Palestine Legal to Google: You Can't Discriminate Against Workers Organizing for Palestinian Freedom

Palestine Legal warned Google against unlawful worker retaliation as thousands of Google and Amazon employees called on their employers to end contracts with the Israeli military and government, including the billion-dollar Project Nimbus.

Together with a coalition of civil rights organizations, we wrote in October 2021 that “[R]etaliation against Google employees for voicing concerns about corporate complicity with Israel’s systematic human rights abuses violates multiple state and federal laws.”

The letter details laws that protect workers against discrimination based on Palestinian identity, against retaliation for voicing political opinions, and against retaliation for organizing collectively to change working conditions such as contracts that use employee labor to violate Palestinian human rights.

Nonetheless when Google worker Ariel Koren started publicly speaking out against these contracts and in support of Palestinian rights, Google retaliated by attempting to force her from her position. Workers are again organizing to protect Ariel and others’ rights to right to speak up about how their labor is used without fear of losing their jobs.

Punishing employees who express support for Palestinian freedom is a trend in repression that stood out in 2021. In a year of unprecedented solidarity with Palestinians, employees in a range of sectors raised their voices in solidarity with Palestinians at work and on social media and were fired. Though many efforts to oust activists from their jobs failed after public solidarity campaigns and legal interventions, they still harmed those targeted for speaking out, and others who felt the chilling impact of the backlash.

Our letter notes, “By heeding the call to oppose Israeli suppression of Palestinian human rights, Google has an opportunity to stand on the right side of history – or at the very least, to honor the basic employment rights of those calling for justice.”

TAKE ACTION:

Sign the petition to protect workers who speak out for Palestine here.

Read the full Palestine Legal Coalition Letter here.