Microsoft has gone nuclear on its own employees — calling in the FBI and local police to crush a wave of Gaza-related protests that have spiraled from office disruptions to flotillas outside the lakefront mansions of its top bosses.
Over the weekend, pro-Palestinian activists paddled kayaks across Lake Washington, circling near the luxury homes of CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith while chanting and waving banners accusing the tech giant of “profiting from genocide.”
The dramatic waterborne protest is just the latest flashpoint in a year-long rebellion by a group calling itself No Azure for Apartheid, which claims Microsoft’s cloud technology is fueling Israel’s war in Gaza.
Instead of negotiating with terrorist sympathizers, the $3 trillion company turned to law enforcement. Internal emails show Microsoft investigators flagged employees — and even their family members — to the FBI’s Seattle office, warning of “disruptions” to upcoming events.
Two engineers were fired last year after staging a lunchtime vigil for Palestinians at Microsoft HQ.
In April, one staffer hurled a keffiyeh onto the stage during an AI keynote. Another hijacked a panel featuring Nadella, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Both quit in protest.
Weeks later, a worker stood on a chair during Nadella’s remarks, shouting accusations of “war crimes.” He was fired that night.
Just last week, cops zip-tied 20 protesters after they set up a “liberated zone” in a Redmond plaza and chanted executives’ names.
Smith defended calling in the feds. “This isn’t about dialogue anymore,” he said. “It’s a matter for law enforcement.”
Microsoft — long seen as the “quiet” Big Tech giant compared to scandal-ridden rivals — is now at the center of one of the most polarizing conflicts in the world.
Despite FBI scrutiny, firings, and police crackdowns, activists say they won’t back down. In a defiant statement, No Azure for Apartheid said: “The fact Microsoft is attempting to use law enforcement to silence its own workers should be a wake-up call to anyone who dares organize. We are unfazed by scare tactics.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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One Response
other groups, such as white supremacists, will learn a lesson or two from these idiots. imagine kkk sympathizers, for example, organizing similar protests, and then being “unfazed by scare tactics”.