Microsoft staff occupy HQ in protest against company’s ties to Israeli military

Microsoft staff occupy HQ in protest against company’s ties to Israeli military
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Microsoft employees occupied the company’s east campus in Redmond, Washington, to protest its alleged use of its software by the Israeli military for operations in Gaza and the surveillance of Palestinian, The Guardian reported. The protest, organized by the group “No Azure for Genocide,” follows a report by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call that claimed Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, used Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store a large amount of mobile phone call data from Palestinians.

Demonstrators, who declared a “Free Zone,” held placards and called for the company to divest from Israel. The protest was an escalation of previous actions, including an employee interrupting a speech by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company had launched an inquiry into the allegations and, to date, had found no evidence that its technology was used to “target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.” The two-hour protest concluded after police threatened to arrest the demonstrators for trespassing.