Jewish staff behind Israel boycott call
TWO Jewish Google employees are playing a key role in a worker petition calling on Google and Amazon to cancel a joint contract to build cloud-based data centres on behalf of the Israeli government.
The $1.2 billion contract, dubbed Project Nimbus, was signed in May and is one of Israel’s largest technology infrastructure ventures.
The open letter says the deal violates the signers’ “core values” by allegedly fostering surveillance of Palestinians and encouraging the expansion of Jewish settlements.
“For me as a Jewish employee of Google, I feel a deep sense of intense moral responsibility,” said Ariel Koren, who works in Google’s education division. “When you work in a company, you have the right to be accountable and responsible for the way that your labour is actually being used.”
Koren, along with Gabriel Schubiner, a software engineer, helped devise the open letter calling for the two companies to end the contract. It appeared in the opinion section of the UK’s Guardian news site last month, claiming it had been signed by 390 Google and Amazon employees.
“As workers who keep these companies running, we are morally obligated to speak out against violations of these core values,” the statement read. “This technology allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.”
According to Koren, over 1000 employees have now signed the petition, although they remain anonymous and J. is unable to verify the number of supporters. Koren and Schubiner are two of only three total signatories who have chosen to identify themselves publicly.
The pair of Jewish Googlers said their identity as Jews is essential to speaking out on behalf of Palestinian colleagues who fear retribution.
“As Jews, we’re relatively more insulated against charges of antisemitism that often come up in these discussions,” said Schubiner. “I do recognise the privilege that comes with my identity and talking about this issue without fear of retaliation.”
The two are members of Jewish Diaspora in Tech, a coalition of left-wing Jews who say they have felt ostracised from Jewish tech spaces due to their highly critical positions on Israel and Zionism.
The push to end the Project Nimbus contract faces an uphill battle. The contract reportedly contains a safeguard preventing the tech giants from pulling out due to boycott pressure.
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