2 weeks Ago By Kahekashan
Microsoft’s 50th-anniversary celebrations were disrupted by two separate employee-led pro-Palestine protests, both criticizing the company’s involvement with Israel and its alleged role in supporting military technology used in Gaza. The incidents unfolded on Friday, April 4, at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, during the company’s official anniversary event. This article is based on reports originally published by The Verge.
The first protest came during a presentation by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. Ibtihal Aboussad, a software engineer from Microsoft’s AI division specializing in speech recognition, interrupted the session and delivered a passionate statement aimed directly at Suleyman. She walked toward the stage, declaring, “ Mustafa, shame on you.
” She continued, “ You claim to champion AI for good, yet Microsoft supplies AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty thousand have perished, and Microsoft fuels this genocide in our region. ” https://www.
instagram.com/ verge/reel/DICGMCCRgY6/ Aboussad strongly accused Suleyman and the company of war profiteering and held them accountable for the violence. She was quickly escorted out by security, but not before sending a mass email to Microsoft employees outlining demands to sever ties with Israel and stop providing what she called “lethal technology.
” Later the same day, a second protest erupted. During a discussion featuring CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, another software engineer, Vaniya Agrawal, stood up and addressed the leadership directly. “ Shame on you all.
You’re all hypocrites, ” she said loudly. “ Fifty thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been killed with Microsoft technology. How dare you celebrate in their blood.
Cut ties with Israel. ” https://www.instagram.
com/p/ DICQNdKP18-/?utm_source=ig_ embed&utm_campaign=embed_ video_watch_again She was accompanied by another woman as she left the room. Agrawal referenced the employee-led group No Azure for Apartheid , which has been vocal in calling for Microsoft to end what it calls “direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide.” The group had coordinated both internal and external protests on the same day.
In response to her statement, Bill Gates was seen briefly laughing and muttering “alright” before continuing with the event. Beyond these on-stage disruptions, No Azure for Apartheid organized a broader demonstration outside the company’s headquarters. The group’s long-running campaign within Microsoft has pushed for greater transparency and ethical accountability regarding the company’s technology contracts and international partnerships.
While Microsoft has not publicly responded to these latest protests, the events highlight growing unrest among employees over the company's global affiliations and their impact..
