Microsoft has fired two more employees, Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan, in connection with a demonstration which saw protestors set up encampments at Microsoft headquarters. Earlier, Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli were fired in connection with the Palestine protests.
In a post on Instagram, No Azure for Apartheid shared about the protest that saw multiple employees of the company getting fired.
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“Earlier this week, two current, and (EDIT) four former Microsoft workers along with one other tech employee were arrested for their participation in a sit-in at the office of Bradford Smith, president of Microsoft. This action was the latest in a series of worker actions organized by the Worker Intifada calling on Microsoft to cut ties with Israel,” the group wrote.
Who are Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan?
Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan were reportedly fired for creating “significant safety concerns.” Jaradat previously made headlines after she sent a mass email around Microsoft alleging that she was “fed up” about how she was treated as a “Palestinian worker”, reported Verge.
What is No Azure for Apartheid?
{{/usCountry}}Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan were reportedly fired for creating “significant safety concerns.” Jaradat previously made headlines after she sent a mass email around Microsoft alleging that she was “fed up” about how she was treated as a “Palestinian worker”, reported Verge.
What is No Azure for Apartheid?
{{/usCountry}}The official website describes it as a movement which “demands that Microsoft live up to its own purported ethical values—by ending its direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide.”
Earlier this month, the Guardian published a report that Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure has been used by the Israeli military for mass surveillance of Palestinians.
Microsoft denies allegations:
In response, the company published a blog post about an investigation it conducted regarding the allegations. “In recent months, we’ve heard concerns from our employees and the public about media reports regarding Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies being used by the Israeli military to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza.”
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The company denied any connection with the military, stating, “We take these concerns seriously. In response, we have conducted an internal review and engaged an external firm to undertake additional fact-finding to help us assess these issues. Based on these reviews, including interviewing dozens of employees and assessing documents, we have found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”