Microsoft has actually discharged 2 workers that arranged an unapproved vigil at the firm’s head office for Palestinians eliminated in Gaza throughout Israel’s battle with Hamas.
The 2 workers informed The Associated Press they were discharged by telephone call late Thursday, numerous hours after a lunch break occasion they arranged at Microsoft’s university in Redmond, Washington.
Both workers were participants of a union of workers 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 gift campaigns for people in need.
“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” claimed Abdelrahman Mohamed, a scientist and information researcher. “But Microsoft actually fell short to have the area for us where we can integrate and share our pain and recognize the memories of individuals that can no more represent themselves.”
Microsoft said Friday 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.
Nasr said his firing was disclosed on social media by the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism more than an hour before he received the call from Microsoft. The group didn’t immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on how it learned about the firing.
The same group had months earlier publicly called on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to take action against Nasr for his public stances on Israel.
Nasr, an Egyptian-raised 2021 graduate of Harvard University, is also a co-organizer of Harvard Alumni for Palestine.
Google earlier this year fired more than 50 workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war. The firings stemmed from internal turmoil and sit-in protests at Google offices centered on “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 for Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
Microsoft said in its statement Friday about the firings that it remains “dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment. Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details.”
Matt O’brien, The Associated Press
