Campaign group slams Google and Amazon for being 'genocide profiteers'

Google and Amazon have been slammed for being "genocide profiteers with blood on their hands" following a report that revealed Project Nimbus involves Israeli weapons manufacturers running Amazon and Google cloud services, something denied in the past by Google.

No Tech for Apartheid, a pro-Palestine campaign group, issued a statement on Thursday condemning the multinationals for "directly colluding with Israeli occupation forces".

The statement comes after The Intercept confirmed Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud contract between the two tech giants and Israel, requires Israeli weapons manufacturers to run their cloud services, including Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

According to The Intercept, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems manufactures the "Spike" missile, which analysts believe Israel has used on Palestinians, and leaves cube-shaped tungsten shrapnel wounds.

The report found that the missile was used as recently as last month, during Israel’s drone-facilitated killing of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers.

No Tech for Apartheid also highlighted that one of Project Nimbus’ customers is Israel’s settlement division, which is tasked with expanding Israel’s illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank.

"With this new reporting, there is no room left for doubt: Google and Amazon are turbocharging the Israeli military’s killing machine," the campaign group said.

Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary, Elta, manufactures a robot bulldozer the Israeli military uses to raze buildings in Gaza, it added.

Last month, Google fired over 50 employees who were protesting their cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government.

The action consisted of a 10-hour-long sit-in, with workers saying they intended to occupy the offices until they were either arrested or Google cancelled its contract with Israel.

BREAKING—Statement from the No Tech For Apartheid campaign on @theintercept bombshell investigation confirming that Project Nimbus requires Israeli weapons manufacturers to run on Amazon and Google’s cloud serviceshttps://t.co/IBIsIYkfkm

— No Tech For Apartheid (@NoTechApartheid) May 1, 2024

The sit-in was planned following a report by Time magazine which revealed that Google had provided cloud services for the Israeli military, according to company documents seen by the outlet.

No Tech for Apartheid also previously found that the Israeli military uses Google Photos for facial recognition across Gaza, which they say has led to the arrest and torture of thousands of Palestinians. An investigation by Israeli media also said Google Photos was being used in AI targeting systems used in Gaza. Google denied the allegation.

The reports come as Israel continues to pummel the Gaza Strip, where at least 34,500 people have been killed, most of whom were women and children, since 7 October.

At least 77,800 Palestinians have been wounded since, while around 10,000 are believed to be still under the rubble according to Gaza's civil defence crews.