Microsoft faces more employee protests against Israel ties

Four Microsoft employees were fired this week for protesting the company’s ties to Israel, including a sit-in at president Brad Smith’s office in the Redmond, Washington headquarters.

Seven protesters, including current and former employees from Microsoft, Google, and Oracle, staged the protest inside Smith’s office before being arrested.

The protests and encampments at Microsoft offices have been ongoing, with 18 arrests last week.

Earlier this year, two other employees were also fired for protesting the company’s Israeli ties during AI chief Mustafa Suleyman’s speech at the 50th anniversary event.

No Azure for Apartheid
The actions were organized by No Azure for Apartheid, an advocacy group accusing Microsoft of aiding Israeli military surveillance of Palestinians through its Azure cloud services.

A recent joint investigation by the Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that Israel’s military uses Azure to store vast phone call recordings from Gaza and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Microsoft said in May that there is no evidence of Azure being used to “target civilians or cause harm” in Gaza. With the new report coming out, it has sought a law firm to conduct a review.

The backlash comes amid Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after Hamas’ attack in October 2023, that killed 1,200 people and took ~250 hostages. The conflict has since killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-run health authorities.