Security at Google: Google employees fired in protests against Israeli military attack on Hamas during the 2023 cyber-crime against Alphabet
The death toll from the Israeli Defence Force attack on Hamas in Gaza has risen to more than 30,000 Palestinians. The military offensive began after Hamas killed about 1,100 Israelis on October 7.
Google’s workforce comprises the vast majority of employees of parent Alphabet, which reported a headcount of more than 180,000 at the end of 2023. People who participated in the protest are not the only ones who have support within the company.
Some workers fired during the protests that were organized by the coalition of tech workers and Muslim- and Jewish- led activist groups were involved in less provocative actions than those who occupied offices according to Jane Chung, a spokeswoman for No Tech for Apartheid.
Some, she said, had simply attended an outdoor protest and taken a t-shirt handed out by organizers. People were standing close to the protesters for safety.
Zelda Montes, a now-former YouTube software engineer who says they were arrested after occupying Google’s New York office for more than ten hours, accuses the company of breaching US legal protections for workers.
Google fired twenty-eight employees Wednesday after they participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel’s government that also includes Amazon.
Google, in partnership with Amazon, started contracting with the Israeli government on Project Nimbus in 2021. An internal company document obtained by Time magazine shows the Israel’s Ministry of Defense has contracts with both companies.
The No Tech for Apartheid Group: Organizing in Israel to Defend the Palestinians from Google’s Nuclear Propagation Policy
Montes was shocked when she heard about the war in Gaza. There is tension surrounding the Israeli conflict in the country at this time.
Montes is referring to how little people at work know about the contract when he says “that speaks volumes.”
She says thatGoogle had a policy of not allowing workers to express their dissent around the project, which was a big problem in her opinion.
One of the largest mass firings in the tech industry occurred here and has many Silicon Valley companies working with Israel. Some employees say they don’t like it.
The No Tech for Apartheid group says that without clarity on the project, it’s still unclear how the technology is being used in Israel. They think it could be used in the war in Gaza in order to hurt the Palestinians.
“Workers have the right to know how their labor is being used, and to have a say in ensuring the technology they build is not used for harm,” the group said in a statement.
They sat around and played the card game Uno until they were approached by Google security. Montes says they were told to leave or face arrest, but it took eight hours for police to arrive.
Most people left the office by the time the police showed up. They handcuffed four protesters who refused to leave the building, including Montes, walked them to a freight elevator and down into the garage where a police van was waiting. The group spent about three and a half hours in jail.
A spokesman said that, so far, individual investigations have resulted in the termination of employment for 28 employees.
Montes thinks that the firings are a fear tactic that will not work. Even though she’s been fired, she says we’ll keep organizing until the project is dropped.