Microsoft fires two employees for organising vigil for Palestinians

Duo members of coalition of employees called "No Azure for Apartheid" that opposed Microsoft's sale of cloud-computing technology to Israel

Washington: Microsoft has fired two employees who organised an unauthorised vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas. The two employees said they were fired by phone call late on Thursday, several hours after a lunchtime event they organised at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.

Both workers were members of a coalition of employees called “No Azure for Apartheid” that has opposed Microsoft’s sale of its cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government. But they contended that Thursday’s event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned employee giving campaigns for people in need.

---

“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” said Abdo Mohamed, a researcher and data scientist. “But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Microsoft said it has “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” but declined to provide details. Mohamed, who is from Egypt, said he now needs a new job in the next two months to transfer a work visa and avoid deportation.

Another fired worker, Hossam Nasr, said the purpose of the vigil was both “to honor the victims of the Palestinian genocide in Gaza and to call attention to Microsoft’s complicity in the genocide” because of the use of its technology by the Israeli military.