Google employees, who were advocating for the company to cease business with the Israeli government and military, were arrested after occupying Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s California office. During their 8-hour protest, they live-streamed their Pro-Palestine demonstration on Twitch, which also captured their subsequent arrest.
In the “notech4apartheid” video, a man informs the employees that they have been placed on administrative leave. He then requests that they leave voluntarily. However, the protesters refuse to comply, resulting in their subsequent arrest by the police.
The man politely informed the peaceful protestors that it was getting late and suggested they cooperate by leaving voluntarily. He mentioned, “You’ve been placed on administrative leave, and we’d appreciate it if you would consider leaving. It has been a while.”
The employees’ refusal prompted him to threaten law enforcement intervention. The protestors acknowledged his warning, and shortly afterward, the police arrived and apprehended them. The livestream abruptly concluded at this juncture.
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The video clip highlights a banner reading “DROP NIMBUS” affixed to the entrance of the room. According to a Daily Wire report, these protests were orchestrated through internal email exchanges among employees, emphasizing a specific set of demands.
The primary request was for Google to terminate its association with Israel by canceling the $1.2 billion contract for Project Nimbus, an Israeli government cloud computing initiative.
The Anti-Israel protestors Demands:
The employees have passionately advocated for Google to sever its business connections with the “Israeli apartheid government and military.”
Their demands extend beyond financial considerations, as they also seek an end to the “harassment, intimidation, bullying, and silencing” faced by Palestinian and Muslim workers within the company.
Additionally, they’ve highlighted the “health and safety crisis” that deeply concerns employees who feel their labor indirectly contributes to enabling what they perceive as a “genocide.” These actions reflect the ongoing tension between corporate responsibility, employee activism, and geopolitical issues .
Google employees across the United States participated in a national day of protest on April 16, demanding that the company “stop powering Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.”
In a letter addressed to the Google Cloud CEO, the workers expressed their concerns: “By opting to supply the Israeli government and military with our robust cloud computing and AI technologies, we have consistently supported Israel’s apartheid policies in Palestine and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.”
It appears that a group of Google employees recently staged a protest in Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office. The employees specifically called for an end to all ties between Google, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, and Israeli apartheid.
Additionally, they demanded the termination of the Project Nimbus contract. In a show of solidarity, workers also gathered at Google offices in New York City, Sunnyvale, CA, and Seattle. The movement, known as “No Tech For Apartheid.”
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