Submission + - Google Workers Protest Cloud Contract With Israel's Government (wired.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Dozens of Google employeesbegan occupyingcompany offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, on Tuesday in protest of the company’s $1.2 billion contract providing cloud computing services to the Israeli government. The sit-in, organized by the activist group No Tech for Apartheid, is happening at Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office in Sunnyvale and the 10th floor commons of Google’s New York office. The sit-in will be accompanied by outdoor protests at Google offices in New York, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, and Seattle beginning at 2 pm ET and 11 am PT. Tuesday’s actions mark an escalation in a series of recent protests organized by tech workers who oppose their employer’s relationship with the Israeli government, especially in light of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. Since Hamas killedabout 1,100 Israelison October 7, the IDF has killedmore than 34,000Palestinians.
Just over a dozen people gathered outside Google’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale on Tuesday. Among those in New York was Google cloud software engineer Eddie Hatfield, who was fired days afterdisruptingGoogle Israel’s managing director at March’s Mind The Tech, a company-sponsored conference focused on the Israeli tech industry, in early March. Several hours into the sit-ins on Tuesday, Google security began to accuse the workers of “trespassing” and disrupting work, prompting several people to leave while others vowed to remain until they were forced out. The 2021 contract, known as Project Nimbus, involves Google and Amazon jointly providing cloud computing infrastructure and services across branches of the Israeli government. Last week,Timereported that Google’s work on Project Nimbus involves providingdirect services to the Israel Defense Forces. [...]
On March 4, more than600 other Googlerssigned a petition opposing the company’s sponsorship of the conference. After Hatfield was fired three days later, Google trust-and-safety-policy employee Vidana Abdel Khalekresignedfrom her position in opposition to Project Nimbus. Then, in late March, more than 300 Apple workers signed an open letter thatalleged retaliationagainst workers who have expressed support for Palestinians, and urged company leadership to show public support for Palestinians. Hasan Ibraheem, a Google software engineer, is participating in the sit-in at his local Google office in New York. “This has really been a culmination of our efforts,” he tells WIRED. Since joining No Tech for Apartheid in December, Ibraheem says, he has been participating in weekly “tabling” actions being held at Google office cafés in New York, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, and Mountain View, California. It involves holding a sign that says “Ask me about Project Nimbus” during lunch break, passing out flyers, and answering questions from coworkers. “It's actually shocking how many people at Google don't even know that this contract exists,” Ibraheem says. “A lot of people who don't know about it, who then learn about it through us, are reasonably upset that this contract exists. They just didn't know that it existed beforehand.”
Just over a dozen people gathered outside Google’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale on Tuesday. Among those in New York was Google cloud software engineer Eddie Hatfield, who was fired days afterdisruptingGoogle Israel’s managing director at March’s Mind The Tech, a company-sponsored conference focused on the Israeli tech industry, in early March. Several hours into the sit-ins on Tuesday, Google security began to accuse the workers of “trespassing” and disrupting work, prompting several people to leave while others vowed to remain until they were forced out. The 2021 contract, known as Project Nimbus, involves Google and Amazon jointly providing cloud computing infrastructure and services across branches of the Israeli government. Last week,Timereported that Google’s work on Project Nimbus involves providingdirect services to the Israel Defense Forces. [...]
On March 4, more than600 other Googlerssigned a petition opposing the company’s sponsorship of the conference. After Hatfield was fired three days later, Google trust-and-safety-policy employee Vidana Abdel Khalekresignedfrom her position in opposition to Project Nimbus. Then, in late March, more than 300 Apple workers signed an open letter thatalleged retaliationagainst workers who have expressed support for Palestinians, and urged company leadership to show public support for Palestinians. Hasan Ibraheem, a Google software engineer, is participating in the sit-in at his local Google office in New York. “This has really been a culmination of our efforts,” he tells WIRED. Since joining No Tech for Apartheid in December, Ibraheem says, he has been participating in weekly “tabling” actions being held at Google office cafés in New York, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, and Mountain View, California. It involves holding a sign that says “Ask me about Project Nimbus” during lunch break, passing out flyers, and answering questions from coworkers. “It's actually shocking how many people at Google don't even know that this contract exists,” Ibraheem says. “A lot of people who don't know about it, who then learn about it through us, are reasonably upset that this contract exists. They just didn't know that it existed beforehand.”
