Microsoft workers establish a camp at the company's main office in resistance to the continuing collaboration with the Israeli military in Gaza.
In a recent development, a group called No Azure for Apartheid has escalated its campaign against Microsoft, accusing the tech giant of complicity in Israel's military operations in Gaza. The group posted a message on Instagram, reiterating its stance against Microsoft's support of the Israeli military.
The message, shared by Andy Chalk, a member of the PC Gamer team, was accompanied by a photo and a call to action. It claims that the evidence of Microsoft's involvement is "insurmountable," citing a report that suggests Microsoft's Azure cloud computing infrastructure has been used by Israel's elite cyber intelligence unit, Unit 8200, to collect and store sensitive data from Gaza and the West Bank.
The encampment, named "The Martyred Palestinian Children's Plaza," was set up in Microsoft's East Campus Plaza by a group of current and former Microsoft employees, members of the Seattle community, pro-Palestinian protesters, and an organization called No Azure for Apartheid. Protesters set up tents and negotiating tables, calling for Microsoft executives to "come to the table." However, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that the protesters were asked to leave and complied.
The group has threatened to make it costly for Microsoft to continue doing business with the Israeli military and has set new demands for Microsoft, including severing ties, providing evidence for legal investigations against Israel, and paying reparations to the Palestinian people. Nisreen Jaradat, a Microsoft employee and No Azure for Apartheid organizer, stated that Microsoft is the most complicit digital arms manufacturer in Israel's genocide of Gaza.
The controversy surrounding Microsoft's partnership with the Israeli military has been ongoing since late 2021, when Brigadier General Yossi Sariel of Unit 8200 met with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other executives at Microsoft’s Seattle headquarters. By mid-2025, around 11,500 terabytes (approximately 200 million hours of audio) of Israeli military intelligence data were stored on Microsoft servers, primarily in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in Ireland and Israel.
Critics argue that this partnership exemplifies the intertwining of major U.S. tech corporations with Israeli military intelligence activities amidst ongoing conflicts, which they refer to as ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. The controversy highlights the ethical and legal dilemmas surrounding the role of global tech companies in conflict zones where their technology potentially facilitates military violence and human rights violations.
The group has threatened to continue escalating actions against Microsoft until these demands are met. The death of Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif, killed in an Israeli airstrike, has further fuelled the protests. Al Jazeera explicitly rejected the allegation, calling Al-Sharif "one of Gaza's bravest journalists" in its condemnation of the killing.
As the situation continues to unfold, No Azure for Apartheid has threatened to show up and disrupt Microsoft's business in every place and at every moment, promising a Worker Intifada, or an uprising of workers who refuse to have their labor exploited for genocide.
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