Rabat – A Google employee announced her resignation on Thursday, after starting a high-profile movement to get her company and tech giant Amazon to stop working with the Israeli military.
Ariel Koren cited a hostile work environment due to her prominent online activism, after she kicked off the Workers Against Nimbus movement, garnering thousands of followers on Twitter.
The movement, endorsed by over 50 grassroots organizations, is calling on tech giants Google and Amazon to abandon their work on Project Nimbus, a billion dollar tech and surveillance program in partnership with the Israeli military.
The project would see Google construct data centers and provide cloud infrastructure to Israeli government branches, including the military and the Israel Land Authority.
While more than 700 Google workers have signed a petition to end the project according to Korel, the company did not issue any response. Koren said the company blindsided her by making her choose between relocating to Brazil or losing her job.
In a blogpost, the activist cites more examples of Google allegedly silencing Palestinians within the company. According to her, Google executives have expressed concern for Israeli citizens in internal memos, but none for Palestinians during 2021’s Gaza airstrikes.
She also retold stories of how she was silenced after formally voicing her concerns. She filed a complaint after being forced to move to Brazil, but Google’s own internal investigation found “no evidence of retaliation.”
Google has not issued any official response to the allegations.
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