9 Google Employees Arrested After Protesting $1.2 Billion
Contract With Israel. These employees' arrests, and demonstrations outside Google offices in New York, California, and Washington, come as the Israel-Hamas war stretches into its six month.
BY WILL SWARTS
Nine Google employees protesting a $1.2 billion contract for cloud services for the Israeli government were arrested at the company's offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California after they refused to end their sit-in demonstration Tuesday afternoon, the Washington Post reported.
There were also demonstrations outside the company's offices in Sunnyvale, New York, and Seattle, which followed widespread pro-Palestinian protests that shut down highways and bridges and blocked entrances to airports across the United States. The arrested Google employees were put on administrative leave, the company said.
Google shares the cloud contract (known as Nimbus) with Amazon, and it has been a subject of contention within the tech giants' workforce since it was signed in 2021, according to the Post. The protestors want Google to pull out of the contract.
Employees in both offices sought to mark their opposition to Israel's conduct in its war with Hamas in the Gaza strip as the conflict stretches into its sixth month, following surprise attacks by Hamas on October 7 that left approximately 1,300 Israelis dead. The demonstrators were cautioned that they would be arrested if they did not move from their spots, which blocked office entrances.
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