48. One year of organizing tech workers against Israeli Apartheid

The Mondoweiss Podcast

Mondoweiss has been covering the “No Tech for Apartheid” movement for over a year now. In October 2021 hundreds of workers at Google and Amazon published an open letter in The Guardian condemning Project Nimbus, a billion dollar contract between the two tech companies and the Israeli government. The deal helps provide cloud services to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The letter reads: “We cannot look the other way, as the products we build are used to deny Palestinians their basic rights, force Palestinians out of their homes and attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – actions that have prompted war crime investigations by the international criminal court.”

A lot has happened since that letter ran, as the No Tech for Apartheid movement has continued to grow. Our U.S. correspondent Michael Arria checked in with two organizers to talk about its current state and what might come next.

Ariel Koren is an activist and was formerly a product marketing manager at Google for Education. Earlier this year Koren was forced out of her job after facing retaliation from the company over her activism. Bathool Syed is an activist and content strategist at Amazon. We’ll also hear some testimonials from Google and Amazon workers from a video the campaign published a few months ago.

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Articles and Links mentioned in the show

• No Tech for Apartheid campaign website
• Organized labor vs. Project Nimbus, Mondoweiss Podcast
• Google worker says company tried to relocate her to Brazil after she criticized contract with Israel, Michael Arria
• Google worker who protested Israel contract says she was forced to quit, Michael Arria
• How Google advances the Zionist colonization of Palestine, Yarden Katz
• Google and Amazon workers want companies to end contracts with Israeli military, Michael Arria
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