Seattle Google workers to protest Israeli military contracts

Free Palestine protestors march through Seattle stopping traffic

Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched through Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood near the Google office on Tuesday.

SEATTLE - Seattle Google employees and community members are set to protest the tech giant's contracts with the Israeli military on Tuesday. The rally, scheduled for 11 a.m. at Lake Union Park, is part of a coast-to-coast day of action demanding that Google drop its $1.2 billion contract with Israel.

The workers, organized under the banner of No Tech For Apartheid, claim that Google's involvement in Project Nimbus is contributing to what they describe as an "AI-powered genocide" in Gaza. The recent resignation of two Google workers, Eddie Hatfield and Vidana Abdel Khalek, has brought attention to Google's ties to the Israeli military.

Last week, TIME reported that Hatfield, a Google Cloud engineer and No Tech for Apartheid activist, was fired in March following disruptions at a Google-sponsored Israeli tech conference. Shortly after Hatfield's dismissal, Abdel Khalek, a Trust and Safety Policy Employee, resigned in protest against Google's contract with Israel.

According to No Tech For Apartheid, Google's Project Nimbus, a $1 billion cloud contract with Israel, is facilitating what they describe as an "AI-powered genocide." The Israeli military allegedly uses Google Photos for facial recognition purposes in Gaza, leading to the arrest and mistreatment of thousands of Palestinians.

Google workers are adamant that their labor should not support what they see as the Israeli military's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. They are calling on Google to end its business ties with Israel and stop providing technology that enables what they term a "genocide."

Worker demands

The protest aims to convey several demands from the workers:

Drop Project Nimbus: Google should cancel its Project Nimbus contract and cease business with the Israeli government and military.
Protect Workers: Workers, particularly Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian employees, should not face harassment, racism, or retaliation for speaking out.
Address Health and Safety: Project Nimbus has reportedly caused significant mental health concerns among workers. Google must stop retaliation against workers speaking out and ensure a safe working environment for all.

The coast-to-coast day of action will include protests in New York City, Sunnyvale, California, and Seattle.

The call to action against Project Nimbus and Google's contracts with the Israeli military is gaining momentum among Google workers and their supporters, with the Seattle rally poised to be a significant event in this movement for change.