“Intifada”: Microsoft employees protest ‘Israeli’ military contracts

Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters has become the point of intense employee protests, fueled by reports that the company's Azure cloud platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are being used by the ‘Israeli’ military for mass surveillance and AI-driven targeting of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The protests, led by a group called "No Azure for Apartheid," began with a Tuesday encampment of approximately 50 people who established what they called a "Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza".

The activists issued a manifesto titled "a call for a Worker Intifada," demanding that Microsoft sever all ties with ‘Israel's’ military, pay reparations to Palestinians, and stop discriminating against pro-Palestine employees.

The demonstration escalated on Wednesday, leading to the arrest of 18 people. Redmond Police and Microsoft stated that protesters "resisted and became aggressive" after being told they were trespassing, with some reportedly splattering red paint on a company sign.

On-the-ground accounts directly refuted the official narrative, stating that the protesters were not "threatening or harming anyone" and that there was “nothing of the sort".

The core of the conflict stems from reports by The Guardian and The Associated Press saying that ‘Israel's’ military surveillance unit, Unit 8200, used a customized area within Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store millions of phone calls and text messages from Palestinians to inform Gaza bombing targets.

The AP further reported that the ‘Israeli’ military’s use of commercial AI products, including Azure, "skyrocketed by nearly 200 times" after October 7, using the technology to "transcribe, translate and process intelligence" for its targeting systems.

In response, Microsoft has announced an "urgent" review of the claims, to be conducted by the law firm Covington & Burling.

This decision comes after a previous, undisclosed internal review reportedly "found no evidence" of wrongdoing, a move that has been criticized for its lack of transparency.

The company has stated it "will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards" while also addressing "unlawful actions that damage property" .

The Microsoft protests are part of a broader, industry-wide #NoTechForApartheid movement that also targets tech giants like Google and Amazon.
These companies have faced similar employee protests over a separate $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the ‘Israeli’ military known as "Project Nimbus".