Jewish Google worker Ariel Koren tells @MSNBC why 1,000+ @Google and @Amazon workers demand their employers cut Project Nimbus contracts with the Israeli government.
Workers want their labor to help people — not enable violence against Palestinians.
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The Project Nimbus contract — which gives @Google and @Amazon minimal transparency and authority about how the Israeli government and military will use their services — alarms workers.
Tech companies have cut contracts that violate human rights before. They can do it again.
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1,000+ @Google and @Amazon workers believe they have “not only the right, but the responsibility” to stop their labor from enabling Israeli violence against Palestinians.
They're putting their jobs on the line to get their employers to "live up to their values."
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Nearly 50 human rights and tech accountability organizations have joined together to support brave workers like Ariel, who are fighting for a world with safety and freedom for all.
Many JVP members come from Jewish social justice organizations that we once called our political and communal home.
But, along with a growing number of Jews, we could no longer ignore that liberal Zionist orgs often fight for justice for everyone except Palestinians.
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Recognizing the contradiction between support for freedom for all and Zionism — which requires the forced displacement and oppression of Palestinians — is intellectually and emotionally hard, especially for those of us raised to understand Zionism as a social justice movement.
But that recognition is vital. For Palestinians, Zionism is not a theoretical concept but a brutal reality. It is the movement that expelled them and occupied their land. It created a militarized apartheid state that prevents them from living in freedom, safety, and dignity.
Olive harvest season is meant to be a celebratory time in Palestine.
However, in recent years this joyful time of year has become overshadowed by Israeli land restrictions and brutal settler violence.
Thousands of Palestinian families rely on the olive harvest for their income and the crop is a central feature of the Palestinian economy. This is why it has become a target for Israeli settlers and their state backers.
Instances of settler violence during olive harvest have significantly increased. Last year, over 1,000 trees were destroyed and 26 Palestinians were injured. In response, Palestinians have created a task force to protect villages during their harvest.
Canary Mission bankrolls adults to slander and harass pro-Palestine students.
Despite its attempts to remain a threatening and shadowy entity, its funders are being revealed one by one – and they’re coming from within the mainstream Jewish establishment.
The tactics used by Canary Mission reek of desperation. And the harm and material impact it inflicts on student’s lives is unacceptable. CM has been used by the FBI and Israeli border agents and been a source of psychological warfare against Palestinian students and organizers.
Becca Lewis, of @jvpgwu commenting on when two men in bird costumes came to terrorize students at George Washington University ahead of a BDS vote: "We knew at that point that they were really watching us. These were adults who were being paid to terrorize students on campus.”
Through Project Nimbus, Amazon and Google are strengthening Israel’s military occupation and apartheid rule over Palestinians. The Israeli government uses cloud services to surveil Palestinians, expand illegal settlements, and inflict violence on Palestinians in Gaza.
As employees wrote in their op-ed, co-signed by 800 and counting, "We cannot look the other way as the products we build are used to deny Palestinians their basic rights... We envision a future where technology brings people together and makes life better for everyone."
BREAKING: Nearly 500 @Amazon and @Google workers just united to demand BOTH companies stop providing cloud services to the Israeli government and powering Israeli apartheid!
In May, while the Israeli military was bombing Gaza for 11 days straight, Amazon and Google signed a $1 billion contract with the Israeli government, launching Project Nimbus.
But workers don’t want to build tech that will enable the Israeli government to surveil Palestinians, expand illegal settlements, and inflict violence in Gaza. They want their employers to cut their contracts with an apartheid government that violates Palestinian human rights.
Modan is one of Israel's largest publishing companies and collaborates with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Cultural production is not separate from the political systems of apartheid and it is therefore a worthy target of boycott.