Microsoft sees biggest escalation yet of protests over Palestine; "Liberated Zone" created in campus and more
employees occupied company headquarters Tuesday in the most significant protest yet against the tech giant's contracts with Israel, establishing an encampment they renamed "
Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza
." Around 50 current and former Microsoft workers, alongside community supporters, took over the East Campus Plaza at the company's Redmond, Washington headquarters as part of escalating demonstrations by the "
No Azure for Apartheid
" group. The protesters set up tents, erected memorials to Gaza casualties, and established a negotiating table inviting Microsoft executives to "come to the table" and end partnerships with the Israeli military.
The demonstration ended after approximately two hours when police ordered protesters to leave, threatening arrests for trespassing. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the group "was asked to leave, and they left" but provided no additional comment beyond previous statements.
Employees demand complete divestment from Israeli partnerships
The activists distributed a manifesto titled "We will not be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine: a call for a Worker Intifada," demanding Microsoft cut all ties with Israel, call for an end to the conflict, pay reparations to Palestinians, and stop discriminating against pro-Palestinian workers.
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The group has spent over a year pushing Microsoft to end its relationship with Israel, arguing the company's Azure cloud platform contributes to civilian deaths in Gaza by serving Israeli government and military agencies. Several organizers have been terminated for holding unauthorised campus events and disrupting executive speeches, including interruptions of CEO Satya Nadella's presentations.
Investigation reveals surveillance concerns amid ongoing worker resistance
The protest follows recent reporting by The Guardian and +972 Magazine revealing Israel's military surveillance unit stored millions of Palestinian phone calls on Azure servers, with that data helping inform Gaza bombing targets. Microsoft enlisted law firm Covington & Burling to conduct an independent review of these allegations, though the company maintains it has "found no evidence" its technologies have been used to target civilians.
The demonstrations were also motivated by the recent targeted killing of prominent Al Jazeera journalist
Anas al-Sharif
, according to protester Hossam Nasr, a former Microsoft employee who was fired last year for organizing a Palestine vigil.
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