The No Tech for Apartheid (NOTA) coalition is calling on students not to work with Google and Amazon because of their cooperation with the Israeli government. This was reported by Engadget.
More than 1,100 people, who identified themselves as students and young workers in STEM fields, pledged to refuse to work for these companies "because of their support for Israel's system of apartheid and genocide against Palestinians." NOTA's goal is to collect 1,200 signatures in support of the campaign.
"As young people and students in STEM and beyond, we refuse to have any part in these horrific abuses. We’re joining the #NoTechForApartheid campaign to demand Amazon and Google immediately end Project Nimbus," the students' appeal reads.
Google and Amazon have won a $1.2 billion contract as part of the Nimbus project to provide cloud computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government and military.
Google and Amazon are among the largest employers of STEM graduates. Among the campaign participants are undergraduate and graduate students from Stanford, Berkeley, the University of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.
NOTA has already organized protests against tech companies for their ties to Israel in the past, including sit-ins and office occupations. As a result, Google fired dozens of employees.