Members of the No Azure for Apartheid group, which includes current and former Microsoft employees, allege that the company’s technology is being used in the surveillance, starvation and killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Microsoft has said it complies with its human rights commitments, and that its contracts with Israel’s Ministry of Defense are standard commercial agreements, governed by its terms of service and AI Code of Conduct.
The protesters created what they called a “Liberated Zone” in the plaza of the company’s East Campus, in front of the Microsoft sign, pitching tents and setting up a “negotiations table” with a banner that read, “Microsoft Execs, Come to the Table.” The space was filled with shrouds symbolizing the dead in Gaza, and a large plate reading, “Stop Starving Gaza.”
“Regardless of your beliefs, regardless of whether or not your work today actually supports Israel, know that Microsoft’s money does include blood money,” said one of the speakers at the protest, Julius Shan, a software engineer who said he has worked at Microsoft for nearly five years.
A smattering of Microsoft employees looked on from the periphery as security guards and police arrived. One employee who was watching nearby said he empathized with the message but not the approach.
“This isn’t going to change anything,” said the employee, who did not give his name. “It’s just going to annoy the people that are here.”
