1,100 students refused to work at Google or Amazon. Boycott of Israel intensifies in Silicon Valley

• 1,100 students and recent graduates from top US universities have signed a pledge not to work for companies with ties to Israel.

• Google and Amazon are the main beneficiaries of the Israeli government’s million-dollar Project Nimbus contract

Students in STEM Careers (abbreviation) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) American universities are up in arms against companies that have signed cooperation contracts with the Israeli government.

The protests aim to put more pressure on large American technology companies that maintain the Israeli government’s cloud infrastructure. In this way, students from prestigious universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco or Cornell University refuse to accept jobs from companies such as Google or Amazon, which maintain their infrastructure contracts with Israel.

Students Committed to Gaza. In response to Israel’s attacks against the Gaza population, more than 1,100 students and recent graduates have signed a pledge that they will not accept jobs or internships at Google or Amazon until these companies sever their ties with Israel.

This initiative came in the form of a manifesto by the organization No technology for apartheid (NOTA), a coalition of technology workers, movement activists mPower Transformation and groups Jewish Voice for Peace. All of them have been very active since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Project Nimbus surrounded by controversies. One of the most insistent demands of the students who signed the pledge is that both Google and Amazon boycott and break the contract with Israel on Project Nimbus. This digital transformation project of the Israeli government involves the creation and development of a secure government infrastructure in the cloud, which will be stored within its borders.

This cloud will host all of Israel’s strategic information on Israel’s finances, health care, transportation and education. Except for the most sensitive and confidential information. According to the British GuardianGoogle may have signed a $1.2 billion contract with Israel for this cloud data processing infrastructure.

Google and Amazon are left without a mineAccording to the data from College ChangesGoogle and Amazon are the largest employers of new graduates from nearby Stanford and Berkeley universities, with more than 700 new employees each. However, the commitments many of these recent graduates have signed could threaten the pool of new technology talent.

Many of these students joined this commitment after participating in protest camps set up on various university campuses.

Protests inside and outside companies. Protest organized by the organization No technology for apartheid They have not been limited to university environments. There have been several protests at various Google and Amazon offices in recent months. Sundar Pichai referred to these as a mistake in the interpretation of Google’s culture, making it clear that he would not allow the personal opinions of his workers to interfere with Google’s strategy.

Protests at Google resulted in more than 50 employees being fired for breaking into the company’s offices and interfering with their colleagues’ work.

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Image | Unsplash (Rajeshwar Bachchu, Nathan Dumlao)