Follow Us on Google News
Google has sacked 28 employees following their involvement in a prolonged sit-in against tech giant’s contract with Israel at the company’s New York and Sunnyvale, California offices.
The demonstration was aimed at challenging Google’s commercial relationships with the Israeli government. The employees, who expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments and wore traditional Arab headscarves, took control of a senior executive’s office in California. They were dismissed subsequent to an internal review, as announced by Chris Rackow, Google’s Vice President of Global Security, in a memo distributed throughout the company.
In Manhattan’s Chelsea district, demonstrators seized the 10th floor of Google’s premises, with similar actions taking place in Seattle. These were part of the “No Tech for Genocide Day of Action.” The dismissed employees are linked to the No Tech For Apartheid group, which has been vocal about Google’s stance during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The group broadcasted numerous videos and live streams of the demonstrations on its social media account, capturing the moment when employees received their final notices and were apprehended by the police for trespassing.
The protesters have called for Google to withdraw from the “Project Nimbus” agreement, valued at $1.2 billion, under which Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services are to provide cloud computing and AI solutions to the Israeli government and military. Some Google employees have voiced concerns that this technology could be used against Palestinians in Gaza.
Affected employees criticized Google’s decision to fire them in a statement released through No Tech For Apartheid’s spokesperson, Jane Chung. They claimed, “Tonight, Google has indiscriminately dismissed 28 of us, including those who did not partake in yesterday’s significant, cross-coastal 10-hour sit-in. This overt act of reprisal evidently shows that Google prioritizes its lucrative contract with the Israeli government and military over its workforce, who are the true contributors to the company’s value for executives and shareholders.”
