we are not numbers
emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights
Artificial intelligence and cloud computing, which help me access news and information, also help Israel attack Gaza.
Amazon and Google logos
Technology has always been a double-edged sword. It has contributed to the development of the world and made life easier. However, despite its great benefits, it also has downsides and negative consequences when misused, especially by those who seek to exploit it in ways that destroy the lives of innocent people. In this context, the Israeli occupation has utilized artificial intelligence and cloud computing to enhance its attacks and genocide against Gazans.
Google Chrome was once the most important app on my phone, an integral part of my daily life. I used it for everything — browsing the news, reading articles and research, and even watching videos and series to amuse myself. I also relied on it for my source of income when I worked as a freelance translator. It was the first app I opened when I woke up and the last app I spent my time with before going to sleep. I was grateful for its existence and never suspected the hidden hands that lurked behind it.
During the war in Gaza, accessing it was not easy. The internet connection would often be cut off during attacks and would remain unavailable for several weeks at a time, making Gazans feel more isolated from the world than we already do. Even when the network returned, it was weak and unstable, which prevented me from browsing the news and knowing what was taking place around me. Nonetheless I relied on Chrome to find out what places had been bombed and the people who had become martyrs, the number of which was increasing dramatically and continuously.
But as I depended on it, I began to realize that our search history and data were constantly monitored. I found out there were spying and hacking programs through which Israel could target us in our homes. I witnessed this horrifying reality firsthand when my neighbor made a phone call over the internet in his front window. Seconds later, his house was bombed; he and his entire family were martyred. His neighbors strongly suspect that Israeli technology was used to locate him.
That was when I understood that I had been betrayed by Google — the very source I relied on for information. Someone was spying on me and my neighbors through it, turning our online presence into a tool for our destruction. It was a bitter, painful realization. Technology essential to my life was, without me knowing, destroying it. Later, I read a news report that confirmed Google had actively aided Israel in its war against us. This revelation left me angry and shocked. How could I come to terms with the fact that the company behind an application I depended on was complicit in the occupation’s crimes, contributing to our suffering and destruction? Google has lost my trust and, in the end, exposed itself.
Google along with a second tech giant, Amazon, had supported Israel’s Ministry of Defense since the early weeks of their war on Gaza with its cloud computing contract known as Project Nimbus. This project has enabled mass surveillance and precision attacks on civilians as well as the massive destruction of schools, hospitals, and homes. My house was one of them. I suffered from the harrowing experience of displacement and moving from one place to another.
In February 2024, the Israeli army invaded our land with tanks and besieged our village of Al-Zawaideh. Their forces were surrounding all areas of Gaza in order to target us at close range. Exploding bombs were getting closer and closer, which forced us to evacuate and flee with our lives.
When we returned after two weeks to inspect our home, we found it had turned into a pile of rubble. Most of our neighbors’ houses were also destroyed, which made me feel like I was lost. I had to sleep in a tent in the cold with my children and husband, and not a day passed before my children caught a cold. There was no one around, no neighbors, no supermarket, no bakery, no market, and this forced us to leave the area in search of a safe shelter.
The writer’s destroyed home. Photo by the writer
The school where I worked was also destroyed by bombs. I was walking to school for my teaching duties and about to reach the school when I received a sudden call that the school had been targeted, which forced me to return home with a mixture of fear and sadness.
Since then, instead of a classroom I have been teaching in a tent that came from international aid; it has become worn and torn over time and no longer protects the students from the rain and cold. We do not know how long these difficult conditions will continue, especially with the restrictions on aid and the deprivation of it.
Not only did Google work for Israel, but they also treated their employees harshly for protesting against the use of its technology to harm civilians.
In 2021, hundreds of Google and Amazon employees signed a letter demanding that their leadership stop contracting with militarized organizations and establish a human rights framework for its business operations. In particular, the letter called out Project Nimbus. In response, Google tightened its security measures and enforced strict policies to suppress these protests.
In April 2024 Google fired over 50 employees who were part of No Tech for Apartheid, a campaign that emerged out of the original 2021 letter-writing project. No Tech for Apartheid criticized the company’s business practices and argued that Google’s involvement in Nimbus could indirectly support Israeli military actions against Palestinians. Among those fired was a former Google engineer who during a company meeting cried out, “I refuse to build technology that supports genocide, apartheid, or surveillance!” Even a software engineer whose work enabled Project Nimbus spoke out of deep personal concern about the direct and violent consequences of their work. According to No Tech for Apartheid, “Google’s objectives are clear: the company is trying to silence workers to hide its ethical failures.”
I was surprised when I read about the Google employees who support the Palestinian cause but my anger increased when I learned that they were fired from the company. Google is suppressing the voices that express justice and demand peace. They do not want to hear us, as if we are just numbers to them, not human beings.
Many consumers use Google and Amazon services for shopping, entertainment, and business, unknowingly contributing to profits that fund projects like Nimbus. Unfortunately, I was one of them before learning the truth, which made me feel even worse.
For this reason, I support the BDS, the movement calling for boycott, divestment, and sanctions from Israel and boycott of these two corporations. I urge everyone to hold Google and Amazon legally accountable for their actions, which violate human rights. Anyone with a sense of humanity must stand against the unethical use of technology and prevent it from being weaponized for genocide against the oppressed people of Gaza, who are deprived of their most basic rights.
Realizing how these companies exploit technology to annihilate our people made me determined to boycott them, but over time I realized that this is not possible. I still find myself using Google Chrome to browse the news and write articles. I needed it even to write this essay so that the world could hear my voice. It’s painful to know that you can’t let go of something that hurt you and annihilated your people, and worse, that the world can’t know your story without it.
