Tech workers for Palestine
Table of Contents
Palestinian labour unions have called on workers worldwide to join the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Do you work in a tech role, or at a tech company? And do you want to take action to support the liberation of Palestine? You’re not alone!
Get involvedWhat can you do as a tech worker? #
There’s a bunch of things you can do as a tech worker to support the fight for the liberation of Palestine:
- Take individual action. Keep talking about Palestine at work, with friends and family, and online. Boycott products and services from companies that support the occupation. Take direct action. Refuse to do or build things that undermine the rights and freedoms of people in Palestine.
- Organize your workplace. As a tech worker, you’re most powerful when you and your coworkers organize together at your workplace. Want some help getting started? Tech workers coalition is happy to support!
- Get active in existing movements or campaigns. Check out the existing initiatives for an overview of some movements in and outside the Netherlands that you can join.
Got another idea? Want to collaborate to make it happen? Get in touch!
Why does tech matter? #
The Israeli occupation of Palestine needs technology, in at least two ways:
- Operational: The occupation uses tech for its operations. This includes tech used directly in genocide and apartheid, such as the cloud computing infrastructure that Google and Amazon provide to the Israeli military as part of Project Nimbus, or facial recognition tools used to surveill and then murder Palestinians. It also includes everyday tech, from personal electronics to platforms to book accommodation in occupied Palestinian land.
- Exports: Tech massively contributes to the Israeli economy — and hence its potential survival. In 2023, tech made up 53% of Israeli exports (73.5 billion US dollars).
That’s how the occupation relies on tech. As a tech worker, you and your coworkers can take steps to make sure that your workplace:
- Doesn’t provide goods or services to Israel. The fewer companies provide goods or services to the occupation and its businesses, the more the occupation — at least in the short term — is hampered in its operations.
- Doesn’t purchase goods or services from Israel. The more organizations avoid Israeli tech, the more it’ll hurt its exports.
Israel is already experiencing a brain drain and is turning into a #ShutDownNation. Any bit of additional pressure helps.
How are tech workers powerful? #
You might think: ‘Who am I? What can I do? I don’t control which customers my company takes on, or who we buy things from…’ And you might very well be right! But you’ve got options.
First off, there’s a bunch of things you can already do on your own, right now.
Further, as a tech worker, you stand strongest when you join forces with your coworkers. Why? Because employers need your work. Companies can’t make a profit without you and your coworkers’ labour. Bosses, managers, and shareholders don’t produce anything themselves. Workers do that. You and your coworkers do that. Owners and investors only extract from the value that you and your coworkers produce with your work. This is where the potential power of tech workers lies.
If your workplace stays disorganized, you’re vulnerable. The boss will try to pit you against one another. And then you’re all on your own, you’ve got no power to demand anything, and everyone’s worse off. Don’t let that happen!
But if you and a majority of your coworkers organize together, you’re powerful. Then you have the power to determine what happens at your workplace—because together you could, ultimately, shut down all operations if you don’t get what you demand.
If you’re organized, you can demand higher wages or flexible working hours. And you can refuse to do certain work, or refuse to take on customers or suppliers with ties to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
That’s how tech workers are powerful.
Existing initiatives #
Here’s an overview of some existing initiatives that work to support the liberation of Palestine, both in the Netherlands and globally.
| Organization | Focus |
|---|---|
| BDS Nederland | Foundation that works to end the occupation of Palestine, get Palestinians’ rights recognized, and Palestinians’ right of return to their land respected. |
| Nederlands Palestina Komitee | Action group that aim to strenghten solidarity in the Netherlands with the Palestinian people. |
| No Azure for Apartheid | Worker-led movement at Microsoft to demand that the company end its complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide. |
| No Tech for Apartheid | Worker-led campaign of Google and Amazon workers organizing against the companies’ $1B Project Nimbus cloud computing contract with the Israeli government and military. |
| Palestine Action | Direct action against Israel’s arms trade. |
| Tech Divestment Network | Worker-led network of organizations who advocate for divestment from the military-industrial complex in and around the tech industry. |
| Tech for Palestine | Coalition of thousands of founders, engineers, product marketers, investors and other professionals who are working in support of Palestinian liberation. |
| Vakbond solidair met Palestina | Trade union members, including those from the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV), calling for solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian people. |
Resources #
Here are some resources with ideas and information that could help you support the liberation of Palestine.
Protections for workplace action in Dutch Labour Law
An overview of the protections that Dutch Labour Law provides workers in relation to various workplace actions.
Organize your workplace
Learn how to organize your workplace with the Tech Workers Coalition. Get motivated, form a planning team, and build solidarity to win positive change.