ALBAWABA - Microsoft has fired four workers who took part in protests against the company's alleged support of the Israeli military during its ongoing operations in Gaza. There has been a lot of criticism of Microsoft's Azure cloud services lately, and reports say they are being used in military targeting and mass surveillance programs.
Microsoft confirmed on Wednesday that they had fired two employees for "serious violations of company policy," according to CNBC. The company said that going into the office of Brad Smith, Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, during a protest at the company's headquarters was "unauthorized and unacceptable."
Microsoft also fired two more employees on Thursday: Nasreen Jaradat and Julius Chan. They had recently taken part in a sit-in protest and camp-ins outside Microsoft's headquarters in Washington state.
The protest group "No Tech for Apartheid Azure," which set up the protests, spoke out against the firings and said Microsoft was involved in human rights abuses. The group said in a statement that Anna Hattl and Ricky Famili were told they were fired by voicemail messages.
The group has asked Microsoft to end its contracts with Israel and pay Palestinians for the tools and technologies it gives to the military in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Azure's Part in Military Operations
After several investigations found that Microsoft's Azure cloud platform was connected to Israeli military programs, it has come under more and more scrutiny.
The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call all worked together on an investigation that found that an Israeli army surveillance unit used Azure systems to store recordings of a lot of phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
An Associated Press investigation earlier this year also found that the Israeli military used Microsoft's OpenAI models in an AI-driven targeting program to choose where to bomb in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
More and more protests and arrests
The firings happened soon after a big protest at Microsoft's headquarters on Tuesday. Current and former employees, activists, and supporters all came together to speak out against the company's supposed support for the Israeli military.
During the protest, U.S. authorities arrested seven people, including Hattl and Famili. The other five people who were arrested were either Microsoft employees who had left the company or activists from outside the company.
