Jewish Google staff demand tech giant shows support for Palestine

A group of Jewish Google employees has written to the company to demand a ramp up in support for Palestinians in the wake of Israel’s devastating Gaza airstrike campaign.

The group, known as the Jewish Diaspora in Tech, called on Google to support and fund Palestinian-led relief efforts, to equal the support the tech giant provides to Israeli humanitarian efforts.

“We ask Google leadership to make a companywide statement recognizing the violence in Palestine and Israel, which must include direct recognition of the harm done to Palestinians by Israel’s military and gang violence,” the workers said in a letter on Wednesday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and the company’s executive team.

Reportedly signed by more than 250 employees, the letter called for the tech giant to avoid conflating Israel with the Jewish people, adding: “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism and this conflation harms the pursuit of justice for Palestinians and Jews alike, by limiting freedom of expression and distracting from real acts of antisemitism.”

The group consists of Jewish anti-nationalists within Google, and was formed in response to a perceived pro-Zionist sentiment among “Jewglers” — the official Jewish employee resource group within Google.

Ignoring the deadly attacks faced by Palestinians “erases” the company’s Palestinian coworkers, the group warned.

The letter was reportedly written after the executive team of Google failed to put out a statement condemning the violence against Palestinians, while some members of the Google leadership even promoted pro-Israel funding opportunities.

“We agree that a response from Google leadership is necessary, but we believe any response that recognizes violence against Israelis but fails to give the same recognition to violence against Palestinians is worse than no response at all,” the Jewish Diaspora in Tech said.