A Google engineer caused an uproar at a New York technology conference when he accused executives of the search giant’s Israel-based operations of collaborating with the Israeli government and “promoting genocide.”
Google Israel Managing Director Barak Regev was speaking Monday at the Mind the Tech conference in New York City when a man wearing an orange Google T-shirt stood up and said he was He identified himself as an engineer in the company’s cloud division.
“We reject genocide, apartheid and building technologies that enhance surveillance,” the technologist said, drawing jeers and jeers from the audience at the conference, which was sponsored by Israel’s business newspaper.
“Project Nimbus puts Palestinian community members at risk,” the engineer said.
the engineer shouted as he was led out of the room by security. “Don’t be clouded by apartheid. Don’t use technology for apartheid.”
In April 2021, the Israeli government announced that both Google and Amazon would become partners in a $1.2 billion initiative called “Project Nimbus” to provide “comprehensive cloud solutions” to government agencies, including defense facilities. did.
The conference was held to “emphasize the importance of a unified global technology community that rivals Israel in ethical leadership.”
Regev abruptly ended his speech when he was interrupted by another demonstrator shouting “Free Palestine.”
Some people in the audience became irritated and one person could be heard shouting. “Go somewhere else and support terrorism.”
When Project Nimbus was announced, an anonymous group of Google and Amazon employees issued a statement. British newspaper The Guardian condemned the partnership.
“We cannot support our employer’s decision to provide Israeli military and government technology that will be used to harm Palestinians,” the tech workers wrote in October 2021.
Last November, a group of Google staff including “anti-Zionist” Jews, Muslims, Palestinians, and Arabs circulated an open letter It demanded that management terminate the Nimbus contract for “providing material support to this genocide.”
The Israeli government has been accused of widespread human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, based in Gaza, carried out a cross-border attack on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
In the months that followed, Israel conducted military operations in the Gaza Strip that have so far claimed the lives of an estimated 30,000 Palestinians.
The Post has reached out to Google for comment.
