Google has terminated 28 employees following protests against the company’s cloud-computing contract with Israel.
The terminations occurred on Wednesday after nine employees were arrested on Tuesday during sit-in protests at Google offices in Sunnyvale, California, and New York City.
According to the employees, they were held for a few hours before being released.
Chris Rackow, Google’s vice president for global security, stated in a company-wide email that the employees’ behavior was “unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened.”
The protesting employees, who are part of a group called No Tech for Apartheid, have been campaigning against Google’s deal to sell technology to Israel since 2021.
Tensions over the cloud-computing contract, known as Nimbus, have intensified among employees at Google and Amazon since Israel’s war on Gaza. The project aims to enhance the regime’s surveillance of Palestinians.
Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon, will provide the Israeli government with AI and cloud services.
No Tech for Apartheid cited a recent Time Magazine report, which found that Google had developed custom tools for Israel’s war ministry and had contracts with the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Following the protests, Google’s email stated, “After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety. We have so far concluded individual investigations that resulted in the termination of employment for 28 employees, and will continue to investigate and take action as needed.”
The fired employees were notified via email, leaving them shocked and angry over the company’s decision.
“I’m furious,” said one fired employee who helped organize the sit-in but didn’t directly participate. “This is a wildly disproportionate response to workers standing up for morality and for holding Google accountable for its own promises. Firing people associated with an event they don’t like — it’s unbelievable,” the Washington Post quoted.
No Tech for Apartheid stated, “Google workers have the right to peacefully protest about terms and conditions of our labor. These firings were clearly retaliatory.”
Since Israel’s war on Gaza, workers worldwide have intensified their solidarity with Palestine and organized resistance to the supply of arms and military technology to Israel.