Microsoft fires two more staff over Palestine protest at headquarters
Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan were terminated for participating in a sit-in at the company's headquarters in relation to pro-Palestine demonstrations
Microsoft has fired two more employees in relation to a protest demonstration during which protestors set up encampments at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
According to media reports, the two employees are Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan. Two other employees, Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli, were fired earlier in relation to the Palestine protests.
'No Azure for Apartheid'
The protest group 'No Azure for Apartheid', in an Instagram post, spoke about the protest that witnessed the dismissal of several employees for taking part in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza
“Earlier this week, two current and four former Microsoft workers, along with one other tech employee, were arrested for their participation in a sit-in at the office of Bradford Smith, president of Microsoft. This action was the latest in a series of worker actions organised by the Worker Intifada calling on Microsoft to cut ties with Israel,” stated 'No Azure for Apartheid'.
Also Read: Microsoft employee protests lead to 18 arrests as company reviews its work with Israel's military
‘Significant safety concerns’
The latest employees to be fired by Microsoft lost their jobs reportedly due to creating “significant safety concerns”. While Jaradat was in the news earlier for sending a mass email around Microsoft alleging that she was fed up with being treated as a “Palestinian worker”, according to a report by The Verge.
According to its official website, 'No Azure for Apartheid' is demanding that Microsoft fulfil its own “purported ethical values” by ending its “indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide”.
A recently published report in The Guardian stated that Israel was using Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure for mass surveillance of Palestinians.
Also Read: Satya Nadella addresses Microsoft layoffs, defends job cuts amid AI push
Microsoft denies allegations
However, Microsoft denied the claims in a blog post published on August 15, stating that, as per its internal review and fact-checking in collaboration with an external firm, no evidence was found to corroborate the allegations.
“In recent months, we’ve heard concerns from our employees and the public about media reports regarding Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies being used by the Israeli military to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza. We take these concerns seriously,” stated Microsoft.
“In response, we have conducted an internal review and engaged an external firm to undertake additional fact-finding to help us assess these issues. Based on these reviews, including interviewing dozens of employees and assessing documents, we have found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza,” it added.