Microsoft has dismissed four employees for protesting against its ties to Israel, including two who staged a sit-in at the office of company president Brad Smith this week.
The protest group No Azure for Apartheid said on Wednesday that Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing them they had been fired. It added a day later that Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan were also dismissed after joining demonstrations and encampments at Microsoft headquarters.
Microsoft said the terminations followed “serious breaches of company policies,” adding that recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns.”
Hattle accused the company of complicity in Israel’s war in Gaza.
“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,” she said in a statement.
Hattle and Fameli were among seven protesters arrested on Tuesday after occupying Smith’s office. The other five were ex-employees or people unaffiliated with the firm.
Smith has insisted that Microsoft supports freedom of expression “as long as they do it lawfully.”
A recent investigation by the Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call, revealed that Israel’s military surveillance agency was using Microsoft’s Azure software to store vast amounts of Palestinians’ phone call recordings from the West Bank and Gaza. In response, Microsoft said it had asked law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct a review.
The latest firings come after other Microsoft staff protested earlier this year. In April, two employees were dismissed after interrupting AI chief Mustafa Suleyman’s remarks at the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Microsoft joins a growing list of firms and universities facing internal dissent and protests over ties to Israel as global outrage mounts over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel’s offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced Gaza's entire population and left many facing hunger, according to humanitarian groups. Israel launched the campaign after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and seized around 250 hostages in its 7 October 2023 assault.
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The United States Embassy in Tashkent has confirmed that the issuance of Diversity Visas (DV) commonly referred to as Green Card visas has been suspen...
Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026, with nearly half of the population projected to require hu...
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last ...
President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan ended 2025 as a year of peace, security and stability, stressing that unity between the people and the government remained the main factor behind the country’s achievements.
Almost seventeen years ago, in December 2008, I worked with a film crew shooting a documentary on the Armenia and Azerbaijan conflict for Al Jazeera English.
A tragic train collision near Machu Picchu, one of Peru's most iconic tourist destinations, has resulted in the death of a train driver and left at least 40 others injured. The incident occurred on Tuesday, when two trains collided head-on on the railway that leads to the ancient Inca citadel, which
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 31st of December, covering the latest developments you need to know.
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last time this was done was during the deaths of Soviet-era leaders and the 1991 coup.
Protests in Iran over soaring prices and a plunging rial have spread to universities in Tehran, as students join shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in demanding government action. With inflation above 42% and the rial at record lows, unrest continues to grow across the country.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, rising casualties, economic struggles, and mounting unrest expose cracks in society. Despite Kremlin propaganda, frustration is growing as more Russians question the government’s narrative, according to The Washington Post.
The head of Yemen’s Presidential Council, Rashad al-Alimi, has ordered all forces linked to the United Arab Emirates to leave Yemen within 24 hours.
European leaders held talks on Ukraine after Russia said it would revise its negotiating position, citing an alleged Ukrainian drone attack that Kyiv has firmly denied.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran’s answer to any aggression will be decisive and “discouraging” and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged his counterparts to strongly denounce US President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military strike against Iran.
The United States Embassy in Tashkent has confirmed that the issuance of Diversity Visas (DV) commonly referred to as Green Card visas has been suspended, although applicants may continue to submit applications and attend interviews, according to an official embassy statement.
Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026, with nearly half of the population projected to require humanitarian assistance, according to a new report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Russian radio station known as 'Doomsday Radio' (or UVB-76) unexpectedly began playing ‘Swan Lake’, music from a ballet composition. The last time this was done was during the deaths of Soviet-era leaders and the 1991 coup.
Türkiye will never tolerate coercion, piracy, or banditry in its maritime “blue homeland,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday.
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