US STEM students deny joining Google and Amazon Projects
Search engine Google and e-commerce site Amazon have signed a $ 1.2 billion deal to provide cloud computing services and infrastructure support to the apartheid state of Israel. As a result, a group of 'STEM' students in the United States refused to work at Google and Amazon. "Palestinians have already suffered from Israeli surveillance and violence. By publicly expanding cloud computing capabilities and putting cutting-edge technology in the hands of the Israeli occupation government and military, Amazon and Google are helping the Israeli occupiers become more efficient and violent, even worsening conditions for the Palestinians.”
After making this pledge, the students were also seen participating in an anti-'Project Nimbus' rally with several tech workers and activists outside Google's San Francisco office on Wednesday.
According to a report in Wired, a group of more than 1,100 STEM students and young tech workers from more than 120 universities have signed a pledge not to pursue jobs or internships at Google and Amazon until the two tech companies end their involvement in Project Nimbus.
Signatories to the pledge include undergraduate and postgraduate students from Stanford, UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.
The pledge is the latest response by "No Take for Apartheid (NOTA)", a coalition of technology workers from the Muslim grassroots movement MP Power Change and advocacy organization Jewish Voice for Peace, against Google and Amazon.
Naomi Hardy-Ng, a major in communications and a minor student in computer science at the University of San Francisco, said she heard the letter while participating in a three-week camp on campus to demand the release of information on companies that financed the Gaza war and broke away from it.
He added that he signed the letter because executives from Google and Amazon had been silent about talking about the protesters' demands. However, this attitude has to change "from the very beginning."
Google claims that 'Project Nimbus' "does not have instructions" for classified or military work. However, after various documents were leaked, it was found that the company was contracted to work for the Israeli military.
Wired did not respond to requests for comment from Google and Amazon.
