Microsoft fires four workers over protests against firm’s ties to Israel

Microsoft has fired four employees who participated in protests on company premises over the firm’s ties to Israel, including two who took part in a sit-in this week at the office of the company’s president.

Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing them that they were fired, the protest group No Azure for Apartheid said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added on Thursday that two more workers, Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan, were also sacked.

They were among demonstrators who had recently set up encampments at Microsoft headquarters to protest against the company’s support



for Israel as it wages its war on Gaza.

Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies. In its statement on Thursday, it said recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns”.

No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft’s Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.

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