Microsoft fires four workers over protests against firm’s ties to Israel

Microsoft says the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies amid claims that its software is used by Israeli army in Gaza.

Microsoft has fired four employees who participated in protests on company premises over the firm’s ties to Israel, including two who took part in a sit-in this week at the office of the company’s president.

Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing them that they were fired, the protest group No Azure for Apartheid said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added on Thursday that two more workers, Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan, were also sacked.

They were among demonstrators who had recently set up encampments at Microsoft headquarters to protest against the company’s support for Israel as it wages its war on Gaza.

Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies. In its statement on Thursday, it said recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns”.

No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft’s Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to 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 in a statement.

Hattle and Fameli were among seven protesters who were arrested on Tuesday after occupying the office of company President Brad Smith. The other five were former Microsoft workers and people outside the company.

A joint media investigation published this month found that an Israeli military surveillance agency was making use of Microsoft’s Azure software to store a large volume of recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The investigation, conducted by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, said Israel relied on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians.

In response, Microsoft said it was turning to law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct a review.

Other Microsoft workers have also protested against the company’s ties to Israel.

Claims on Microsoft’s Azure app

In April, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman’s remarks were interrupted by an employee who protested against the firm’s ties with Israel during the technology company’s 50th anniversary celebration. That employee and another protesting employee were also subsequently fired.

Firms and educational institutions have faced protests over ties with Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel’s military assault has mounted, and images of starving Palestinians, including children, have caused global outrage.