HomeBusinessGoogle staffers storm NYC, California, Seattle offices to protest Israel ties

Google staffers storm NYC, California, Seattle offices to protest Israel ties

April 16, 2024

Google staffers wearing traditional Arab headscarves barged into the California office of the company’s top cloud executive, while other workers staged a sit-in at the company’s headquarters in New York City to protest the tech giant’s ties to the Israeli government on Tuesday.

The pro-Palestinian employees, part of a group called “No Tech for Apartheid,” used social media accounts on X and Twitch to post images and live video of their takeover of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based office of Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud.

The activist workers read statements denouncing the company over its contract with the Israel government, which the group accuses of carrying out a “genocide” in its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip — following the Hamas massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7.

Pro-Palestinian Google employees took over the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian on Tuesday. Twitch/notech4apartheid

They demanded that Google cancel its participation in “Project Nimbus” — a $1.2 billion contract with Israel that involves Google Cloud as well as Amazon Web Services.

Another group of protesters were seen occupying the 10th floor of Google offices in the Chelsea section of Manhattan as part of a protest that also extended to the company’s offices in Seattle for what it called “No Tech for Genocide Day of Action.”

The Post has sought comment from Google.

The orchestrated sit-in comes on the heels of a Google software engineer publicly berating one of the company’s Israel-based executives during a tech conference in Manhattan last month.

Google fired the worker.

It is not clear what actions the company will take after the mass revolt inside its own walls.

The image from the Twitch livestream confirmed they took over Kurian’s office.

A custom-made Golden State Warriors basketball jersey with Kurian’s name is seen hanging on the wall in the background.

The employees, who are members of an organization called “No Tech For Apartheid,” livestreamed the sit-in on Twitch. Twitch/notech4apartheid
Some of the activist-employees wore traditional Arab headscarves and covered their faces. Twitch/notech4apartheid
Kurian’s office is based in Google Cloud headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Kurian is seen above in May 2023. AP

The activists appear to have also scribbled some pro-Palestinian slogans and statements on Kurian’s bulletin board — accusing the company of “harassment, bullying and censorship” of Arab and Muslim employees.

Project Nimbus was originally announced in April 2021, but the eruption of hostilities between Israel and Gaza has brought the issue to the fore.

Tech employees at both Amazon and Google have voiced concerns that the technology could be used by Israel’s military against Palestinians.

A list of protesters’ demands in are written in Kurian’s office. Twitch/notech4apartheid
Google employees wore shirts denouncing their company for aiding Israel’s “genocide.” X/@NoTechApartheid
Google employees read statements denouncing the company for its ties to the Israeli government on Tuesday. Twitch/notech4apartheid
A large group of Google employees hold signs protesting their company’s participation in “Project Nimbus.” X/@NoTechApartheid

Tech firms with overwhelmingly left-leaning workforces such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and others have been grappling with employee unrest over the Israel-Hamas war.

Several of the firms have cracked down on chat discussions about the conflict that have played out on internal messaging boards — where the exchanges have reportedly gotten heated and contentious.

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