Microsoft fires staff who protested its role in Israel’s Gaza genocide

Microsoft has sacked two employees who staged a sit-in at company president Brad Smith’s office to protest its collaboration with Israel as it wages a genocidal war on Gaza and ongoing apartheid in the occupied West Bank.

The workers, Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli, were among seven protesters arrested on Tuesday after occupying Smith’s office.

“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.

No Azure for Apartheid has called for Microsoft to sever all business with Israel and compensate Palestinians.

Investigations by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call have revealed that Israel’s surveillance apparatus relies heavily on Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store vast quantities of intercepted phone calls and data from Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.