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| Fifth Column |
| Two Microsoft workers fired after occupying president’s office to protest ties to Israel |
| 2025-08-28 |
| [IsraelTimes] Two Microsoft employees are fired after taking part in a sit-in at the office of the company’s president to protest the firm’s alleged ties to Israel. A Microsoft spokesperson says the workers were terminated following “serious breaches of company policies and our code of conduct” stemming from “the break-in at the executive offices.” Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing them that they were fired, the protest group No Azure for Apartheid says in a statement. Azure is Microsoft’s primary cloud computing platform, and Microsoft has said it is reviewing a report in the British newspaper The Guardian this month that the IDF used it to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The workers were among seven protesters who were arrested on Tuesday after occupying the office of company President Brad Smith. The other five were former Microsoft workers and people outside the company. “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 says in a statement. No Azure for Apartheid has demanded that the company cut its ties to Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians. Smith said on Tuesday: “We respect the freedom of expression that everyone in this country enjoys as long as they do it lawfully.” Other Microsoft workers have also protested the company’s ties to Israel. Eighteen people were arrested in a similar protest in a plaza at the headquarters last week. Microsoft in May fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella, and in April it fired two others who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli are software engineers. Yep. |
| Posted by: Grom the Affective 2025-08-28 05:24 |
| #1 To all US company HR departments. It would be wise to avoid these 2 names for future employment. It could save seeing your company's name added to an updated version of a "Go Woke - Go Broke" video. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2025-08-28 05:08 |