Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Time for a little revolt by pitch fork carrying Google employees

Editor's note: The reason why Google, that should be broken apart under anti-trust laws, backed Israel is because Google relies heavily on Israel's tech sector for Google's R&D. In addition to depending on Israel for Google's research and development, Google also sells advanced AI capabilities to Israel. This was all put forth in great detail in the Talpiot archives
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Google backed Israel's military. Now its workers are in revolt

By Areeb Ullah | October 8, 2024

Dozens of workers have been sacked by the tech giant for speaking up for Palestinians against Project Nimbus - but others say they won't be silenced.

It's early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google's headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue.

Montes, who self-identifies as they, fumbles with their ID card at the entrance, blending in with the steady stream of Googlers swiping through the security barriers as if it were just another day at the office.

Armed with an oversized tote bag, Montes pulls back their purple hair and heads to the 13th-floor canteen to order their usual: a dirty chai and an egg, avocado, and cheese sandwich with a bowl of raspberries. Their hands tremble slightly as they grip the coffee cup.

Locking eyes with two others, they get the signal that the coast is clear, head down to the entrance, and sit.

The three Googlers unfurl their banners and begin chanting to demand that Google do one thing: Drop Project Nimbus.

But this will be the last time they sit inside Google's New York office as Googlers, as Google itself refers to its own employees.

"Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality," remarked Montes, one of 50 employees fired by Google for staging a 10-hour sit-in at one of its American offices in April.

For the last three years, Montes has been one of several activists calling for Google to drop Project Nimbus, a partnership Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government reportedly worth $1.2bn.

The partnership, which focuses on cloud computing, provides services to various branches of the Israeli government, including the defence ministry and the army.

Google, which has not responded to questions sent by MEE prior to publication of this article, has insisted in previous statements that Nimbus "is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services".

Working secretly, some Googlers - past and present from around the world - have been actively trying to organise workers to pressure the company to drop Nimbus and reveal the extent of its involvement with the Israeli army.

And since Israel began its war on Gaza, following the 7 October Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, which have killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave, calls to drop Nimbus have intensified. Some employees have staged physical and virtual protests against the deal over fears that Google is enabling Israel to use their work, particularly involving artificial intelligence technologies, to further what many see as an unfolding genocide.

But some employees say they have been met with an intense crackdown from Google, which they say has denied claims by activists that its technology has been involved or played a role in Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza and ongoing occupation – deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice – of the West Bank.
'I had colleagues who were understandably apprehensive about speaking out and worried about the consequences' - Zelda Montes, former Google employee
The mass firings marked a turning point for the company as it grappled with an internal battle among its employees over the war in Gaza.

Middle East Eye has spoken to Googlers who work in the tech giant's offices in the US and parts of Europe. Many requested anonymity because of their concerns that they too could lose their jobs for speaking out publicly.

These workers, who work in various branches of the company, explained how they organised from within and how Google and their colleagues tried to stop their activism by censoring them, firing them, and threatening some of them by turning the company into a "hostile work environment". Some still work for the company, while others have been fired or have left in protest.

Please go to Middle East Eye to continue reading.
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It is because of Israel's cyber tech prowess that Israeli military intelligence (Unit 8200) are able to locate their enemies with terrifying accuracy for destruction anywhere in the region including in Syria:

Israeli Strike On Syria’s Damascus Leaves At Least Seven Dead (Videos)


So, it took the deaths of over 40,000 (estimated) Palestinians since October 7, 2023 using AI to locate 37,000 targets in Gaza?

Israeli Military Used AI to Identify 37,000 Targets in Gaza: Report

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