Above photo: David Ryder/Bloomberg.
The employees were dismissed after protests over Microsoft’s role in supplying Israel with surveillance tools and cloud services used to ethnically cleanse Gaza.
Microsoft announced on 29 August that an additional four employees were fired for participating in on-site protests against the company’s deep ties to Israel, including its role in providing surveillance tools used in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The protest group “No Azure for Apartheid” said on Wednesday that Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails notifying them of their dismissal after staging sit-in protests inside the office of President Brad Smith this week
A day later, it reported that two more workers, Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan, had also been fired. The group stated that all four had been involved in protests, including recent encampments outside Microsoft’s headquarters.
In a statement on Thursday, Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies. It claimed that recent demonstrations inside company premises “created significant safety concerns.”
No Azure for Apartheid, which takes its name from Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, has demanded that the tech giant cut ties with Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.
“We are here because Microsoft continues to provide Israel with the tools it needs to commit genocide while gaslighting and misdirecting its own workers about this reality,” Hattle said.
Hattle and Fameli were among seven protesters arrested on Tuesday during the sit-in at Smith’s office.
The other five detainees were former Microsoft employees and outside demonstrators. Smith later said the company supported “freedom of expression that everyone in this country enjoys as long as they do it lawfully.”
A joint investigation published earlier this month by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Hebrew outlet Local Call found that an Israeli military surveillance agency has been using Microsoft’s Azure software to store vast numbers of phone call recordings from Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Following the revelations, Microsoft stated that it had hired US law firm Covington & Burling LLP to review the matter.
This week’s firings are the latest in a series of actions against pro-Palestinian employees.
In April, a staff member interrupted a speech by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman at the company’s 50th anniversary celebration, and was dismissed for his protest shortly after.
