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Google employees arrested after occupying cloud CEO's office
A small number of pro-Palestinian workers demanded Google stop working in Israel, particularly on a Nimbus cloud project, and were arrested after refusing to vacate the office
Several members of a workers' group calling itself "No Tech For Apartheid" were arrested Tuesday evening, after barricading themselves in the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian for over eight hours.
The small number of Google employees demanded the company stop working in Israel, particularly as part of a Nimbus project, which the tech giant won alongside Amazon in a government cloud initiative reportedly worth about $1.2 billion US dollars.
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The protest inside the Google Cloud CEO's office was broadcast live on Amazon-owned social media channel Twitch, where the interaction with another employee is documented. The employees were given the opportunity to leave the office willingly after being placed on administrative leave, but before being arrested.
However, the employees refused to leave and were arrested by the local police, which was reportedly their intention as part of their participation in pro-Palestinian groups.
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In the social media posts, the workers are seen shouting slogans like "Google Google, you cannot hide, we accuse you of complicity in murder." They also called themselves "Googlers Against Genocide."
Prior to the protest, the group of employees sent internal emails to fellow workers announcing the sit-in and sent their demands to the Google Cloud CEO. In addition to stopping the Nimbus project, the protestors demanded a cessation of all business with the Israeli government, to stop "harassment, intimidation, bullying, and silencing," of Palestinian and Muslim employees, and address a “crisis” among those concerned over their work used to “enable a genocide.”
Reporting on the incident, the Daily Wire brought up alleged rampant antisemitism appearing throughout Google's workforce, particularly after the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7 which erupted into a war.