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Microsoft fires employees who organized vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza (apnews.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by ForgottenFlux to c/technology

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Microsoft has fired two employees who organized an unauthorized vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas.

The two employees told The Associated Press they were fired by phone call late Thursday, several hours after a lunchtime event they organized at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.

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. But they contended that Thursday’s event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned employee giving campaigns for people in need.

“We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones,” said Abdo Mohamed, a researcher and data scientist. “But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Microsoft said Friday it has “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” but declined to provide details.

Google earlier this year fired more than 50 workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war. The firings stemmed from internal turmoil and sit-in protests at Google offices centered on “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.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Is the only vigil that's not political is for American white men that died?

[–] Ithorian 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Bro dont organize nothing in your work place, its common sense. You want a vigil? Nice, go to a public place and do it, first you are trying to drag the company to your fight and maybe the company just dont want to take sides, second: what is your target audience? The people that you can talk to on the rest room of the company? Cmon...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago

Bro dont organize nothing in your work place, its common sense.

I understand your sentiment, but you're basically asking people to be only protest in places it's easier to ignore

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You know full well this wouldn't have happened if this was any other vigil not for black or brown people. Specifically not Palestine as well.

But yeah, obey the masters. Make them more money. As they siphon your wage and downright steal from you. Hope it works out in the long run and doesn't come to a singularity or some other dystopian reality. Not like we don't already live in one.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

You know full well this wouldn’t have happened if this was any other vigil not for black or brown people. Specifically not Palestine as well.

Yep. The pro-Israel bias of those in power in the U.S. is absolutely disgusting. A vigil for other groups would have been no problem.