Microsoft Fires Two Employees for Protesting Israel Ties at Anniversary Event
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Microsoft has dismissed two employees who publicly protested the company’s support for Israel during its recent 50th anniversary celebration, following interruptions during speeches by top executives.
Two Microsoft software engineers were terminated after they disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary event last week, protesting its involvement in the Israeli war on Gaza.
During a speech by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, engineer Ibtihal Aboussad shouted, “How dare you celebrate when Microsoft is killing children,” as she approached the stage.
Aboussad was quickly escorted out by event staff and later fired, according to No Azure for Apartheid, a group of current and former Microsoft employees critical of the company’s ties to Israel.
Later in the event, another engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a panel featuring Microsoft founder Bill Gates, CEO Satya Nadella, and former CEO Steve Ballmer.
“Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you? Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood,” she shouted.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that the company’s commercial artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the Israeli army in a genocidal war against Palestinian people in Gaza.
In response to Aboussad’s interruption, Suleyman acknowledged the protest, saying, “I hear you, thank you for your protest.”
According to an email seen by Bloomberg, Agrawal had previously submitted a letter of resignation, but on Monday was informed that her resignation had been accepted effective immediately.
Microsoft has not issued a public response to the firings and did not reply to The Hill’s request for comment.
In a statement on Tuesday, No Azure for Apartheid praised the two former employees as “brave.”
“You can choose to speak up and organize; you can choose to reject abetment in genocide; you can choose to be on the right side of history and be brave like Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal,” the group said.
“Or, you can be silent while raking in your stock awards on the blood of Palestinian children. The choice is yours.”
They added, “To all workers: we call on you to demand your workplaces divest from apartheid and genocide.”
“As part of the larger No Tech for Apartheid movement, we especially call on tech workers — no matter what role — to refuse to have your labor power apartheid and genocide.”
