The employees also demand that the technology company continue to champion free speech and create a relief fund for Palestinians affected by war.
The tech giant has come under fire for its support of Israeli organizations, including the government, with which it signed a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract in April in partnership with Google.
Hamas and Israel agreed to a cease-fire on Thursday evening after the worst outbreak of fighting between the two sides in years.
Both sides have separately claimed victory. The latest escalation in violence began as a legal battle over attempts to evict several Palestinian families from buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Israeli officials describe it as a private real estate dispute between Jewish owners and Palestinian tenants or squatters that is being resolved in the Israeli courts. Palestinian leaders and their supporters around the world view the expected evictions as a symbol of the wider Israeli strategy of building Jewish settlements on land Palestinians want for a state.
Dear Jeff, Andy, and the Executive Team,
These efforts should be lauded.
There is a long-standing, convoluted, and inhumane narrative that their suffering and deaths do not matter, and, in many cases, are warranted and commendable. Though, in the current milieu, we have seen millennials and Gen Zs see past this, amplifying the pain of Palestinians through various social media channels and demanding that more organizations reflect on where they stand on the issue of settler colonial violence.
Despite numerous UN resolutions and consensus from international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and B’Tsleem, that the Palestinians are living under illegal military occupation and apartheid rule, those in positions of power and influence — who have boldly stood for human rights in so many other causes — have either chosen to remain silent, or have released milquetoast “both sides” statements. Enough is enough. The recent violent and deadly display of Palestinian displacement, disenfranchisement, and dehumanization cannot, once again, be actively or passively endorsed.
It is important to clarify that our stance against the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian people is not a stance against the Jewish people.
Antisemitism has no place in our cause. Our narrative is a stance against a state continuing to perpetuate settle colonial violence against an indigenous people: the Palestinians.
We welcome the opportunity to engage with you on the this pressing matter, and appreciate your time and attention.
