Microsoft employee protests over Israel military ties lead to 18 arrests
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Police officers arrested 18 people at worker-led protests at Microsoft headquarters Wednesday as the tech company promises an 'urgent' review of the Israeli military's use of its technology during the ongoing war in Gaza.
Two consecutive days of protest at the Microsoft (MSFT) campus in Redmond, Washington called for the tech giant to immediately cut its business ties with Israel.
But unlike Tuesday, when about 35 protesters occupying a plaza between office buildings left after Microsoft asked them to leave, the protesters Wednesday 'resisted and became aggressive' after the company told police they were trespassing, according to the Redmond Police Department.
The protesters also splattered red paint resembling the color of blood over a landmark sign that bears the company logo and spells Microsoft in big gray letters.
'We said, 'Please leave or you will be arrested,' and they chose not to leave so they were detained,' said police spokesperson Jill Green.
Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
'Microsoft's standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage,' the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises 'precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.'
In February, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the tech giant's close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with military use of commercial artificial intelligence products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The AP reported that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance, which can then be cross-checked with Israel's in-house AI-enabled targeting systems.
Following The AP's report, Microsoft acknowledged the military applications but said a review it commissioned found no evidence that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. Microsoft did not share a copy of that review or say who conducted it.
Microsoft said it will share the latest review's findings after it's completed by law firm Covington & Burling.
The promise of a second review was insufficient for the employee-led No Azure for Apartheid group, which for months has protested Microsoft's supplying the Israeli military with technology used for its war against Hamas in Gaza. The group said Wednesday that the technology is 'being used to surveil, starve and kill Palestinians.'
Microsoft in May fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella to protest the contracts and in April fired two others who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration.
On Tuesday, the protesters posted online a call for what they called a 'worker intifada,' using language evoking the Palestinian uprisings against Israeli military occupation that began in 1987.
On Wednesday, the police department said it took 18 people into custody 'for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction.' It wasn't clear how many were Microsoft employees. No injuries were reported.
Microsoft said in a statement after the arrests that it 'will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others.'
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