Two activists disrupted the Amazon Web Services Summit in Washington, DC to protest Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. The protest occurred during a speech by Dave Levy, vice president of global public sector at AWS, targeting Amazon for its ties to a government accused of committing human rights violations.
The first activist, a young man, waved a Palestinian flag and questioned why Amazon would contract with a government labeled an apartheid state by major human rights organizations. Security quickly removed him from the premises. A second activist, a young woman, held a banner reading “LET GAZA LIVE” and accused Amazon of contributing to the genocide of Palestinians. She was also escorted out.
Since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, over 39,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 children, have died. Israel is facing accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, with arrest warrants issued for top Israeli officials. No Tech for Apartheid, a coalition formed in 2021, claims Amazon and Google continuing the Project Nimbus contract during this crisis is unacceptable.
The group, comprising tech workers and activists from organizations like MPower Change and Jewish Voices for Peace, aims to disrupt business as usual until the companies cut ties with Israel. Amazon did not provide a comment on the protest. No Tech for Apartheid has led previous protests resulting in arrests and layoffs of employees at Google.
In response to ongoing demonstrations, over 1,100 university students have pledged not to work or intern at Google or Amazon until they sever connections with Project Nimbus. The activists are determined to hold the tech giants accountable for supporting a government accused of committing human rights violations and genocide.
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https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-aws-project-nimbus-conference-protest-israel-gaza/