Microsoft fires employees for organising vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza

Fired employees were part of a “No Azure for Apartheid” group that opposing Microsoft's tech support for the Israeli government.

US technology giant Microsoft has fired two of its employees who organised a vigil at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington in solidarity with Palestinian victims in the Gaza Strip, who are being subjected to a genocidal war by Israel for the second year in a row.

Egyptians Hossam Mabed Nasr and Abdo Mohamed told the Associated Press (AP) that they were fired by Microsoft over the phone call several hours after hosting a lunchtime vigil on Thursday, October 24.

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.

On Friday, October 25, Microsoft said in a statement following the incident that “some employees were terminated in accordance with internal policy,” but declined to provide detailed information on the matter.

Israel has continued its aggression on the Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 42,924 martyrs, most of whom are children and women, in addition to 100,833 wounded.

Since October 7, global companies have investigated or terminated employees for protesting against support and cooperation with Israel in its war against Gaza.

In April, Google terminated more than 50 employees amid protests over the company’s technology provided to the Israeli government during the Gaza war.