Microsoft Fires Employees Who Organized Vigil For Palestinians Killed In Gaza

Microsoft has dismissed two workers for organizing an unlawful vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians murdered in Gaza during Israel’s conflict with Hamas.

The two employees told The Associated Press they were dismissed by phone late Thursday, several hours after organizing a lunchtime event on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.

Both employees were part of the “No Azure for Apartheid” campaign, which protested Microsoft’s sale of cloud computing technology to the Israeli government. However, they claimed Thursday’s gathering was akin to other Microsoft-approved staff giving efforts to those in need.

Microsoft Fires Employees Who Organized Vigil For Palestinians Killed In Gaza

“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, friends, or loved ones,” said Abdo Mohamed, a data scientist and researcher. “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 announced Friday that it has “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy,” but declined to elaborate.

Mohamed, who is from Egypt, stated that he needed to find a new job within the next two months to transfer his work visa and prevent his deportation.

Another sacked employee, Hossam Nasr, stated that the objective of the vigil was “to honor the victims of the Palestinian genocide in Gaza and to call attention to Microsoft’s complicity in the genocide” due to the Israeli military’s use of its technology.

Nasr said that the monitoring group Stop Antisemitism had announced his firing on social media more than an hour before he received the contact from Microsoft. The organization did not immediately respond Friday to a request for information on how it heard of the firing.

The same group had urged Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella months ago to take action against Nasr for his public statements about Israel.

Microsoft Fires Employees Who Organized Vigil For Palestinians Killed In Gaza

Nasr, a 2021 Harvard University graduate reared in Egypt, is also a co-founder of Harvard Alumni For Palestine.

Earlier this year, Google dismissed more than 50 employees in response to concerns over technology supplied to the Israeli government during the Gaza conflict. The firings resulted from internal strife and sit-in protests at Google offices over “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract in 2021 between Google and Amazon to supply cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government.

Microsoft said in a statement Friday that it is “dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment.” However, “we are unable to disclose particular facts for privacy and confidentiality reasons.”

SOURCE | AP