Microsoft fires two employees for holding vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Microsoft has reportedly fired two employees for holding an “unauthorized” vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza at the company’s campus in Redmond, Washington.​​​​​​​

The two employees were fired over the phone late Thursday as they were both reportedly members of a coalition of employees called “No Azure for Apartheid” that opposes Microsoft’s sale of its cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government, according to the Seattle Times.

Microsoft said Friday it had “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy,” but did not provide further details.

“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” the newspaper quoted Abdo Mohamed, a researcher and data scientist who was fired, as saying.

“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,” he added.

Hossam Nasr, another fired worker, said the purpose 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” because of the use of its technology by the Israeli military.

Nasr also noted that his termination was first announced on social media by the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism, over an hour before he received Microsoft’s official notice, raising concerns about the company’s firing process.

Previously, Google fired 50 of its employees following protests over technology supplied by the company to the Israeli government during the Gaza war.