A Microsoft employee was fired and another resigned after disrupting the Microsoft 50th anniversary celebration in Redmond on Friday, a Microsoft spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, though protest organizer No Azure for Apartheid claimed that both activists were terminated.
The former employees, identified in a Tuesday Instagram post by the protest group as Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal, reportedly lost access to corporate infrastructure soon after their protests and had not been notified of their status at the company by Sunday. However, in a Friday Instagram post, No Azure said that Agrawal had resigned in a mass email to other company employees.
"Losing our jobs is a trivial price to pay for our principles and the fight for a free Palestine from the river to the sea," said No Azure.
No Azure claimed in its statement that the software giant's public image had been ruined by the protest, and that workers in the Middle East had sent their own protest emails as they joined in a global work strike to call for the end of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
"Microsoft thinks it can scare us by firing our members, but they could not be more mistaken," said No Azure. "In fact, Microsoft should be scared."
Council on American-Islamic Relations Washington praised the two activist ex-employees, and echoed their calls for ending contracts with Israel because software products were being used by the IDF.
“There isn’t much more that needs to be said after seeing 18 months of Israeli mass destruction, slaughter of women and children, ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and genocide,” CAIR-WA Executive Director Imraan Siddiqi said in a Tuesday statement. “The employees are firmly on the right side of history, yet these corporations are constantly showing they favor profit and shareholder value over human lives. This has to end.”
Aboussad had interrupted an address by Microsoft artificial intelligence CEO Mustafa Suleyman, throwing a keffiyeh on stage and accusing him and the company of aiding Israeli military efforts in Gaza.
"You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military," Aboussad said according to a video posted on Instagram by No Azure for Apartheid. "You are a war profiteer."
Microsoft panel disrupted
A panel with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and founder Bill Gates was disrupted by Agrawal, who claimed that "50,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Microsoft technology."
Other activists marched onto the Microsoft campus with banners and signs calling for the end of contracts with the State of Israel, chanting, "Microsoft, you can’t hide! You sell tech for genocide."
Aboussad said in an email to the company that she felt that there was "no other way to make our voices heard" because the company had allegedly suppressed dissent on the issue.
"Microsoft cloud and AI enabled the Israeli military to be more lethal and destructive in Gaza than they otherwise could," claimed Aboussad. "Microsoft has also been providing software, cloud services, and consulting services to the Israeli military and government, totaling millions in profit."
Argawal claimed in her email that Microsoft was complicit in apartheid and genocide, and by working for the company, employees were also complicit in the alleged crimes.
A Microsoft spokesperson told The Post on Monday that it provides "many avenues for all voices to be heard. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”
No Azure noted on social media Tuesday that two of its members were fired for protest action in October. Five Microsoft employees were removed from a conference on February 24 for a protest in which Nadella was interrupted by demonstrators wearing shirts accusing the officer of using their code to kill children.
No Azure for Apartheid said on Instagram that their protesters were "fueled" by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement's call last Thursday to boycott the Xbox gaming platform.
BDS said on X that it hoped to pressure Microsoft into cutting ties with Israel by embargoing Xbox. The official BDS organizing body called for supporters to cancel Xbox GamePass subscriptions and to not play Microsoft video game franchises, as well as all branded gaming products such as consoles and headsets.
"Microsoft Gaming, which includes Xbox consoles, Xbox game pass, Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and gaming accessories, makes up a considerable portion of Microsoft's profit," said BDS Movement. "By boycotting the Xbox brand, we're pressuring Microsoft to end its complicity in Israel's genocide, occupation, and apartheid against Palestinians."
BDS said that the Azure cloud and AI services were "central" to alleged Israeli actions against Palestinians, and the Israeli military was reliant on the systems.
"Genocide is not a game," wrote BDS.
