On the eve of Gamescom, Microsoft workers occupy the Xbox company's campus in protest at dealings with the Israeli military

No Azure for Apartheid sit-in dispersed by police

This week, dozens of Microsoft employees occupied the company's eastbound field successful Redmond, Washington successful protestation against the usage of Azure and generative AI technologies by the Israeli military, during their on-going battle connected Palestinians successful the West Bank and Gaza.

This follows an announcement from Microsoft that they would committee different "external" enquiry into their concern narration with Israel's equipped forces, aft the Guardian and different papers reported connected an alleged collaboration with 1 peculiar quality division, Unit 8200, that has seen Israel stitchery information from phones and store it connected Microsoft servers overseas.

Amongst different things, the surveillance information is reportedly being utilized to people airstrikes successful the people of an penetration of Gaza that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands, the bulk of them civilians. Microsoft declined to remark connected the caller Guardian allegations concerning Unit 8200 erstwhile approached by RPS, but person antecedently insisted that their ain interior reporting has recovered "no grounds to day that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies person been utilized to people oregon harm radical successful the struggle successful Gaza."

The protestation astatine Microsoft's field was brief. According to the Guardian, existent and erstwhile unit declared 1 country a 'Free Zone', and occupied it with placards that work "Join The Worker Intifada - No Labor for Genocide" and "Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza".

The protestors person besides published a telephone to enactment online, which reads: "the Liberated Zone is calved retired of extremist emotion for the affluent humanity of Palestinian people. Today, we reply Gaza's telephone to enactment to mobilize, confront, and escalate to unit an extremity to this genocide powered by Microsoft technology." The protestors were dispersed by constabulary aft astir 2 hours, nether menace of apprehension for trespassing.

Israel's existent onslaught connected Gaza is simply a effect to a Hamas-led militant onslaught crossed the borderline that killed implicit a 1000 radical successful October 2023. Most of the dormant were civilians, with hundreds of others taken hostage.

In amongst ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, Israel's authorities present purpose to instrumentality power of Gaza City aft levelling overmuch of the territory and forcibly displacing millions of people, galore of whom present look starvation acknowledgment to Israel's obstruction of aid. All this follows decades of brutal concern of Palestinian territories, successful what a erstwhile caput of Israel's ain quality bureau has described arsenic "an apartheid state".

Microsoft employees person grown outspoken astir the company's consequent dealings with Israel, arsenic the penetration of Gaza has worn on. Among those demonstrating astatine Microsoft's eastbound field this week was Hossam Nasr - 1 of 2 erstwhile employees fired successful October 2024 for organising a vigil for massacred Palestinians. He and the different fired tech worker, Abdo Mohamed, are portion of activistic radical No Azure For Apartheid, which has called connected Microsoft to divest from Israel successful a petition signed by hundreds of staff, including members of the Xbox part and subsidiary companies Activision, Bethesda Softworks and Mojang.

Last week, unionised members of Dishonored developers Arkane Studios besides threw their value down a caller Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions telephone for consumers to halt buying Microsoft gaming and Xbox products. "We deliberation that Microsoft has nary spot being [an] accomplice of a genocide," the Arkane national wrote successful an unfastened letter, "and arsenic Microsoft employees, we don't privation to beryllium portion of this sinister task for Gaza."