Dozens of workers have been sacked by the tech giant for speaking up for Palestinians against Project Nimbus - but others say they won’t be silenced

It’s early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google’s headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue. Montes, who self-identifies as they, fumbles with their ID card at the entrance, blending in with the steady stream of Googlers swiping through the security barriers as if it were just another day at the office.

Armed with an oversized tote bag, Montes pulls back their purple hair and heads to the 13th-floor canteen to order their usual: a dirty chai and an egg, avocado, and cheese sandwich with a bowl of raspberries.

Their hands tremble slightly as they grip the coffee cup.

Locking eyes with two others, they get the signal that the coast is clear, head down to the entrance, and sit. The three Googlers unfurl their banners and begin chanting to demand that Google do one thing: Drop Project Nimbus.

But this will be the last time they sit inside Google’s New York office as Googlers, as Google itself refers to its own employees. “Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality,” remarked Montes, one of 50 employees fired by Google for staging a 10-hour sit-in at one of its American offices in April.

For the last three years, Montes has been one of several activists calling for Google to drop Project Nimbus, a partnership Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government reportedly worth $1.2bn.

  • TinidrilEnglish
    72·
    3 months ago

    Arrogance is the only language that ever penetrates with people who think in platitudes. It’s not my general attitude, it’s a tool that sometimes wakes up zombies. American libertarians are always surprised to find someone more arrogant then themselves.

    What you believe to be a political philosophy is nothing but empty rhetoric assembled by powerful elitists for the express purpose of consolidating and extending their power. It’s intended from the outset to neuter actual libertarian movements. Wake the fuck up zombie.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      26·
      3 months ago

      You should have used the word “sheeple” to complete the impression from your second paragraph.

      You don’t know shit of what I believe to be a political philosophy in the first place.

      • TinidrilEnglish
        41·
        3 months ago

        You guys all spout the same platitudes constantly and ignore every reality based argument. It’s not exactly opaque (or interesting).

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
          25·
          3 months ago

          What’s not interesting is you offering your “reality-based arguments” (how about every socialist country in existence) to something you yourself imagined. Yes, I can believe that your imagination is the constant in all those conversations.

          You are not being smart, and you are not being funny. Go away.

          • TinidrilEnglish
            32·
            3 months ago

            I’m not being smart or funny, but apparently I’m getting under your skin.

            Say what you will about socialist beliefs, they are absolutely more nuanced, historically rooted, and varied than what you call libertarian. You also don’t see super wealthy corporate oligarchs as thought leaders on the left. Your Ayn Rand inspired cult was entirely assembled by oligarch sponsored anarcho-capitalist think tanks.

            I haven’t argued for socialism of any kind here, and I won’t. You have probably heard most of the reasons why your opinions on socialism are nonsense, and you have probably not really heard any of them. I’m not wasting my time on that.