Post by : Rameen Ariff

Amazon has dismissed a 29-year-old Palestinian engineer, Ahmed Shahrour, after he openly criticized the company’s business connections with Israel. Shahrour, who worked at Amazon’s Whole Foods Market unit, was officially terminated on Monday for allegedly violating company policies.

According to an internal email, Amazon stated that Shahrour’s actions, including comments aimed at “intimidating or interfering” with senior leaders and coworkers, breached its code of conduct. His suspension began last month after he shared several messages on the company’s internal Slack channels condemning Amazon’s involvement with Israel. Following his suspension, he also distributed protest leaflets outside Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement that the company does not tolerate “discrimination, harassment, or threatening behavior,” and that it takes “appropriate action” after investigating any such reports.

Amazon and Google are both key technology providers for the Israeli government and military through a cloud-computing agreement known as Project Nimbus. The project has drawn heavy criticism from human rights groups and employees who claim the companies are supporting military operations in Gaza.

Shahrour, in his earlier messages to coworkers, claimed that “Amazon is not a neutral observer — we are active participants.” His statement referred to the ongoing Gaza conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives before a ceasefire took effect on Monday.

The fired engineer is no stranger to activism. In August, he was among seven tech workers who occupied Microsoft President Brad Smith’s office in protest of the company’s dealings with Israel. The protesters were briefly detained and later released. Following media reports and growing pressure, Microsoft restricted some of its software from being used by an Israeli military unit.

This incident adds to growing tensions within the tech industry, where employees are increasingly voicing opposition to their employers’ ties with governments involved in controversial conflicts.

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