Share this @internewscast.com
Microsoft has temporarily restricted access to one of its headquarters buildings following a protest where demonstrators entered the office of the company’s president. Both current and former Microsoft employees staged a sit-in at Brad Smith’s office in Building 34, urging the company to sever its connections with the Israeli government.
The protesters live-streamed their entry into Building 34, a site hosting Microsoft executives, to Smith’s office on Twitch. They showcased banners during their demonstration and chanted slogans like, “Brad Smith you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!” Additionally, balloons with noise makers were positioned at Building 34’s entrance, and one sign declared, “The People’s Court Summons Bradford Lee Smith on Charges of Crimes Against Humanity.”
Abdo Mohamed, an organizer for No Azure for Apartheid who previously worked at Microsoft but was dismissed, confirmed to The Verge that current Microsoft employees Riki Fameli and Anna Hattle participated in the sit-in along with ex-employees Vaniya Agrawal, Hossam Nasr, and Joe Lopez.
This protest follows an incident less than a week prior when a Microsoft employee was apprehended at the same headquarters. Anna Hattle, a software engineer for Microsoft, was arrested alongside former employees Agrawal, Nasr, and Lopez after authorities claimed some protestors showed aggressive behavior during a demonstration at a plaza on Microsoft’s campus.
The No Azure for Apartheid group has been actively demonstrating against Microsoft’s cloud service contracts with the Israeli government recently. A former staff member disrupted Microsoft’s 50th anniversary occasion and labeled AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman a “war profiteer.” Additionally, Microsoft’s three CEOs were interrupted by another ex-employee at the same celebration. The group also caused disturbances at Microsoft’s Build conference several times earlier in the year, leading to Microsoft blocking emails containing “Palestine” in response to these protests.
A joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call earlier this month uncovered that the Israeli government uses Microsoft’s cloud services to manage recordings and data of up to “a million calls an hour” made by Palestinians.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment on this latest protest inside the company’s own offices, but the company didn’t respond in time for publication.
