Amazon Suspends Engineer Protesting Company’s Israeli Government Contract

Amazon Suspends Engineer Protesting Company’s Israeli Government Contract

Amazon has placed software engineer Ahmed Shahrour on paid suspension after he publicly protested the company’s involvement in a cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, CNBC has confirmed.

Shahrour, a Palestinian engineer working within Amazon’s Whole Foods division in Seattle, was informed on Monday that he was suspended “until further notice” following his posts on internal Slack channels criticizing Amazon’s role in Project Nimbus. This joint $1.2 billion initiative between Amazon and Google, launched in 2021, aims to provide the Israeli government with artificial intelligence tools, data centers, and other cloud infrastructure.

In a letter addressed to Amazon executives, including CEO Andy Jassy, Shahrour called on the company to end its participation in Project Nimbus. He expressed deep personal conflict, stating, “Every day I write code at Whole Foods, I remember my brothers and sisters in Gaza being starved by Israel’s man-made blockade.” He described his position as one of “constant dissonance” between his work and the suffering of Palestinians.

An Amazon human resources representative notified Shahrour that his Slack posts “may violate multiple policies” and that the company was investigating the matter. However, Amazon has not disclosed which policies were allegedly breached. As part of the suspension, Shahrour’s access to company email and internal tools was revoked, and his Slack messages were deleted.

Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser declined to comment specifically on Shahrour’s suspension. He reiterated the company’s stance against discrimination, harassment, or threatening behavior in the workplace and affirmed that any such reports are investigated thoroughly.

This episode unfolds amid increasing activism by tech employees at major firms—including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Palantir—who have protested their companies’ contracts with the Israeli military. For instance, Microsoft recently terminated two employees involved in on-site protests, and Google dismissed 28 employees earlier this year following labor and contract-related demonstrations.

Shahrour also alleges that Amazon has taken measures to silence pro-Palestinian voices within the company. He cited examples such as warnings issued to employees sharing content about Gaza and the firing of a French employee who publicly criticized Israel on social media. Additionally, posts in the “Arabs at Amazon” Slack channel discussing the Gaza conflict were reportedly removed, while anti-Palestinian posts in other channels remained.

These allegations echo concerns raised at Microsoft, where employees reported that emails containing words like “Palestine,” “Gaza,” and “genocide” were blocked internally, while messages referencing “Israel” were allowed.

Amazon has not publicly addressed its involvement with Project Nimbus beyond stating that it provides technology services to customers worldwide. Google and Microsoft have similarly emphasized their commitment to ethical technology provision, with Google noting that its services to Israel exclude highly sensitive or military workloads.