Google fires 28 workers who protested cloud-sharing contract with Israel government

Google has fired 28 employees involved in a protest against a contract with the Israel government.

The contract – known as "Nimbus" – is a cloud-computing deal with the Israeli government that Google shares with Amazon, according to The Washington Post. 

The employees were fired Wednesday after nine were arrested a day earlier while participating in sit-in protests at Google offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., and New York City.

The employees are part of a group called No Tech for Apartheid that since 2011 been writing letters and staging protests against Google’s deal to sell technology to Israel, the newspaper also reports.

Tension over the contract among employees at Google and Amazon has increased since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023. Critics of the project say it will bolster the Israeli government’s surveillance of Palestinians and lead to further displacement and discrimination.

Google says the workers were fired for “physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities,” which is “a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior.”

In the statement, the company also the employees were removed after "multiple" requests to  leave the premises,

Amazon employees also reportedly participated in the No Tech for Apartheid actions Tuesday, but there have been no reports of any being arrested or fired.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.