Former Microsoft employees fired over Palestinian vigil claim retaliation

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REDMOND, Wash. — Two former Microsoft employees are claiming they were unjustly terminated after they held a vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas.

Abdo Mohamed and Hossam Nasr held the vigil during their lunch break.

Both workers were members of a coalition of employees called “No Azure for Apartheid” that has opposed Microsoft’s sale of its cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government.

The vigil was not authorized by the company, but the former employees say the event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned giving campaigns for people in need.

To Microsoft, the image of Microsoft workers honoring the victims of genocide is more offensive than the images of Palestinians being burned alive, in a genocide Microsoft is powering and funding,” said Nasr in a news release.

After the firings, Microsoft released a statement that read, “Microsoft is dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment. Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details.”

This isn’t the first time a company has terminated employees over activities related to the war. In April, CNN reported that Google terminated more than 50 workers. The firings stemmed from sit-in protests at Google offices over “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 for Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.