliteration of other groups. He got into trouble in 2018 after posting a since-deleted tweet in which he likened Russian society and its citizens to the disease and said that it would be preferable to quarantine them.

Matt also engaged in Holocaust denial when he seemed to agree that Palestinians were worse than the Nazis. In another deleted tweet, he defends Israel’s war crimes by calling for the collective punishment of Palestinians and demonizing an entire society—a classic Nazi tactic. Matt also refers to the Palestinians as an inhumane “death cult.”

It’s evident that Matt’s deeply rooted hate for Palestinians doesn’t not come from a place of knowledge of the history of the conflict nor from any interaction with people from the region but rather rooted in ignorance and racism. This is further evidenced by his tweets stating that Jordanians, Lebanese and Egyptians will not “take” Palestinians.

Anyone who supports Palestinian rights is subject to Matt’s distorted, hate-fueled perception of reality. He interprets “Free Palestine” demonstrations as a gathering of “future suicide bombers,” despite the fact that thousands of Jews and people from all walks of life participate in these rallies around the world. He advocates for criminalizing and deporting anyone who takes part in these democratic procedures. And the captagon, too?

Matt doesn’t stop demonizing Palestinians when they become adults. In his remarks, he has also denigrated Palestinian children and frighteningly alluded to the teaching of children to rape and kill other children.

Considering that Matt is one of DCVC’s founders, it is unclear if his opinions are in line with company policy or if this kind of language and rhetoric is appropriate. In any case, we demand that DCVC’s other fund allocators, GPs, LPs, corporate service providers, financial free zones, and regulators immediately cut off all ties with the person who supports genocide and violates human rights. Stop allowing venture capital to fund genocide.