Google Employees Stage Sit-In Protest, Calling for Cancellation of $1.2B Israeli Government Contract
On Tuesday evening, a group of nine Google employees were escorted out of the company’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, by law enforcement after engaging in a peaceful sit-in demonstration. The individuals involved reported that they left the premises without resistance. Simultaneously, protest gatherings were held outside Google offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle.
Opposing Project Nimbus
The protesters demanded that Google terminate its involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, which also involves Amazon. The sit-in follows a series of recent events related to the controversial project.
Growing Dissent Among Google Employees
Last week, a Google employee named Ariel Koren resigned from her position after facing alleged retaliation for expressing criticism of Project Nimbus. Additionally, nearly 100 Google employees signed a petition opposing the company’s sponsorship of a conference, and three days later, another employee, Gabrel Hatfield, was terminated. Vidana Abdel Khalek, a trust and safety policy employee at Google, published an open letter accusing the company of retaliating against workers who have shown support for Palestinians. Khalek urged Google’s leadership to publicly demonstrate their support for the Palestinian people.
Updated 4-17-2024, 12:50 pm EDT: This article has been updated to reflect that the detained workers were subsequently released.
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