Amazon CNBC has stopped software engineers who protested the company’s work with the Israeli government.
Ahmed Sharoa, a Seattle-based Palestinian engineer who works for Amazon’s Whole Foods business and is based in Seattle, was informed that he was suspended on his salary “until further notice” after posting a message about Slack criticizing his ties with Israel on Monday morning.
“We have come to Amazon that posts made on multiple company slack channels may violate multiple policies,” a representative from Amazon Human Resources wrote in a message viewed by CNBC. In its message, the company said it was investigating the incident.
Earlier on Monday, Shahrour posted messages to several internal Slack channels and sent letters to Amazon executives, including CEO Andy Jassy, detailing his concerns.
Shahrour is a project that includes Project Nimbus, Amazon, and Google’s A $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement was launched in 2021 to provide the Israeli government with artificial intelligence tools, data centers and other infrastructure.
“I write code on Whole Foods every day. I remember my Gaza brothers and sisters were hungry for Israel’s artificial lockdown,” wrote Shahrour, who joined Amazon three years ago. “I live in a state of constant dissonance. I will maintain the profitable tools for this company, but my people are burned and hungry with the help of that very profitable. I have no choice but to resist directly.”
This letter was previously reported by independent journalist Kari Hayes.
Amazon spokesman Brad Glasser had not specifically addressed Shahrour’s situation.
“We do not discriminate, harass or threaten any kind of behavior or language in the workplace. If any behavior of that nature is reported, we investigate it and take appropriate action based on the findings,” Glaser wrote in an email to CNBC.
The company did not answer questions about its work with Israel or policies to ease employee posting on internal channels.
Amazon’s high-tech worker, Google, Microsoft, Palantir And other companies have become more open in their criticism of business dealings with the Israeli military.
Last month, Microsoft fired two employees who participated in a protest at the company’s headquarters. In April 2024, Google fired 28 employees after a series of protests over working conditions and involvement in Project Nimbus. Tech companies have stepped up security at several meetings in recent months after an increase in protests.
Amazon does not accept Nimbus agreements beyond saying it will provide technology to its customers “wherever it is.” Google previously said it provides the Israeli government with commonly available cloud computing services. Microsoft said last month that most of its work with the Israeli Defence Forces involves the country’s cybersecurity, and that the company intends to provide technology in an ethical way.
As part of the suspension, Amazon has revoked access to Shahrour’s company’s emails and tools and deleted the slack post, he told CNBC in an interview. Shahrour said Amazon did not say what policies his post violated.
The letter also alleges that Amazon has taken steps to “silence” pro-Palestinian employees who criticized the war in Gaza. Amazon recently fired a French employee after warning an engineer who shared an article about American doctors volunteering in Gaza. CNBC has checked people and accounts who are familiar with the issues that were asked not to be named due to confidentiality.
The company deleted posts on the “Amazon Arabs” Slack Channel, which discussed the conflict in Gaza, but posts from other channels that lightly parry Palestinians were not removed, Sharoa said.
“I feel like I can’t speak up anything. If that’s the case, I’ll give you a warning,” he said.
Earlier this year, Microsoft employees expressed concern that the company blocked Outlook emails that included the words “Palestine,” “Gaza,” “genocide,” “apartheid,” and “Azureoff.”
A Microsoft spokesperson previously said the company had taken steps to “try and cut” widely shared emails sent to employees who have not “opt-in.”
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