USA
Google workers arrested in New York and California after sit-in against Israel
Some staff members have demanded that Google withdraw from a $1.2 billion contract to provide services to the Israeli government
April 17, 2024 13:53
Some staff members have demanded that Google withdraw from a $1.2 billion contract to provide services to the Israeli government
April 17, 2024 13:53Staff at Google were arrested on Tuesday after holding a sit-in to protest against the tech company’s work with the Israeli government.
Jane Chung, a spokesperson for the protesters, said nine employees at offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, were arrested.
A video of the protest reportedly showed NYPD officers entering a Google building and informing protesters they would be arrested if they refused to leave.
Google spokesperson Bailey Tomson told the Washington Post: “Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and we will investigate and take action.
“These employees were put on administrative leave, and their access to our systems was cut. After refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety.”
Staff across both Google offices have demanded that it withdraw from a $1.2 billion contract it holds with Amazon to provide cloud services and data centres to the Israeli government.
According to Israeli Finance Ministry officials, the contract allows Google and Amazon Web Services to keep providing services even if the tech giants came under pressure to boycott the country.
Google staff against the deal do not want the Israel Defence Force to be able to access the services.
The contract, which is known as Nimbus, was signed in 2021 and protests against the partnership have been growing ever since.
They have called on Google executives to review the company’s contracts with “institutions that support Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.”
In December, pro-Palestinian office workers staged a “die-in” outside the company’s San Francisco office.
One Google employee was fired in March after they interrupted a speech by a Google executive in Israel at a conference in New York.