The company has fired four employees who demonstrated against Microsoft providing technology to Israel. Two of them staged a sit-in in front of the company's president, Brad Smith's office.
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According to a protest group called 'No Azure for Apartheid', the company sent a voicemail to Ana Hattle and Rikki Famelli informing them that they were fired from their jobs. After that, Nisreen Jardat and Julius Shan were also expelled, the group said.
These employees protested Israel's war in Gaza. They demanded that Microsoft stop its support to Israel and compensate the Palestinians.
Microsoft has said that these employees have been fired for violating company policy and posing a serious threat to security due to the demonstration. Smith, the president of the company, said that every person has the freedom to express his opinion, but it should be in accordance with the law.
The British media outlet, The Guardian, published news about the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform for data storage, including call recordings obtained from mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The company said last week that it had assigned a law firm to investigate the allegations.
Earlier last February, The Associated Press (AP) also published a report that Microsoft shared technology with the Israeli army. The AP reported that after the attack on Hamas on October 7, 2023, the artificial intelligence products used by the Israeli army increased by about 200 times.
Microsoft has responded that it is currently being investigated by a law firm. Various companies and educational institutions around the world with ties to Israel are facing protests. Earlier in April, two other employees of Microsoft were also fired because of their opposition to Israel.
