Google fired 28 employees for protesting Israel’s cloud deal

Google fired 28 employees for protesting Israel’s cloud deal

Google has fired more than two dozen workers who protested this week over the company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.

The employees were terminated after an investigation found that they had staged protests inside Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California. In Sunnyvale, they entered the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, according to a post on X by the group organizing the demonstration, No Tech For Apartheid.

Protesters held banners reading “No More Genocide For Profit” and “We Stand with Palestine, Arab and Muslim Googlers.”

A Google spokesperson told CNN Thursday that the protest “is part of a long-standing campaign by a group of organizations and people who largely do not work” at the company.

“A small number of worker protesters came in and disrupted some of our locations. Physically obstructing the work of other employees and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies and completely unacceptable behavior. After refusing several requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was called in to remove him to ensure office security,” the spokesperson added.

“We have so far concluded individual investigations resulting in the termination of employment for 28 employees, and will continue to investigate and take action as necessary.”

Google and Amazon have a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud computing services to the Israeli government and military, known as Project Nimbus, according to No Tech For Apartheid, which has strongly condemned the dismissal.

“This blatant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values a $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own employees,” the group said in a statement published on Medium Thursday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.