Vigils in 3 American cities .. Google and Amazon are under pressure because of their provision of artificial intelligence services to Israel

Washington

- In protest against the Nimbus project, which provides artificial intelligence services and extensive monitoring programs to the Israeli occupation army, American activists are organizing vigils Thursday in 3 American cities against two major American companies with the aim of pressuring them to cancel contracts that deepen apartheid policies against the Palestinians.

The three cities represent the largest centers of the American technology industry, namely San Francisco (California State) and Seattle (Washington State), both on the west coast of the United States, and New York City (New York State) on the east coast.

The protest sit-ins in front of the headquarters of Amazon and Google aim to pressure them to cancel contracts signed with the Israeli government and army, which would strengthen the policies and mechanisms of apartheid and monitor and suppress Palestinians.

Activists gathered behind the NoTechforApartheid initiative posted calls on social media urging participation in the vigils, saying: "Join us Thursday, September 8th, in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York to ask Amazon. "And Google has to give up their contract with the Israeli government and military. This contract increases the policies of apartheid and oppression of Palestinians. And that must end now! Join the tech workers in saying no to helping the apartheid regime."

Ariel Koren said she left Google to protest revenge and hostility against employees who express their opinions (communication sites)

Escalating protest steps

These protests are coordinated by a group of activists, driven by a growing number of employees of American technology companies, led by Ariel Koren, the former director of marketing at Google, who was forced to resign in protest against the signing of the Nimbus project contract because the company’s technology could help the Israeli army in monitoring Palestinians and harming Palestinians. them.

The impact of the “No Technology Apartheid” initiative, organized by technologists and programmers against Google and Amazon, is growing, as it now includes nearly 42,000 American citizens who have signed its petition calling on Google and Amazon to “stop dealing with the Israeli apartheid regime and withdraw from the Nimbus project.” ".

The petition warns that the two American tech giants’ cooperation “with Israeli apartheid is part of a larger pattern of big tech companies that are fueling (…) violence around the world,” and adds that while “the Israeli army has bombed homes, clinics and schools in Gaza and has threatened to expel Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem in May 2021,” the two American tech giants signed the controversial deal with Tel Aviv.

What do Google and Amazon offer to Israel?

Project Nimbus focuses on providing artificial intelligence services and extensive surveillance software to the Israeli occupation army under a $1.2 billion contract.

Under the contract, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services were selected to provide Israeli security agencies with “cloud” computing services, including artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.

Google and Amazon cloud services can be used to enable Israel to expand illegal settlements by backing up Israel Land Administration (ILA) data.

The ILA uses discriminatory policies to expand separate Jewish settlements, while trapping Palestinians in densely populated areas and limiting the growth of Palestinian communities.

In March, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Nimbus project would facilitate monitoring of Palestinians, as well as help expand Israeli settlements.

Israel can also use this technology to monitor Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, furthering its human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, and forcing Palestinians to leave their lands.

Join us on Thur, Sept 8 in San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City to demand @Google and @Amazon drop their contract with the Israeli gov and military that further enables apartheid and discrimination of Palestinians.

This must end now!

Join tech workers to say #NoTechForApartheid pic.twitter.com/MpbOkxFM7H

— Workers Against Nimbus (@DropNimbus) September 3, 2022

Possible successes

"Google's message to its employees was to remain silent, but the response from the employees is clear, that we will fight back against revenge, and we will support each other," says Corinne.

Korine condemned "Google's stifling of the voices of its employees," noting the company's discrimination against Palestinian employees and sympathizers with the Palestinian cause, which prompted her to resign from the company on August 30.

The involvement of hundreds of employees at the two tech giants represents an important step in a more than year-long effort against expanding the two companies' relationships with the Israeli military and government.

This movement argues that technology companies are deeply rooted in Israel and benefit greatly from their presence in Israel, "and it is time for technology companies to acknowledge the human rights abuses they benefit from, and hopefully fix them."

Pressure from activists and employees 3 years ago prompted Google to cancel an artificial intelligence contract with the Pentagon, and Microsoft also suspended work with the Israeli company AnyVision after pressure from employees and activists in 2020.

This movement hopes that these companies will cancel their contract with the Israeli side if technology workers and civil rights activists continue to mobilize seriously on the issue.

Both companies claim to be committed to human rights, and Amazon released a document supporting universal principles of human rights, promising to "embed respect for human rights throughout our business."

According to her.

Similarly, Google claims that companies "can make money without doing evil".

Instead of implementing these values, Google and Amazon put profit before values ​​by promoting Israeli government violence against Palestinians.

The message of the three vigils contains a clear message, that "tech workers do not want to build the technology used to enable Israel to oppress Palestinians. And when these employees talk about Palestinian rights, they face threats and retaliation, but they don't stop as we show solidarity with them."