Italy
A group of Jewish Google employees has called on the company to condemn the actions of the Israeli military amid the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip and to support Palestinians, according to a report.
In an internal letter, the employees asked CEO Sundar Pichai to publicly condemn the attacks, including “direct recognition of the harm done to Palestinians by Israeli military and gang violence”, The Verge news site reported.
The appeal is being made by the Jewish Diaspora in Tech employee resource group, a new group formed last year after splitting from “Jewglers” Google employee group, which has been accused of stifling criticism of Israel, The Verge reported.
Beyond the public statement, the letter calls on Google to “center” the voices of Palestinian Google employees going forward; fund relief for Palestinians “affected by military violence”; “reject any definitions of antisemitism that hold that criticism of Israel or Zionism is anti-semitism”; and the review and termination of “contracts with institutions that support Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, such as the Israeli Defense Forces”.
The letter had garnered 250 signatures as of Tuesday, according to The Verge. Members of Jewish Disapora in Tech told the news site they were inspired to write the letter after the so-called “Jewglers” group did not put out a statement condemning the violence against Palestinians.
As of Wednesday, at least 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, which have destroyed infrastructure and hundreds of homes.
A group of port workers in Italy protested against the supply of weapons and explosives to Israel.
The dockworkers refused to load weapons and explosives in the ship destined for Israel’s port of Ashdod.
“The port of Livorno will not be an accomplice in the massacre of the Palestinian people,” said L’Unione Sindacale di Base (USB).
The USB added that the ship contained “weapons and explosives that will serve to kill the Palestinian population, already hit by a severe attack this very night, which caused hundreds of civilian victims, including many children”.
Syndicate was tipped off about the destination of the ship from The Weapon Watch, a Genoa-based NGO that monitors arms shipment in the European and Mediterranean Sea.
The NGO urged the Italian government to consider whether it was “suspending some or all Italian military exports to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict areas.”
“The Union on Saturday will also be in the square in Livorno in solidarity with the Palestinian population and to ask for an immediate stop to the bombings on Gaza and a stop to the ‘expropriations’ Palestinian homes that have lived under military occupation for years,” the USB said in a statement.
Read more: France proposes Israel-Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN A group of Italian port workers urged others to join their protest and asked the Italian government to stop the import to Israel since these explosives might be used to bomb Gaza.—Agencies
