Google staffers protest $1.2 billion Israel deal at offices in NYC, Seattle, and California

Dozens of Google staffers donned Arab headscarves and invaded the company’s offices in California, New York City, and Seattle on Tuesday, to protest a $1.2 billion deal between the tech company and Israel.

The protesters were part of a pro-Palestine group called “No Tech for Apartheid” and live streamed their storming of the headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, on several social media platforms, the New York Post reported. 

Employees then read statements that slammed the “Project Nimbus” agreement between Israel, Amazon, and Google, and accused Israel of carrying out “genocide” after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The project was initially approved in 2021, but the recent escalation in the Middle East has brought the agreement back to the forefront. 

Pro-Palestine employees at both companies have expressed concern that Israel could use the cloud software against Palestinians.

The demonstration in the Chelsea office in New York City had largely wound down by 4 p.m. EDT, according to Wired Magazine, with just four employees still protesting at that time. Security had attempted to coerce them to leave the building, but the group said it chose to stay until they are forced to leave or until their demands are met. 

The protest comes after employees claimed that other avenues that were more appropriate to discuss their disagreement with the program were shut down.

“I know that [the protest] will close some doors. It might close this door, it might close a lot of other big tech doors, but I firmly believe that it will close the doors that need to stay closed and open the ones that need to be opened,” software engineer and protester Zelda Montes told Wired. “I don't mind, and would actually prefer, that where I stand on Palestinian Liberation follows me for the rest of my life.”