Microsoft Fires Four Employees After Urged To Break Up Partnership With Israel

Demonstrations to Microsoft (photo: X @NoAz4Apartheid)

JAKARTA Microsoft fired four employees who were involved in a demonstration against the company's relations with Israel. This action was carried out by employees who supported Palestine.

Of the four people who were fired, two of them were two employees who took part in the action of sitting at the company's president's office, Brad Smith. The two people are Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli.

According to reports from protest groups No Azure for apartheid, Hattle and Fameli were fired via voicemail. In addition to the two people, other Microsoft employees who were fired were Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan.

Both were also fired for demonstrations, but with different actions. Both are known to be involved in the tent establishment at Microsoft's head office. According to the company, these various actions have violated company policies.

In a statement shared on Thursday, August 28, Microsoft stated that demonstrations at the workplace "suggested significant safety concerns". Therefore, this action is called a serious violation.

This is not the first time a number of employees have held a working show to Microsoft. No Azure for apartheid, whose name refers to Microsoft's Azure devices, has demanded the company stop partnering with Israel for a long time.

In addition to being urged to cut ties with Israel, Microsoft was also asked to compensate Palestinians. According to the group, Microsoft has harmed Palestinians by providing Azure services to Israel.

"We are here because Microsoft continues to provide Israel with the tools it needs to commit genocide, while deceiving and misleading its own workers about this reality," Hattle said in a statement.

The group's accusations are also in accordance with the results of investigations carried out by a number of media. Based on the findings of the investigation, Azure was used to store recordings of Palestinian phone calls by the Israeli military.

Investigations carried out by The Guardian, Israel-Palestinian magazine +972 Magazine, and Local Call also show that Israel relies on Microsoft to monitor Palestinians.