Google Fires 50 Employees for Israeli Cloud Protest Amidst Campus and Workplace Activism

Google has dismissed 20 more employees as part of its crackdown following protests last week against the company’s cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government, bringing the total number fired to 50 according to organisers behind the demonstrations. The No Tech for Apartheid group said some of those let go were not actively involved in workplace activism and had been bystanders during sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale last Tuesday. In a statement, it called the mass sackings “an aggressive and desperate act of retaliation” by the tech giant. A spokesperson for Google declined to confirm exactly how many workers were dismissed but said additional firings had taken place following an investigation into protests inside its buildings on April 16th. The corporation warned that each individual let go was found directly involved in “disruptive activity”. However, organisers of the protest claimed some fired staff did not cause any disruption at Google offices and accused the company of lashing out at workers who were physically present during protests but had no involvement with campaigning efforts. They vowed to continue their workplace activism against what they called a “botched response” by executives, adding: “We will not stop fighting.” The demonstrations come more than six months after an attack by Hamas militants left some 1200 dead in Israel and as Israeli counter-offensive attacks have killed at least 34,097 people – mainly women and children – since October last year. The ongoing carnage has led to a major political division across America’s population while campus and workplace protests over US government support for the Israeli regime are increasing day by day in recent weeks following the Google staff walkouts. In response to the demonstrations, CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email memo urging employees not “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics” at work last week, claiming that as a business they should focus on avoiding workplace disruption caused by such matters instead of debating political disputes among themselves in this context.